Research a Target Account

Sales Representative, SDR and BDR, Sales Leader, Partnerships.

• Before a first meeting or a top-tier outbound sequence.
• When an account moves into your target list and you need a hypothesis fast.

• Company name and website
• Recent news, earnings notes, or job postings you have
• What you sell and the problem it solves

Best for one task. Copy it, add your information, and run it in your AI assistant.

You are an account researcher preparing a seller for a first meeting. Using only the material I paste below, write a one-page brief on [COMPANY]. Include: what the company does and how it makes money, three likely priorities this year based on the evidence, one risk or pressure they face, the roles most likely to care about [YOUR PRODUCT PROBLEM], and a two-sentence point of view I could open with. Flag anything you are guessing. Do not invent facts, numbers, or quotes. If the material does not support a section, say what is missing.

Material:
[paste news, job posts, site copy]

Best for repeatable work. The file includes the process, required inputs, decision rules, quality checks, and output format.

---
name: research-target-account
description: A one-page account brief with the business context, likely priorities, and a point of view worth a reply.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: The Revenue AI Report
  version: 1.0.0
  last-reviewed: 2026-09-04
  source: https://www.therevenueaireport.com/skills/research-target-account
---

# Research a Target Account

A one-page account brief with the business context, likely priorities, and a point of view worth a reply.

## When to use this skill

- Before a first meeting or a top-tier outbound sequence.
- When an account moves into your target list and you need a hypothesis fast.

## Inputs to collect

- Company name and website
- Recent news, earnings notes, or job postings you have
- What you sell and the problem it solves

## Process

1. Collect source material: their site, recent news, job postings, annual report if public.
2. Paste the material. Ask for the brief.
3. Check every claim against the source. Delete anything the AI could not support.
4. Add one thing the AI cannot know: your last interaction, a mutual contact, a product usage signal.
5. Turn the point of view into your opening line.

## Decision rules

- No source, no claim. Unverified lines get cut, not softened.
- If the material is older than six months, label the brief as dated and verify before the meeting.
- If you cannot form a point of view, the account is not ready for a personalized touch. Use a lighter touch or wait.

## Output requirements

- One-page brief: business, priorities, pressure, buying roles, opening point of view.
- A short list of missing facts to confirm live.

## Quality checks

- Every fact cites pasted material or is marked as an assumption.
- The point of view is about their business, not your product.
- Nothing confidential or scraped in violation of terms is included.

## Limitations

- The AI knows only what you paste plus training data that may be stale. Verify names, titles, and numbers.
- It cannot see intent signals, your CRM history, or private relationships.

## Example input

Company: 800-person logistics software firm. Pasted: Q2 press release about a new carrier API, five open RevOps roles, and a CEO interview about margin pressure.

## Example output

Priorities: carrier integration launch, building a RevOps function, cost control. Opening POV: companies launching a carrier API usually discover their quote-to-cash process breaks before the product does; we help revenue teams catch that early. Assumption flagged: no evidence of their current quoting stack.

## Review checklist

- Did you verify every name and number?
- Is the opening line about them?
- Did you add one thing only you know?

## Works with

- Playbook: Zapier + ChatGPT inbound lead summarizer (L1) (sales, L1) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/zapier-chatgpt-inbound-summarizer-l1
- Playbook: AI first-draft renewal briefs (L1) (cs, L1) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/cs-renewal-brief-drafts-l1
- Playbook: Signal layer before more sequences (L3) (marketing, L3) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/signal-layer-before-sequences-l3
- Tool: Perplexity Comet (Knowledge & Search) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/perplexity-comet
- Tool: AlphaSense (Knowledge & Search) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/alphasense
- Tool: Koala (Knowledge & Search) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/koala
- Tool: Consensus (Knowledge & Search) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/consensus
- Tool: Perplexity (Knowledge & Search) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/perplexity

## Rules of conduct

- Write for a Director, VP, or operator. Short sentences. Explain uncommon terms.
- Separate facts from assumptions. Never hide uncertainty.
- Do not invent numbers, benchmarks, quotes, or customer names.
- Do not send messages, change CRM records, or publish anything unless the user explicitly asks.
- Flag when a decision needs human review.

## Evidence

This skill is grounded in The Revenue AI Report research:
- https://www.therevenueaireport.com/research/four-answers





Source and updates: https://www.therevenueaireport.com/skills/research-target-account

1. 1.Collect source material: their site, recent news, job postings, annual report if public.
2. 2.Paste the material. Ask for the brief.
3. 3.Check every claim against the source. Delete anything the AI could not support.
4. 4.Add one thing the AI cannot know: your last interaction, a mutual contact, a product usage signal.
5. 5.Turn the point of view into your opening line.

• No source, no claim. Unverified lines get cut, not softened.
• If the material is older than six months, label the brief as dated and verify before the meeting.
• If you cannot form a point of view, the account is not ready for a personalized touch. Use a lighter touch or wait.

• One-page brief: business, priorities, pressure, buying roles, opening point of view.
• A short list of missing facts to confirm live.

Company: 800-person logistics software firm. Pasted: Q2 press release about a new carrier API, five open RevOps roles, and a CEO interview about margin pressure.

Priorities: carrier integration launch, building a RevOps function, cost control. Opening POV: companies launching a carrier API usually discover their quote-to-cash process breaks before the product does; we help revenue teams catch that early. Assumption flagged: no evidence of their current quoting stack.

• Did you verify every name and number?
• Is the opening line about them?
• Did you add one thing only you know?

What does the Research a Target Account skill do?

A one-page account brief with the business context, likely priorities, and a point of view worth a reply.

Who is the Research a Target Account skill for?

Sales Representative, SDR and BDR, Sales Leader, Partnerships. It sits at the start here level and takes about 15 minutes per account.

What do I need before I start?

Collect these first: Company name and website; Recent news, earnings notes, or job postings you have; What you sell and the problem it solves.

What is the difference between the quick prompt and the SKILL.md file?

The quick prompt is for one task. Copy it, add your information, run it. The SKILL.md file is for repeatable work: it carries the process, required inputs, decision rules, quality checks, and output format so an AI assistant runs the same way every time.

What should I check before trusting the output?

Did you verify every name and number? Is the opening line about them? Did you add one thing only you know?

Is it free to use?

Yes. Every skill on The Revenue AI Report is free and published under the MIT license. Attribution is welcome, not required.

• The AI knows only what you paste plus training data that may be stale. Verify names, titles, and numbers.
• It cannot see intent signals, your CRM history, or private relationships.

Run the skill, then roll it out with a playbook. Vendor links are supporting context, not a recommendation.

• Playbook: Zapier + ChatGPT inbound lead summarizer (L1) (sales, L1 L1 Starter)
• Playbook: AI first-draft renewal briefs (L1) (cs, L1 L1 Starter)
• Playbook: Signal layer before more sequences (L3) (marketing, L3 L3 Integrated)
• Tool: Perplexity Comet (Knowledge & Search)
• Tool: AlphaSense (Knowledge & Search)
• Tool: Koala (Knowledge & Search)
• Tool: Consensus (Knowledge & Search)
• Tool: Perplexity (Knowledge & Search)

• Research: four answers