The discovery call script that qualifies a buyer in seven questions

# The discovery call script that qualifies a buyer in seven questions

> Seven questions, ten minutes, and you know whether this person is a client, a maybe, or a Saturday you will never get back.

Sales and GTM · 2026-09-25 · 5 min read

You spent a Saturday driving someone to four houses. They were pleasant, they asked good questions, and at the end they mentioned they need to sell their current place first, which has not been listed, and they are also waiting to hear about a job in another state.

That information existed before you got in the car. It was available in a ten minute phone call you did not make, because asking felt pushy and you did not want to scare off someone who seemed interested. That instinct costs solo agents more Saturdays than anything else in this business.

## Qualifying is a service, not an interrogation

The word qualifying makes agents uncomfortable because it sounds like judging whether someone is good enough. Reframe it. You are figuring out what this person actually needs so you do not waste their time either.

A buyer who is eighteen months out does not need four showings. They need a conversation about what to fix on their credit and what their budget will really look like next spring. Giving them that instead of a Saturday tour is better service, and it makes you the person they call when they are ready.

> Every hour you spend with someone who cannot buy for a year is an hour you did not spend with someone who can buy this month. Both of them deserve the right hour.

## Where the call happens and how long it takes

Ten to fifteen minutes, on the phone, before any showing. Frame it up front so it does not feel like a test: I want to make sure I am sending you the right houses instead of wasting your weekend, mind if I ask a few quick questions?

Almost nobody says no to that, because it is obviously in their interest. And the framing does real work: it tells them the questions have a purpose, which is the entire difference between a conversation and an interrogation.

## The seven questions

Ask them roughly in this order. The order matters, because the easy ones build enough comfort to make the harder ones feel normal.

1. **What has you looking right now?** Open, warm, and it gets you the actual motivation. A growing family, a new job, a lease ending, or nothing in particular. The last one is a real answer and it tells you a lot.
2. **What is your ideal timeline, and what is driving it?** Not just when, but why then. A lease ending in March is a hard date. Sometime this year is not a timeline, it is a mood.
3. **Have you talked to a lender yet?** This is the big one, and it is easy to ask if you ask it neutrally. If yes, are they fully pre-approved or just pre-qualified. If no, that is your immediate next step for them.
4. **What monthly payment feels comfortable?** Ask about the payment, not the price. People know what they can live with monthly far better than they know what a purchase price means, and comfortable is a different number than maximum.
5. **Do you need to sell something first?** The question that would have saved the Saturday. Ask it every single time, even when it seems obvious that they do not.
6. **Who else is part of this decision?** A spouse, a parent helping with the down payment, a business partner. Anyone whose yes is required needs to be in the process from the beginning, not surprised at the end.
7. **Have you seen anything in person yet, and are you working with another agent?** Both matter, and the second one is a question of professional courtesy that you never want to discover the hard way.

## How to sort the answers

When you hang up, put them in one of three buckets. Do it immediately, while it is fresh, and write the reason down.

- **Ready.** Pre-approved, a real timeline inside ninety days, nothing that has to sell first, decision makers accounted for. This person gets a showing appointment before you get off the phone.
- **Close.** Motivated and realistic, but missing one thing. Usually the lender. Your job is to make that one thing happen. Introduce the lender, set a follow up date, and put a real date on the calendar rather than leaving it at let me know.
- **Later.** Six months or more out, or dependent on something outside their control. Not a bad lead, just a slow one. They go into your long-term nurture with a scheduled check-in, and you stop spending Saturdays on them.

That third bucket is where most agents leak value. Later does not mean gone. It means they will buy from whoever is still around when the timing arrives, and a [90-day nurture track for leads who are not ready yet](/blog/90-day-nurture-track-for-not-ready-leads) is how you stay that person without spending weekends.

## What to do when someone dodges

Occasionally someone will not answer the lender question or gets cagey about the payment. Do not push twice. Instead, be transparent about why you ask: I only ask because I would rather show you three houses you can actually buy than ten you cannot, and the lender conversation is what tells us which is which.

If they still will not engage, that is your answer. Not a reason to be rude, and not a reason to give them a Saturday. Send them listings, stay friendly, and let them come back when they are ready to have the real conversation.

## The call sheet

Print this or keep it in a note. Same seven questions, same three buckets, every single time. Consistency is what turns this from a good idea into a system.

```discovery-call.txt
NAME: ____________  DATE: ______  SOURCE: __________

OPEN  "Want to make sure I send you the right houses
       instead of wasting your weekend. Mind if I ask
       a few quick questions?"

1 what has you looking right now?      ______________
2 timeline, and what's driving it?     ______________
3 talked to a lender? pre-APPROVED?    ______________
4 payment that feels comfortable?      $_____________
5 anything you need to sell first?     ______________
6 who else is in the decision?         ______________
7 seen anything in person / working
  with another agent?                  ______________

BUCKET  (decide before you hang up)
  [ ] READY   approved + 90 days + nothing to sell
              -> book the showing ON THIS CALL
  [ ] CLOSE   missing ONE thing: ______________
              -> next step + DATE: ______
  [ ] LATER   6+ months or waiting on something
              -> nurture track, check-in date: ______

RULE  never skip question 5. that is the Saturday.
```

_Ten minutes on the phone. Three buckets. Every buyer, every time, before anyone gets in a car._

The agents who seem to have endless time are not working fewer hours. They are spending those hours with people who can actually transact, and they figured that out on a phone call instead of in a car.

Use the sheet on the next three buyer calls you take, without skipping a question because it feels awkward. Making it a habit rather than a good intention is the part [Coachmark](/#how-it-works) helps with, keeping the next step and the date you promised in front of you instead of in your memory.

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Coachmark · https://coachmark.io