Set the assignment before collecting names
Complete this once for the batch. Keep required criteria separate from preferences so a researcher can make routine decisions without asking about every company.
| Brief field | Your instruction |
|---|---|
| Business reason | [What decision will this research help your team make?] |
| Required account criteria | [Three to five conditions, each with acceptable evidence] |
| Useful preferences | [Signals that improve priority but are not requirements] |
| Exclusions | [Existing customers, competitors, territories or other exclusions] |
| Company identity rule | [Canonical domain and how brands, subsidiaries and parents are grouped] |
| Approved sources | [Public business sources or licensed sources the researcher may use] |
| Recency rule | [How recent the underlying event must be, and when to recheck it] |
| Required output | [Fields, destination and evidence needed for one completed record] |
| Gap rule | [Which unknowns allow completion and which block acceptance] |
| Decision owner | [Who handles exceptions and which decisions the researcher may make] |
Define a stop point for unresolved research, such as the approved sources checked or the time allowed. A record with one specific unanswered question can be more useful than another hour of searching.
Copy this account record
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Record ID / brief version | [Stable ID / version] |
| Company / canonical domain | [Business name / verified identity] |
| Company group / duplicate result | [Parent and brands checked / new, existing or unresolved] |
| What was observed | [One factual business observation] |
| Evidence | [Short excerpt or precise paraphrase] |
| Source / location in source | [URL or permitted document reference / relevant section] |
| Source date / event date / checked date | [Separate dates; use unknown where a date is absent] |
| Required-criteria result | [Pass, fail or unknown for each condition, with source references] |
| Exclusion result | [What was checked and the result] |
| Fit reasoning | [Why the facts support this assignment, clearly separated from the facts] |
| Contact research | [Relevant business function or published contact; provenance if collected] |
| Unknowns | [Missing facts and whether each blocks this research assignment] |
| Research decision | [Accepted, rejected or needs clarification, with the rule applied] |
| Next action / owner | [One concrete next step] |
Record address validation, contact eligibility and outreach status separately. A published address does not establish deliverability, permission to contact, purchasing authority or interest.
Worked example: a company opening another location
Everything in this example is fictional. The company, source excerpts, dates, records and decisions were created to demonstrate the template. The .example addresses are illustrative source labels, not live evidence or prospects.
Fictional assignment
A sales team wants account research for a location-data maintenance service. Its required criteria are:
- The company operates physical retail locations in North Carolina or South Carolina.
- Its own public materials identify at least two locations.
- Its own announcement describes an additional location opening within the last 90 days.
Existing customers and franchise groups managed by the same buying entity are excluded or consolidated. Employee count and software are useful context, not required fields. The researcher may accept a record when all required criteria are supported and exclusions are clear. Unresolved company identity or a missing required fact goes to the research lead.
Fictional source pack
| ID | Source label | Dates | Excerpt created for this example |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | https://junipertrail.example/news/rock-hill-opening | Published September 12, 2026; event September 20, 2026; checked September 28, 2026 | “Our Rock Hill store opens September 20, joining our Charlotte and Concord locations.” |
| S2 | https://junipertrail.example/locations | Publication date unknown; checked September 28, 2026 | “Charlotte, NC; Concord, NC; Rock Hill, SC.” |
| S3 | Approved fictional customer and company-group register, version 7 | Updated and checked September 28, 2026 | No customer or previously researched group match for Juniper Trail Outfitters or its domain. |
The announcement supports a scheduled opening date. The later location page supports a listed third location. Neither source independently proves the store opened on schedule; this brief accepts a recent first-party opening announcement as its trigger.
Completed record
| Field | Fictional result |
|---|---|
| Record ID / brief version | LR-EX-001 / location-research-v1 |
| Company / canonical domain | Juniper Trail Outfitters / junipertrail.example |
| Company group / duplicate result | One company group under the brief's domain rule; S3 returned no existing customer or research match. |
| What was observed | The company announced a Rock Hill location and now lists three Carolina locations. |
| Required criteria | Carolina retail locations: pass, S2. At least two listed locations: pass, S2. Recent additional-location announcement: pass, S1. |
| Exclusions | No match in the supplied customer/group register, S3. No contradictory identity information in the approved source pack. |
| Fit reasoning | A newly listed location creates a plausible need to maintain location information. This supports account selection for this assignment; it does not show that the company needs an outside service. |
| Contact research | Operations is a possible function to investigate. No named contact or email supplied by the source pack. |
| Unknowns | Buying authority, current workflow, software, workload, budget and interest are unknown. They do not block this account-research brief. |
| Research decision | Accepted under the brief's routine rule. No exception review needed. |
| Next action / owner | Sales operations receives the sourced account record. Any contact selection and outreach decision follow its separate process. |
Handoff note
Juniper Trail Outfitters fits the location-research brief. Its September 12 announcement names a Rock Hill opening, and its current location page lists Rock Hill alongside Charlotte and Concord. Sources S1 and S2 support the account criteria; S3 shows no existing customer or duplicate-group match. Location-data maintenance is a possible fit. We have not established an operational problem, buying interest or a decision-maker. Next step: sales operations decides whether to research an appropriate business contact.
Give the researcher room to work
| Situation | Agreed action |
|---|---|
| Required criteria supported, identity clear, no exclusion | Complete the record and place it in the accepted research queue. |
| Optional field absent | Write “unknown,” name the sources checked and continue. |
| Required criterion clearly fails | Reject with the reason; retain the evidence to prevent repeated research. |
| Brand belongs to an existing company group | Attach the observation to that group instead of creating another prospect. |
| Required fact conflicts or company identity is ambiguous | Route only that record with the competing evidence and one specific question. |
Compare an employee, BPO and bot on the same work
Give each the same brief and five sample companies, including a duplicate and an incomplete case. Check whether their decisions follow the brief. Return corrections with reasons before expanding the queue.
Track accepted records divided by reviewed records, review time per record, identity errors and unsupported factual claims. Also report how many records remain unresolved. An honest unknown should not be scored as an invented answer, and a larger list is not automatically a better result.
For ongoing work, agree a sampling cadence and review exceptions. Routine records can continue under the accepted rules; you do not need to approve every completed row.
Put the handoff into a role brief
Botsource matches AI bots to computer-based roles and supports onboarding, training and continued upskilling. A Lead Research Specialist can work an agreed research queue and respond to teammates during its shift, using the source rules and acceptance criteria you define.
Explore the Lead Research Specialist role, build a free role brief, or use the lead research handoff checklist to prepare your sample assignment.