A VP of Marketing owns a number and a team that is always running at capacity. They have sat through the pitch where a vendor promises to fix their funnel without knowing what it looks like. The ones who earn the call ask about the specific gap between the pipeline target and what the team can actually produce this quarter. That gap is where the budget is.
What a VP of Marketing actually cares about
A VP of Marketing is measured on marketing-sourced pipeline, program efficiency, and how well marketing and sales are aligned. They buy to hit the number without adding headcount, so 'saves the team time' matters only if it turns into pipeline. Prep around the target-versus-capacity gap and every answer maps to a field you can act on.
Discovery call questions for a VP of Marketing
Copy the list and cut it to the six or eight that fit the deal. Lead with the question that gets at the number they own, and let the rest earn their place. Each is tagged with the MEDDICC field it fills, so your notes drop straight into the CRM.
- What is the pipeline target this quarter, and how far off is the run rate? (Metrics)
- Where is the team most stretched: content, demand, ops, events? (Implicate Pain)
- Walk me through how a campaign goes from idea to sourced pipeline. (Decision Process)
- How aligned are marketing and sales on what a qualified lead is? (Implicate Pain)
- When pipeline misses, is it usually volume, quality, or follow-up? (Implicate Pain)
- What would let the team hit the number without hiring? (Metrics)
- What have you tried to close that gap, and why did it not stick? (Competition)
- Which channel are you least sure is working, and why? (Metrics)
- If something closed the gap, how does it get approved here? (Decision Process)
- Who else weighs in: the CMO, RevOps, finance? (Economic Buyer)
- Ninety days in, what tells you this worked? (Metrics)
- Who on the team would run point on it? (Champion)
Do not read the whole list out loud. Pick six, open on the target-versus-capacity gap, and let the answers pull the rest. The prompt below tailors these to a real account.
Generate these for your exact account
The list is the floor. The call is won by tying each question to their real programs and their pipeline target, which means reading their site and recent campaigns first. That is the prep you skip when the call is in five minutes. Hand it to Claude.
You are prepping me for a discovery call with a VP of Marketing at {{company}} ({{company URL}}).
First, read their website: what they sell, who they sell to, how they go to market, and any public signals about their priorities right now.
Then take the discovery questions below and, for each one, swap the generic blank for something specific to {{company}} and this VP of Marketing's world. Keep every question mapped to its {{MEDDICC}} field. Cut the list to the 8 that best fit this deal, sequence them broad to specific, and flag the ONE question most likely to surface a real gap I can act on.
Use only what you can read or reasonably infer, and mark anything inferred so I do not assert it as fact on the call.
QUESTIONS:
{{paste the list above}}Generate this for any account
- Discovery call prep skill →The Claude skill that tailors this whole list to a specific account and your framework (MEDDICC, BANT, SPICED).
- Sales discovery questions prompt →The copy-paste prompt version, tailored to the deal in front of you.
Frequently asked questions
What should you ask a VP of Marketing on a discovery call?
Lead with the gap between their pipeline target and what the team can actually deliver this quarter. A VP of Marketing is measured on sourced pipeline, efficiency, and sales alignment, so questions about the number and the bottleneck land, and generic 'what are your goals' questions do not. Keep it to six or eight and map each answer to a qualification field.
How is discovery with a VP of Marketing different from a CMO?
A CMO is defending the number to the board; a VP of Marketing is trying to hit it with a stretched team. So the VP conversation gets more operational: which programs are working, where the team is capacity-bound, and how marketing and sales define a qualified lead. Same number, closer to the execution.