t0ddc3by/claude-for-customer-success/call-prep

/call-prep

[PROPOSED]

Use When

• 24-48 hours before any customer call: kickoff, QBR, health check, renewal, escalation, check-in
• Account has active risk signals and you need a structured brief before engaging
• Executive sponsor is attending and preparation needs to be higher-fidelity than usual
• Renewal is within 90 days and you need value alignment framing before the commercial conversation

Do NOT Use For

• Post-call logging or follow-up drafting — use post-call workflow instead
• Renewal commercial prep (pricing, negotiation) — use /csm:renewal-readiness
• Account deep-dive research without a call scheduled — use /csm:account-research
• Kickoff calls where no account context exists in session yet — run /csm:account-research first to populate session context, then call-prep
• Routine check-ins with nothing substantive to discuss — recommend async instead

Typical Activation

"/csm:call-prep Acme Corp qbr" "/csm:call-prep Acme Corp renewal" "/csm:call-prep Acme Corp kickoff" "Prep me for my call with [customer] tomorrow" "Build a brief for my health check with [account]"

Produce a focused pre-call brief: what to cover, who's attending, what to listen for, and what to leave the call having accomplished.

Pre-flight

Read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/csm/CLAUDE.md and ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/company-profile.md.

If either is missing or contains [PLACEHOLDER] markers, stop and prompt for /csm:cold-start-interview.

Note from config:

• CS motion — shapes how directive vs. collaborative the agenda framing is
• Health model — determines which signals to surface before the call
• Playbook sources — pull call-specific templates if configured
• Escalation matrix — know the routing before the call if risk signals are present

G-code dependency: All G-code guardrails referenced in this skill (G1–G9) are defined in the CLAUDE.md config loaded above. If Pre-flight halts or config is missing, G-codes are undefined — do not proceed with partial config.

Reasoning Protocol

Before generating output, apply these primers:

1. CLASSIFY: What type of call prep request is this?

• Discovery / Kickoff: First or early-stage call — sparse historical data, goal is success criteria alignment and relationship establishment
• QBR / Executive Business Review: Periodic value review with executive audience — requires metrics against success criteria, forward-looking priorities
• Health Check / At-Risk: Triggered by a health signal — usage drop, NPS decline, support spike, or champion departure; shorter format, diagnostic focus
• Renewal Conversation: Within 90 days of renewal — commercial context present but CSM role is value alignment and objection surfacing, not close
• Escalation / Recovery: Active or recently resolved escalation — trust is damaged; goal is confidence restoration and remediation confirmation
• Routine Check-in: Regular cadence call with no major trigger — risk of perfunctory meeting; may recommend async instead

1. CONSTRAINTS: What limits the solution space?

• Which data sources are available? (CRM, CS platform, call recordings, documents) — fewer than 3 of 4 = low-confidence brief, flag explicitly
• Is the attendee list confirmed or assumed? Unconfirmed attendees cap the brief's value
• What was the outcome of the last call? Open action items carry forward — never drop them silently
• Is there an active escalation or competitive signal that changes the entire call framing?
• G4: Do not recommend escalation without a named escalation path configured in the escalation matrix
• G5: Internal data (health scores, ARR, expansion signals) must never appear in customer-facing output
• G7: Flag any data older than 30 days with source date and staleness indicator

1. EXPERT CHECK: What would a veteran CSM verify first?

• Are the success criteria being referenced still the criteria the customer cares about, or have priorities shifted since they were set?
• Is the right stakeholder on this call? Missing executive sponsor on a QBR or missing economic buyer on a renewal changes the call's ceiling
• Has anything been promised to this customer (in escalation, prior calls, or success plans) that hasn't been delivered yet?

