• User says "prep me for my sales call", "call prep for [company]", "research [person] before our demo"
• User says "I have a call with [person] at [company] tomorrow", "meeting prep for a prospect"
• User has an upcoming meeting with a prospect (not an internal meeting, not a customer check-in)
• An upstream workflow (meeting lifecycle, daily BDR rhythm) triggers call prep for sales meetings

1. Identify the prospect(s) from calendar or manual input. Filter out internal team members.
2. Check ALL prior interaction sources (critical — do this before any web research):
   The goal is to reconstruct a complete interaction timeline before the call. Walking into a meeting without knowing you've already emailed someone, had a deal in pipeline, or that a teammate talked to their colleague is a credibility killer. Check every available source.

   A) CRM Records (Attio, Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, etc.)

   Check for BOTH the person AND their company. Pull:

   What to Check	What to Pull	Why It Matters
   Company record	Does the company exist in your CRM? What lists is it on?	Shows if they're already a prospect, customer, or cold
   Contact record	Does THIS person exist? Are there other contacts at the company?	Tells you if a colleague already engaged with you
   Active deals	Any open deal for this company? Stage, value, owner, age?	You might already be mid-cycle with them — don't restart the conversation
   Closed deals	Any won or lost deals? If lost, what was the reason?	Lost deals = you know their objections. Won deals = upsell conversation.
   Deal notes	Notes from previous calls, meetings, or interactions	Read every note — they contain gold for personalization
   Deal history	Stage changes, timeline, velocity	Shows how fast (or slow) they move
   Other contacts at company	Names, titles, roles of other people you've talked to	Reference them: "I was speaking with [colleague] about..."
   Comments / activities	Any logged calls, emails, tasks, or comments on their record	May contain context that didn't make it into deal notes

   B) Outreach / Sequencing Tool (SmartLead, Instantly, Outreach, Lemlist, etc.)

   Search by email AND by name. Pull:

   What to Check	What to Pull	Why It Matters
   Campaign membership	Were they in a campaign? Which one? When?	You already reached out — don't pretend this is a cold intro
   Emails sent	Exact subject lines and email bodies you sent them	Know what you said so you don't repeat yourself or contradict it
   Their reply	Did they reply? What did they say? Full reply text.	Their exact words are the best conversation opener: "You mentioned X..."
   Lead category	Interested / Not interested / Out of office / Bounced / etc.	If they were marked "interested," you know their temperature
   Trigger signal	What signal sourced this outreach? (hiring, funding, leadership change)	Reference the original signal: "When we first reached out, it was because [signal]..."
   Sequence position	Which email in the sequence did they respond to (or stop at)?	Tells you what messaging resonated vs. fell flat
   Email account used	Which sender mailbox was used?	Know which "version of you" they interacted with

   C) Other Interaction Sources

   Check any additional places where prior contact may have occurred:

   Source	What to Check
   Client notes file	clients/<client>/notes.md — may reference past conversations, call summaries, or decisions
   Previous content/outputs	clients/<client>/content/ — past call preps, outreach drafts, or research that included this person or company
   Calendar	Previous meetings with this person or company
   LinkedIn messages	Direct messages or InMail exchanges (ask user if they recall any)
   Referral context	How did this meeting come about? Warm intro from whom? Ask user.
   Shared Slack/email threads	Any back-channel conversations about this prospect

   D) Compile Interaction Timeline

   After checking all sources, build a chronological timeline of every touchpoint:

   interaction_timeline: [
     { date: "2026-01-15", type: "outreach_sent", detail: "Email 1 of hiring-signal campaign. Subject: 'The new CCO mandate'" },
     { date: "2026-01-18", type: "reply_received", detail: "Replied: 'Interesting, let's chat next month'" },
     { date: "2026-02-01", type: "deal_created", detail: "Deal created in Attio. Stage: Meeting booked. Value: $36K" },
     { date: "2026-02-10", type: "call_completed", detail: "Discovery call. Notes: 'Interested in outbound automation, evaluating Clay'" },
     { date: "2026-02-10", type: "deal_stage_change", detail: "Stage moved to Evaluation" },
   ]

   This timeline goes directly into the 30-Second Brief and Call Strategy. If you have prior interactions, the call type, opening line, and discovery questions all change:

   Prior Interaction	How It Changes the Call
   No prior interaction	True cold discovery — qualify from scratch
   Outreach sent, no reply	Warm-ish — they've seen your name. Reference the email: "I sent you a note about X a few weeks ago..."
   Outreach sent, they replied positively	Warm — pick up where the conversation left off. Don't re-pitch.
   Outreach sent, they replied negatively	Handle carefully — they already said no. Understand why before re-engaging.
   Active deal in CRM	You're mid-cycle — this is a follow-up, not a discovery call. Read all notes.
   Lost deal in CRM	Re-engagement — acknowledge the history: "I know we talked back in [month] and the timing wasn't right..."
   Colleague already engaged	Multi-thread — reference the colleague: "I've been working with [name] on..."

