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12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook
L
L earn the keys to creating and implementing a sales
playbook that helps your team win more deals and
provides visibility for sales managers.
Donal Daly
CEO and Founder, The TAS Group
Author of the Best-Seller Account Planning in Salesforce
www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook | Introduction 2
“
T
he implementation of a sales playbook
can be one of the most impactful initia-
tives for any sales organization. There are
two reasons for this tremendous ROI.
First, by following some simple guidelines, it
can be a remarkably easy initiative to imple-
ment, and second, research shows that this
results in 33% additional revenue.

12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook | Introduction 3
I
n today’s flattened world, competitive businesses have been turned upside down,
pressures mount, market cycles shorten, and constant change is the new constant.
buyers are more informed, and sales leaders At the same time, tremendous opportunities
and their teams are subject to more scrutiny, have emerged for sales organizations that
stress and anxiety than ever before. In the can nail their go-to-market strategies. Sales
last 5 years the world has experienced eco- playbooks can be the catalyst to remarkable
nomic turmoil, financial meltdown, and the improvement in sales velocity.
explosive rise of social media. The screw has
been tightened a few turns on the sales role,

12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook | Table of Contents 4
CHAPTER 1 CRM CHAPTER 8

Repeatable Winning Sales Processes 5-6 Integrates with CRM System 23-25
CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 9
Customized to the Buying Cycle 7-9 Informs Sales Forecast Visibility 26-28
CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 10
Sales Tools in Context at Each Stage 10-11 Motivational and Visual 29-31
Industry Sales Process Templates 12-13 Social and Collaborative 32-33
Many Simple and Complex Processes 14-16 Mobile and Cloud 34-36
Process, Benchmarks and Insight 17-19 About The TAS Group 37-38
Team Visibility for the Sales Manager 20-22 About The Author 39-40

12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook 5

A repeatable sales process provides your teams with a
defined, systematic and measurable way to sell and makes
sure every sales person knows the buying signs that occur
when you are winning or the activities that will ensure they
succeed.
The key word here is ‘repeatable’

The result is an increase in productivity, a shorter sales
W
cycle, quicker on-boarding for new sales reps and more wins
hen everyone performs the same
for the sales team overall.
winning behaviors all of the time, the
sales team can achieve remarkable sales

When everyone adopts the same sales process, there is a
velocity. A winning sales process is a
common language that is understood, not just by sales, but
sequence of best practices from your top
by the whole organization. Recent research shows that while
performers (or learned from external obser-
only 60% of sales teams have a sales process
vation) that ensures your salespeople are
that is well defined, and well executed – those who
repeating the actions that result in success.
do are 33% more likely to be High Performers*.


a few remain with the incumbent supplier trading ‘the devil you
know’ for potentially more advanced or competitive solutions.
In every case, customers know every step they want to take

TWITTER, LINKEDIN AND OTHER SOCIAL in the buying cycle. They have a business problem to solve,
NETWORKS...’THE DEVIL YOU KNOW’
alternatives to consider, decision criteria they deem critical,
and a procurement process that is unlikely to be overturned.
C
In short, they have a detailed project plan, with hurdles and
ustomers buy in lots of different ways;
obstacles you have to scale. Doesn’t it make sense to ensure
some purchases are guided by a single
that your selling activities are fully aligned with your
decision maker, while in other cases there
customer’s buying activities?
can be a large buying committee. Some issue
RFPs, others invite recognized suppliers to
discuss their issues, an increasing number
learn in the Social Universe, networking with
their peers and your competitors on Twitter,
LinkedIn and other social networks, and just

DID YOU KNOW?

Doesn’t it make sense to ensure that
your selling activities are fully aligned Win rate exceeds 50% for
with your customer’s buying activities? two-thirds of companies that
have a defined sales process.
Unless you visualize the journey the customer
wants to take, you won’t be with them when
they reach their destination. The job of today’s
sales professional is to help the customer
buy, not to sell to them. Understand your
customer’s plan and their approach. Once
you do, you can align your sales cycle, and
plot your way to success.


