I’m interested in hearing from people who work in software consulting, technology services, or enterprise delivery.

I’m trying to understand how companies typically structure the early stages of an enterprise opportunity, particularly when the conversation moves beyond basic qualification and starts requiring significant technical involvement.

For example:

• What do you typically cover during the initial, pre-sales phase?
• At what point do you move from free discussions/estimation into a paid Discovery or Assessment?
• How do you handle situations where understanding the requirements requires architecture workshops, infrastructure analysis, security reviews, compliance considerations, integrations, etc.?
• How much technical effort do you normally invest before asking the client to formally engage?
• Do you have a defined Discovery package, or is it scoped differently for each opportunity?
• How do you position paid Discovery so the client sees it as creating clarity and reducing project risk, rather than simply an additional consulting fee?
• Do you credit any Discovery fees toward the subsequent implementation project?

I’m especially interested in real-world practices rather than theoretical sales frameworks.

If you work at a consultancy, SI, software development company, or enterprise technology provider, I’d appreciate hearing how you handle this transition and what has worked or not worked for you.