Sales playbooks are essential for the modern salesperson and sales teams that desire to perform at their full potential.
They contain the best practices, messaging, strategies, tactics, knowledge, and tools that the sales team needs to execute the go-to-market strategy.
Sales playbooks help onboard new hires and provide a framework for sales managers to accelerate pipeline quality and advance deals to closure through coaching.
Alas, two things are never “finished” in sales – account plans and playbooks.
Both represent a snapshot in time of what we know and want to accomplish, both of which will change and require adjustments to respond to a competitive position, solution changes, and company objectives.
To that end, a perfect, comprehensive sales playbook is not attainable.
By prioritizing the sales playbook content elements based on the organization’s needs, you can develop versions of the playbooks that provide immediate and incremental impact on its path towards completion, roll-out, and optimization.
For example, a sales playbook for an established core solution within your firm that’s also known in the marketplace will contain different content than a new solution that is just entering the market.
Depending on which solution you select for your first playbook will determine what content elements are needed to enable the sales team to meet the sales playbook objectives.
Sales playbook components vary by organization and involve a unique assortment and order, including:
- Key Insights
- Ideal Customer Profile
- Solution Value Proposition
- Buyer Personas
- Qualification Criteria
- Customer Journey Map
- Buying and Sales Process
- Competitive Battle Cards
- Content & Sales Resources
- Opportunity Advancement Plays
- Expected Metrics
A clear vision of a comprehensive sales playbook is essential, but you shouldn’t let the concept get in the way of active, agile, and practical progress on each component. Perhaps you don’t have Personas or Competitive Battle cards developed – don’t let that stop you from getting version one out the door without those elements.
You don’t need a perfect playbook to drive improved sales results, and creating sales playbooks does require investments of resources, time, and money. However, sales playbooks are one of the most effective ways to increase revenue and sales productivity.
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