An account research template is a one-page form a rep fills in before the first touch on an account. It records what changed at the company, who owns the problem that change creates, and the opening line the rep will use. The version below is built to be finished in fifteen minutes and read by a manager in thirty seconds.
- 01Triggers5 minutes: what changed, trigger or noise
- 02People4 minutes: who owns it, who signs
- 03The four lines5 minutes: person, problem, evidence, opener
- 04Next touch1 minute: channel, date, cadence
It belongs with our SDR coaching guide, and the step-by-step method behind it is in how to research an account before outreach.
The account research template
Part 1: Triggers (5 minutes). List what has changed. Mark each item.
| Item | Source and date | Trigger or noise? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
Test: a trigger creates a problem someone now has to own. If nobody has to act on it, it is noise.
Part 2: People (4 minutes).
| Role | Name | Measured on | Why they would care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owns the problem | |||
| Signs off on spend | |||
| Affected by any change |
Part 3: The four lines (5 minutes).
Person: [name, role]
Problem: [one sentence: the problem you think they have]
Evidence: [the fact they can check, with date]
Opening line: [the first sentence of the email or call]
What they probably believe causes it: [ ]
The one thing I do not know: [ ]
Part 4: Next touch (1 minute). Channel, date, and which cadence it starts.
How to use the template
Start with the question, then search. Before Part 1, write "Which problem that we solve might this account have right now?" Teams on Gap Prospecting match triggers against their Problem Identification Chart, the fixed list of buyer problems and root causes, which keeps the search short.
Fill Part 1 from public sources only. Job posts, press releases, filings, product launches, leadership hires and public statements by executives. Date every item. Private social media and family details stay out of it.
Mark every row trigger or noise. Our use case page on account research gives the rule: a new leader with a mandate is a trigger; a routine headcount add is background. Keep one or two triggers.
Fill Part 2 for the buying group. Name the person who owns the problem first. Teams on Vortex Prospecting fill all three rows for the economic, user and technical buyer, so the first wave of outreach reaches each of them.
Write the four lines last, and stop. If the problem line fits most companies in the industry, go back to Part 1. If it is specific, the record is done. Fifteen minutes is the budget, and a "no trigger found" result is a valid record.
Use the four lines in every touch. The opening line becomes the email's first sentence and the call opener. The belief line becomes the email's "one thing they have not considered". The unknown becomes the first discovery question. The cold email how-to shows how.
Review the four lines on Monday. The manager reads Part 3 for each of the week's target accounts and asks one question of each: "How do you know?"
A filled-in example
Illustrative. The company, people and details are fictional.
Part 1: Triggers
| Item | Source and date | Trigger or noise? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three job posts for night dispatch coordinators | Careers page, this month | Trigger | Three posts for one role in a month suggests a shift that is not holding |
| New depot opening | Press release, last month | Trigger | More depots mean more shift handovers |
| Regional trade show sponsorship | Event site, last quarter | Noise | Nobody has to act on it |
Part 2: People
| Role | Name | Measured on | Why they would care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owns the problem | Sam, head of dispatch | Missed pickups, overtime | Blamed when a handover drops a booking |
| Signs off on spend | Lee, operations director | Cost per shipment, depot launch on time | The new depot is Lee's project |
| Affected by any change | Night shift leads | Shift handover time | They would use whatever replaces the note |
Part 3: The four lines
Person: Sam, head of dispatch, Marlby Freight
Problem: The night handover is losing information as depots are added
Evidence: Three night dispatch coordinator posts this month; new depot last month
Opening line: "Marlby has posted three night dispatch roles this month, with the new depot opening after."
What they probably believe causes it: a staffing gap
The one thing I do not know: whether the handover is written down or done by phone
Part 4: Next touch. Email to Sam, Tuesday, five-touch cadence. Lee joins at touch four with a LinkedIn note about the depot.
Three ways teams misuse an account research template
Filling every field and deciding nothing. A template full of facts with an empty problem line has collected data. The four lines are the point of the form; Parts 1 and 2 exist to produce them.
Turning it into an account plan. A first-touch research record is fifteen minutes. An account plan for a strategic account is days of work for a different purpose. When the template grows to five pages, reps stop filling it in and the outreach goes back to generic.
Filing it and never using it again. The record should travel: into the email, the call notes, the sequence and the handoff note to the AE. If the discovery call starts without it, the AE asks questions the SDR already answered. The cadence how-to uses the same four lines across five touches.
Account research and prospect research
Account research asks why this company might care now. Prospect research asks why this person might. The template above covers the first; outreach also needs a short layer of the second, because the email goes to a person.
A prospect note is two lines added under Part 3 for each contact: what the person owns, in their words where you can find them (a team page, a post, a talk), and which part of the account problem lands on their desk. If they have said or done something recent that gives a reason to write now, add it. If not, lean on the account trigger and say so.
On Marlby Freight the two notes look like this:
Sam (head of dispatch): owns the night handover; feels it as missed pickups
and overtime. Opener names the three open night roles.
Lee (operations director): owns the new depot launch; feels it as risk to the
launch date. Opener names handovers at the new depot.
Same trigger, two different first sentences. The manager reviews the account record and both notes in one pass.
Coaching the research for every SDR
A manager can read the four lines for a team's target accounts each Monday. Working through the interpretation with every rep, on every account, takes more time than one manager has. Our AI sales experts take that part with each SDR: Caty on your own playbook, Keenan (built with ASG) for Gap Prospecting teams, and Val for Vortex Prospecting.
The rep brings the signals they found, and the coach pushes on what they point to, why now, and who else belongs in the thread. It does not browse the web or pull data for them; the reasoning is the skill being coached. The rep talks it through with the coach on a call, or types if they cannot talk, and the same coach then reads the email the research produced.
Fill in Part 3 for one account on next week's list and write the email it produces. To coach the whole team's list this way, talk to us.
FAQ
What should an account research template include?
An account research template should include the recent changes at the account, each marked trigger or noise, and the people who own, fund and are affected by the problem. It also needs four lines: the person, the problem you think they have, the evidence, and your opening line. Add what the buyer probably believes and the one thing you do not know.
How long should account research take per account?
About fifteen minutes for a first-touch account: five on triggers, four on people, five on the four lines and one on the next touch. Strategic accounts with large buying groups can take longer, but they need an account plan, which is a different document. A time box keeps research from eating the outreach.
What is the difference between account research and an account plan?
Account research is a short record made before the first touch, built to produce an opening line. An account plan is a longer document for an existing or strategic account, covering relationships, opportunities and a multi-quarter strategy. Use the research template for outbound and keep the account plan for accounts you are already working.
How do managers use account research in coaching?
Managers read the four lines for each SDR's target accounts at the start of the week and ask "how do you know?" for each. A weak problem line caught on Monday saves a week of weak emails. The same record then feeds the call opener and the handoff note to the AE.