But sales people are frequently faced with a myriad of sales
tools, ranging from whitepapers to ROI calculators, from
cheat sheets to price lists. Today’s sales professional is
frequently overwhelmed by a torrent of information.
But salespeople are busy and often don’t know which tool
A B2B sale is not a single event
they need, where to find it or how to use it at the specific
A
point in the micro-sale. Integrating sales tools into the
t each stage of the buying process,
playbook as part of the sales process is the solution.
salespeople need to employ just the
right tools – at the right time to advance the

It means they can easily and quickly self-serve, get what they
sale to the next stage in the process. A B2B
need, when they need it to advance the sale. Not only will
sale is not a single event. In fact it is a collection
that help increase their win rate and drive sales velocity, but
of micro-sales events, each crafted to move
it will also drive higher usage and the right
closer to the eventual goal – closing the deal.
outcome at the right time.


market. Leveraging what has worked before in your industry
will give you an advantage.
Your playbook templates should be cognizant of industry
differences. If you sell to multi-market segments, then the
activities of your sales team should reflect that. The play-

Leveraging what has worked before
book(s) must provide a go-to location for salespeople to
I
quickly access the research and knowledge they need to
t is widely accepted that tailoring your sales
bring pertinent insight to the sales, based on proven
process to the specific needs of an industry
industry-specific templates.
will increase your chances for success. It
makes sense to incorporate the best practices

That way, the sales team will win more deals. Third party
that are specifically applicable to your target
industry sales templates are readily available from suppliers
market. As you build your playbook, look for
who have been tracking and analyzing millions
a partner who can bring expertise for your
of sales cycles. That is the catalyst you need
industry, ideally based on empirical evidence,
to get started.
gathered from others who are active in your


maintenance, add-on deals, large company pursuit, small
company pursuits, complex solution sales, simple product
sales, can each be accommodated within a well designed
playbook using a common language for the team, but intelli-
gently presenting the right steps, and just the right steps, for
each transaction type.

NOT ALL SALES TRAVEL AT THE SAME SPEED
O
In short, the sales processes within Playbooks should support
ne playbook or sales process does not
the type of sales process you are executing. This ensures you
fit all. Sometimes you are pursuing
have the right activities and outcomes for the appropriate
a brand new customer or a very large deal
buying process. Sales people are expending the right level of
that demands a complex and sophisticated
effort, commensurate with the return from the sales and the
set of ‘plays’ to win the deal. In other cases,
complexity of the situation. You have the right stage durations
the transaction might be quick, one that
for accurate forecasts and can manage performance
suggests a different rhythm. It is likely that
based on the types of deals your teams are working.
not all sales in your organization travel at the
same speed. Inside sales, field sales, renewal,

DID YOU KNOW?

Only 33% of sellers
made quota in their
THE RIGHT PLAYBOOK AT THE RIGHT TIME
last reporting period.
All of this combined means that the sales
person is getting optimum benefit from the
time they spend in the sales process.
Your sales playbook should have the requisite
intelligence to support that automatically and
serve up the right playbook at the right time.


Record a current-state assessment that goes beyond the typical
lagging indicators of win-rate, quota achievement, deal size,
or market penetration. You should be looking for measures
of early qualification, the velocity through each stage of the

When deploying a playbook, ensure
sales cycle, and indicators of where deals are most commonly
that you have built in a capability that
guides you to progress getting stalled or lost.
B
Having achieved a comprehensive assessment of the
enchmarking delivers many advantages
current–state, a company can then develop a foundation for
for companies looking to improve the
sales productivity improvements that are truly transformative.
performance of their sales organization. Your
You know where you are starting from, and you see what you
playbook must capture those benefits, learn
have to change. Now you can easily identify and prioritize
from them, and uncover insights that help you
opportunities for improvement.
to drive your sales velocity. When deploying
a playbook, ensure that you have built in a
capability that guides you to progress through
these stages of evolution for your sales team.

is one of the most impactful benefits of the benchmarking
process. Everyone involved gains a shared understanding of
the current state; and a vision of the journey upon which the
enterprise must embark, and that increases overall productivity.

