How to Research Someone Before a Meeting [2026 Guide]

You're five minutes out from a call with a prospect. You know you've talked before - was it three months ago? Six months? You frantically search your inbox for their name, skimming subject lines, trying to piece together what you discussed.

The meeting starts. You smile, exchange pleasantries, and hope they don't notice you're flying blind.

Sound familiar? You're not alone. According to research, 82% of B2B decision-makers perceive sales representatives as unprepared. And it's not because professionals don't care - it's because they don't have time.

Here's the truth about how to research someone before a meeting: proper preparation takes 15-20 minutes per meeting when done right. Multiply that by five external meetings a week, and you're looking at nearly two hours of research time. Most people skip it entirely.

This guide gives you everything you need: a complete pre-meeting research checklist, time-saving strategies for different meeting types, and how to automate the entire process so you never walk in unprepared again.

Why Pre-Meeting Research Matters More Than You Think

Let's start with what's actually at stake when you skip meeting preparation.

The Professional Cost of Being Unprepared

When you walk into a meeting without context, you're not just risking awkwardness. You're actively undermining your professional credibility.

Think about it from the other side. When someone remembers your previous conversation - the concerns you raised, the timeline you mentioned, the specific challenge you're facing - how does it make you feel? Valued. Understood. Like you're working with someone who takes the relationship seriously.

Now think about what it signals when someone asks, "So, remind me where we left off?"

It says: you weren't important enough to remember.

The Numbers Don't Lie

The data on meeting preparation is striking:

• 65% of sales reps say time constraints prevent them from conducting pre-call research
• Prospects are 5x more likely to engage with you when introduced through a mutual connection
• Mentioning shared connections increases follow-up meeting likelihood by up to 70%
• Teams using multi-threaded relationship approaches see 34% higher win rates

The pattern is clear: preparation creates a direct line to results. And yet most professionals skip it because they're too busy.

The Time Math Problem

Let's be conservative. Say you have five external meetings a week. Each one requires about 15-20 minutes of proper research - finding old emails, checking LinkedIn profiles, reviewing any shared documents or previous meeting notes.

That's over an hour every week. Four to five hours a month. More than 50 hours a year - over a full work week - just searching through your inbox and LinkedIn.

And that's if you actually do the prep. Most of us don't. We skip it because we're busy, then spend the first five minutes of every call catching up on context we should already have.

What to Research Before Any Meeting (The Complete Checklist)

Whether you're preparing for a sales call, client check-in, or investor meeting, these five research areas will ensure you walk in ready to lead the conversation.

1. Research the Attendees

Before any meeting, you should know exactly who's going to be in the room. This goes beyond just names - you need context that helps you connect.

What to look for on LinkedIn:

• Current role and tenure: How long have they been in this position? What responsibilities do they list?
• Career path: Where did they work before? What's their professional trajectory?
• Mutual connections: Do you share any contacts? This is gold - prospects are 5x more likely to engage when you have a shared connection.
• Recent activity: What have they posted, shared, or commented on recently? This reveals what's on their mind.
• Education and background: Shared alma maters or experiences are natural rapport builders.

Pro tip: Check for any new faces joining the meeting. If someone's been added to the calendar invite that you haven't met before, research them with the same thoroughness as the primary contact.

Time required: 5-10 minutes per meeting if done manually.

2. Review Your Conversation History

This is where most preparation falls apart - and where being prepared makes the biggest impression.

What you need to know:

• What you discussed last time: Not vaguely, but specifically. What were the key topics? What concerns did they raise?
• Commitments made: What did you say you'd do? What did they say they'd do? Did either happen?
• Open questions or concerns: Issues that were raised but not fully resolved
• Previous meetings: When did you last meet? What was the outcome?

Where to find this:

• Your email inbox (search their name and company)
• Calendar notes from previous meetings
• CRM records (if you actually keep them updated)
• Shared documents or proposals

The goal is to walk in able to say, "Last time we talked, you mentioned concerns about timeline - has anything changed?" instead of "So, remind me what we discussed?"

Time required: 10-15 minutes of searching, more if the relationship is long-standing.

3. Understand Their Company

Context about their organization helps you understand their priorities and speak their language.

Research these areas:

• Recent news and press releases: What's happening at their company right now? Use Google News or set up alerts.
• Company size and structure: How big is the organization? Is your contact a decision-maker or part of a larger buying committee?
• Industry challenges: What headwinds is their sector facing?
• How they make money: Understanding their business model helps you frame value in terms they care about.
• Relevant initiatives: Are they expanding? Restructuring? Launching new products?

