Expert Tips For Building an Effective Sales Playbook

A constructive sales playbook is a key asset to any sales organization and has many key benefits; it can help your sales team streamline their sales process, eliminate pain points for sales reps, and ultimately boost sales performance.

But exactly what is a sales playbook? What should you include (and leave out)? Who should be involved in writing sales playbooks? And perhaps most importantly, how do you know when you have an effective sales playbook?

Leadium was recently joined by Tom Slocum, Community founder and sales strategy mastermind, who was able to answer all our burning sales playbook questions - and more. Here, we investigate ten expert tips and best practices that'll totally revamp your sales process.

What is a sales playbook?

On the surface, a sales playbook may seem like a simple enough concept: as any sales manager will tell you, a sales playbook is a document that outlines best practices for your sales team. It explains:
‍

• your sales process
• useful sales plays for sales reps
• how to make more deals with potential customers.
  ‍

But as we'll see, there's a great deal that goes into the perfect playbook.
‍

The sales strategy benefits of a good playbook

When it comes to increasing conversions, streamlining your sales process, and building best practices, a good sales playbook is second to none as an asset. Implemented correctly, they're sure to improve your key performance indicators.

But there are other benefits, too. It'll foster better relationships between team members, between departments, and between your company and its prospects. It'll leave sales methodology nitty-gritty to one comprehensive document, giving you more free time to focus on other high-priority tasks. It can even cut your onboarding time from eight to twelve weeks to four or five.
‍

What are the different types of sales playbook?

But not every sales playbook is the same. Tom points out that there are two versions of a playbook: one for outbound sales messaging and one for sales operations.

Generally, an 'outbound sales playbook' is a condensed, high-focus document covering sales methodology - think messaging, how to go-to-market, and sales plays your sales reps can use to guide prospects through the sales funnel.

A 'sales operations' playbook, on the other hand, is a much larger document. This will cover 'everything' from Roles and Responsibilities and a comprehensive company overview to buyer personas and strategic objectives.

What type of sales playbook do I need?

Whether your company needs an outbound sales messaging playbook or a sales operations playbook depends on many factors; your sales goals, sales plan, and direction moving forward are all key considerations.

A deep-dive sales playbook - i.e. a sales operations playbook - may help sales reps develop comprehensive call scripts and strategies that feed into your overall business strategy more effectively, but of course, they take much longer to compile.
‍

How long should a sales playbook be and how long do they take to write?

Of course, the size of your own sales playbook depends on the type of playbook you choose to create. Most successful sales playbook templates fall between 50 and 60 pages long - that's a lot of information (and your sales reps might not thank you at first), but don't forget that a good sales playbook will enhance your team's performance and help them implement strategies that'll knock their PBs out the park.

Writing time can vary, too. Generally, though, a good sales playbook may take between 60 and 120 days to compile. We know what you're thinking: that's a lot of writing!

Luckily, there are several useful ways to speed up your process and write an effective sales playbook that'll have you moving deals forward in no time.
‍

How to write a sales playbook efficiently

There are no shortcuts when it comes to sales playbook success, but there are some tips that can help you write your own playbook more quickly.

1. Use a sales playbook template
   You can find thousands of great sales playbook templates online; these will help you streamline your best practices and decide how to structure your playbook with relative ease. Remember, of course, that templates are just that: templates. They can't possibly capture your company overview or unique value proposition, so 'personalize' them as much as possible.

‍

2. Include the entire team
   Okay, maybe you don't need to include the entire team, but calling on leaders and key players from other departments will certainly help. Marketing teams, Sales Enablement materials, and those with intimate knowledge of the product line all have valuable insights that'll help you build your playbook. Outsource 'chunks' to them where possible. After all, sales and marketing teams are both intimately involved in closing sales.

‍

3. Hire a specialist
   Of course, for the ultimate injection of sales playbook expertise, hire a specialist. People like Tom are invaluable when it comes to building an effective sales playbook; they'll help you distill your goals, sales process, and sales methodology into a winning sales playbook in just 45 to 60 days.
   ‍

What should a sales playbook contain?

Talking to your sales team is a great starting point from which to write a sales playbook. After all, sales reps are the ones who are going to be using it. What do they need to improve their selling process?

Generally speaking, a good sales playbook should include:
‍

• your own best practices
• an organizational chart or marketing calendar
• sales plays and terms
• relevant sales tools
  ‍

Most of these come under 'sales methodology' and 'sales strategy,' which, if you think about it, makes sense: this is what your sales team needs to streamline their sales processes and make sure they're on the same page.

What shouldn't you include in a sales playbook?

More tricky (and less asked) is the question: what shouldn't be included in my sales playbook?

Although a company overview may be an important aspect of your sales playbook, that doesn't necessarily mean every part of the company needs to be involved. The aim here is to build a killer sales playbook. The clue's in the name.

One common mistake is to include too much marketing information. Don't get us wrong, the marketing team will play a crucial role in key aspects of the playbook, and can help enormously with messaging and different buyer personas, but you don't need to rely too heavily on 'deep' marketing information.

Likewise, Customer Success data can be useful when conceptualizing your sales playbook, but it doesn't need to be front and center.

Tom gave a succinct rule of thumb to use: if it doesn't affect the prospect and going-to-market, then you don't need it.

Always consider the buying process and sales cycle when compiling your sales playbook.
‍

Who should be involved in writing a sales playbook?

Generally speaking, the key figures involved in writing a sales playbook will be the director of sales, sales managers, sales enablement managers and marketing leaders. As we said before, although your sales playbook doesn't need to focus too heavily on marketing, key figures in that department are usually involved in good sales playbooks.

The heads of the sales team structure, however, know the sales methodology in more detail, and will be the vital contributors.

Tom notes, however, that the most important consultants are your sales reps. A sales playbook without a sales team is like a restaurant on the moon: it may be great, but no one's going to use it. (toto dajme do quotes)

How do you implement a sales playbook into the sales process?

Tom points out that a new sales playbook can be intimidating for both new hires and established sales reps. He suggests running a workshop as a great way to introduce the sales team to the training materials. That way, sales reps will be able to open a dialogue with sales leaders, practice sales plays, develop new sales scripts, and ultimately improve their sales content.
‍

How do you measure the effectiveness of a sales playbook?

Over time, the effectiveness of a successful sales playbook should become visible within your company's broader trends. Key performance indicators like NPS, conversion rates, and of course revenue growth are all easy ways to see if your sales team is incorporating the sales playbook into their sales strategy.

But other, smaller trends are also important. For example, many of the companies Tom has worked for have found their sales reps' call times becoming longer (as the sales team is better informed, potential customers may ask more questions), they're hitting quotas with ease, and there is actually reduced stress within the sales team structure.

This, Tom believes, comes down to one crucial benefit of a powerful sales playbook: unity.

The sales strategy of any sales org is often disparate and confused; different sales reps have different plays and reach their target audience 'in their own way.' Playbooks, however, offer a repeatable, scalable sales process that offers everyone the opportunity to improve their performance.

Your sales team will thank you

Leadium hopes you'll be able to implement these expert tips into a sales playbook that'll skyrocket your sales process.

By understanding what type of sales playbook you need, what and what not to include, who should write it, and how to measure its effectiveness you should have a quality sales playbook your sales team will love in no time.

Tom Slocum is the go-to guy for all things sales strategy; if you're interested in how to streamline your sales process, or if you want to learn more about how sales playbooks can improve your business, reach out to him on LinkedIn or at thesdlab.com.

For more expert advice and quality leads, contact us today and see how you can scale your business.