What a Discovery Call Actually Covers

What it is not

It is not a sales presentation. We do not have a deck about our values and we will not spend your time on a client logo wall. If you want references or case studies, ask and we will send them afterwards in writing, where you can actually read them.

It is also not a free consulting session in disguise, where we withhold the useful part until you pay. If the most valuable thing we can tell you is “use this off-the-shelf tool and save £30,000”, we say it on the call.

The first ten minutes: what actually happens today

We ask you to describe the process as it runs now, in the order it runs, including the parts that are embarrassing. The spreadsheet that gets emailed around. The person who checks everything manually because they do not trust the report. The step that exists because of something a former employee set up in 2019.

We are listening for three things: where data is re-entered, where two sources of truth disagree, and where a single person is a dependency. Those three patterns account for most of the value in most automation projects.

The middle ten: the shape of the problem

Then we get specific about volume and money, because they decide what is worth building.

• How many times a day or week does this happen?
• How long does one instance take, honestly, including the interruptions?
• What does a mistake cost when it slips through — and how often does it?
• Who else touches this, and what do they think of the current process?
• What have you already tried, and why did it not stick?

That last question is the most informative one on the call. A failed previous attempt usually contains the real constraint, and it is almost never technical.

The last ten: our actual opinion

We tell you what we think, including when the answer is unwelcome. The three verdicts we give most often are:

1. Buy, do not build. An existing product covers 90% of this and the last 10% is not worth £40,000.
2. Build, but smaller. The idea is right and the scope is three times larger than the problem justifies.
3. Build, and here is the risky part. The project makes sense, and one specific thing — usually a data migration or an integration — will decide whether it goes well.

How to get the most out of it

You do not need to prepare a brief. The single most useful thing you can bring is the ability to screen-share the actual process for five minutes, and one person who does the work every day rather than only the person who manages it.

The best discovery calls we have had were the ones where somebody said “let me just show you” and opened the spreadsheet.

If a screen share is not possible, a sample of real data — anonymised if needed — is the next best thing. Real data answers questions that no amount of description can.

What happens after

Within two working days you get a short written summary: what we understood, what we would recommend, a rough cost band and the next step. Rough means rough — a range, with the reason it is a range rather than a number.

If it makes sense to go further, the next step is a proper scoping exercise, which is also free and produces the fixed price. There is no obligation at any point and no follow-up sequence; if you go quiet, we assume the answer is no and leave you alone.

Frequently asked questions