Should a discovery call be free?
Yes, if it’s short and has an end: twenty minutes to find out whether you can help. Start charging the day the call starts doing the work, when people leave it with the advice they’d otherwise pay you for.
A free call is a handshake. A free session is a leak. The trouble is they look the same in your calendar.
What the call is for
Two questions, asked both ways: can you help, and do you want to work together? That’s all. If you’re solving the problem on the call, the call is too long, or it’s a session you forgot to charge for.
Short, with an end
- Twenty minutes, booked like any other time, with an end you can both see.
- One question asked before it’s booked, so you arrive knowing what it’s about.
- A next step at the end: the offer you’d recommend, sent as a link the same day.
When to start charging
When your calendar fills with calls that don’t become work, or people treat the call as the help itself. A small fee, taken off the first session if they go ahead, sorts the curious from the committed without turning anybody away for good.
Give the handshake away. Charge for the help.
Checked 2026-10-10.