AI Sales Call Prep: How to Brief Yourself in 60 Seconds [2026]
You have a discovery call in 5 minutes. You vaguely remember the prospect's name. Maybe their company.
Sound familiar?
The average SDR spends 20 minutes preparing for each call—reading LinkedIn, scanning their website, checking CRM notes, looking for recent news. Multiply that by 8 calls per day, and you've just burned 2.5 hours on research.
Here's the thing: AI can do that 20 minutes of research in 15 seconds. And it won't miss the critical detail buried on page 3 of their blog.
In this guide, I'll show you how to build an AI-powered call prep system using Claude Code, OpenClaw, and the new GPT-5.3 Codex that delivers comprehensive prospect briefs before every call.
What Great Call Prep Actually Looks Like
Before we automate, let's define what we're automating. A great pre-call brief includes:
Company Context:
- What they do (in plain English)
- Size, stage, funding status
- Recent news (last 90 days)
- Competitive landscape
- Tech stack relevant to your solution
Person Context:
- Role and likely responsibilities
- Time in role and at company
- Career trajectory (where they came from)
- Recent LinkedIn activity or content
- Shared connections or experiences
Call Strategy:
- Likely pain points based on role + company stage
- Potential objections to prepare for
- Discovery questions tailored to their situation
- Specific value props that resonate with their profile
The question isn't whether this information is valuable. It's whether you can access it in the 60 seconds between calls.
The AI Call Prep Stack
Three tools, three use cases:
| Tool | Best For | Speed | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | Deep research, complex accounts | 30-60 sec | Highest |
| OpenClaw | Automated briefs before every call | Instant | High |
| GPT-5.3 Codex | Real-time research with steering | 15-30 sec | Adjustable |
Option 1: Claude Code for Strategic Accounts
For your most important calls—C-suite prospects, large deal opportunities, competitive situations—you want maximum depth.
The Power Prompt:
I have a discovery call with [Name], [Title] at [Company] in 10 minutes.
Research and create a call brief:
## COMPANY CONTEXT
- What they do (2 sentences)
- Stage/funding/size
- Recent news (last 90 days only)
- Likely tech stack for [relevant category]
- Main competitors
## PERSON CONTEXT
- Background (previous roles)
- Time in current role
- Recent LinkedIn activity
- Any published content or podcast appearances
## CALL STRATEGY
- Top 3 likely pain points given their role + company stage
- 2 potential objections and how to handle them
- 3 discovery questions tailored to their situation
- The ONE thing they probably care most about
Format for quick scanning. I'm reading this in 60 seconds.
Claude's 200K context window means you can include their entire LinkedIn profile, recent company blog posts, and news articles directly in the prompt for deeper analysis.
Option 2: OpenClaw for Automated Pre-Call Briefs
This is where it gets powerful. OpenClaw can automatically generate briefs before every call on your calendar.
Setup: Calendar-Triggered Briefs
# openclaw.yaml configuration
cron:
- name: "Pre-call briefs"
schedule: "*/30 * * * *" # Every 30 minutes
action: |
Check calendar for calls in next 60 minutes.
For each call without a brief:
1. Extract prospect name and company from meeting title/invitee
2. Research using web search and LinkedIn
3. Generate call brief
4. Send to Slack #sales-briefs channel
What This Looks Like in Practice:
9:27 AM - Your phone buzzes:
📞 CALL BRIEF: Sarah Chen @ TechCorp (9:30 AM)
COMPANY: Series B dev tools startup ($18M raised).
Growing fast—15 SDR openings.
PERSON: VP Sales, 18 months in role.
Previously built SDR team at DataCo (acquired).
Active on LinkedIn re: sales productivity.
PAIN SIGNALS:
• Hiring velocity suggests scaling challenges
• Her posts mention ramp time frustrations
• No clear sales engagement tool in stack
OPENING: "Sarah, I saw your comment about 90-day ramp
times—we work with teams trying to compress that.
Curious what's driving the long ramp at TechCorp?"
OBJECTIONS TO PREP:
• "We're building in-house" → Pivot to speed/opportunity cost
• "Too early" → Prove ROI on smaller team first
This lands in Slack 3 minutes before every call. No manual research required.
Option 3: GPT-5.3 Codex for Real-Time Research
The new Codex's mid-turn steering makes it perfect for interactive call prep. You can watch it research and redirect in real-time.
Live Call Prep Session:
You: Research John Martinez, CRO at CloudCorp for a call in 5 min
Codex: [Researching...]
"CloudCorp is a $50M ARR cloud infrastructure company..."
"John joined 8 months ago from Salesforce..."
You: Any recent funding or news?
Codex: [Adjusting...]
"They raised $30M Series C two months ago..."
"Press release mentions 'aggressive GTM expansion'..."
You: Given that, what should I ask about?
Codex: "Their GTM expansion likely means:
1. Rapid SDR hiring → scaling challenges
2. New territories → process consistency
3. Pressure to show ROI on the raise
Open with: 'John, congratulations on the Series C.
