| Category | Business Development |
|---|---|
| Time to Run | 15 min |
| Difficulty | Standard |
| Output | Document |
| Client-Facing | No — internal use |
It’s the morning of a discovery or diagnostic call. You know the prospect’s name and maybe a few details from an intake form, but you haven’t organized your thinking about what to look for, what questions to lead with, or where this person likely sits in their practice lifecycle. You’re about to spend 30–60 minutes with someone who’s deciding whether to hire you — and you’re going in with vibes instead of a plan.
Run this the morning of any discovery or diagnostic call with a new prospect. Fifteen minutes of structured prep makes the difference between a conversation that meanders and one that diagnoses.
This is the complete .md skill file. Copy the code block below, save it as diagnostic-call-prep-SKILL.md, and upload it to a Claude project for use.
---
name: diagnostic-call-prep
description: >
Generates a structured call prep document for discovery or diagnostic calls
with new prospects. Trigger: the morning of a scheduled prospect call.
metadata:
author: "Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders"
version: "1.0.0"
date: "2026-04-25"
---
# Diagnostic Call Prep
Build a focused call prep document that gives you a hypothesis, targeted questions, and a call structure — so you diagnose instead of just discover.
**Core Principle: Enter every diagnostic call with a hypothesis, not just curiosity. The hypothesis can be wrong — but having one forces better questions and faster pattern recognition. A call without a hypothesis is a conversation. A call with one is a diagnostic.**
## What This Skill Does
**Job 1: Prospect Profiling.** It assembles everything you know into a working profile — company type, likely challenges based on industry and size, referral source signals, and intake form analysis. Thin inputs still produce useful output because the skill maps what you know against common patterns.
**Job 2: Hypothesis Generation.** Based on the profile, it generates 1–2 working hypotheses about the prospect’s primary constraint. These aren’t predictions — they’re starting points that structure your questioning. "Based on the profile, the likely constraint is [X]. Test this with [specific question]."
**Job 3: Call Architecture.** It builds a structured call flow with opening, diagnostic questions organized by hypothesis, closing sequence, and clear next-step language. Not a rigid script — a flexible structure that keeps the call diagnostic rather than conversational.
## Section 1: Prospect Profile
Compile a brief profile from the available inputs:
- Name, company, industry, approximate size if known
- Source channel (referral, organic, event) and what it signals about readiness
- Key intake form signals — pull the 2–3 most revealing answers, not all of them
- What’s missing — explicitly name any gaps in your pre-call knowledge
Format as a short summary (4–6 lines), not a form. This should read like a briefing.
## Section 2: Working Hypotheses
Generate 1–2 hypotheses about the prospect’s likely primary constraint. Each hypothesis gets:
- A clear statement: "Their primary constraint is likely [X]"
- Supporting signals: what in the profile points to this
- A test question: one specific question that would confirm or disprove the hypothesis
Don’t hedge — commit to a hypothesis and then design questions to test it. Wrong hypotheses still produce better calls than no hypotheses.
## Section 3: Diagnostic Questions
Build 8–12 questions organized in three tiers:
**Tier 1 — Opening (2–3 questions):** Broad, warm, gets them talking. "Walk me through how [specific thing] works in your practice right now." These confirm basic facts and build rapport.
**Tier 2 — Diagnostic (4–6 questions):** Pointed questions that test the hypotheses. Each question should name a specific operational area and ask for a concrete example. "When was the last time [specific scenario]? What happened?" Avoid yes/no framing.
**Tier 3 — Impact (2–3 questions):** Connect the constraint to business outcomes. "What does that cost you in a typical quarter — in time, revenue, or opportunities?" These questions establish urgency without manufacturing it.
## Section 4: Call Flow
Build a time-blocked call structure:
- **0–5 min:** Frame the call — what you’ll cover, what the outcome is, how long it’ll take. Exact language provided.
- **5–25 min:** Diagnostic section — move through tiers, follow threads, update hypotheses live.
- **25–35 min:** Share initial observations. Not a prescription — a "here’s what I’m hearing" reflection.
