This template is part of the refund abuse review guide. For the covering note, use the warm introduction brief; for other record types, the client opportunity brief generator builds a similar page from a short form.
Four rules before you write a line
- Describe, never attach. No order exports, ticket copies, screenshots of held refunds, customer lists or logins. If a line needs a record to prove it, it does not belong on the brief yet.
- Every number carries its source. "About a third cleared (director's estimate)" is honest. A figure nobody can stand behind weakens every other line.
- Unknown is a valid entry. If nobody knows whether the old returns app exports reviewer notes, write unknown. Do not ask anyone to run an export to find out.
- The director signs off on the facts. Nothing goes to the officer until the sponsor has read every field.
The blank brief
Copy the table and fill in the middle column. The right column tells you who usually knows.
| Field | What to write | Who usually answers |
|---|---|---|
| Company | What it sells, where, years operating | Customer operations director |
| Headcount | Full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded | HR or finance |
| Business task | The decision the review team makes, in one sentence | Customer operations director |
| Record classes | Return requests and reasons, rule logs, holds, reviewer notes, tickets, refunds, rule change history | Returns manager |
| Systems | Commerce platform, returns app, helpdesk, any fraud tool | Ecommerce manager |
| Coverage | First year held for each system | Returns manager, support lead |
| Volume | Reviews per year and share cleared, as ranges | Customer operations director |
| Export format notes | Whether ticket exports keep comments; whether closed returns export | Support lead, returns app admin |
| Open question | The thing nobody has checked across years | Customer operations director |
| Access deadline | Documented end of a tool contract or a planned purge | Procurement, IT |
| Ownership note | What the retailer wrote, what the vendor holds, what names customers | Counsel |
| Authorized contact | Officer who can approve a licensing discussion | Customer operations director |
| Not shared | A plain statement that no records were exchanged | Partner |
Keep the export format line even when it feels technical. In Zendesk's own help pages, the spreadsheet-style export drops the conversation on each ticket, while the structured file keeps it. Shopify's order spreadsheet shows what was refunded and the payment state, yet nothing about why a hold was placed. An officer deciding whether to take a call wants to know if the reviewer's reasoning can travel, not merely the totals.
Zendesk
ShopifyA completed brief (Illustrative)
Every value below is invented for a fictional retailer after a planning call. It shows the level of detail to aim for, not a real company or opportunity.
| Field | Illustrative entry |
|---|---|
| Company | Outdoor apparel retailer, U.S., 11 years operating |
| Headcount | About 180 full-time employees at peak (HR) |
| Business task | Reviewing held refunds from repeat returners and deciding release or denial |
| Record classes | Return requests with reasons, rule logs, reviewer notes, helpdesk tickets with comments, refunds, rule change history |
| Systems | Commerce platform and helpdesk stay; returns app being replaced |
| Coverage | Returns app since 2019; helpdesk since 2016; store since 2015 (director's estimate, not verified) |
| Volume | A few thousand reviews a year, roughly a third cleared (director's estimate) |
| Export format notes | Helpdesk structured export keeps comments; returns app export of closed cases unconfirmed |
| Open question | Whether the old returns app exports closed cases with reviewer notes and the rule version that fired |
| Access deadline | Returns app contract ends January 31 |
| Ownership note | Rules and reviewer notes written by the retailer; flag logs held by the vendor; tickets and returns name customers |
| Authorized contact | CEO, with the customer operations director as sponsor |
| Not shared | Any order, ticket, customer record or export |
The open question is what makes this brief worth a call. Because this retailer's staff log a reason for each return before money goes back for returned goods, as the store platform's help center asks, the reason field tends to be complete. The gap is elsewhere: nobody yet knows if a released case still points to the rule version that stopped it.
Lines officers question first
From the officer's side, four lines draw the questions. Prepare the sponsor for each.
- Authorized contact. If it names an administrator or an agency, it will come back. The decision tree on who can license these records finds the right officer.
- Ownership note. Vendor-held logs and customer details are where counsel starts. Mark them separately, never as "ours".
- Volume. Ranges with a named source read as credible; precise counts with no source read as guesses.
- Access deadline. A real contract end belongs on the brief. An invented one does not, and neither does pressure to act before the company has decided.
The exception examples page shows the kind of case the open question refers to, if the officer asks what a reviewed hold looks like. For the conversation before any brief, see how advisors introduce ecommerce clients.
Eligibility line and what the brief cannot answer
The retailer needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license the records and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application.
What no brief can answer, and should not try to: buyer interest, what the rights and privacy review concludes, which records are selected, how they are de-identified, any offer and any reward. Retail context is on the ecommerce industry page.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
When the customer operations director has checked every field and the named officer agrees to a call, register as a partner, confirm the retailer on who qualifies and keep the program terms beside the brief as you submit it.