I saw the press release mentioned GTM expansion—
how's the team scaling going?'"
This real-time collaboration is impossible with batch AI. You're thinking alongside the AI, not just receiving its output.
Building Your Call Brief Template
Here's the template I've refined across thousands of calls:
## 📞 CALL BRIEF: [Name] @ [Company]
**Time:** [Date/Time]
**Type:** [Discovery/Demo/Negotiation]
---
### ⚡ 60-SECOND SUMMARY
[2-3 sentences: who they are, why they're talking to you]
---
### 🏢 COMPANY
- **What:** [Plain English description]
- **Size:** [Employees, revenue if known]
- **Stage:** [Funding, growth trajectory]
- **News:** [Last 90 days, bullets]
- **Tech:** [Relevant stack]
---
### 👤 PERSON
- **Role:** [Title, time in role]
- **Background:** [Previous roles, trajectory]
- **Activity:** [Recent posts, content, interests]
- **Vibe:** [Communication style if discernible]
---
### 🎯 STRATEGY
**Likely Cares About:**
1. [Priority 1]
2. [Priority 2]
3. [Priority 3]
**Opening Line:**
> "[Specific opener referencing their situation]"
**Discovery Questions:**
1. [Tailored question 1]
2. [Tailored question 2]
3. [Tailored question 3]
**Objection Prep:**
- "[Objection 1]" → [Handle]
- "[Objection 2]" → [Handle]
---
### ⚠️ LANDMINES
[Things NOT to say given what we know]
Integrating Call Prep Into Your Workflow
For HubSpot Users
OpenClaw can pull meeting details directly from HubSpot and push briefs back as contact notes:
integrations:
hubspot:
trigger: "meeting_created"
action: |
1. Fetch contact and company from meeting
2. Generate call brief
3. Add as note on contact record
4. Send summary to rep via Slack
Now every HubSpot meeting automatically has AI-generated research attached.
For Salesforce Users
Same concept—trigger on Event creation, research the attendees, push notes back to the Opportunity or Contact record.
For Calendar Purists
If you just use Google Calendar, OpenClaw can parse meeting titles and invitees to identify prospects:
Meeting: "Discovery Call - Sarah Chen (TechCorp)"
→ OpenClaw extracts: Sarah Chen, TechCorp
→ Researches both
→ Sends brief to your preferred channel
The 10-Minute Setup
Want to try this today without a full integration?
Quick Start with Claude Code:
- Open Claude in a new conversation
- Paste this prompt before each call:
I have a sales call in 10 minutes with [paste their LinkedIn URL].
Create a 60-second call brief including:
- Company summary (what they do, size, stage)
- Person summary (role, background, recent activity)
- 3 likely pain points
- 3 discovery questions
- Opening line that references something specific
Format for fast scanning. Be concrete, not generic.
- Read the brief, jump on the call
This takes less setup than opening 5 browser tabs. And it's better.
Measuring Call Prep ROI
Track these metrics:
| Metric | Before AI | After AI | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prep time per call | 20 min | 1 min | -95% |
| Calls where you knew their news | ~30% | ~95% | +217% |
| "You did your homework" comments | Rare | Common | Qualitative |
| Discovery call conversion rate | Baseline | +15-25% | Revenue |
The conversion rate lift comes from:
- Better opening questions (they feel understood)
- Relevant pain points (you're not fishing)
- Prepared objection handling (you don't stumble)
- Confidence (you're not winging it)
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Reading the brief on the call
- Review before, not during
- The brief is prep, not a script
Mistake 2: Over-referencing your research
- One specific reference is impressive
- Three feels like you're stalking them
Mistake 3: Trusting AI blindly
- AI can hallucinate facts
- Verify anything you'll say out loud
Mistake 4: Skipping follow-up research
- If something comes up on the call, dig deeper after
- Update your CRM with new intel
Advanced: Real-Time Call Intelligence
The frontier isn't just pre-call research. It's during-call assistance.
Imagine: Your AI listens to the call and surfaces relevant information in real-time:
- Prospect mentions a competitor → AI shows competitive positioning
- They mention a pain point → AI surfaces relevant case study
- They ask about pricing → AI shows relevant tier based on their size
This is coming. The call prep automation is step one.
The Compound Effect
When every SDR on your team has AI-generated briefs before every call:
- Consistency: No more "cold" calls because someone didn't prep
- Knowledge transfer: New reps have veteran-level research instantly
- Scaling: 10 calls/day with research = what used to take 50 hours/week
- Win rates: Prepared reps close more deals
One company we studied saw a 23% increase in discovery-to-demo conversion after implementing automated call prep. That's 23% more pipeline from the same activity.
Ready to Automate Your Call Prep?
MarketBetter's Daily SDR Playbook includes AI-generated call briefs for every scheduled meeting. Your reps see exactly who to call, what to say, and why it matters—before they pick up the phone.
Book a Demo to see automated call prep in action.
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