Library › Agents & Automation AI › Sales and customer success

Brief a research agent to prep you for a sales call

  • For Sales and customer success
  • You practice Catching mistakes and made-up facts
  • Time about 5 minutes

About this exercise

You have a call tomorrow and want an AI research agent to pull talking points from the sources below. Write its brief: use only sources from 2025 or later, never present a rumor as fact, give exactly 4 notes of under 20 words each, each tagged with its source like [S1], and never email or connect with anyone at the company. Output exactly 5 numbered plain-text lines: 4 notes, then DONE.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Not showing the log format. Left alone, the AI writes a friendly report with headings instead of a checkable action log. Try: Show it literally: "Format every line like 1. ACTION: tool(args), then ASK_HUMAN: and DONE: lines. Plain text."
  • No length or sourcing rule. The AI writes long notes with no way to check where a claim came from. Try: Say: "4 notes under 15 words, each ending with its source tag like [S1]."
  • Trusting stale or shaky sources. The AI repeats a 2022 contract and an anonymous rumor as current facts. Try: Add: "Only sources from 2025 on. Never state a rumor as fact."
  • Letting it reach out. Given email and LinkedIn actions, the AI warms up the contact for you. Try: Add: "Never email or connect with anyone."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Sets a date cut-off
  • Handles rumors
  • Asks for source tags
  • Forbids outreach
  • Shows the action-log format

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises