Top 10 Tips
For creating a perfect playbook
At SalesEASE, we know that a well-crafted sales playbook can make all the difference in B2B selling.
Our talented team have been evolving playbooks for over 25 years, which has allowed us to refine our approach continuously.
So, what is a Playbook?
Well, it can be many things.
A guide to selling a product, selling a solution, or understanding an endend value proposition.
Ask ten people to develop playbook, and you'll get ten different versions. But one thing’s for sure, they must be actionable, easy to use, and impactful.
Our sales plays integrate marketing content seamlessly into the sales environment, ready for use at any point in the sales cycle.
The goal is to create resources that can easily be picked up and used immediately, driving stronger connections and increased sales.
Why they matter.
Unused sales plays are missed opportunities.
They represent wasted time and energy that could have been directed toward supporting your teams.
A well-utilised playbook enhances your GTM process, strengthens relationships with prospects, and ultimately drives more sales.
Here’s our inside scoop on how to create the perfect playbook!
1. Know your audience.
Remember, the needs of your users. Deliver a playbook that works for them in their environment. how, where & when they access it what their priorities are how the language you use should reflect them and their customers the need to avoid abbreviations and marketing jargon All things that need to be considered.
2.
Outcomes,
use cases and user experience.
Establish clear, measurable desired outcomes from the start. Create use cases that drive the experience your audience needs.
Understanding the desired outcomes, use cases, and user experience you want to achieve - will be your guiding principles, or "North Star," throughout the playbook creation process.
They will bring your playbook to life.
3. Align with your overarching sales framework.
Whatever stages you have in your CRM system, use them.
This reinforces your sales process and encourages CRM updates, a task often disliked by sales teams.
4. It’s all in the detail.
List everything that happens at each of the sales stages.
For effective Sales Playbooks, this is critical. who is involved systems used processes in place information to check questions to ask people to involved desired outcome key dependencies entry and exit criteria
5. Involve subject matter experts (SMEs).
Engage everyone involved at each stage:
product marketing finance
GTM sales enablement deal desks sales operations
Their insights are essential for detailing the activities and elements involved in each stage.
6. Use excel for content gathering.
Yep. That’s what we’re saying. It is the easiest way to record content, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Without needing to learn new software. It’s also excellent for version control, comments, and sharing.
7. Keep it simple.
Simplicity is key.
Gather all necessary content first, then distill it into concise, actionable items. You don’t want to be waxing lyrical.
Keep everything short and to the point. Follow the Smart Brevity philosophy like we do. It just makes life easier.
8. Signposting & Linkage
Context is crucial.
Ensure dependencies between stages are clearly linked or signposted.
Use labels and tags to facilitate quick scanning, helping users understand actions and find content types at a glance.
Again. It makes it easier for them!
9. Engagement
Remember to include your audience throughout the playbook creation process.
Emotional buy-in is critical for gaining acceptance and usage later on.
Keeping them engaged post launch will ensure you maximise your usage and create greater ROI, as well as ensure you activate
10. Measure activity
You need to understand the how and what. So, your playbook needs to be online.
what are people using what content is used most how does usage correlate with results
Identify content that isn’t being utilised and take action to promote its use.
Delve into what is not being used. It’s a great reason to directly engage your audience.
So, what does this all mean?
Well, it means creating a robust playbook is an ongoing process that requires expert input from various stakeholders clear and concise regularly updated content continuous measurement
At SalesEASE, we bring two decades of expertise to help you craft playbooks that are not only packed with great content, but are easy to use and support your goals to drive results.
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to playbooks, our insights will help you maximize their effectiveness. Implement these tips, and watch your sales process transform. Keeping everything simple and to the pointjust makes life easier.
