Clay offers a built-in template called "Automated Pre-Call Research for AEs" that uses AI to generate personalized talking points and company summaries before sales calls. This article covers how to set up, customize, and integrate this template into the Asymmetric sales workflow.
The core value: instead of reps manually researching each prospect, Clay scrapes company websites and other sources to produce ready-to-use call prep notes — reducing prep time and improving call quality.
The template creates a structured Clay table with the following enrichment columns:
| Column | Source / Method |
|---|---|
| Name, Email | Input data |
| Identify Email Type | Clay enrichment |
| Domain | Derived from email |
| Person Enrichment | Multi-source waterfall |
| Title | Enriched |
| Company Enrichment | Owler, ZoomInfo, etc. |
| Founded Date, Description | Company data |
| Technology Stack | BuiltWith |
| Website Summary | AI prompt against company website |
| Talking Points | AI prompt (customizable) |
| Customer Names | AI scrape from company website |
Note: Clicking the template link may automatically duplicate it to your workspace. Check your workspace before duplicating again.
The prompt can be edited to surface specific intelligence. Examples:
To edit: click the column header → Edit Column → modify the AI prompt text.
Clay Table (contacts + company URLs)
↓
Run enrichment columns (person, company, tech stack)
↓
Website Summary column populates
↓
Talking Points column populates
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Export / sync to HubSpot contact record
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Rep reviews Talking Points before dialing
When customizing the duplicated template, consider:
Remove (if not relevant):
- Owler enrichment (if not subscribed)
- BuiltWith technology stack (if tech stack isn't a qualifying signal)
Add:
- Customer Names — AI scrape to identify named clients on the prospect's website; useful for social proof in calls ("I see you work with X — we also work with companies like them")
- Recent News — pull recent press mentions or announcements
- Headcount — useful for sizing the opportunity
The template works best when input records include:
| Field | Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Company Website URL | Strongly recommended | Drives Website Summary and Talking Points |
| Recommended | Enables person enrichment waterfall | |
| First / Last Name | Required | Used in person-level prompts |
| Company Name | Required | Used in company enrichment |
For lists with missing emails (e.g., the initial 159-contact GL Food & Beverage list), run [2] first to fill gaps before running the pre-call research template.