SoloCMO.ai
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A discovery call
agenda.

Copy this. Send it to the builder an hour before your first call. Keeps the call on track. Keeps you in charge. Half an hour beats an hour of drift.

Reading time · 4 minutes Use · before any first call with a builder

The person you are talking to has done this a lot more than you have. That is why you are calling them. But it means the first call is, by default, on their terms. They will have a script, a set of questions, and a feel for where the call should go. You will have your morning tea and some hope.

An agenda fixes this. Not a formal document. Six bullet points you send an hour before. It shifts the call from “sales call the builder runs” to “working meeting you chair.” You will learn more, and you will not be sold to.

Part 01

The agenda.

Copy this. Paste it into a reply to the email confirming the call. Or into a calendar invite. Nothing fancy. 

Hi [name],

Looking forward to our call at [time]. Short agenda below so we can get the most out of it:

  1. (5 min) My business, one minute each way.
     I explain what I do. You tell me what you heard.

  2. (10 min) The specific thing I want help with.
     I walk through the task. You ask whatever questions
     you need to understand it.

  3. (5 min) What you would build.
     Plain English. If it has a name, what it is called.
     If there are two ways to do it, why you would pick one.

  4. (5 min) What it would cost and how long it would take.
     Fixed price preferred. If you need to think about it,
     tell me when you will send me a written quote.

  5. (5 min) My questions for you.
     (I have a short list of these; I will not read them all,
     just the ones that still seem relevant after the first
     four items.)

  6. (Close) Next steps.
     Are we doing this? If yes, what do we both do in the next
     week? If no, what did I learn that I should do differently?

Half an hour is plenty. See you then.

[your name]
Open email to me
Part 02

What to listen for in each section.

Sending the agenda is the easy part. Listening well during the call is the part that matters. Here is what to pay attention to at each step:

  • 1. When you explain your business.

    Good: the builder reflects it back in their own words, and gets it broadly right. Bad: they nod and jump to what they want to sell. If they do not care what your business does, walk away after the call.

  • 2. When you describe the task.

    Good: they ask specific follow-up questions, especially about edge cases. Bad: they hear the first sentence and start describing a product. A builder who has not yet understood the task cannot possibly know what the right tool is.

  • 3. When they describe what they would build.

    Good: you can follow it. They draw or point at something. Bad: buzzwords, jargon, fuzzy terms like “an intelligent assistant.” If you cannot picture what they just described, they have not earned your trust yet.

  • 4. When they give the price.

    Good: a number or a narrow range, tied to what the number buys. Bad: a wide range, a monthly figure with no build mentioned, or “it depends” with no willingness to commit. Ask them to put it in writing and move on.

  • 5. When you ask your questions.

    Good: they answer simply. Bad: they defend themselves. You are not attacking them. If your questions feel threatening, the working relationship will too.

  • 6. When you agree next steps.

    Good: a specific, mutual action you both own before the next conversation. Bad: “I will send you a proposal” with no timeline. Ask for the day.

That is the whole piece.

Half-hour call. Six items. You run it. You learn more, you pay less, you do not get sold to, and you end the call with a clear next step or a clear decision to stop. That is the whole point.

Related: the brief email · Back to the guide · hello@solocmo.ai