---
title: Discovery call prep using past objections | AskTheCustomer
description: Prepare for a discovery call with the objections your team has already heard. Six questions to ask your call notes, a manual method and honest limits.
image: https://www.askthecustomer.ai/hubfs/blog-images/uc2-og.png
---
[AskTheCustomer](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/)
[The problem](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#problem) [How it works](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#how) [Use cases](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#use-cases) [Who it's for](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/who-its-for) [Blog](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog) [Early Access](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/early-access)
[Home](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/)/[Blog](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog)/Article
# Prepare for a discovery call using objections you've already heard
OS [Olha Solonenko](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/author/olha-solonenko) 12 October 2026 6 min read Updated 20 October 2026
To prepare for a discovery call, check what similar buyers have already said. Ask your call transcripts and deal notes which objections come up, when, what sits behind them, how roles differ, what eased them and what is missing. Turn the answers into a few discovery questions, then listen on the call.
Key takeaways
- Before a discovery call, check the objections your team has already heard from similar buyers.
- Ask when each objection comes up, what sits behind it and which roles raise it.
- Note what eased each concern in past conversations, in the buyer's words.
- Turn the gaps in your evidence into discovery questions.
- Adience reports 30% of 350 surveyed buyers complained of poor or repetitive discovery questions.
*Use case · Sales*
## The situation
You're an account executive with a first discovery call tomorrow. You've read the prospect's website and their LinkedIn page. You've got a list of questions, and most of them are the same ones you asked last week.
Meanwhile, your team has already heard what buyers like this one worry about. It's in call transcripts, lost-deal notes and old interview write-ups. It just isn't in your prep.
That gap shows. Adience surveyed 350 business buyers, as [reported by CMOtech UK](https://cmotech.uk/story/b2b-buyers-rebel-against-discovery-theatre-sales). 30% complained of poor or repetitive discovery questions. 29% said vendors didn't understand their industry or use case.
And buyers don't give you many chances. Gartner reports that ["75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free sales experience"](https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey). When they do agree to a call, it has to be worth their time.
## The questions to ask
Ask these of the evidence you already hold, before the call, not during it.
| Question | Why it matters | What a useful answer looks like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Which objections do buyers like this one raise most often? | You can prepare for the likely worries instead of reacting to them live. | A short list of recurring concerns, each heard from several different buyers, not one loud one. |
| When in the deal does each objection usually come up? | Some worries surface in the first call; others wait for procurement. | Each objection matched to a stage, so you know which ones to expect tomorrow. |
| What's usually behind each objection? | "Too expensive" can mean unclear value, a past bad experience or no budget owner. | The underlying worry in the buyer's own words, with the situation that caused it. |
| Do different roles object to different things? | The daily user and the budget holder rarely share the same doubts. | Clear differences by role, kept separate rather than blended into one list. |
| What helped ease each concern in past conversations? | You learn which answers buyers found convincing, not which ones you like. | Specific explanations, examples or next steps that buyers responded to. |
| What does the evidence not tell you about this buyer? | Gaps are where your discovery questions should go. | A short list of topics, roles or situations your evidence doesn't cover. |
*Six questions to ask your evidence before the call, not during it.*
## How to do it in Ask The Customer
1. **Upload the evidence.** Add call transcripts, lost-deal notes, interview write-ups and support exports as files. Note which kinds of buyers and deals each file covers.
2. **Describe the buyer you're meeting.** Put the company type and the roles on the call into your question. That keeps the answer relevant.
3. **Ask the questions above in the chat, one at a time.** Start with the most common objections, then ask what's behind them and what helped. Finish by asking what the evidence doesn't cover.
4. **Read the customer perspective, then plan the call.** The answers are grounded in the evidence you uploaded. Turn them into 3 or 4 discovery questions and a short note on each likely objection.
> **Illustrative example:** a B2B software company selling to finance teams is preparing a first call with a finance director. The rep asks: "Based on our call transcripts and lost-deal notes, what do finance directors worry about in a first call, and what's usually behind it?" An illustrative answer might say that finance directors raise implementation effort early, often because a past rollout dragged on. Price tends to come later, linked to an unclear payback. The rep could open by asking about their last system change rather than pitching. This is not real customer data.
## How to do it without a tool
You can do the same prep by hand. It takes longer, but it works.
1. Pull 5 to 10 recent call transcripts or notes from deals with similar buyers. Include deals you lost or that stalled.
2. Read them with the questions above beside you. Highlight every objection, in the buyer's own words.
3. Group the objections. Note who raised each one, at what stage, and what seemed to sit behind it.
4. Mark what helped. Look for the moments where a buyer's tone changed or the deal moved forward.
5. Ask a colleague who has sold to this kind of buyer: "What did I miss?"
6. Write 3 or 4 discovery questions that test the most likely objections early, without leading the buyer. Our guide on [how to write questions that aren't leading](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/how-to-write-customer-interview-questions-not-leading) has a quick check you can run.
Keep the result short. One page you'll actually read beats a document you won't.
## Where this works, and where it doesn't
This works best when your team has recent calls and notes with buyers similar to the one you're meeting. It's weaker in four cases.
- **Thin or old evidence.** A handful of calls from two years ago may describe a different market.
- **A new segment.** If you've never sold to this kind of buyer, your evidence describes someone else.
- **One-sided notes.** Rep-written summaries often record the reason the rep believed, not the buyer's.
- **This specific buyer.** Patterns tell you what's likely. They don't tell you what this person thinks.
Ask The Customer supports customer understanding. It doesn't replace real customers. The call itself is where you find out, so listen for what the evidence didn't predict.
If you need to know why you lose deals, interviews with the buyers themselves fit better than call notes.
