You’re busy. A discovery call can be a goldmine — or a silent profit leak. This calculator estimates the expected monthly revenue, gross profit, and ROI from your discovery calls after accounting for no‑shows, close rate, deal size, gross margin, lead costs, and your time cost.
Set your monthly call volume and the “conversion chain” (booked → show‑up → closed). Then include economics: average deal value, gross margin, lead cost per booked call, and your time cost. Tip: start with your last 30–90 days averages.
Below are simplified examples using the same formula. Your real business will vary, but these show why discovery call ROI is usually won (or lost) on a small set of levers.
Fix: introduce a pre‑call form, confirm via SMS/email, and tighten qualification. If show‑up increases from 55% to 80% with the same booking volume, the entire engine changes.
Fix: productize or bundle (e.g., a $2,000 starter package) or shift to a retainer. You can have a good close rate and still lose money if the deal value doesn’t justify the time.
Fix: here, scaling volume may make sense — but only if delivery capacity and quality stay strong.
ROI compares the profit from your discovery calls to the costs required to generate and run them. Costs include lead spend and the dollar value of your time (plus optional overhead). It answers: “For every $1 I invest into discovery calls, how much profit do I earn back?”
For consultants and founders, using your target billable rate (or what you could earn doing delivery work) is often best. If you’re salaried, use your fully-loaded hourly cost (salary + taxes + benefits) or your realistic opportunity cost. The point is not to feel bad — it’s to be honest about tradeoffs.
Set “deal value” to the revenue you want to attribute to the discovery call. Common options are: first month MRR, first 3 months, or first 12 months. Pick one and use it consistently so you can compare month to month.
Because real months are lumpy. Expected value smooths randomness so you can decide which lever matters most. Over enough calls, your averages converge.
It depends on your business and capacity. Many teams aim for at least 100% ROI (2× return) on the time + lead investment. If you’re early, even modest positive ROI can be acceptable while you learn — but negative ROI is a signal to fix the funnel before scaling.
Send a calendar invite immediately, add a reminder sequence (24h + 1h), ask one short pre‑call question, and make rescheduling easy. If the prospect invests a little before the call, show‑up tends to rise.
Focus on fit. A clean discovery call clarifies the problem, stakes, and constraints, then proposes one clear next step. Better qualification and a tighter offer often increase close rate with less pressure.
No — intentionally. This is ROI of the sales activity (discovery calls). Delivery economics should be handled in your margin assumption and in tools like unit economics and profitability calculators.
If your ROI is negative, it doesn’t mean discovery calls are “bad.” It means your current process is priced or structured in a way that can’t support the time/lead investment. Often the solution is simple: qualify harder, productize your offer, raise prices, or remove steps.
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