What Actually Happens on a Discovery Call?

We know, we know… A discovery call can sound intimidating, mainly because phone calls are intimidating and I personally avoid them at all costs. Hell, sometimes I’ll even watch my partner’s calls ring out just because I’d rather text him instead.

But a discovery call? Surprisingly, I love them.

Think of it as a mixture of speed dating and a corporate Zoom call. Which, by the way, usually should be kept separate at all costs. I’m looking at you, LinkedIn users who use the messaging feature as your personal dating pool.

A discovery call is really just a chance for you to see if you like us, our energy and our vibe, while we get to figure out whether our services are actually a good fit for your needs, your budget and your energy.

There’s no awkward commitment. No signing something while we hold you hostage. No surprise invoice appearing at the end.

And if you HATE surprises (I’m talking HATE. Like, you’d unwrap your Christmas presents in the middle of the night because you needed to figure out how much enthusiasm you’d have to fake over that awkward outfit your mum picked out for you), we usually follow a pretty straightforward outline.

1. The dreaded small talk

We’ll usually start by asking how your week has been, what you’ve been up to, etc.

Typically, I’ll make a weird joke and laugh at myself because, despite running the call, I’m also nervous to meet you.

So if you feel awkward, just know we probably do too.

2. We introduce ourselves

I’ll introduce myself, introduce anyone else from the team who’s joining the call, tell you a little bit about our credentials and explain what exactly a creative agency does.

We’ll run through our services, talk about why I hated working in-house so much that I rage-quit and opened House of Zemi, and explain our pricing structure.

I’ll often black out somewhere around the “talking about myself” portion because I hate talking about myself, but unfortunately, it’s gotta be done.

3. Now we talk about YOU

This is the important bit.

We want to know what you’re actually looking for.

We’ll talk about your business, your goals, your dreams, what you’ve tried before, what worked, what absolutely did not work, what you want to hand over and what you’d rather keep in-house.

This is where we start figuring out what you actually need — rather than trying to squeeze you into some pre-existing package just because that’s what we sell.

4. We talk about your budget

I cannot be more clear when I say this:

We literally do not give a flying fuck about your budget.

We’re not judging you.

We work with big budgets, small budgets and everything in between.

We’re also not in the business of trying to rip you off.

We ask about your budget because we need to know what we’re working with so we can properly quote you on a package that actually makes sense for you.

If your budget is $1k a month? Perfect. We can make that work.

If your budget is $400k a month? Imagine. That package is going to look very different to the $1k one.

Both are workable. Both are valid. Both can be fun.

Your budget doesn’t determine whether we want to work with you. It just helps us figure out how we can work with you.

5. We talk next steps

Once we know what you’re looking for, we’ll talk through what happens from there.

That might include the onboarding process, what the offboarding process looks like, what you own, what you don’t, and what happens if you decide to wrap things up.

If you’re looking for an ongoing retainer, we’ll also chat through how that works and what you can expect.

Basically, we don’t want you leaving the call wondering, “Okay… so what the fuck happens now?”

We’ll tell you.

6. We say bye!

And that’s it.

The whole thing is usually around 15–30 minutes.

And the best part?

It’s free.

There’s no obligation to book with us afterwards, either.

If you decide we’re not the right fit, genuinely, no hard feelings. We just ask that you let us know so we don’t spend the next month emailing you every Tuesday like:

“Hey! Just checking in!”

“Hey! Any questions?”

“Hey! Just floating this back to the top of your inbox!”

“Hey! Are you alive?”

We’d much rather you tell us you’re going in a different direction.

A discovery call isn’t a sales interrogation. It’s just a conversation to figure out whether we’re a good fit for you, you’re a good fit for us, and what working together could actually look like.