A good brief cuts scoping from days to hours. Include:
- Business objective — the decision or revenue outcome the system supports.
- Current state — Clay in use? Which plan tier? Existing workflows (even rough count).
- CRM and integrations — which systems, which objects, existing integration behavior.
- Data sources — providers you already pay for, BYO keys available, first-party data shape.
- Volume — records per month, runs per month.
- Success criteria — measurable: match rate, validity, throughput, cost per usable record.
- Known problems — failures, cost surprises, data-quality complaints, with examples.
- Constraints — compliance requirements, security review processes, who must approve CRM writes.
- Ownership — who will own the system after delivery.
- Urgency and budget shape — even a rough range and deadline shape the scope honestly.
The Project Planner generates a brief like this from guided questions — use it as the starting point, then refine with your team.
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