Disc Discovery Call Agenda

---
name: disc-discovery-call-agenda
description: Drafts the short agenda note you send before a discovery call, built on the up-front contract (purpose, their agenda, your agenda, time, outcomes including "no fit"), with the roles who should attend and a plain consent line for any recording or notetaker. Use for "run disc-discovery-call-agenda", "write the agenda for the discovery call", "send an agenda before the call", "who should be on the call", "how do I ask to record the call", "our calls keep drifting", part of the Claude for Winning Proposals Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Discovery Call Agenda

## When To Use
Calls drift, the wrong people turn up, and nobody agreed what happens at the end. You leave with a friendly conversation and no next step, or with a next step only you remember. This answers: what will we both agree to before the call, so the last five minutes are not a surprise?

## When Not To Use
This covers one call. For the full set of steps from a yes to a start date, use Mutual Action Plan later in the deal. For the questions you will ask privately, use Discovery Call Questions; the agenda is what the client sees.

## Inputs
- The thread with the client so far, or a summary of how the call was set up, with the agreed date and length
- What you need to learn (from your brief review or pre-call brief), and the roles you want present
If you have none of this, I start from the call date and length and mark the output as a first draft. With the Gmail connector (verified) I search and read the thread; I write the note here in the chat and you copy, edit and send it.

## Approach
The up-front contract from Sandler (sandler.com, "the key to success in sales: an agenda") agrees five things before the meeting: purpose, their agenda, your agenda, time and outcome. Its value is the outcome line: saying in advance that "this is not a fit" is an acceptable end lets both sides be honest on the call. Read aloud like a script, it feels like a sales tactic, so it stays a short, warm note. Recording rules vary by place; the note asks everyone's consent first and defaults to no recording.

## Workflow
1. Ask, all at once: what does the client want from this call, in their words if you have them? Who has said they will attend? Does anyone on either side want to record or use a notetaker?
2. Write the purpose in one sentence that ties the call to their decision, not to your pitch: "to understand [their situation] well enough to say whether and how we could help".
3. Their agenda first: what they told you they want to cover, or an open line asking them to add it. Then your agenda: two or three things you need to learn, phrased as topics, not as the questions themselves.
4. Time: the agreed length, and a line that you will check it at the start in case something has changed on their side.
5. Outcomes: the possible ends, all stated as acceptable. A next step with a date, a "not now", or "no fit", in which case you will say so and, where you can, point them elsewhere.
6. Who should attend, by role: the roles the call needs (who owns the problem, who would run the work, who decides). Ask your contact whether they can join; never insist and never go around your contact.
7. Consent line: one plain sentence saying you will not record unless everyone agrees at the start, and asking whether they plan to use a notetaker so you can agree it together. Rules on recording vary by place; check with a qualified adviser. Keep the whole note under 150 words.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Discovery Call Agenda Note
To: [contact] · Call: [date, time, length] · Draft for you to send

## The note
Subject: [short subject naming the call and date]

[Greeting],

Purpose: [one sentence tied to their decision]
Your topics: [what they asked to cover, or "anything you would like to add?"]
Ours: [two or three topics] · Time: [length]; we will check it at the start.
How it might end: a next step with a date, "not now", or "not a fit", all fine.
Who would be useful: [roles], if they can make it. Recording: we will not record unless everyone agrees at the start. [Line asking about their notetaker.]

[Sign-off]

## Attendees by role
| Role needed | Confirmed | Ask through |
|---|---|---|
| [role] | [yes / no / unknown] | [your contact] |

## Decision
[You] edit and send the note by [date, at least a day before the call]; the client confirms or changes the agenda and attendees.
```

## Done When
- All five up-front contract elements are in the note, including "no fit" as an outcome
- Attendees are named by role and asked for through the contact; the consent line defaults to no recording
- The note fits in a short email and reads as written by a person

## Quality Bar
- Their agenda comes before yours, and yours lists topics, never your question guide
- No pressure language, no "to make the most of your time" filler
- Never suggest attendees by judging individuals; roles only
- No recording or notetaker without everyone's consent, asked first; you send the note

## Next
Run disc-discovery-call-questions (Discovery Call Questions) to prepare what you will ask inside that agenda.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).