## FAQ
### Won't preparing for objections make me sound scripted?
Not if you use it to ask better questions rather than to rehearse answers. The goal is to raise likely concerns early and listen to the reply.
### How much evidence do I need?
There's no fixed number. Look for the same objection across several different buyers. If something rests on one call, treat it as a hunch.
### Should I raise an objection before the buyer does?
Sometimes. Try a neutral question, such as "How did your last rollout go?" The buyer can then raise it in their own words.
### Does this replace talking to the buyer?
No. It helps you spend the call on what matters to them. What they tell you on the call always beats a pattern from the past.
## Try it on your own evidence
We're running an early pilot of Ask The Customer. If your call transcripts and deal notes are scattered across folders, try this on your own evidence. [Join Early Access](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/early-access) before your next discovery call.
## Sources
- [CMOtech UK: B2B buyers rebel against "discovery theatre" in sales (reporting an Adience survey of 350 business buyers, December 2025)](https://cmotech.uk/story/b2b-buyers-rebel-against-discovery-theatre-sales)
- [Gartner: The B2B Buying Journey: Key Stages and How to Optimize Them](https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey)
*Last updated: 20 October 2026*
Don't guess. Ask the customer.
OS
### Olha Solonenko
Olha Solonenko is the founder of AskTheCustomer, an evidence-based AI customer persona platform for B2B teams. Based in Ireland, she works on helping product, marketing and sales teams use real customer evidence in everyday decisions.
[Connect on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-solonenko-3630684/)
On this page
Early Access
## Build personas from *real customer evidence.*
AskTheCustomer turns your interviews, calls and tickets into personas you can question, with sources for every answer. Early Access is free.
[Join Early Access →](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/early-access) [Is it a fit for your team?](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/who-its-for)
[AskTheCustomer](https://www.askthecustomer.ai/)
Stop guessing. *Ask the customer.*
© 2026 AskTheCustomer · Built in Ireland
Page updated October 2026
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@type" : "Person",
"name" : "Olha Solonenko",
"url" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/author/olha-solonenko"
},
"dateModified" : "2026-10-20T00:46:24.258Z",
"datePublished" : "2026-10-12T09:34:19.000Z",
"headline" : "Discovery call prep using past objections | AskTheCustomer",
"image" : [ "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/hubfs/blog-images/uc2-og.png" ],
"mainEntityOfPage" : {
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/use-case-prepare-discovery-call-with-past-objections",
"@type" : "WebPage"
},
"publisher" : {
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject"
}
}
}
```
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "FAQPage",
"mainEntity" : [ {
"@type" : "Question",
"acceptedAnswer" : {
"@type" : "Answer",
"text" : "Not if you use it to ask better questions rather than to rehearse answers. The goal is to raise likely concerns early and listen to the reply."
},
"name" : "Won't preparing for objections make me sound scripted?"
}, {
"@type" : "Question",
"acceptedAnswer" : {
"@type" : "Answer",
"text" : "There's no fixed number. Look for the same objection across several different buyers. If something rests on one call, treat it as a hunch."
},
"name" : "How much evidence do I need?"
}, {
"@type" : "Question",
"acceptedAnswer" : {
"@type" : "Answer",
"text" : "Sometimes. Try a neutral question, such as: How did your last rollout go? The buyer can then raise it in their own words."
},
"name" : "Should I raise an objection before the buyer does?"
}, {
"@type" : "Question",
"acceptedAnswer" : {
"@type" : "Answer",
"text" : "No. It helps you spend the call on what matters to them. What they tell you on the call always beats a pattern from the past."
},
"name" : "Does this replace talking to the buyer?"
} ]
}
```
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/use-case-prepare-discovery-call-with-past-objections#article",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#olha-solonenko",
"@type" : "Person",
"description" : "Olha Solonenko is the founder of AskTheCustomer, an evidence-based AI customer persona platform for B2B teams. Based in Ireland, she works on helping product, marketing and sales teams use real customer evidence in everyday decisions.",
"name" : "Olha Solonenko",
"sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-solonenko-3630684/" ],
"url" : "https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-solonenko-3630684/",
"worksFor" : {
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#organization"
}
},
"dateModified" : "2026-10-20",
"datePublished" : "2026-10-12",
"description" : "Prepare for a discovery call with the objections your team has already heard. Six questions to ask your call notes, a manual method and honest limits.",
"headline" : "Prepare for a discovery call using objections you've already heard",
"image" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"height" : 630,
"url" : "https://149472448.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/149472448/blog-images/uc2-og.png",
"width" : 1200
},
"inLanguage" : "en",
"isPartOf" : {
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog#blog",
"@type" : "Blog",
"name" : "The AskTheCustomer Blog",
"url" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog"
},
"mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/use-case-prepare-discovery-call-with-past-objections",
"publisher" : {
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#organization"
},
"timeRequired" : "PT6M",
"url" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/use-case-prepare-discovery-call-with-past-objections",
"wordCount" : 1261
}
```
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@id" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/#organization",
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"height" : 512,
"url" : "https://149472448.fs1.hubspotusercontent-eu1.net/hubfs/149472448/atc-logo.png",
"width" : 512
},
"name" : "AskTheCustomer",
"url" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/"
}
```
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "BreadcrumbList",
"itemListElement" : [ {
"@type" : "ListItem",
"item" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/",
"name" : "Home",
"position" : 1
}, {
"@type" : "ListItem",
"item" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog",
"name" : "Blog",
"position" : 2
}, {
"@type" : "ListItem",
"item" : "https://www.askthecustomer.ai/blog/use-case-prepare-discovery-call-with-past-objections",
"name" : "Prepare for a discovery call using objections you've already heard",
"position" : 3
} ]
}
```