Sales Strategy

Create a Perfect Sales Playbook: Your Ultimate How-To

Liucija Adomaite

April 6, 2024

April 2, 2024

7 min. read

Liucija Adomaite

LAST UPDATED

April 8, 2024

READING TIME

7 min.

HubSpot's 2023 Report shows that sales reps spend only 21% of their day actually selling.

That’s less than 2 hours a day.

Imagine how much more sales your reps could do if they utilize the rest 79% of their workday.

Sales Playbook is an excellent solution to speed the sales process, enhance productivity, optimize workflow, sync the team, and ultimately, close deals.

In this article, you will learn what is sales playbook, how to create an effective sales playbook, including some practical tips.

What Is A Sales Playbook?

A sales playbook is a strategic document that outlines the best practices, processes, and knowledge to make sales.

It acts as a manual for selling your products or services, guiding sales team through stages of sales cycle.

By following a well-crafted sales playbook, sales reps will see numerous benefits, from increased productivity to boosted revenue growth.

Essentially, a sales playbook offers a consistent and effective approach that increases win rates and shortens sales cycles.

Sales Playbook typically includes:

Step-by-Step Guidance
Best Practices and Techniques
Sales Enablement Materials
KPIs and Company Goals
Buyer Pesonas
Stages of the sales cycle

Why Do You Need A Sales Playbook?

There are numerous benefits of using a sales playbook, including:

Boosted Sales Performance
Reduced Onboarding Time
Better Sales Consistency
Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration
Improved Sales Coaching
Increased conversions
Systematized approach

What's Inside A Sales Playbook?

Every sales playbook reflects the company and is unique to it.

However, you see some main elements in a well-crafted sales playbook. They include:

1. Company Information

Most sales playbooks begin with an overview of your company and business needs.

They provide sales reps with a clear picture of what the company does, what it hopes to achieve, the company culture, and how the sales team fits into the bigger picture.

Sales playbooks typically begin with a comprehensive introduction to your company and its business objectives.

They offer sales representatives a detailed understanding of the company's operations, goals, and culture.

It also defines the sales team's role within the broader organizational framework.

2. Products and Services

This section is a no-brainer, yet it's still essential.

Have a clear, informative, and detailed list of all the products and services you sell.

Review their main benefits and UVP to ensure your sales team is on the same page.

3. Sales Methodology

Outline your team's core sales methodology (for example, SPIN Selling, MEDDIC).

Then, craft an outline that defines the specific stages of your sales cycle. They may include Prospecting, Qualifying, Pitching, and Closing.

4. Identify Target Personas

Clearly present the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Describe your ideal customer persona, including demographics, needs, and pain points.

5. Sales Team Roles

Define the roles and responsibilities of each team member within the sales organization.

6. The Plays

In a sales playbook, plays are instructions for salespeople to follow.

It can be a step-by-step guide for a specific situation or scenario.

Examples of plays may include:

Techniques for Lead Qualification
Strategies for sales forecasting
Establishing an effective sales cadence
Sales pitch guidelines
Sales closing techniques and proven strategies
Objection handling guidance
Sales enablement materials, including templates, scripts, and presentations
Competitive battle cards to position your product against competitors
Demo Play

7. KPIs and Metrics

Specify the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure sales success and track rep performance.

8. Sales Automation and Tools

Boost your productivity and sales performance by optimizing the team workflow and automating the process.

9. Customer Success Stories

Inspire your sales team and demonstrate the successful sales process in action.

‍

How to Create A Sales Playbook?

When crafting a sales playbook for your team, your goal is to make it effective. Here's how you do it:

Define Your Goals and Your Audience:

Start by identifying your overall sales objectives, like revenue targets and market share growth.
Then, determine who will use the playbook (for example, new hires, experienced reps, and specific teams).

Gather Info and Resources:

Document your current sales process and the sales methodology your team follows.
Customer Insights: Gather customer data, buyer personas, and Feedback to understand customer needs and pain points.
Sales Enablement Materials: Collect existing sales collateral like presentations, templates, and scripts.
Competitive Landscape: Analyze your competitors and gather information on their strengths and weaknesses.