You know where you are starting from,
and you see what you have to change
When a sales playbook incorporates a benchmarking process
that can dig into an informed knowledge source, and apply
that knowledge in the context of the company’s current

Continuous improvement is the third major
state, true value transfers to the organization and quantifiable
advantage you should be looking for as you
value emerges.
use your playbook as the source of bench-
marking for your team. Your playbook should
learn more about the rhythm of your sales
organization the more sales cycles ‘it observes’
– just like you do. Don’t rely on playbooks
that don’t support you in gaining this insight.
A common understanding of the sales engine


In a recent survey, sales managers report that ‘Sales Process
Not Being Followed’ is their number one frustration.
Every sales manager needs readily available visibility in the
sales process activities of their team and both the absolute
and relative behavior and performance of each sales person

leverage your playbook
on the team.
B
eing a front-line sales manager is one of
If the sales organization is adopting a sales playbook to
the hardest jobs in sales. It is also the
increase sales velocity, then it must provide an easy-to-use
critical link in sales. Unless the sales manag-
tool to enable the sales manager to monitor the team’s
er has all the tools he or she needs to easily
application of the plays, and the consequent impact on
manage the business, the whole performance
revenue performance.
of the sales organization suffers.

It is also critically important that the sales playbook system
that you deploy is quick and easy to use. Sales managers
are really very busy. You need to provide them with the
‘Easy Button’.
Sales playbooks are often designed just with the sales person
IMPROVE YOUR RETURN
in mind. Remember that the sales manager is the critical
link. If you can leverage your playbook initiative to increase

The playbook must provide the sales manager
her visibility into the sales team, you will strengthen that link
with a view across her entire team’s work.
and improve your return.
What are the critical deals being worked on
by the team? Where is each deal? Where
should we be focused? These are all answers
that should be informed by a sales manager’s
view of the operation of her team’s sales
playbook.


opportunity, the playbook will always be present, just where
it needs to be. That way the playbook (if it is smart enough)
can react to the attributes of the opportunity, like the size of
the deal, or the products included in the opportunity record

When deploying a playbook, ensure
to present the right playbook for that opportunity.
that you have built in a capability that
guides you to progress
But not all integrations are created equal. If you are on
T
Salesforce, then the playbook will benefit hugely if it is ‘native’
his one should be a ‘no-brainer’. Let’s
on the Salesforce Platform. Unlike other solutions that are
say you use Salesforce as your CRM. If
linked to Salesforce, or just lightly integrated, this means
that is the case, you are already asking your
that your data resides in the Salesforce Cloud, with the same
sales team to enter their opportunity infor-
security as Saleforce, the same performance as Salesforce,
mation into Salesforce. If that is where your
and all of the data captured within the playbook is inherently
opportunity information is held, then that is
accessible to Salesforce reports, dashboards,
where your playbook should be. It must
and other applications. CRM
integrate tightly with the CRM system so
when the sales person works with an

flexibility on how they view the data in the context of the rest
of the business. It is important.
COMPLETE INTEGRATION WITH YOUR CRM

DELIVERS THE OPTIMUM EXPERIENCE
DID YOU KNOW?
FOR THE SALES PERSON
When sales methodology and
playbooks are integrated
When your playbook is native, you do not with CRM, sales reps have
have to worry about the security of a third higher quota achievement.
party cloud, the data transfer issues that
occur with non-native solutions, or the
reliability of a third party hosting infrastructure.
Complete integration with your CRM delivers

CRM
the optimum experience for the sales person,
and provides sales managers with greater


forecasts are truly worthless. The good news though is that
there can be a very strong causal connection between sales
process and forecast accuracy. In that same research study,
it emerged that companies who did define and execute their
sales process well reduced the level of inaccuracy to 33%.
That is a 200% increase in sales forecast accuracy.

