Creative discovery calls are big part of winning work from agencies. We’re recapping some best practices from veteran producer Chris Whitten for you all to consider for your next one. Before any of the questions below, do the homework. Read the creative. Read the brief. Actually read them, and come ready to talk to them, what you noticed, what you’d push on, what you’d protect. You’d be surprised how often this gets skipped, and clients feel it in the first two minutes. Walking in prepared reads as “I already care about your project.” That’s the whole game before you’ve asked a single question.
“The brief tells me what you want made. Walk me through what you want it to do.”
The brief covers the thing. It rarely covers the result. Their answer tells you whether they’re hiring you to make a thing or to deliver a business outcome. The second one is the better client, every time.
“What’s the business reason this exists?”
A grown-up client connects the work to an outcome. A bad fit describes the deliverable and stops there. If you can’t find the problem behind the project, the project is going to drift.
“Who else is involved in choosing the photographer/director?”
This catches the phantom approver, the exec who kills the deal after two rounds of treatments, the teammate who has to “show it around.” Every silent stakeholder is a future revision. You don’t have to dig. You just have to ask.
“When does this need to deliver, and when can we start?”
The gap between those two dates is where the truth lives. “ASAP” with a six-week start isn’t ASAP. “Flexible” with a hard deadline isn’t flexible. Surface the gap on the call, not on the invoice.
“Who did this for you last year? What worked, what didn’t?”
This tells you what they value, in their own words. It also tells you whether they take responsibility for the relationship or make the last vendor the villain. If they badmouth three previous vendors in one call, you’re the fourth.
“What concerns do you have about hiring me?”
Almost no one asks this, which is exactly why it works. The client has a hesitation they were going to quietly turn into a no. Now it’s out loud. You either address it on the call, or you walk away knowing you were never the fit. Both outcomes save you a proposal.
“What are you most excited about for this project?”
Save this one for last. After twenty minutes of being diagnostic with you, let them remember why they wanted to make the call in the first place. You’ll hear the real reason the project exists, what they’ll be paying attention to when you deliver, and the energy to match in the bid. It’s also just a generous question. Let them end on the part they love.
“Here’s what I heard. The project is X. The outcome you need is Y. Decision by next Friday. Anyone else I should be talking to? Did I miss anything?”
The recap does three things: it shows you listened, it surfaces anything you misheard, and it ends the call on a clear next step instead of a vague promise. Then tell them what happens next, or tell them you’re going to think about it. Both beat a same-day proposal.
That’s it. Ask better questions, win better clients.
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