Set Goals – Work with each rep to develop a plan to achieve their goals. Specify clients, products, opportunities, regions or verticals to focus on. Think through strategies and tactics with them. The more specific the plan, the easier it is to execute.

Provide Guidelines for Success  – Discuss average sales cycles, minimum number of calls and meetings, typical pricing structures, the balance of the funnel, which activities and questions happen at each stage of the funnel and other things that will support success.

Clarify Definitions – If you want predictable results, start with your sales process and CRM. If the data in the CRM isn’t consistent, then forecasts won’t be accurate. Clearly define each and how an opportunity moves to the next stage, then map it to your CRM.

Sales Meetings – Have a set agenda for your weekly sales meeting. Include successes, training, a review of the numbers and a team strategy session. Make sure everyone knows how to prepare. Leave individual opportunities or funnel reviews for one-to-one sessions. If the conversation doesn’t include the whole team, it shouldn’t happen at the team sales meeting.

Funnel/Pipeline Reviews – Have a regularly scheduled funnel review with each sales rep. Set the expectation that the opportunities, close dates, next actions, and stages be updated before the session. During each review, assess the shape, check velocity through the sales process, review progress on all opportunities, eliminate dead leads, and select opportunities to strategize.

One-to-Ones – Have an agenda and follow it. Use this time to discuss individual performance issues, including how they are positioned to achieve their goals and what they will need to do to succeed. Discuss individual development plans then coach and train to achieve those.

Strategy Sessions – The reward for a funnel review is a strategy session. That is an opportunity to work together to strategize an account you haven’t looked at recently and to look for threats and opportunities. Follow the same process each time.

Listen – When you are coaching listen carefully to fully understand the situation. Listen for cues to use as triggers for guiding.

Ask – Ask questions to help you understand and to help them understand. Good questions provide aha moments that change immediate performance and future performance.

Guide – Ask what they think they should do, what information they need or what questions they could be asking. Offer suggestions and ask how they think that would work in this situation. Encourage them to try things. Let them know when you think something is a good idea and why.

Strategy Sessions – A great collaboration opportunity is a strategy session. Choose an opportunity to strategize as a team following a specific process. Everyone enjoys strategy sessions, they all feel good about the effort when they are done, and everyone learns in the process.

Key Account Plans – It is no longer sufficient to have one rep be fully responsible for major accounts. Put together a team of people who interact with the account and appoint a leader. Create a Key Account Plan and meet quarterly to ensure the team is on track with the goals around that account.

Brainstorming – Sales reps face the same issues all day long. Having the opportunity to work as a team to find solutions is a great idea. Brainstorm asking good questions, writing value propositions, handling objections, and closing deals. Take time each meeting to brainstorm about one of the topics

Successes —Start each sales meeting by having everyone share a success. It doesn’t matter if it is closing a deal, getting an appointment, or getting a commitment that moves the deal forward. Whatever it is, celebrating successes helps salespeople stay positive.

Close Deals – Every deal is worth celebrating. Share the success at a meeting. Send an email with congratulations and copy the team. Do a happy dance. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as long as the salesperson gets the opportunity to celebrate with you.

Improvement – Don’t miss the little things. As sales reps are developing, they need encouragement. Make sure to notice that they are getting better at asking good questions, getting in touch with all the buying influences or closing deals when expected. Noticing the little things may make the big things happen more often.

Hitting Goals – Leaders are really good at beating up reps when they don’t hit their goals. Be equally excited when they do hit their goals. Of course, it’s expected, but it’s still worth celebrating.

A Sales Playbook is your team's how-to-guide for successful sales in your company. My friend Kevin Quan, the CEO of CloseQuickly says it is like a sports playbook. It tells you what play to run in different situations or at different stages of the sale.

The level of complexity and detail included depends a lot on your company culture, how much material and scripting is needed or available to your team, and the experience level of your sales team(s). A Sales Playbook is your team's how-to-guide for successful sales in your company. My friend Kevin Quan, the CEO of CloseQuickly says it is like a sports playbook. It tells you what play to run in different situations or at different stages of the sale.

The level of complexity and detail included depends a lot on your company culture, how much material and scripting is needed or available to your team, and the experience level of your sales team(s). 

Every company has a different level of complexity in their selling process depending on how complex the buying process is, how complex the selling organization is, and how experienced the sellers are.  You may be solving a different problem than another organization.

1.  Prevent sellers from skipping critical steps

2.  Help the sales team follow the same process and use the CRM the same way

3.  Provide solutions to typical problems along the sale process

4.  Improve the quality of CRM information

5.  Help onboard new sales reps

6.  Provide specific scripting to improve outcomes

7.  Provide a coaching tool

Your Sales Playbook should solve the problems you have.   You will include the components most important to the team you have and the issues they are facing. Suppose you are writing a sales playbook for a complex business-to-business sale for an experienced team. In that case, your playbook will include very different things than a playbook designed for an inexperienced inside sales team with a simple deal or task.

In any case, your sales playbook should outline the selling/buying process. It should include the stages of the buying/selling process, the activities that happen at each stage, the questions to be asked/answered at each stage, and the content or tools available at each stage.  You might also consider the gates or requirements to move from one stage to another.

Your playbook might include common objections and answers.  It might include scripting for sequences for different purposes along the buyer journey.

If you have a complex sales organization, your playbook could map the handoff from marketing to the marketing or sales development rep, to the demo team to the sales rep, and finally to the delivery team.

Design your playbooks to solve the problems you have. Your Sales Playbook should solve the problems you have.   You will include the components most important to the team you have and the issues they are facing. Suppose you are writing a sales playbook for a complex business-to-business sale for an experienced team. In that case, your playbook will include very different things than a playbook designed for an inexperienced inside sales team with a simple deal or task.

In any case, your sales playbook should outline the selling/buying process. It should include the stages of the buying/selling process, the activities that happen at each stage, the questions to be asked/answered at each stage, and the content or tools available at each stage.  You might also consider the gates or requirements to move from one stage to another.

Your playbook might include common objections and answers.  It might include scripting for sequences for different purposes along the buyer journey.

If you have a complex sales organization, your playbook could map the handoff from marketing to the marketing or sales development rep, to the demo team to the sales rep, and finally to the delivery team.

Design your playbooks to solve the problems you have.

You may find you have several sales playbooks.  You might have one for each product. You could design one for each customer type. You could have a different one for your inside sales team and a different one for your senior account reps.  You could have a playbook for new business and a different one for growing accounts.  But, you will need to start somewhere, with your first playbook.

1.  An outline of the buying/selling process

2.  The questions that need to be asked/answered

3.  The activities that need to occur in each stage of the process outlined

4.  The process for moving from one stage to another

5.  The content available to help at each stage

6.  Solutions to the most common problems along the process1.  An outline of the buying/selling process

2.  The questions that need to be asked/answered

3.  The activities that need to occur in each stage of the process outlined

4.  The process for moving from one stage to another

5.  The content available to help at each stage

6.  Solutions to the most common problems along the process

Everyone has a different idea about the format of a playbook. A playbook can be a simple document that outlines the components listed above. It can live inside your CRM as notes and pop-ups. It can be in a SaaS program designed to created Playbooks.

1.  Decide what problem you are solving

2.  Develop the components listed in "What Should be in your First Playbook."

3.  Decide what tool will best support the components and users you have.

Making a playbook takes time and requires careful planning.  If you aren't sure how to do it, there are experts who can help you determine your process, select your tools, and input the data. Schedule a no cost, no obligation meeting with  a sales strategist to get you started.