How to Prepare for a Software Discovery Call

You do not need to arrive with a technical specification. The useful outcome of a first discovery call is simpler: both sides understand the business problem, who experiences it, what constraints are real, and what needs to happen next to estimate or validate the work.

Explain what is happening today, why it is a problem and what changes if the project succeeds. ‘We need an app’ gives the team almost nothing. ‘Our sales team spends two hours per order moving data between three systems’ gives them something to solve.

List the main user groups and the few workflows that matter most. Customers, operators, managers and administrators usually need different things. Those differences shape permissions, interfaces and architecture.

Mention fixed launch dates, regulatory requirements, data-residency rules, existing vendors, required integrations, app-store constraints and procurement limits early. A team can design around a constraint. It cannot design around one it learns after the estimate.

If the product must connect to an ERP, CRM, payment provider, identity system, spreadsheet process or external API, say so. You do not need every endpoint. You do need to make dependencies visible.

A useful budget conversation is about order of magnitude and constraints. If €20,000 is possible and €100,000 is not, say it. If the board needs a range before approving discovery, say that too. Hiding the boundary does not make the estimate more objective; it makes the team design in the dark.

Ask what they need before estimating, what assumptions are driving the range, what they would validate first, who owns product decisions and how scope changes are handled. You are not testing vocabulary. You are testing whether the team has a method.

A good discovery call ends with one concrete next step: a workshop, a technical spike, an estimate, a prototype, access to documentation or a decision not to build. That is more valuable than spending the hour pretending the entire project is already known.