What is a client brief, and how does Vai keep it current?

A client brief is what you currently know about an inquiry, kept on the inquiry’s page in People. Vai keeps it current from your emails and meetings, and you decide what goes in.

What’s in a brief

Every brief has What they want, Budget, Timeline, and Who decides, plus Direction, Constraints, Why now, and Fee expectations. Some kinds of business get more details: a wedding or floral business also has Event date, Guest count, Venue, and Vendors already booked.

The details a proposal needs are What they want, Budget, Timeline, and Who decides, plus Event date for a wedding or floral business. The top of the inquiry shows Ready for a proposal when those are settled, or how many required details are still open.

How Vai keeps it current

Emails and Notetaker meetings with the client attach to their open inquiry. Vai reads each new one in the background and pulls out facts about the client. Each fact becomes a Review brief update suggestion, with the detail, the value, and the client’s own words.

You’ll find suggestions under Needs you, on the inquiry’s page and on the Overview tab of People. On each one:

• Select Accept to add the fact to the brief.
• Select Dismiss to leave it out.

When two sources disagree, for example two different budgets, the detail is marked contested and shows both values until you settle it.

Edit or lock a detail yourself

1. Open the inquiry. Open People from the rail, select Pipeline, and open the inquiry.
2. Edit a detail. Under Brief, select Edit on the detail, change it, and select Save brief detail. Your edit is locked, so later updates can’t overwrite it.
3. Lock or unlock. Select Lock to keep a detail as it is, or Unlock to let suggestions update it again.

Select Show sources to see the quote or source behind each detail.

Who can use it

Client briefs are on the Core plan and the Growth plan, and use no AI credits. In a team workspace, a team member sees and accepts suggestions on the inquiries they can see. See What can team members see and do in the CRM?

When the brief is ready, see How do I create a proposal with Vai?