1. ANTI-PATTERNS: Common mistakes to avoid:

• :x: Building the brief around product usage metrics instead of business outcomes the customer's executive sponsor cares about
• :x: Leading a health check or escalation call with platform data instead of opening with curiosity and listening
• :x: Including expansion signals, health scores, or internal stakeholder assessments in any material that could reach the customer
• :x: Preparing a full brief for a routine check-in when there's nothing substantive to discuss — recommend async instead
• :x: Producing renewal prep that crosses into pricing, discount, or negotiation territory — that's AE/AM scope

After execution, verify:

• Does every talking point reference account-specific context, not generic advice?
• Is the internal/external boundary respected — no health scores, expansion tags, or relationship assessments in customer-visible content?
• Does the brief identify the single most important thing to accomplish on this call?
• Confidence: [High/Medium/Low] because [data source coverage, attendee confirmation status, signal freshness]

Call type detection

If the user provides a call type argument, use it. If not, infer from context:

• Kickoff — first call with a new account; onboarding just started
• QBR (Quarterly Business Review) — periodic value review; typically Q-aligned
• Health check — triggered by health signal; may be Yellow/Red account
• Renewal — within 90 days of renewal date; commercial context present
• Check-in — regular cadence call; no major trigger
• Custom — user describes the call purpose; adapt the brief structure to it

If type cannot be determined: ask one question — "What's the purpose of this call?" Do not build a generic brief.

Data gathering

Connector error categorization: When a connector call fails, distinguish the error type before proceeding:

• Rate-limited (transient): Connector returns HTTP 429 or equivalent throttle signal. Note the rate limit explicitly in output ("CRM data temporarily rate-limited — retry in 60 seconds recommended") and offer to retry rather than proceeding with degraded output.
• Unavailable (permanent for this session): Connector is not configured, authentication has expired, or service is down. Fall back to the manual-input path below and label all affected sections as "connector unavailable — manual input used."

Do not conflate these — a rate-limited connector will return data shortly; an unavailable connector will not.

Before building the brief, pull what's available.

First, check if an account-research brief exists in this session. If the user already ran /csm:account-research for this account, use that context instead of re-pulling from connectors.

If no prior account-research:

Pull from connected integrations (per configured profile):

• CRM: account snapshot, renewal date, ARR, key contacts and their titles
• CS Platform: health score and components, open CTAs
• Call recording: last 1-2 calls — date, attendees, key topics, open action items
• Document storage: most recent success plan or QBR (date + status)

Minimum viable brief (no connectors):

"I don't have live account data. Tell me: Who's on the call? What's the account

health? Any recent context I should know? I'll build the brief from what you share."

Brief structure

Produce in this order. Omit sections with no data rather than filling with placeholders.

Call Prep — [Account Name]

[Call type] · [Date / time if known] · [Duration if known]

Purpose and desired outcome

One sentence: why this call exists. One sentence: what "a good call" looks like at the end.

Examples by type:

• Kickoff: "Establish shared success criteria, introduce the onboarding plan,

and confirm sponsor engagement — account leaves knowing what happens next."

• QBR: "Demonstrate value delivered against agreed success criteria and align

on next-period priorities — customer leaves feeling forward momentum."

• Health check: "Understand the root cause of [specific signal], agree on a

recovery action, and set a follow-up date — call leaves no ambiguity about next steps."

• Renewal: "Surface value realized, pre-empt known objections, advance toward

renewal commitment — call ends with a next step, not an open loop."

Who's on the call

Flag:

• Any attendee who is new or unrecognized — "This may be your first call with

[name]; intro context before the call if possible."

• Missing executive sponsor: "Executive sponsor [name] is listed but not confirmed

on this call — flag if absent at start."

• High-value attendees who haven't been on a call in >60 days.

Internal attendees (AE, SE, CSM manager) — list separately if provided.

Suggested agenda

Calibrate depth and format to call type and configured CS motion.

For high-touch motion: named agenda items with owner and time box. For tech-touch motion: three bullet points; the call is shorter. For hybrid: match the segment this account sits in.

[Call type: Kickoff — example structure]

[Call type: QBR — example structure]

[Call type: Health check — example structure]

For custom call type: adapt the structure to the described purpose.

Recommended talking points

3-5 specific talking points calibrated to the account's current state and call type. Not generic. Reference account-specific context where available.

Format:

• [Topic]: [One sentence context] → [Suggested framing or question]

Examples:

• Success criteria progress: "The team hit [metric] last quarter — X% above baseline.

Lead with this before moving to gaps."

• Usage signal: "Weekly active users dropped 18% last month — ask what changed on

their end before attributing it to product."

• Renewal positioning: "Renewal is in 67 days. This call isn't the commercial

conversation — the goal is alignment, not close. Defer pricing until the sponsor is engaged."

• Expansion lead (internal, don't raise directly): "Champion mentioned interest

in [feature] on the last call — listen for confirmation and route to AE if validated."