What’s in the forecast?
S
To maximize the impact of your sales playbook on the accuracy
alespeople spend about 2.5 hours each
of your sales forecast, there are two things to consider.
week on sales forecasting, and for most
companies, the accuracy of sales forecasts

1. Does the sales playbook incorporate intelligence
leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, based on
that objectively monitors the close date of the sale?
recent research, companies who do not
If you have built in the sales best practices, and
define and effectively execute a sales process
your sales playbook can learn about
have inaccurate sales forecasts 71% of the
the rhythm of your business, then it
time! When success or failure is usually
should be smart enough to help
measured in margins far less than 25%, these

vulnerabilities and risks in the forecast? It should
be able to answer these very important questions:
What’s in the forecast? Are any of the reps counting
on unusually large deals to make the quarter? Are all
deals being worked? What’s closed? What’s projected?
Which deals are moving quickly, and where are the

Are all deals being worked?
opportunities that are stalled?
predict the close date of the opportu-

Your sales playbook should help you to give those 2.5 hours
nity, and identify for the sales person
back to the sales person, improve the accuracy of the forecast
the difference between their opinion
for each opportunity, and provide the sales manager with
of when the deal will close, and a
insight into the factors that will help her understand what
projected close date based on past
she needs to do to make or exceed the quota for the team.
behavior of winning sales cycles.
2. Does the sales playbook provide the
sales manager with insight into deal


The competence piece is easily understood. To achieve
competence you need to have the core knowledge, the skills
to execute on the knowledge, and a clearly defined path
to success. If you have followed the best practices set out

Salespeople are as motivated by
above, you can build this piece into your playbook.
feedback and progress as they are by
winning deals
Motivation is a little more challenging. A study on “What
T
Motivates Sales People” shows that, perhaps surprisingly for
here are only two reasons why an indi-
some, compensation is not the primary motivator. ‘Making
vidual does not complete a task. Either
Progress of Winning’ is ranked by sales people as the main
they do not have the skills, knowledge or
reason they get up in the morning. In fact, we can break
competence to complete it, or they are not
down the motivational conundrum into three pieces;
motivated enough to do it. Think about that
Incentive, Indicators of Progress, and Direction.
– these are the only two reasons. Your sales
playbook should improve competence and

To entice adoption of the sales playbook (rather
increase motivation.
than force compliance) your sales playbook

Salespeople are as motivated by feedback and progress as
they are by winning deals – possibly because they probably
can’t win a deal everyday, but can make progress.
‘MAKING PROGRESS OF WINNING’ IS RANKED

Playbooks should empower the sales person not only through
BY SALES PEOPLE AS THE MAIN REASON THEY
GET UP IN THE MORNING knowledge and intelligence but also through live metrics
which provide real progress indicators in response to a sales
person’s activities and their performance in relation to their

needs to provide true value for the sales
peers. Then you will deliver both competence and motiva-
person – resolve that reward/effort equation,
tion – and your results will skyrocket.
so that the salesperson gets more back from
the playbook that they put into it. It must be
highly visual, and provide obvious cues to the
next step, recognition of progress, and include
elements of gamification to encourage
participation.


The winning sales people are using online social platforms
to increase productivity by understanding and influencing
customer relationships, creating new channels for research,
and increasing responsiveness to customers.
Leading sales playbooks help by letting

everyone ‘follow’ the plays Sales people who are the leaders in their organization are
using social tools such as Chatter in Salesforce to improve
A
collaboration in their own sales teams. Leading sales play-
s B2B companies rely more heavily on
books help by letting everyone ‘follow’ the plays, contribute
social collaboration tools, some of the
to the conversation, and collaborate on the deal. They promote
biggest winners are going to be salespeople.
an environment where sales people can lead their own
They know that The Social Universe is a great
community of contributors to their deal in an open and
place to listen and learn. When you follow
collaborative way. The B2B world is constantly becoming
your customers on Twitter, read their blogs,
more social and collaborative and you should
or study their LinkedIn profiles, you can
ensure that your sales playbook accommodates
quickly get a sense of who they are.
this advancement.


mobility to connect to their sales playbook allowing them to
be responsive, productive, collaborative and consistent at
any time, wherever they are. In other applications, mobile
and cloud capabilities are being leveraged to facilitate access
anywhere, anytime. It must be the same with your sales
playbook.
the advancement of cloud computing
T
As twin engines of growth, the inexorable rise of mobile
ime is precious, and the sales person’s
device ownership, and the advancement of cloud computing
time is incredibly precious, both to
are the most significant changes in the business landscape
them and to the sales organization looking to
that any of us has witnessed in our lifetimes.
maximize the performance of their key
quota-bearers.
In most developed economies in the world, practically
everyone has a cell phone, an increasing number

Since so much of a sales person’s time is
of which are smartphones connected to the
spent moving between locations and back
cloud, and the rapid growth of tablet ownership,
again, they should be equipped with the

are becoming the twin axes around which business revolves
– and your sales playbook needs to benefit from the tremendous
advantages they can bring.
DID YOU KNOW?

