What I ask in discovery callsA discovery call gives potential clients a chance to get to know you, and the opportunity for both parties to ask questions. But in my early days, my only question was, “When can I start?” Now, I have a fairly long list of queries to check off in discovery calls. For example, here’s a list of questions I put together for a call I had a few weeks ago: How many meetings per month? Paid meetings? What’s involved in the training? Can you walk me through what a typical project looks like from assignment to publication? What's the approval process like, and how many rounds of revisions are typical? How far in advance do you typically assign work, and what are your usual turnaround expectations? What does your editorial support look like? Will I have an editor to work with directly? How do you typically onboard new freelancers? Is there a trial period or initial test assignment? What is your pay structure (hourly/per project/retainer)?
I also saw this in their job description: “be available during standard EST business hours.” and I wanted some clarification on that. Why? For meetings? In most cases, my interviewer answers a bunch of these during their initial “spiel.” But it’s still smart to have them all listed beforehand. It shows you’re thinking critically about the work and process. What did I miss? What do you like to ask potential clients?
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