sales-playbook

Sales Playbook

Complete framework for building scalable, repeatable sales systems that convert prospects to customers.

When to Use

• Building sales process for new product
• Onboarding sales team members
• Improving conversion rates
• Handling objections consistently
• Managing sales pipeline
• Scaling from founder-led to team sales

Sales Process Stages

PROSPECT → QUALIFY → DISCOVER → PRESENT → HANDLE OBJECTIONS → CLOSE → ONBOARD

1. PROSPECT: Find potential customers
2. QUALIFY: Determine fit (BANT/MEDDIC)
3. DISCOVER: Understand their situation
4. PRESENT: Show how you solve their problem
5. HANDLE OBJECTIONS: Address concerns
6. CLOSE: Ask for the business
7. ONBOARD: Ensure success

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Workflow

Step 1: Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

## Ideal Customer Profile

**Demographics:**
- Company size: [Employees/Revenue]
- Industry: [Specific verticals]
- Geography: [Locations]
- Role/Title: [Who you sell to]

**Firmographics:**
- Technology stack: [What they use]
- Growth stage: [Startup/Scale-up/Enterprise]
- Funding: [Bootstrapped/VC-backed]

**Psychographics:**
- Pain points: [Top 3 problems]
- Goals: [What they're trying to achieve]
- Buying triggers: [When they buy]
- Budget: [Price range they can afford]

**Examples of Good Fit:**
- Company A: [Why they're ideal]
- Company B: [Why they're ideal]

**Examples of Bad Fit:**
- Company X: [Why they're not a fit]
- Company Y: [Why they're not a fit]

Step 2: Craft Your Value Proposition

Value Prop Framework:

FOR [target customer]
WHO [has this specific problem]
OUR [product/service]
PROVIDES [key benefit with numbers]
UNLIKE [competitors]
WE [unique differentiator]

Example:

FOR B2B SaaS companies
WHO struggle with customer onboarding (60% churn in first 30 days)
OUR automated onboarding platform
PROVIDES 40% reduction in time-to-value and 25% higher retention
UNLIKE generic customer success tools
WE offer industry-specific playbooks and automated milestone tracking

One-Liner:

"We help [target] achieve [outcome] without [pain]."

Example: "We help SaaS companies reduce churn by 25% without hiring more customer success reps."

Step 3: Qualification (BANT vs MEDDIC)

BANT (Simpler, B2C/SMB):

## BANT Qualification

**Budget:**
- Can they afford it? $[Range]
- What's their budget? $[X]
- Decision authority over budget? [Y/N]

**Authority:**
- Who makes the decision? [Name/Title]
- Who else is involved? [Stakeholders]
- Decision process? [Committee/Individual]

**Need:**
- What problem are they solving? [Pain]
- How urgent is it? [1-10]
- Cost of not solving? $[X]/[Time]

**Timeline:**
- When do they need it? [Date]
- Why that timeline? [Reason]
- What happens if delayed? [Impact]

**Qualified?** [Yes/No]
**Next Steps:** [Schedule demo / Send proposal]

MEDDIC (Complex, Enterprise B2B):

## MEDDIC Qualification

**Metrics:**
- What are their success measures?
- Current state metrics: [Numbers]
- Desired state metrics: [Numbers]
- How do they measure ROI? [Formula]

**Economic Buyer:**
- Who controls the budget? [Name/Title]
- What's their priority? [Business goal]
- What do they care about? [Key metric]

**Decision Criteria:**
- How will they decide? [Must-haves vs nice-to-haves]
- Who evaluates? [Technical team, exec team]
- What's the scoring? [Point system, checklist]

**Decision Process:**
- What's the buying process? [Steps]
- Who's involved at each stage? [Stakeholders]
- Timeline? [Dates for each step]

**Identify Pain:**
- What's the business problem? [Quantified impact]
- Who feels the pain most? [Department/Person]
- Cost of inaction? $[X]/year

**Champion:**
- Who will sell internally for you? [Name]
- Do they have influence? [Y/N]
- Are they coaching you? [Y/N]

**Qualified?** [Yes/No]
**Deal Score:** [X/10]

Step 4: Discovery Questions

The Goal: Understand Their World Deeply

Current State:

- "Walk me through your current process for [X]."
- "What tools are you using today?"
- "How much time does this take per week?"
- "Who's responsible for this?"