Time is precious
Tablet sales have
surpassed desktop and
again connected to the cloud, is the fastest notebook computers.
market penetration of any device we have Mobile is here to stay.
ever seen.
Unless mobile and cloud are core elements
of your sales playbook plan, the initiative
could face severe challenges in a very short
term. For business strategists, marketers,
sellers and buyers alike, mobile and cloud


find more deals, increase win rates, grow deal values and
shorten sales cycles. Dealmaker delivers real-time opportunity
and account management, intelligent deal coaching, accurate
sales forecasts, smart playbooks, self-paced learning, and
predictive analytics, resulting in measurable sales growth.
Our deep methodologies have been helping companies
achieve sustainable revenue growth for more than 20 years.
TAS includes methodologies for opportunity management,
account management, sales process, and analytics. Dealmaker
is “Inside Salesforce;” built on the Salesforce Platform.
T
he TAS Group helps sales professionals
increase their sales velocity. Using TAS
(Target Account Selling) Sales Methodology For more information:

and Dealmaker® Smart Software, companies visit: www.thetasgroup.com


Follow
Donal’s Blog
D
onal Daly is CEO and Founder of The TAS Group, which is his fifth
global business enterprise. Combining his expertise in enterprise
software applications, artificial intelligence and sales methodology, he
continues to revolutionize the sales effectiveness industry. Donal was also
CEO and Founder at Software Development Tools, NewWorld Commerce,
The Customer Respect Group, and Select Strategies - all of which were
acquired by various parties. Donal is author of four books including his
recent Amazon Bestseller, Account Planning in Salesforce, and Select
Selling Sales Fieldbook.
Donal Daly
CEO and Founder, The TAS Group
Send your comments and feedback to: ddaly@thetasgroup.com

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12 Elements of a Great Sales Playbook

playbook that helps your team win more deals and

provides visibility for sales managers.

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

can be one of the most impactful initia-

tives for any sales organization. There are

two reasons for this tremendous ROI.

First, by following some simple guidelines, it

can be a remarkably easy initiative to imple-

ment, and second, research shows that this

results in 33% additional revenue.

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

nomic turmoil, financial meltdown, and the improvement in sales velocity.

explosive rise of social media. The screw has

been tightened a few turns on the sales role,

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

CHAPTER 1 CRM CHAPTER 8

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

A repeatable sales process provides your teams with a

defined, systematic and measurable way to sell and makes

The key word here is ‘repeatable’

sales team can achieve remarkable sales

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

know’ for potentially more advanced or competitive solutions.

In every case, customers know every step they want to take

and a procurement process that is unlikely to be overturned.

RFPs, others invite recognized suppliers to

discuss their issues, an increasing number

learn in the Social Universe, networking with

their peers and your competitors on Twitter,

LinkedIn and other social networks, and just

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

DID YOU KNOW?

Unless you visualize the journey the customer

wants to take, you won’t be with them when

they reach their destination. The job of today’s

sales professional is to help the customer

buy, not to sell to them. Understand your

customer’s plan and their approach. Once

you do, you can align your sales cycle, and

plot your way to success.

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

But sales people are frequently faced with a myriad of sales

tools, ranging from whitepapers to ROI calculators, from

cheat sheets to price lists. Today’s sales professional is

frequently overwhelmed by a torrent of information.

right tools – at the right time to advance the

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

market. Leveraging what has worked before in your industry

will give you an advantage.

Your playbook templates should be cognizant of industry

differences. If you sell to multi-market segments, then the

activities of your sales team should reflect that. The play-

makes sense to incorporate the best practices

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

www.thetasgroup.com Share this eBook:

maintenance, add-on deals, large company pursuit, small

company pursuits, complex solution sales, simple product

sales, can each be accommodated within a well designed