Where to find this:

• Company website (About, News, Team pages)
• LinkedIn company page
• Google News search
• Press releases and blog posts
• Annual reports (for public companies)

Time required: 5-10 minutes for a quick scan, longer for important prospects.

4. Find Trigger Events

Trigger events are changes that create openings for meaningful conversation. They're what separates good preparation from great preparation.

Key trigger events to look for:

• Job changes: People who changed jobs within the last 90 days are 65% more likely to respond to outreach. The same applies to meeting engagement.
• Promotions or role changes: New responsibilities often mean new priorities and new budgets.
• Company milestones: Funding rounds, acquisitions, product launches, or expansion announcements.
• Leadership changes: New executives often bring new initiatives and fresh perspectives.
• Industry shifts: Regulatory changes, market moves, or competitive dynamics that affect their business.

Trigger events give you something specific and timely to discuss. "Congratulations on the Series B - that must be an exciting time" is far more engaging than generic small talk.

Time required: 2-5 minutes scanning LinkedIn and news.

5. Identify Talking Points and Questions

The final step is translating your research into conversation strategy.

Prepare these elements:

• Opening reference: Something specific from your research that shows you've done your homework. A recent post they shared, a company announcement, or a reference to your last conversation.
• Mutual connections: If you share connections, decide whether and how to reference them.
• Thoughtful questions: Based on your research, what do you genuinely want to learn? Good questions demonstrate preparation.
• Relevant context: Any information that shows you understand their situation and challenges.

Time required: 2-3 minutes of intentional thinking.

How Long Should Pre-Meeting Research Take?

If you add up the checklist above, thorough meeting preparation takes 25-40 minutes per meeting when done manually. For someone with five external meetings a week, that's 2-3 hours of weekly research time.

This is exactly why 65% of professionals say time constraints prevent them from doing proper pre-call research. It's not that they don't know it matters - they simply don't have the bandwidth.

The result? They wing it. They show up without context. They ask questions they should already know the answers to. And their meetings suffer.

There are two solutions to this problem:

1. Get more efficient at manual research - which we'll cover in the 5-minute routine below
2. Automate the research entirely - which we'll discuss in the tools section

Pre-Meeting Research by Meeting Type

Different meetings require different preparation focus. Here's how to adjust your research approach based on what kind of meeting you're walking into.

Sales Discovery Calls

Focus areas:

• Company and industry research: Understand their business well enough to ask intelligent questions about challenges
• Stakeholder mapping: Who else is involved in decisions? 11+ stakeholders typically influence B2B purchasing decisions
• Competitive context: Who else might they be talking to?
• Trigger events: What's changing that might create urgency?

Key question to answer: What problem might they be trying to solve, and how does your solution fit?

Client Check-Ins

Focus areas:

• Relationship history: Your complete conversation history is critical. What have you discussed? What's been delivered?
• Previous commitments: What did you promise? What did they promise?
• Project context: Where do things stand?
• Recent communications: Any emails or issues you should be aware of?

Key question to answer: What do they need to know, and what do you need to ask?

Investor or Board Meetings

Focus areas:

• All attendees: Research everyone who will be in the room, not just your primary contact
• Previous conversations: What commitments were made? What metrics were discussed?
• Document preparation: Have relevant materials ready to reference
• Market context: Be prepared to discuss industry trends and competitive dynamics

Key question to answer: What story do the numbers tell, and what questions will they ask?

Partner and Vendor Meetings

Focus areas:

• Mutual value: How does this relationship benefit both parties?
• Shared goals: What are you trying to achieve together?
• Relationship context: Who are the key contacts? What's been discussed previously?
• Company updates: Any changes on their side that affect the partnership?

Key question to answer: How can this meeting move the relationship forward?

Tools That Can Help With Meeting Research

Manual Research Tools

If you're doing pre-meeting research manually, these are your go-to resources:

LinkedIn The starting point for any attendee research. Profiles give you role information, career history, mutual connections, and recent activity. LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers additional features for sales professionals.

Google News Search the company name to find recent news, press releases, and media coverage. Set up Google Alerts for key accounts you meet with regularly.

Company Websites Check the About page, News/Blog sections, and leadership pages. Many companies announce initiatives and changes on their own sites before they hit the news.

Your Email Inbox Often overlooked, but your inbox contains your complete conversation history with any contact. The challenge is finding it quickly among thousands of emails.

