03 — Customer Discovery & Pre-Sales
Overview: Learn to ask the right questions, surface the real problem, and move from discovery → proof-of-concept → production. This is where you earn the "trusted technical advisor" title.
What This Module Tests
- Discovery rigor — Can you ask diagnostic questions that surface the actual problem vs the stated problem?
- Solution judgment — Do you know when Claude is the right tool and when it's not?
- Stakeholder alignment — Can you coordinate between customers, account executives, and your own organization?
Learning Path
Recommended order:
| Step | File | Purpose | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01-Discovery-Call-Structure | How to structure a discovery call | 15 min |
| 2 | 02-Discovery-to-Production-Motion | Stages: discovery → design → POC → production | 15 min |
| 3 | 03-Stakeholder-Mapping | Identify decision-makers, influencers, blockers | 15 min |
| 4 | 04-When-to-Say-Claude-Is-Not-The-Tool | Honesty about Claude's limits | 10 min |
| 5 | 05-Working-With-Account-Executives | Coordinate with AE without stepping on toes | 10 min |
Total notes time: ~65 minutes
Practice Exercises
| Drill | Focus | Time | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01-Discovery-Call-Simulation | Role-play: You're in a discovery call with a BFSI customer | 15 min | Question quality, listening, surface vs stated problem |
| 02-Surface-the-Real-Problem | Customer says "We need an LLM." What do you ask? | 5 min | Diagnostic thinking, judgment |
| 03-Three-Discovery-Objections | Handle: "Claude is too expensive", "We're not sure about AI", "Our data is sensitive" | 10 min | Credibility, honesty, framing |
Goal: All 3 at Hire level minimum.
Running BFSI Customer
- 01-BFSI-Discovery-Script — Your discovery conversation with the BFSI customer; results feed into later modules
Knowledge Check
Interview-QA-Bank covers: - Discovery & pre-sales strategy (HM questions) - Customer situation analysis (technical questions) - Decision-making under uncertainty (values questions)
👉 Skim the Q&A Bank first. Mark your 5 weakest questions.
How to Work This Module
- ✅ Read all 5 Notes in order (~65 minutes)
- ✅ Run the 3 Drills — Record your discovery call simulation; listen for genuine curiosity vs script
- ✅ Review the case study — You're discovering a real BFSI problem; what would you ask?
- ✅ Skim Interview-QA-Bank — Mark your 5 weakest questions
- ✅ Mark complete when all Drills reach Hire level
Strong-Hire bar: You can gracefully say "Claude is not the right tool" for a customer problem.
What's Next
After this module: - You know how to run a discovery call - You understand the handoff from discovery → architecture - You can read a customer and know when to say "no" - You can work productively with account executives
Next Module: 04-Claude-Platform-Architecture
Quick Reference
Key Files: - Notes: Notes/ (5 files) - Drills: Drills/ (3 exercises) - Case Study: Case-Study/ - Interview Q&A: Interview-QA-Bank