Why every growth-stage business needs a Sales Playbook

Are your sales reps too dependent on a few deep relationships in their accounts?

Is “on-the-job-training” the most powerful learning tool for your newly hired reps?

One of your sales leadership priorities is to find the perfect fit between your offer and the needs of your client, done in a unique and differentiated way that makes you stand out ahead of your competition. Your products and services were carefully designed for a unique set of clients and circumstances. This perfect match between their needs and your solution creates expanded value that will keep them coming back for more.  If you asked every sales rep in your team: “how do we make our clients successful?”, you would want everyone to give a very similar answer.

Your sales team may already be selling without a playbook, so they are likely relying on sharp selling skills, a good knowledge of your product, and key connections with your clients, which are all great skills to have.  We also want to define an effective and repeatable process that stands firm on your key pillars of top performance and optimal results.  When you hire a new business development rep, how quickly can they learn best practices to shorten their learning curve?

For performance tracking purposes, you may have some form of a pipeline or funnel that tracks all open opportunities from discovery to closing.  Have you thought of the same funnel, but seen from the perspective of your client?  While your sales team’s job is to sell, your client’s job is not “to buy,” but to achieve their internal goals and objectives, some of which require your products and services. In a B2B setting, your client will follow their own “decision cycle” composed of internal players that will define the what, when, how, and whom, and will closely evaluate your proposal from their own individual perspective.  Their decision cycle also follows a flow and not all of those players get involved in all stages. You see, this has nothing to do with your product, or how you sell it – this is about how your client buys.

Top reasons to build a Sales Playbook:

1. Design an effective sales strategy and use it consistently.  Once you’ve figured out what works, wouldn’t you want everyone to follow that formula?
2. Prepare reps (new or not) for success.  Relationships, industry background, and product knowledge are great, but moving an opportunity quickly down the funnel is where their bonus will come from.
3. Build trust with your account.  Your clients will appreciate a rep that respects their time and shows up prepared to discuss the important topics.

Here are three questions that will test the robustness of your sales strategy:

1. Do you have a clear “roadmap” or strategy that effectively guides the sales team on the ideal path to win?
2. Can your sales team articulate the specific needs, jobs, pains, and gains – and their metrics – where you consistently bring outstanding improvements to your clients?
3. Can they outline the sequence of sales calls they will schedule with their account, identifying the topic and the stakeholder, to shorten the path to the closing conversation?

If you stumble on any of these answers, send me an email and let’s talk.  Don’t try to figure out your best sales approach while you’re sitting in front of your prospect!