Your CRM If you keep it updated (and that's a big if), your CRM should have notes from previous interactions. The problem is that most professionals don't maintain their CRM religiously.

Automated Meeting Preparation

Manual research works, but it takes time - time most professionals don't have. That's why a new category of meeting preparation tools has emerged.

What to look for in an automated solution:

• Calendar integration: Should automatically identify your upcoming external meetings
• Email history surfacing: Pulls your complete conversation history with each attendee
• LinkedIn integration: Provides attendee profiles without manual searching
• Proactive delivery: Sends briefings before you need them, not when you remember to look

Brief My Meeting is built for exactly this purpose. It connects to your Google or Outlook calendar, identifies your external meetings, and automatically emails you a briefing four hours before each one - complete with attendee LinkedIn profiles, your full email history with each person, and relevant documents.

The setup takes about two minutes. After that, briefings arrive automatically. No more searching through emails. No more last-minute LinkedIn stalking. Just open your inbox and you're prepared.

The 5-Minute Pre-Meeting Prep Routine

Sometimes you don't have 20 minutes to prepare. Maybe the meeting was just scheduled, or you've been in back-to-back calls all day. Here's a stripped-down routine for when time is tight.

When You Only Have 5 Minutes

Minute 1-2: Quick attendee scan Open LinkedIn and spend 60 seconds on each attendee's profile. Note their current role, company, and one interesting detail (recent post, shared connection, mutual background).

Minute 3: Email search Search your inbox for their name. Scan the most recent 3-5 email subject lines to remember what you've discussed.

Minute 4: Company quick check Google "[Company name] news" and scan headlines for anything recent and relevant.

Minute 5: Prepare your opening Based on what you found, prepare one specific thing to reference that shows you've done your homework.

The Absolute Minimum

If you truly have no time, do this:

1. Know everyone's name and role - Don't walk in not knowing who's in the room
2. Remember your last conversation - At least skim your most recent emails with them
3. Have one specific reference - Something that shows you're not starting from zero

Even this minimal preparation puts you ahead of most professionals who wing it entirely.

Or Skip Manual Research Entirely

The 5-minute routine works in a pinch, but it's still 5 minutes you're spending before every meeting. For someone with multiple external meetings daily, that adds up.

This is where automation makes the difference. With Brief My Meeting, the briefing arrives in your inbox four hours before each meeting. No research required - just open the email, spend two minutes reviewing, and walk in prepared.

You get attendee profiles, your complete email history, relevant documents, and calendar context. Everything organized and ready to scan. The preparation that would take 20 minutes manually takes two minutes with automation.

Making Meeting Preparation a Habit

Whether you research manually or automate the process, the key is consistency. Every external meeting deserves preparation. Not because it's nice to have, but because it directly impacts your results.

Clients notice when you remember details. Prospects notice when you come prepared with context. Investors notice when you reference previous conversations. And they definitely notice when you don't.

The Professional Advantage

In a world where everyone is busy and most people wing it, being prepared is a competitive advantage. It signals that you value the relationship. It demonstrates professionalism. It builds trust.

And the data backs this up: prepared professionals close more deals, build stronger relationships, and advance their careers faster than those who don't.

The Choice

You have two options:

1. Keep doing manual research - Budget 15-20 minutes per meeting, follow the checklist in this guide, and accept that some meetings will happen without proper prep because you ran out of time.

2. Automate your meeting prep - Set up once, get briefings automatically, and walk into every meeting with the context you need.

If option two sounds better, Brief My Meeting offers a 7-day free trial. Setup takes two minutes - just connect your email and calendar. After that, briefings arrive automatically before every external meeting.

No more scrambling. No more awkward "remind me where we left off?" moments. Just walk in prepared.

Your next external meeting is probably tomorrow. Will you be ready?

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Key Takeaways

• Pre-meeting research takes 15-20 minutes per meeting when done properly - that's why 65% of professionals skip it
• The complete research checklist includes: attendee profiles, conversation history, company context, trigger events, and talking points
• Different meeting types require different focus: sales calls need prospect research, client meetings need relationship history, investor meetings need everyone researched
• Manual tools work but take time: LinkedIn, email search, company websites, and CRM are your resources
• Automation eliminates the time problem: Tools like Brief My Meeting deliver briefings automatically, turning 20 minutes of research into 2 minutes of review
• Consistency is key: Every external meeting deserves preparation - it's a competitive advantage that builds trust and drives results

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Ready to automate your meeting prep? Start your free trial of Brief My Meeting and get briefed before your next meeting.