- **35–40 min:** Next steps. Exact language for the close: either "Here’s what I’d recommend as a next step" or "I don’t think I’m the right fit — here’s who might be."
Include exact opening and closing language — not prompts to improvise.
## Section 5: Red Flags and Green Lights
Build two short lists:
**Green lights** (signals this is a good-fit prospect):
- They name a specific operational pain, not a vague desire
- They’ve tried to solve it before (shows willingness to invest)
- They can articulate what "better" looks like
**Red flags** (signals to watch for):
- They want a price before describing the problem
- They’re shopping multiple vendors simultaneously
- The real decision-maker isn’t on the call
## Section 6: What to Skip / What to Watch For
**Leave alone:** Don’t try to sell on a diagnostic call. Don’t pitch your methodology, don’t share case studies unprompted, don’t talk about yourself for more than 90 seconds total. The call is about them.
**Watch for:** If the prospect keeps circling back to the same topic from different angles, that’s the real constraint — even if it’s not what they named on the intake form. Note it and redirect your diagnostic questions toward it.
## Quality Check (Internal — never shown to the user)
| Check | Question |
|-------|----------|
| Hypothesis-driven | Does the prep include at least one testable hypothesis with a specific test question? |
| Specific | Are the diagnostic questions about this prospect’s likely situation, not generic? |
| Structured | Does the call flow have time blocks and exact opening/closing language? |
| Balanced | Are both red flags and green lights included? |
| Concise | Can the entire prep be reviewed in under 5 minutes? |
**Enforcement:** Run all five checks. Identify the weakest section. Rewrite it. Verify the rewrite actually improved the output. If the diagnostic questions are generic, replace them with questions specific to the prospect’s industry and profile. User sees only the finished document.
## Rules
- Never produce generic discovery questions. Every question must connect to the prospect profile or the hypothesis.
- Include exact language for the call open and close — not prompts like "introduce yourself."
- Keep the entire document under 700 words. This is a pre-call scan, not a research report.
- If intake form data is missing, say so and generate hypotheses from industry patterns instead.
- Never include pricing discussion in the call flow. Pricing happens after diagnosis, not during.
- Bold the hypothesis statements — they’re the anchors the entire call rotates around.
- Include one "permission to be direct" question: "I’m going to ask some pointed questions — is that alright?"
## Output Format
[4–6 line briefing synthesizing available information] Missing: [What you don’t know yet]
Opening
Diagnostic
Impact
| Time | Section | Key Move |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Frame | "[Exact opening language]" |
| 5–25 min | Diagnose | Work through tiers, follow threads |
| 25–35 min | Reflect | "Here’s what I’m hearing…" |
| 35–40 min | Close | "[Exact closing language with next step]" |
## What Makes This Different
Most call prep is a name and a LinkedIn profile skim. This skill builds a hypothesis before the call starts, which fundamentally changes how you listen. Instead of collecting information passively, you’re testing a theory actively — and that makes you faster, sharper, and more credible. The tiered question structure ensures you don’t spend 30 minutes on small talk before asking the question that actually matters.
---
Copyright (c) 2026 Kathryn Brown, Practice Builders
This skill is licensed for your personal and business use. You may run this skill inside your own practice and share the outputs it produces with your team and clients. "Your practice" includes employees and contractors engaged to perform work for your business under your direction — virtual assistants, operations support, bookkeepers, and similar team members.
You may not share, distribute, resell, or repackage the skill file itself — including this SKILL.md document, its prompts, frameworks, and structure — with anyone outside your practice. This includes peer practitioners, other consultants who would use it in their own client work, and anyone outside your operating team. Written permission from Kathryn Brown ([email protected]) is required for any redistribution.
This skill is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied.
A structured call prep document with a prospect profile, 1–2 working hypotheses with test questions, 8–12 tiered diagnostic questions, a time-blocked call flow with exact opening and closing language, and green light/red flag checklists. Under 700 words. Designed to be scanned in five minutes before the call.