Why discovery is your most valuable hour
Discovery is not just about getting to know your client’s goals. It is about the full picture of what you are walking into.
We lay it all on the table. We do audits, deep dives, full scope reviews. Here's where you're at, here's what we can do, here's what we recommend. Everything we do is connected to what we actually find.
Pip Savaris, Director of Customer Success
Andzen, Klaviyo Master Elite Partner
Use this time to ask…
Integrations and tech stack
- What ecommerce platform are they on?
- What ESP are they migrating from and when does access end?
- Any custom or non-standard integrations?
- SMS, loyalty, reviews, paid ads
- What else is in the stack?
- Are they working with other agencies, and in what capacity?
⚠️ Custom integration = stop. Do not commit to a timeline until you have scoped this with their dev team. It changes everything downstream.
💡 Easy miss: If their ESP contract ends soon, migration jumps to the top of your plan. If they have a big send coming, they can keep their old platform running in parallel while warming Klaviyo. They probably do not know that yet.
List health and sending history
- Subscribed profiles vs. total profiles — what is the gap?
- Average open and click rates?
- When was the list last cleaned?
- Can they export engagement data — opens, clicks — from their current platform?
⚠️ Email health yellow flags Seeing an open rate below 20%? Or is your client admitting that they’ve never cleaned their list? This shapes your entire approach to the first sends. Switching ESPs does not reset their sender reputation. Whatever they built on their last platform follows them to Klaviyo.
💡 No engagement data? Sometimes, you will find that your client can’t export their engagement data. If that is the case, first warming sends will be built from behavioral signals: placed order, started checkout. Know this before you try to build your segments.
Goals and priorities
- What are their main goals with Klaviyo and are they the same goals sales was hearing?
- What does success look like at the end of onboarding?
- Which goals are realistic during onboarding vs. what comes after?
- Are there goals around specific products: texting, reviews?
💡 Come in with goals already drafted. A proven talk track from our partners: "I synced with your AE before this call and outlined the goals I heard you have, let me walk through them." Then ask: "Does this reflect what you are looking for? Anything to add, change, or drop?" It signals preparation and immediately builds trust.
⚠️ Goals set in sales are not always goals the client remembers. This is your chance to verify, reset if needed, and be clear about what is achievable in 60 days vs. what is a longer-term play. A client who thinks they are getting a full segmentation strategy in week two needs to hear the realistic picture now.
Growth, targeting, and segmentation
- How are they acquiring subscribers?
- Do they segment, or send to the full list?
- Custom profile properties: birthday, preferences, interests?
- All sign-up touchpoints: checkout, pop-ups, in-store, social?
⚠️ Full-list senders with no segmentation almost always have deliverability problems they do not know about yet.
Automations and current strategy
- Any flows running with their current ESP?
- Campaign frequency and types?
- Which automations are essential to keeping their business running right now?
- What are they most excited to build in Klaviyo — and why did they move?
💡 A typical Klaviyo standard onboarding covers 3 flows: welcome series, browse abandonment, and abandoned checkout. If they want more, acknowledge it and be clear about scope now.
⚠️ Watch for hidden surprises (the bad kind). A loyalty program that powers their winback flow, a reviews integration they consider non-negotiable, a transactional flow that cannot go dark during migration: these are the things that force you to backtrack your progress in week four if you do not ask in week one.
And most importantly, deadlines and constraints
Are there any:
- Major launches, campaigns, or seasonal peaks coming up?
- Other Klaviyo products onboarding at the same time?
- Hard date to be off their current ESP?
- Who actually needs to be involved — and are they on this call?
💡 Multi-product onboarding? Sequence it now. Email, text, reviews, what goes first? Three weeks in is too late to figure this out.
A typical onboarding scenario
Your client wants to send to 20,000 people next week. They have never warmed in Klaviyo. They have never cleaned their list.
Here is how you can use discovery to inform your strategy:
Question 1: When does their ESP contract end?
If it is still active, they can send the launch campaign through their old platform while you begin warming Klaviyo in parallel. That is a real option and most clients do not know it exists.
Question 2: What are their open and click rates in their previous ESP?
If they are already below 20%, sending 20,000 cold contacts in Klaviyo would damage the domain reputation they are bringing with them. This is where the warming conversation comes in.
Question 3: When was the last time the list has been cleaned?
If it has never been cleaned, the launch itself might be the right moment to start: send to your most engaged segment first, measure performance, and expand from there.
Takeaway:
Not every discovery call goes in order. But if you are unsure where to focus, start with integration complexity because a custom integration that needs a technical scoping call changes your timeline.
From there: list health tells you how cautious to be with the first sends. Goals tell you what the client actually expects and whether those expectations are realistic. Automations tells you what cannot go dark during migration. Deadlines tell you help you manage expectations early.