Pain Points:

- "What's the biggest challenge with your current approach?"
- "What have you tried to solve this?"
- "Why didn't that work?"
- "What's this costing you? (time/money/opportunity)"

Impact:

- "If you could wave a magic wand, what would change?"
- "What would solving this enable you to do?"
- "How would this impact your team/company?"
- "What's at stake if this doesn't get solved?"

Decision Process:

- "How do decisions like this typically get made here?"
- "Who else needs to be involved?"
- "What would need to happen for you to move forward?"
- "What's your timeline for making a decision?"

Discovery Framework (SPIN Selling):

SITUATION: Understand their current state
- "How many customers do you have?"
- "What's your current process?"

PROBLEM: Identify pain points
- "What challenges are you facing?"
- "How is this impacting the business?"

IMPLICATION: Make pain bigger
- "What happens if this continues?"
- "How does this affect other areas?"

NEED-PAYOFF: Paint the solution
- "How would solving this help?"
- "What would that mean for your team?"

Step 5: Demo/Presentation

Demo Flow (20 minutes max):

## Demo Structure

**1. Recap Pain (2 min)**
- "Based on our conversation, you mentioned [X pain]"
- "Your goal is to [Y outcome]"
- "Today I'll show you exactly how we solve that"

**2. Show Solution (10 min)**
- Focus ONLY on features that solve THEIR pain
- Show, don't tell
- Use their data/examples if possible
- "Here's how you'd [specific task]..."

**3. Prove It (5 min)**
- Case study: "Company like yours saw [result]"
- ROI calculation: "Based on [their numbers], you'd save $[X]"
- Social proof: "[Number] companies use this for [use case]"

**4. Next Steps (3 min)**
- "Does this solve [their pain]?"
- "What questions do you have?"
- "What would you like to see next?"
- Schedule follow-up BEFORE you hang up

Presentation Principles:

✅ DO:
- Tailor to their specific pain
- Use their language/terminology
- Show, don't tell
- Quantify value ($X saved, Y% improvement)
- Leave time for questions

❌ DON'T:
- Feature dump
- Talk more than 60% of the time
- Skip their pain points
- Assume they remember past conversations
- End without clear next steps

Step 6: Objection Handling (LAER Framework)

LAER Method:

LISTEN: Let them fully express the objection
ACKNOWLEDGE: Show you understand
EXPLORE: Ask questions to find root cause
RESPOND: Address the real concern

Common Objections:

"It's too expensive"

LISTEN: "I understand budget is a concern."
ACKNOWLEDGE: "Many customers felt the same way initially."
EXPLORE: "Help me understand - compared to what?" / "What budget did you have in mind?"
RESPOND:
- "Let me show you the ROI..." [Show calculation]
- "What's the cost of not solving this?" [Quantify pain]
- "We have [alternative option] at [lower price]"

"I need to think about it"

LISTEN: "Of course, this is an important decision."
ACKNOWLEDGE: "I'd want time to think too."
EXPLORE: "What specifically would you like to think through?"
RESPOND: [Address the REAL concern they reveal]
- If budget: Show ROI
- If timing: Understand why delay
- If features: Address gaps
- If trust: Provide references

"We're already using [Competitor]"

LISTEN: "I appreciate you sharing that."
ACKNOWLEDGE: "[Competitor] is a good product."
EXPLORE: "How's that going? What made you take this call?"
RESPOND:
- Don't trash competitor
- "Many customers switched from [Competitor] because..."
- "What would make you consider an alternative?"
- Focus on differentiation

"Now isn't a good time"

LISTEN: "I understand timing matters."
ACKNOWLEDGE: "Timing has to be right."
EXPLORE: "When would be better? What's happening now?"
RESPOND:
- "What would change in [timeframe]?"
- "What's the cost of waiting [X months]?"
- "Can we start small now and expand later?"
- Schedule specific future follow-up

"I need to talk to [someone else]"

LISTEN: "Absolutely, it's important they're involved."
ACKNOWLEDGE: "Getting buy-in is critical."
EXPLORE: "What will be most important to them?"
RESPOND:
- "Can we schedule a call with them included?"
- "What do you think their main concerns will be?"
- "I can prepare materials for you to share"
- Offer to present to decision-maker directly

Step 7: Closing Techniques

Assumptive Close:

"Based on what we've discussed, this clearly solves [their pain].
When would you like to get started?"

