The Playbook Implementation Guide

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What needs to go into a sales playbook?‍
Chapter 2: Playbook implementation pitfalls to avoid
Chapter 3: Keeping your playbook up-to-date
Bonus

Do you want your team to consistently have high-quality meetings? Playbooks can be a powerful tool to help you reach this goal!

But even if you have the perfect playbook, it won’t do you any good if the implementation falls short.

Mallory & Catherina know the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to implementing playbooks. So you're in good hands as they guide you through:

👉 Essentials to have in a sales playbook
👉 Pitfalls to watch out for when rolling out playbooks
👉 Characteristics playbooks need to stay relevant

Before you know it, your reps will be throwing down best practices left and right, and your 1:1's will be full of 🙌🏼's and 🥳's.

Chapter 1. What needs to go into a sales playbook?

Reps need to understand what they need to know, do, say & show in their sales calls

1. What to know

Reps need to know the context of the playbook

👉 First thing to include in a playbook is the context
‍
👉 A seller should be able to understand immediately when a playbook should be used
‍
👉 They should know exactly what they need in that customer interaction, how to use the playbook, what they should communicate, and what kind of content they should use in that particular customer interaction

“Whatever the situation is, a seller should be able to understand immediately when [a playbook] is going to be relevant”
- Mallory Lieflander,

2. What to do

Reps need to know what to do in the sales process

👉 Know what is important for your company in order to understand your sales process

👉 How are your playbooks set up? Does your company set them up based on persona or industry? Reps need to know these kinds of things in order to do a good job of carrying out the sales process

“A rep needs to know this to research it ahead of time and use the right material”
-Mallory Lieflander

3. What to say

Reps, especially new ones, need specific examples of what to say

👉 They should have specific examples and the questions they need to ask provided in the playbook instead of just theoretical guidelines

👉 Especially new starters need this kind of help with specific questions

“We want to help them, we don’t want them to get lost like Nemo”
‍- Catherina Giese,

4. What to show

Reps should take a step back before showing anything in a call
‍
👉 To create value in a meeting, they need to understand the customer's needs
‍
👉 The majority of the first meeting should be for qualification to learn their: pains, needs, challenges and requests
‍
👉 Only after knowing these things should reps show how the product can address the specific points they uncovered
‍
👉 Don’t try to push your product or overshare about your product
‍
👉 Sales should always put the customer’s values and needs at the center of the meeting and only show what is relevant

“In order to create value in a meeting & show a potential client what the value & benefit is for them, first you need to understand the customer’s needs.”
- Catherina Giese

Chapter 2. Playbook implementation pitfalls to avoid

Once you’ve created a great playbook, the job isn’t done! It doesn’t matter how good your playbook is if your team doesn’t use it. Here are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid so that your playbook implementation strategy will be a success!

1. Reps aren't taught how to use playbooks (the biggest reason for failure!)

Solution: Lead by example
‍
🚩 Sales reps might feel uncomfortable using new content they aren't familiar with and just go back to doing what they're used to. They need to be trained and shown the benefits of the changes
‍
🚩 You also have to listen to their questions & concerns. They have valuable input on what is and isn't working, and also if there is something missing
‍
🚩 They don’t need to use all the content available to them with every customer
‍
“You can’t just say, “ok, here is a presentation!”
- Catherina Giese

2. The playbook isn’t actionable

Solution: Keep your playbook simple and clear

🚩 The steps of what reps need to do throughout the meeting should be straightforward. Topics and questions should be provided

🚩 The sales process should be clearly laid out (like a tree with its branches) so sales reps don’t have to think about it too much and can just follow it through

“They definitely need examples where they don’t need to think too much and can just implement right away” - Catherina Giese

3. Reps don't understand the value

Solution: Show reps the benefits

🚩 You need to consider how different kinds of people learn

🚩 Reps need to be convinced that using the playbook is in their best interests and will enable them to perform better

“They need to understand that this is something that can help, and help [them] perform better”
- Catherina Giese

4. Reps forget how to use the playbook

Solution: Meet the current needs of your reps

🚩 Reps won’t remember the playbook’s contents if they are taught months in advance

🚩 Content needs to be just-in-time and actionable
‍
“If I train you on that now and you’re not going to use that for another 6 months, are you going to remember that exists?” - Mallory Lieflander

Chapter 3. Keeping your playbook up-to-date

Strategies, processes & products are constantly changing. In order for your playbook to be effective, it needs these characteristics to stay relevant...

1. Easy to use

⭐️ The content needs to be short and simple: use bullet points and videos

⭐️ Salespeople want to close, but they also need to understand what they need to do. And they don’t get it when you say something once because there is so much information and it’s hard to keep track of everything they learn

⭐️ They need to be able to access and get the information they want when they need it

“It’s pretty important that you have the right information or source, short and simple, when you need it” - Catherina Giese

2. Trackable

⭐️ Establish what the review process will look like & how often things will be assessed. Set this up ahead of time & build it into your plan of attack to avoid content and playbook chaos
‍
⭐️ Track the outcomes. Whether with a CRM integration or with a report in order to stay on top of things and make sure you're getting the outcomes you want

⭐️ Less is more. So if it isn’t relevant or helpful anymore, it should be deleted or archived

“Have a strategy for how you’re going to track the analytics, update it, who needs to be involved to update it, and who needs to review these things”
- Mallory Lieflander

3. Easy to update

⭐️ A playbook needs to be adjustable any time, so the format is important.

⭐️ Be able to get insights + analytics you need to understand how your team uses the playbook. For instance, which slides are getting used and provide most value.

⭐️ Align with your team and make sure that there is a master copy that everyone is using. When it gets updated, personal playbooks should also get updated.

"On the operational side, [playbooks] need to be adjustable any time” - Catherina Giese

The Sales Playbook Implementation Guide