Exec Brief
Produce a one-page pre-call brief for an executive joining cold: who the account is, why now, where the deal stands, the move to make, and the landmines.
Overview
Exec Brief produces a one-page pre-call brief for a senior stakeholder dropping into a meeting with zero context. It blends account research for who the company is and where the deal state sits, conversation intelligence for what has been discussed and what is open, and contact research for who is in the room. The output is short enough to absorb in two minutes: bottom line, where we stand, in the room, your move, and landmines.
The skill is for reps prepping an executive sponsor and for the execs themselves. Give it the account, and ideally the exec being briefed, the meeting's purpose, and the attendees, so the page is framed for that person's role. It runs account research and account-scoped conversation intelligence together, and researches only the contacts you named or that surface as the deal's central players, asking before spending credits on a wider contact sweep.
Compression is the discipline. The brief leads with why this account matters and why now. It gives the exec the single most useful thing to do or say, and names the one or two landmines to avoid, each with a reason. Firmographic detail that would not change how the exec shows up gets cut, and relationship claims are attributed. If a section has nothing high-signal, the skill drops it rather than padding.
What It Does
- Three-source blend: Combines account research, conversation intelligence, and contact research into one grounded picture of the account and the room.
- Bottom line up top: Opens with who the company is, why the meeting matters, and where the relationship stands right now.
- Deal-state read: Summarizes what is currently open across the deal and relationship, drawn from recent conversations plus research.
- Room profiles: Gives each attendee a single line covering role and what they care about.
- The one move: Names the single action or line most likely to move the deal forward in this meeting.
- Landmine callouts: Flags one or two things to avoid, a sore point, a competitor, or an unresolved issue, each with the reason it matters.
Use Cases
Brief a VP Joining Cold
A VP is joining an account call in an hour with no history on the relationship. Run Exec Brief with the account and the meeting purpose. It returns a page that opens with why this account matters, summarizes where the deal stands, and profiles the attendees. The VP gets one move to make and the landmines to sidestep.
Prep an SVP for a Renewal
An SVP is dropping into a renewal conversation to lend weight, but has never met the customer. The brief compresses the deal history and open threads into a two-minute read, framed for the SVP's role. They can speak to the value delivered and steer clear of the pricing sore point, without a long prep call.
Ready an Exec for an Escalation
Before an escalation call, an executive needs the shape of the problem fast. The skill surfaces the open issue from recent conversations, profiles who will be on the line, and names the one thing to say to reset the relationship. The exec gets a grounded read they can act on immediately.
Skill Definition
The raw markdown Claude uses when this skill is invoked.
--- name: exec-brief description: Produce a succinct one-pager for an executive dropping into a call with zero context. Blends account_research (who they are, deal state), conversation_intelligence (what has been discussed and what is open), and contact_research (who is in the room). Identify the account by ZoomInfo company ID (preferred) or name/domain (triggers a lookup); name the key attendees if known. Use when someone says "brief the VP for the Acme call", "exec one-pager for tomorrow", "my SVP is joining cold", or needs a tight pre-call brief for a senior stakeholder. Built to be read in two minutes. --- # Exec Brief One page an executive can absorb in the elevator: who, why now, where we stand, and the one thing to do in the room. ## Prerequisites `conversation_intelligence` requires at least one connected meeting or email source; `account_research`, `contact_research`, and `conversation_intelligence` consume AI credits. If no conversation data exists, build from research and note that the "where we stand" view is research-based only, pointing the user to their ZoomInfo admin. ## Input Provided via `$ARGUMENTS`: - **Account** (required) — ZoomInfo company ID (preferred), or a name/domain to resolve via `search_companies`. - **The exec and the meeting** (recommended) — who is being briefed, the meeting's purpose, and the attendees, so the one-pager is framed for their role. ## Workflow 1. **Resolve the account** (and key attendees, if named). Use ZoomInfo IDs directly, or resolve via `search_companies` / `search_contacts`. 2. **Gather, then compress.** Run `account_research` (company + deal context) and account-scoped `conversation_intelligence` (recent state, open threads, commitments) in parallel. Run `contact_research` only for attendees the user named or that research surfaces as the key deal contacts; if no attendees are known, ask before spending `contact_research` credits rather than researching the whole account. Keep CI scoped to the account; it sees only the last few engagements. 3. **Write for an exec.** Ruthlessly compress to one page. Lead with why this account matters and why now. Give the exec the single most useful thing to do or say, and the landmines to avoid. Cut firmographic detail that does not change how they show up. Every line earns its place; attribute the relationship claims. ## Output Format ### Exec brief — [Company] **Bottom line** (2-3 sentences) — who they are, why this meeting matters, and where the relationship stands right now. **Where we stand** — 2-3 bullets on the deal/relationship state and what is currently open (from CI + research). **In the room** — the attendees in one line each: name, role, and what they care about. **Your move** — the one thing for the exec to do or say to move this forward. **Landmines** — one or two things to avoid (a sore point, a competitor, an unresolved issue), each with a reason. Keep the whole thing to roughly one page. If a section has nothing high-signal, drop it rather than padding. ### When there is no data If conversation data is unavailable, build the one-pager from research and state that the current-state view is not grounded in recent conversations.
Created by
Rowan Bailey
Senior Director, Product
Provided by
ZoomInfo ↗Capabilities
- One-page brief an executive can read in two minutes
- Blends account_research, conversation_intelligence, and contact_research
- Leads with why the account matters and why now
- Names the single most useful move and one or two landmines
- Attributes relationship claims and cuts detail that changes nothing