Develop your Playbook Content:

Structure: Organize the playbook logically, following the sales process with dedicated sections for each stage.
Content Creation: Develop clear and concise content using bullet points, visuals, and easy-to-understand language.
Best Practices & Techniques: Incorporate proven sales practices, communication methods, and objection-handling strategies.
Sales Resources: Include links or access points to relevant sales enablement materials like templates and scripts.

Add Visuals and Branding:

Use infographics, charts, and diagrams to enhance readability and information retention.
Make sure it's consistent with your brand.

Review and Improve:

Collect Feedback from reps and management on the playbook's usability, clarity, and value.
Refine and Update the playbook based on Feedback, performance metrics, and market changes.

‍

Sales Playbook Templates

Here are several sales playbook templates to cover various stages in the sales process.

1. Sales Plan Template by HubSpot

This free template from HubSpot provides a basic framework for creating a sales playbook.

It includes sections on your sales goals, buyer personas, sales process, and sales enablement resources.

It's great to use it as a foundational template you can customize before diving into more advanced playbook features.

Benefits include:

Free
Flexibility allows modifications alongside your playbook's progression

2. Visme Sales Playbook Templates

Visme offers a variety of sales playbook templates that you can customize to fit your specific industry and business needs.

Benefits include:

Visually appealing
Includes sections about your company information, product overview, competitors

3. Lemlist Sales Targeting Playbook

While it's not a template, Lemlist offers an in-depth guide with 15 sales targeting tactics to boost conversions.

You can use this playbook to create the section to identify the lead persona in your sales playbook.

It will allow you to ensure that you target the prospects who are most likely to buy your products and services.

Sales Playbook VS. Business Playbook

Sales Playbooks and Business playbooks are distantly related, but their goals and uses are different.

‍

Sales Playbook: focuses on the sales process, specifically guiding salespeople on how to convert leads into customers.

It details best practices for interacting with potential buyers, handling objections, and closing deals.

Sales Playbook is primarily for the sales team, including new hires and experienced salespeople.

The content of the Sales Playbook typically includes:

Buyer personas and ideal customer profiles
Stages of the sales cycle (prospecting, qualifying, presenting, closing)
Sales methodologies (e.g., Challenger Sale, MEDDIC)
Sales scripts and objection-handling techniques
Sales tools and resources (e.g., CRM software, sales presentations)
Competitive Analysis and Differentiation Strategies

‍

Business Playbook: takes a broader view, outlining the various functions and processes across the entire organization.

It is a comprehensive employee guide, ensuring everyone understands and contributes to the company's goals.

Business Playbook is designed for all department employees to ensure everyone is aligned with the company's structure and goals.

While the content of Business Playbook typically includes:

Company mission, vision, and values
Organizational structure and departmental responsibilities
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for key tasks
Customer service protocols
Marketing strategies and brand messaging
Financial management practices
Project management frameworks
Compliance and legal guidelines

‍

Here's an example of a business playbook:

Thoughtbot Business Playbook

Thoughtbot released the business playbook that outlines all the key information about it.

It includes a company overview and an outline of the primary goals.

Moreover, it features a helpful breakdown of how the business tacks and measures success.

It's an excellent example for you to use as an outline when creating your own sales playbook.

Benefits include:

Simple and easy-to-follow structure
Added hyperlinks to other pages for more information.

Key Takeaways

A Sales Playbook boosts the sales process, productivity, team alignment, and deal success. It includes best practices, sales strategies, KPIs, customer insights, and stages of the sales cycle.

The advantages of a Sales Playbook are increased sales performance, shorter onboarding, and higher conversion rates.

Essential elements of a Sales Playbook include company overview, product/service information, sales methods, target personas, specific sales plays, and success metrics.

To create a perfect Sales Playbook, you must set goals, compile relevant information, structure the content logically, and regularly update it.

FAQs

How do I write a good Sales Playbook?

