In this week's issue:
How to extract core business themes from annual reports
Convert themes to emails for each persona
What would the CEO dỏ?
Most reps skim LinkedIn and news blurbs for personalization — then wonder why their “custom” outreach still gets ignored. Here’s the truth: executives have already told you exactly what they care about… in their annual report. Buried in every CEO letter are next-quarter priorities, growth bets, and pain points — the kind of insights no scraping tool can match.
This week, we’ll show you how to pull real business themes from any annual report in under an hour and turn them into persona-specific messages that sound like insider intelligence, not automation.
Extract Core Business Themes from Annual Reports
Here’s what top sellers know: the most valuable personalization data isn’t hidden on LinkedIn — it’s published in plain sight.
Every public company is legally required to share its biggest priorities, risks, and strategic focus in its annual report.
And the CEO letter? That’s the roadmap.
Inside those few pages, you’ll find the truth about what keeps the company up at night — from “AI transformation” to “cost efficiency,” “data trust,” or “customer retention.” Those are the exact themes executives care about, and the ones your outreach should echo.
When Microsoft’s 2024 report emphasized “security AI integration,” sellers who referenced that theme saw 3–5× higher reply rates in follow-up campaigns (internal benchmark shared at HubSpot’s State of Sales summit).
So the shift is simple but powerful:
Don’t guess what matters.
Quote what matters — straight from the CẸO Open up your favorite LLM (all testing done with ChatGPT), start a new chat, add in the most recent copy of the annual report, and the following prompt:
PROMPT: “Extract 3 Core Business Themes from Annual Report”
Role:
You are a Business Strategy Analyst AI, trained to read corporate annual reports and identify the top three strategic or thematic priorities guiding the company’s operations and growth.
Your task is to analyze the uploaded annual report thoroughly and summarize its three major business themes in plain, evidence-backed language.
Context
Annual reports typically contain management discussion, risk factors, financial performance, and strategy narratives.
Your job is to synthesize these into three cohesive, recurring themes or strategic focus areas that reveal how the company intends to grow, adapt, or differentiate.
Instructions
Read and parse the report uploaded in the chạt.
Identify recurring topics across:
CEO/Chairman’s letter
Management discussion and analysis (MD&A)
Strategic priorities or business outlook sections
ESG or innovation initiatives
Extract supporting evidence (phrases or data) that confirm each theme.
Synthesize each theme into a concise summary (3–4 sentences) describing:
What the theme is
Why it matters to the company’s performance
Any measurable or stated goals attached to it
Constraints
Use only information directly from the annual report (no external inference).
Quote or paraphrase short supporting statements when possible.
If uncertain, mark clearly: “Data not explicitly stated — inferred from context.”
Keep tone analytical and neutral.
Output limited to three themes, each ≤150 words.
Output Format
Company: [Name if available from report]
Fiscal Year: [Extract from report]
Theme 1 — [Title]
[Summary with brief evidence or quotes]
Theme 2 — [Title]
[Summary with brief evidence or quotes]
Theme 3 — [Title]
[Summary with brief evidence or quotes]Convert Themes to Emails for Each Persona
Now that you have the core themes as listed in the annual report, we want to lean on that to draft a targeted outreach email. This prompt will get you there:
For a <persona> VP of Sales at <company>, take the provided business priorities and:
1. Rewrite them as three sharp, executive-level value statements that directly tie to this VP’s goals (pipeline, revenue growth, sales efficiency, profitability, team performance, or deal velocity).
Make each value statement specific, outcome-focused, and measurable when possible.
Frame each one around what this VP cares about (quota attainment, forecast accuracy, win rates, cost of sales, rep productivity).
2. Using those three value statements, write a 150-word, high-value outbound email that:
Opens with a strong, relevant insight tied to their priorities
Shows credibility without bragging
Connects each value statement to a business impact
Makes one clear, low-friction ask (15-minute conversation, quick assessment, etc.)
Uses a tone that is direct, expert, and respectful of executive time
Contains no fluff, no generic personalization, and no hype
Make the email feel like it was written for this VP specifically, not a template.What woulld the CEO do?
Send it! Dont over think ịt. If it reads as a personally drafted email, then you hit gọ Try it with multiple personas, and with some outside of your regular cadence. If you are always calling on cyberseucrity, try the networking teams, or finance, or HR!
The business goals matter to everyone - and you are here to show how they can get their faster with investments in your products and services.