Cambridge Publications: How to Build a Sales Playbook

How to Build a Sales Playbook

In football, winning tactics usually end up in a team's playbook—a formal guide to what works and doesn't work. Michael Krigsman says the playbook concept can also help sales organizations "win more often," and lately his company has been building sales playbooks for clients like SAP, Lotus, and other software firms.

"Traditionally, sales reps have been given standardized 'how to sell' training and brochures from the marketing department," Krigsman points out. "What they don't get is a way to build a link between specific customer needs and the products and technology they're selling".

Ideally, says Krigsman, a sales playbook captures a company's knowledge about its market, value proposition, product solutions, competition, and best practices. "It's a document that takes a lot of research and input from the sales force. A playbook shouldn't be turned over to a junior marcom person: You have to put someone in charge who understands business issues and sales methodologies."

What kind of sales knowledge belongs in a playbook? "There's no standard format," Krigsman notes, "but there are several items that we've found that are particularly helpful." His list:

Customer analysis: "It's always good to start by identifying market segments, key buyers and influencers, and their motivations," says Krigsman. "The most important issue is to identify what's causing the customer real pain, because these days technology products are being bought to solve business problems, not because they're the latest technology."
The value proposition: "How do your products and services link directly to the customer's pain issues?" Krigsman asks. "It's important to get a consistent message across, to make sure everyone in the company is on the same page."
A clear technology explanation: The playbook should provide a solid "business-oriented explanation" of the company's technology, so that sales reps can explain clearly how their products support the value proposition. Diagrams and charts are especially useful here, says Krigsman. "However, don't fall into the trap of loading the playbook with heavy technology discussions—your sales people aren't applications engineers," he says.
Before and after scenarios: "Show what life is like for your prospect without your solution, then demonstrate how much better things will be with your solution. If you've correctly analyzed the pain issues, this comparison can be remarkably effective."
Competitive analysis: "This analysis should emphasize positioning issues, not just technical features," Krigsman says. "You should look at how competitors position themselves in the market and how they think about pain issues. And you should find out what customers and resellers think about how you're positioned against the competition."
Sales methodology: "Here, you want to describe all the steps you go through to make a sale-the information you collect at each point, how you handle objections, who gets involved in the flow." Often, describing a sales process in detail "uncovers a few holes in how things are done," says Krigsman. "Deciding how to fix process problems can be one of the toughest challenges in building a playbook."
Best practices: "Ask experienced people in the sales organization about what works and what doesn't. Tips and techniques are always helpful."
Nitty gritty stuff: "Think of the playbook as a toolkit," says Krigsman. "It's a great place to bring together reference information, FAQs, contract templates, pricing, training materials, presentations, contact information, and anything else that sales people are likely to need."

This interview was originally published in .