Account Executive

# CLAUDE.md — Account Executive
> Version: 2026-02-17 | Difficulty: beginner

## What Your AI Can Now Do
- Research any prospect's background, company, and recent activity in 30 seconds before a call
- Draft personalized follow-up emails that reference the actual conversation you just had
- Track your entire pipeline without manually updating spreadsheets after every meeting
- Prepare for discovery calls with pre-built question frameworks tailored to the prospect's industry
- Get deal strategy suggestions based on where each opportunity sits in the sales cycle

---

## Quick Start
1. Paste this file into your project as `CLAUDE.md`
2. Add your CRM credentials and email integration keys to `.env`
3. Run `/research [company name]` to see what Claude pulls on your next prospect
4. Run `/pipeline` to load your current deals and see what needs attention today
5. Try `/follow-up [prospect name]` after your next call to get a draft email in seconds

---

## About Me
Account executive carrying a quota, managing 20-40 active opportunities at any time. I spend my days on discovery calls, demos, proposal reviews, and follow-ups. I own the full sales cycle from qualified lead to closed deal. What matters most: hitting quota, building real relationships, and keeping my pipeline moving without letting deals go dark.

---

## Pre-Built Commands

| Command | What It Does |
|---------|-------------|
| `/research [company or person]` | Pulls company overview, recent news, key stakeholders, and LinkedIn profiles — ready for your next call |
| `/follow-up [prospect]` | Drafts a personalized follow-up email based on your last interaction and the deal's current stage |
| `/pipeline` | Shows all active deals by stage with days-in-stage, next steps, and risk flags for stalled opportunities |
| `/call-prep [prospect]` | Generates a call brief: prospect background, previous touchpoints, open questions, and suggested talk track |
| `/proposal [deal name]` | Creates a proposal outline with pricing, value props, and objection-handling notes tailored to the prospect |

---

## How Claude Connects to Your Tools

| Tool | Why You Need It |
|------|----------------|
| AnySite | Research prospects on LinkedIn, pull company profiles, and check recent social activity before outreach |
| Google Workspace | Send follow-up emails via Gmail, access meeting notes in Drive, and check calendar for scheduling conflicts |
| Google Analytics | See which prospects visited your website, what pages they viewed, and how they found you |

### Setup
```bash
# Required in .env
GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS_PATH=./credentials.json
CRM_API_KEY=your-crm-api-key
CRM_BASE_URL=your-crm-instance-url
```

---

## Sales Rules
- **MUST:** Log every prospect interaction the same day — if it is not in the CRM, it did not happen
- **MUST:** Never send a follow-up without a clear next step or question — "just checking in" emails get ignored
- **MUST:** Identify the economic buyer, champion, and blocker for every deal over $10K before moving to proposal stage
- **SHOULD:** Research the prospect for at least 2 minutes before any call — showing up cold wastes everyone's time
- **SHOULD:** Follow up within 24 hours of every meeting — speed signals professionalism
- **MUST:** Never discount without getting something in return (faster close date, larger scope, intro to another team)
- **SHOULD:** Ask open-ended discovery questions before pitching — understand the problem before you sell the solution
- **MUST:** Update deal stage and next steps after every meaningful interaction, not at the end of the week

---

## Project Structure
```
sales/
├── prospects/
│   └── [company-name]/
├── proposals/
│   └── [deal-name]/
├── call-notes/
│   └── [date]-[prospect].md
├── templates/
│   ├── follow-up-emails/
│   ├── discovery-questions/
│   └── objection-handling/
└── pipeline/
    └── weekly-snapshot.md
```

### What These Folders Mean
- **prospects/** — Research files per company: stakeholder maps, company intel, and conversation history
- **proposals/** — Proposal drafts, pricing breakdowns, and approval notes per deal
- **call-notes/** — Timestamped notes from every call and meeting for easy reference
- **templates/** — Reusable email templates, question frameworks, and objection responses you refine over time
- **pipeline/** — Weekly pipeline snapshots for tracking movement and spotting stalled deals

---

## Automation

| When | What Happens | If It Fails |
|------|-------------|-------------|
| New lead assigned | Pulls company research and stakeholder LinkedIn profiles into a prospect file | Create a blank prospect file and flag it for manual research before first outreach |
| After a calendar meeting ends | Prompts you to log call notes and generates a follow-up email draft | Add the meeting to a "needs notes" list and remind you at end of day |
| Deal inactive 7+ days | Alerts you with the prospect name, last activity, and a suggested re-engagement message | Add to a weekly "deals going dark" list for your Friday pipeline review |
| Proposal sent | Sets a 3-day follow-up reminder and drafts a check-in message | Fall back to a calendar reminder without the pre-drafted message |
| Deal marked closed-won | Generates a handoff summary for the customer success team with key context from the sales cycle | Flag the deal as "needs handoff" and provide a blank template to fill manually |

---

## Gotchas
- **MUST:** Never send a proposal without confirming budget range and timeline in a live conversation — proposals sent into the void rarely close
- **MUST:** Never assume a verbal "yes" is a closed deal — it is not real until the contract is signed
- **SHOULD:** Track why you lose deals with as much detail as why you win them — your loss reasons reveal your blind spots
- **MUST:** Never bad-mouth a competitor in writing — it always gets forwarded to the wrong person
- **SHOULD:** Block 30 minutes every Friday to clean your pipeline — remove dead deals, update stages, and plan next week's priorities

---

## Memory & Learning
Claude builds context over time:
- Prospect preferences, communication style, and key objections from past conversations
- Which email templates and talk tracks get the best response rates
- Your win/loss patterns by deal size, industry, and sales cycle length
- Stakeholder relationships and org chart details for active accounts
- Pricing and discount history so you stay consistent across similar deals

To save something important: just say "remember that [fact]" in conversation.
To review saved memories: use the `/memory` command to open the memory editor.