3. Determine call type and objective:

   Call Type	How to Detect	Default Objective
   Cold discovery	No prior deal, first meeting	Qualify: Do they have the problem? Budget? Authority? Timeline?
   Warm discovery	They replied to outreach positively	Qualify + build rapport. They already showed interest — figure out why.
   Demo	Post-qualification, scheduled demo	Show value. Map product to their specific pain. Get next step.
   Follow-up	Post-demo, they're evaluating	Handle objections. Introduce new proof. Advance to proposal.
   Negotiation	Proposal sent, discussing terms	Close. Handle final objections. Align on timeline and terms.
   Champion call	Internal champion, not decision maker	Arm the champion. Give them ammunition to sell internally.
   Executive meeting	VP+ or C-suite involved	Be strategic, not tactical. ROI and vision, not features.

• Never trash the competitor. Acknowledge what they do well. Differentiate on where you're stronger.
• If you don't know the competitor, ask the prospect: "What do you like about [tool]? What's missing?"
• Frame as "different approach" not "we're better"

• Who: [Name], [Title] at [Company] — [authority level]. [Time in role].
• What they do: [Company] is a [1-sentence description]. [Size, industry, stage].
• Prior interaction: [CRITICAL — "No prior contact" OR "We emailed them on [date] about [topic], they replied [summary]" OR "Active deal in [stage] since [date]" OR "Lost deal [date] — reason: [reason]". This single line changes the entire call approach.]
• Why this call: [How this meeting came about — outreach reply, inbound, referral, etc.]
• Key signal: [The one thing that makes this call timely — funding, hiring, pain post, etc.]
• Your angle: [One sentence on why your product matters to them right now]

• "They replied positively to your hiring-signal outreach — open by referencing that: 'You mentioned you were interested when we first reached out about [topic]...'"
• "Deal has been in Evaluation for 18 days with no movement — this is a re-engagement call, not a discovery call. Ask what's changed since the last conversation."
• "Your colleague [name] already talked to their VP Sales — reference that: 'I know [colleague] has been working with [their VP]...'"
• "They were marked 'Not Interested' in a previous campaign 3 months ago — acknowledge it: 'I know we reached out before and the timing wasn't right. What's different now?'"

1. [Their recent post about X — use as an opener or bridge]
2. [A project they led at their previous company]
3. [Something from company news they're likely proud of]
4. [Mutual connection or shared experience]
5. [A comment they made about a problem you solve]

"[Suggested opening — references a conversation hook and sets the agenda naturally. E.g., 'Thanks for making time, [Name]. I saw your post about [topic] — that's actually a big part of why I wanted to connect. I'd love to learn about how [Company] is handling [pain area] and see if what we're building is relevant. Sound good?']"

1. [Question that confirms they have the pain your product solves]
2. [Question about how they're handling it today — incumbent tool or manual process?]
3. [Question about timeline — are they actively evaluating or just learning?]
4. [Question about decision process — who else is involved?]
5. [Question about budget — how do they typically buy tools in this category?]

1. [Value point] — [How to frame it for this prospect, using their specific situation]
   • Proof: [Relevant proof point]
   • Transition: [How to move from discovery to this point naturally]
2. [Value point] — [Framing]
   • Proof: [Proof]
3. [Value point] — [Framing]
   • Proof: [Proof]

"[Suggested response — acknowledge, reframe, proof point]"

"[Response]"

"[Response]"

• [Thing NOT to bring up and why — e.g., "Don't mention their recent layoffs. Still sensitive."]
• [Topic to avoid — e.g., "Don't reference competitor by name unless they bring it up first."]
• [Assumption NOT to make — e.g., "Don't assume they have budget authority — verify first."]

• Outcome: Qualified / Not qualified / Needs follow-up
• Key pains confirmed: [What they actually said they struggle with]
• Decision process: [Who's involved, timeline, budget]
• Next step agreed: [What happens next]
• Objections raised: [What came up, how you handled it]
• Competitive mentions: [Any competitors discussed]
• Follow-up items: [What you promised to send/do]

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