Gather input from sales reps, marketing, and customers to understand needs and best practices.

Define and systemize your sales methodology and proven practices your sales team would follow.

Organize content on your sales process, personas, products, and competitor tactics.

Don’t forget to include feedback from your reps, update, and constantly improve your playbook.

Make it user-friendly with clear language and visuals for readability and information retention.

Mix it all to create your winning sales strategy to close more deals.

How do I organize a sales playbook?

Separate your playbook into sections that logically describe every sales process step.

Each section can contain things like a company overview, products and services, buyer personas, resources, KPIs, and more.

Liucija Adomaite

Liucija Adomaite is a viral content writer and organic traffic expert on a mission to help turn ambitious businesses into big names.

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	G2 Rating	Price	Best for	Standout feature	Con
SmartWinnr	4.9 star star star star star	$30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo	Large, distributed sales teams	AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs	Lack of tracking system
Performio	4.6 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Sales operations and finance teams	Powerful configurability	Limited training resources and complex to navigate
Varicent	4.4 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Mid-market and enterprise businesses	Comprehensive incentive management	Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
QuotaPath	4.7 star star star star star-half	$15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price	Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes	Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes	Steep learning curve
Anaplan	4.6 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Collaborative teams	Connected planning	Complexity and steep learning curve
Xactly	4.6 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Companies with complex sales structures	Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy	Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
Qobra	4.7 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts	Simplicity and ease of use	Lack of features like redirection
ElevateHQ	4.7 star star star star star-half	$30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request	Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software	Ease of use and adoption	Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
Everstage	4.8 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights	A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility	Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
Sales Cookie	4.9 star star star star star	$30/user/mo $50/user/mo	Smaller sales teams	Powerful automation	Lesser user base and average user interface
Spiff	4.7 star star star star star-half	Not publicly available	Companies with scalable needs	Automated Commission Calculations	Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app

ERP vs. CRM

ERP

CRM

Summary

Backbone of a business's internal operations.

Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.

Goal

To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.

To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.

Focus

Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).

All interactions with leads and customers.

Manages

Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.

All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.

Users

Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.

Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.

Benefits

Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.

Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.

Price

$150 per user per year on average.

$10 to $30 per user per month on average.

PRM Tool	Rating	Feature	Pro	Con	Mobile App	Integrations	Free Plan	Pricing
Airtable	4.65 star star star star star-half	Org-wide alignment	User-friendly layout and database	Suboptimal as a personal CRM	square-check	Lack of tracking system	square-check	Team: $20/month Business: $45/month
Dex	4.7 star star star star star-half	Social Media Integration	Easy contact data collection	No marketing/sales features	square-check	Lack of tracking system	square-xmark 7-day trial	$12/month
Notion	4.75 star star star star star-half	Block Functions	High customization capability	Not a dedicated CRM	square-check	Limited	square-check	Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month
Monica	N/A	Open-source	Open-source flexibility	Requires extensive manual input	square-xmark	Limited	square-check Self-hosted	$9/month or $90/year
Hippo App	3.1 star star star	Simple iOS app	Ideal for non-tech-savvy users	iPhone only	square-check iOS only	Limited	square-xmark 1-month trial	$1.49/month or $14.99/month
Contacts+	3.6 star star star star-half	Smart Contact Management	Feature-rich and flexible	Reported bugs	square-check	Rich	square-xmark 7-day trial	Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month
Folk	4.4 star star star star star-half	Customizable Interface	Customizable for teamwork	Pricey for personal use	square-check	Rich	square-xmark	Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member
Close	4.7 star star star star star-half	Integrated Calling	Integrated Calling	Too sales-oriented & pricey	square-check	Rich	square-xmark 14-day trial	Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month
Covve App	4.8 star star star star star	Business Card Scanning	Business Card Scanning	Mobile only	square-check	Limited	square-check	$9.99/month
Nimble	4.45 star star star star star-half	160+ app integrations	Comprehensive integrations	No free app version	square-check	Rich	square-xmark 14-day trial	$29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually)

