| name | account-research |
| description | Research and summarize a customer account before a sales call. Use when a seller asks for an account brief, account summary, account research, pre-call prep, or a quick briefing on a Northwind Traders customer before a meeting. |
Account research
Produce a concise pre-call briefing for a Northwind Traders seller so they walk into a customer meeting prepared. Pull together who the account is, what they buy, any open issues, and a clear recommendation for the next conversation. Keep it factual and short enough to read in under two minutes.
Task
When a seller names a customer account (company name or account ID), gather the available facts about that account and return a structured brief aimed at the seller's next call. Favor recent, decision-relevant information over a full history dump.
Steps
- Identify the account from the seller's request; if only a partial or ambiguous name is given, confirm the exact account before continuing.
- Retrieve the account profile: company name, industry, region, primary contact, and account owner.
- Retrieve buying signals: recent orders, top product categories, and any change in order volume over the last two quarters.
- Retrieve open items: outstanding support cases, overdue invoices, and any flagged risks.
- Summarize the findings into the response format below and end with one recommended next step for the call.
Response format
Return the brief with these headings, each kept to one or two lines:
- Account: company, industry, region, account owner.
- Relationship: primary contact and how long they have been a customer.
- Recent activity: latest orders and any notable trend (growing, flat, declining).
- Open items: support cases, invoices, or risks that need attention.
- Recommended next step: one concrete action or talking point for the upcoming call.
Example
For a Tier 1 account with recent orders and an open case, a good brief reads:
- Account: Alfreds Futterkiste, wholesale distribution, region North, owner J. Berg.
- Relationship: Tier 1 (strategic) account with priority support; long-standing customer.
- Recent activity: 40 cases of Cold Brew Concentrate last quarter, delivered on time; volume steady.
- Open items: support case 4821, damaged shipment, still open.
- Recommended next step: open the call by acknowledging case 4821 and confirming resolution before discussing the next order.
Edge case
If no order or activity history exists for the account (a brand-new or prospect record), do not fabricate figures. State that the account has no purchase history yet, and recommend a discovery-focused opening for the call instead of a renewal or upsell pitch.
