The “Deep Dive” Research Dossier

What It Is

The Deep Dive Research Dossier automatically generates a comprehensive prep document before every external meeting. Using AI research agents, it pulls company news, financial data, competitive intelligence, and personal insights about attendees—then formats it into an actionable brief delivered before the call starts.

Why It Matters

Sales reps spend 20-30 minutes researching before calls—or worse, they don't prep at all. This playbook eliminates manual research, ensures consistent quality, and makes every conversation feel like a consulting session. Prospects notice when you've done your homework.

Who It's For

• Sales teams with high call volumes
• Account Executives managing complex deals
• SDRs who need quick context for discovery calls
• Customer Success teams prepping for renewal conversations

Required Tools

• Perplexity AI or similar research AI
• Make.com or n8n for workflow orchestration
• Google Docs or Notion for document output
• Calendar access (Google Calendar or Outlook)
• CRM integration for deal context

Required Fields/Properties

• Attendee email domain for company identification
• Deal/opportunity data from CRM
• Research prompt templates
• Document formatting template

Definitions Required

• What information should be included in dossier
• How far before meeting to generate
• Which meetings should trigger (external only, certain deal stages)
• Distribution method (email, Slack, embedded in CRM)

Research Dossier Template

📋 PRE-MEETING DOSSIER
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎯 QUICK GLANCE (30 seconds)
• Company: {{company_name}} | {{industry}} | {{employee_count}} employees
• Meeting with: {{contact_name}}, {{contact_title}}
• Deal Stage: {{deal_stage}} | Value: {{deal_amount}}
• Last Contact: {{last_activity_date}} - {{last_activity_summary}}
• Top Priority: {{recommended_focus}}

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🏢 COMPANY OVERVIEW
{{company_description}}

📰 RECENT NEWS (Last 90 Days)
{{#each recent_news}}
• {{headline}} ({{date}}) - {{source_url}}
{{/each}}

👤 ABOUT {{contact_name}}
• Role: {{contact_title}} ({{tenure_in_role}})
• Background: {{career_summary}}
• Mutual Connections: {{shared_connections}}

💬 TALKING POINTS
1. {{talking_point_1}}
2. {{talking_point_2}}
3. {{talking_point_3}}

❓ QUESTIONS TO ASK
• {{question_1}}
• {{question_2}}
• {{question_3}}

⚠️ WATCH OUTS
• {{risk_or_objection}}

🔗 Links: {{crm_link}} | {{linkedin_link}} | {{company_website}}

Slack Delivery Message

📋 *Prep ready for your call with {{company_name}}*

*Meeting:* {{meeting_title}}
*Time:* {{meeting_time}} ({{time_until}} from now)
*With:* {{contact_name}}, {{contact_title}}

*Quick Context:*
• {{key_insight_1}}
• {{key_insight_2}}
• {{key_insight_3}}

<{{dossier_link}}|Open Full Dossier> | <{{crm_link}}|View in CRM>

Perplexity Research Prompt

Research {{company_name}} (website: {{company_domain}}).

Provide:
1. One-paragraph company description (what they do, who they serve)
2. Recent news from the last 90 days (funding, leadership changes, product launches)
3. Their main competitors
4. Any visible challenges or opportunities based on public information
5. Notable customers or case studies

Also research {{contact_name}}, {{contact_title}} at {{company_name}}:
- Career background (previous roles)
- Any recent LinkedIn posts or articles
- Mutual connections with anyone at {{my_company}}

Format as clean bullet points. Include source URLs where available.

CRM Context Query Fields

| CRM Field | Dossier Section | Priority |
|-----------|-----------------|----------|
| Deal Stage | Quick Glance | High |
| Deal Amount | Quick Glance | High |
| Last Activity Date | Quick Glance | High |
| Recent Notes | Deal History | High |
| Known Objections | Watch Outs | High |
| Competitor Mentioned | Competitive Intel | Medium |
| Champion Contact | Key Relationships | Medium |
| Decision Timeline | Deal Context | Medium |

Test Cases Checklist

• External meeting scheduled → dossier generated 30 min before
• Internal meeting → no dossier generated (filtered out)
• Company with limited public data → graceful handling with 'limited data' note
• Existing CRM deal → deal context included in dossier
• New prospect (no CRM record) → basic web research only

Common Failure Modes

• Research returns irrelevant company: Common company names (Delta, Apple) may return wrong results. Use domain as primary identifier and validate company name matches.
• Stale or outdated information: AI research can return old news. Filter for recency and always include dates on news items so reps can judge relevance.
• Dossier not read: If dossiers are too long or arrive too late, reps ignore them. Keep it scannable and time delivery appropriately.
• Personal email domains break lookup: If prospect uses gmail, domain lookup fails. Fall back to CRM company field or meeting title parsing.

Troubleshooting Tips

• If dossiers aren't generating: Check calendar API connection and filter logic
• If research quality is poor: Review and tune AI prompts; try more specific queries
• If adoption is low: Survey reps on format, timing, and content needs
• If AI returns wrong company: Add domain verification step before research

KPIs to Track

• Dossier Generation Rate: 100% of external meetings receive dossier
• Rep Open Rate: >80% of dossiers opened before meeting
• Prep Time Reduction: Manual research time reduced by 80%
• Meeting Progression Rate: Track if dossier-supported meetings progress faster
• Rep Satisfaction: >8/10 helpfulness rating from sales team

Suggested Dashboard Widgets

• Weekly Dossiers Generated: Count of dossiers generated per week by rep
• Open Rate Trend: Percentage of dossiers opened over time
• Research Quality Score: Average completeness score (sections successfully populated)
• Feedback Summary: Aggregated rep feedback on dossier usefulness