🔎 Lead Research & Enrichment
Before every sales call, get a 1-page dossier on the company and contact: recent news, team size, tech stack, likely pain points. Built automatically from the email thread.
The problem
Sales calls are won or lost in the first 3 minutes based on how prepared you seem. But researching every prospect takes 20 minutes, so reps skip it on low-priority calls — which then underperform and confirm they were low priority. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy caused by prep cost.
The outcome
When a call gets scheduled, a dossier lands in your inbox 1 hour before. Company: what they do, recent funding or news, team size, tech stack (from job postings and their website). Contact: their role, recent LinkedIn posts, any mutual connections. Talking points: 3 specific things to mention that show you did your homework.
Why OpenClaw
Research tasks chain multiple tools (web search, LinkedIn, company database lookups) and produce a batch output. OpenClaw's skill system handles multi-step orchestration cleanly. Self-hosting means the research data stays yours rather than being logged by a SaaS.
Alternatives worth considering
- Hermes — If you want dossiers that get richer over time as you have more calls with the same account
- Claude Cowork — A Claude Project set up with web-search tools — fastest to start, good for occasional use
Setup steps
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Step 1: Trigger on calendar event
When a calendar event matches 'sales call' pattern, OpenClaw extracts the attendee emails and company domains. One hour before the meeting, it kicks off research.
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Step 2: Set up research skills
Web search (company name, recent news), LinkedIn lookup (role, posts), company database (size, funding — optional paid API). Each is a separate skill with scoped access.
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Step 3: Write the dossier template
1 page, 5 sections: Company snapshot, Recent news (last 90 days), Tech stack hints, Contact intel, Suggested talking points. Template prevents the agent from rambling.
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Step 4: Deliver to your preferred channel
Email, Telegram, or dropped into your CRM. Choose based on where you'll actually read it 10 minutes before the call.
Example prompt
Given this upcoming calendar event and attendee emails, build a 1-page dossier: company snapshot, last 90 days of news, tech stack from public sources, contact's role and recent posts, 3 suggested talking points. Cite sources for every claim; mark anything unconfirmed.Pitfalls to avoid
- Scraping LinkedIn at scale. LinkedIn aggressively blocks scrapers. Use their official API or legitimate enrichment services (Apollo, Clearbit). Scraping can get your LinkedIn account banned.
- Treating hallucinated details as fact. The model will confidently state 'they're using AWS' without evidence. Instruct it to cite sources or say 'unconfirmed.'
- Sharing data across customers. Research on prospect A should not leak into memory used for prospect B. Keep each dossier scoped to that call.
Cost breakdown (monthly)
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Web search API | $5–20 |
| Enrichment API (Apollo/Clearbit) | $20–80 |
| Model calls (dossier writing) | $5–20 |
Total: $30–100/month. Costs assume typical usage; heavy use can run higher.
Related guides
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