	Capterra Rating	Free Trial	Free Plan	Starting Price (excluding the free plan)	Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)	Best for
HubSpot CRM	4.5 star star star star star-half	square-check 14-day	square-check	€15/month/seat billed annually	€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat	Versatility and free plan
Salesforce CRM	4.2 star star star star	square-check 30-day	square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations	€25/user/month	€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)	Best overall operational CRM
Zoho CRM	4.3 star star star star star-half	square-xmark	square-check Limited to 3 users	Comprehensive incentive management	€52/user/month billed annually	Small-medium businesses and automation
Pipedrive	4.5 star star star star star-half	square-check 14-day	square-xmark	€14/seat/month billed annually	€99/seat/month billed annually	Sales teams and ease of use
Agile CRM	4.1 star star star star	square-xmark	square-check Limited 10 users	$9.99/user/month billed annually	$64.99/user/month billed annually	Free plan for very small teams up to 10

CRM goal	Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown	1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).	2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.	3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.	4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.	5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions	Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.	Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.	Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.	Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.	Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes	Increased sales and revenue	Improved marketing automation ROI	Marketing and sales alignment	Data-driven marketing optimization

Table

CDP Software

CRM Software

Approach

Data-centric

Customer-centric

Focus

Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.

Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.

Functionality

Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.

Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.

Goals

Personalized customer experiences across all channels.

Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.

Benefits

Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.

Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.

Data Handling

Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.

Deals primarily with identified customer data.

Use Cases

Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.

Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Examples

Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP

HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM

CRM

Free plan

Best feature

Best for

Con

1. HubSpot CRM

square-check

Sales automation

Sales teams

Up to 1,000 contacts

2. Insightly

square-check

Custom fields

Basic needs

Not enough info about the free plan

3. Agile CRM

square-check

Deal and sales pipeline tracking

Small teams

Up to 10 users

4. Zoho CRM

square-check

Lead and contact management

Businesses of all sizes

Limited to 3 users

5. ClickUp

square-check

Unlimited tasks and unlimited members

Personal use

Up to 100MB storage

6. EngageBay

square-check

Live chat

Small and midsize enterprises

Up to 1,000 branded emails per month

7. Bitrix24

square-check

Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams

Big teams

Up to 5GB of cloud storage

8. FreshSales

square-check

Easy to use and simple setup

Beginners

Up to 3 users

9. Mailchimp

square-check

Very beginner friendly

Marketing teams

Send up to 500 branded emails per month

Type of Affiliate Marketing

Unattached

Related

Involved

Format

Paid advertising

Social media or YouTube channels

Dedicated website or blog

Focus

Quick income

Your niche

Your audience

Engagement with your audience

square-xmark

square-check

Very close connection with your audience

Pro

Little effort

Higher credibility thanks to your niche

Long-lasting and scalable

Con

Paid ads cost a lot

Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote

Require time, effort, and dedication

August 28, 2024

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Create a Perfect Sales Playbook: Your Ultimate How-To

What Is A Sales Playbook?

Why Do You Need A Sales Playbook?

What's Inside A Sales Playbook?

1. Company Information

2. Products and Services

3. Sales Methodology

4. Identify Target Personas

5. Sales Team Roles

6. The Plays

7. KPIs and Metrics

8. Sales Automation and Tools

9. Customer Success Stories

How to Create A Sales Playbook?

Sales Playbook Templates

1. Sales Plan Template by HubSpot

2. Visme Sales Playbook Templates

3. Lemlist Sales Targeting Playbook

Sales Playbook VS. Business Playbook

Thoughtbot Business Playbook

Key Takeaways

FAQs

How do I write a good Sales Playbook?

How do I organize a sales playbook?

What you should look at next

How to Start with Affiliate Marketing and Make Money (The Beginner’s Guide)

15 Types of Affiliate Marketing Content to Create in 2024 (with examples)

Is Affiliate Marketing a Pyramid Scheme? And Other Affiliate Myths Debunked

6 Major Benefits of Affiliate Marketing in 2024

How Affiliate Marketing Works?

What you should look at next

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