Alternative Close:

"Would you prefer to start with the annual plan or monthly?"
"Should we begin with 10 licenses or 25?"

Summary Close:

"Let me make sure I understood correctly:
- You need to [solve X]
- We've shown how we do that
- The ROI is [Y]
- Your team is ready to start [timeline]
Does that sound right? What would you like to do next?"

Trial Close (Gauge Interest):

"If we can address [concern], are you ready to move forward?"
"On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to proceed?"
(If <8: "What would make it a 10?")

Direct Ask:

"I think this is a great fit. Are you ready to get started?"

Step 8: Pipeline Management

Pipeline Stages:

| Stage | Definition | Exit Criteria | Probability | Avg Days |
|-------|------------|---------------|-------------|----------|
| Lead | Initial contact | Responded | 10% | 0-7 |
| Qualified | Fits ICP + BANT | Discovery scheduled | 25% | 7-14 |
| Discovery | Needs understood | Demo scheduled | 40% | 14-21 |
| Demo | Solution shown | Proposal requested | 50% | 21-28 |
| Proposal | Pricing sent | Verbal yes | 60% | 28-35 |
| Negotiation | Terms discussed | Contract sent | 80% | 35-42 |
| Closed Won | Deal signed | -- | 100% | 42 |
| Closed Lost | Deal lost | -- | 0% | -- |

Weekly Pipeline Review:

## Pipeline Review: [Date]

### Summary
- Total pipeline value: $[X]
- Weighted pipeline: $[X] (value × probability)
- Deals in play: [X]
- Expected to close this month: $[X]
- Actual closed this month: $[X]

### By Stage
| Stage | # Deals | Value | Weighted | Avg Age |
|-------|---------|-------|----------|---------|
| Qualified | 5 | $50K | $12.5K | 10 days |
| Discovery | 3 | $30K | $12K | 18 days |
| Proposal | 2 | $40K | $24K | 25 days |

### Top 5 Deals
| Company | Value | Stage | Next Step | Close Date | Risk |
|---------|-------|-------|-----------|------------|------|
| Acme | $20K | Proposal | Send contract | Feb 15 | Low |
| TechCo | $15K | Negotiation | Legal review | Feb 20 | Med |

### Stuck Deals (>14 days in stage)
| Company | Stage | Days Stuck | Blocker | Action |
|---------|-------|------------|---------|--------|
| SlowCo | Discovery | 21 | No response | Call champion |

### Actions This Week
1. Follow up with SlowCo champion
2. Send proposal to Acme
3. Schedule 5 new discovery calls

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Sales Email Templates

Cold Outreach:

Subject: [Trigger event or pain point]

Hi [Name],

Saw that [specific observation about their company - shows research].

[One sentence about common pain point in their industry.]

[One sentence about how you help, with specific result.]

Worth a 15-minute call to explore if there's a fit?

Best,
[Name]

P.S. [Relevant case study or proof point]

Follow-Up (No Response):

Subject: Re: [Original subject]

Hi [Name],

Quick follow-up on my note last week about [value prop in different words].

If now isn't the right time, no worries - just let me know and I'll check back in [3/6 months].

Best,
[Name]

Post-Meeting Follow-Up:

Subject: Next steps - [Company name]

Hi [Name],

Great speaking with you today. As discussed:

**Your challenges:**
- [Challenge 1 they mentioned]
- [Challenge 2 they mentioned]

**How we can help:**
- [Solution 1 with specific outcome]
- [Solution 2 with specific outcome]

**Next steps:**
- [Action 1] - [Owner] - [Date]
- [Action 2] - [Owner] - [Date]

Let me know if I missed anything.

Best,
[Name]

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Sales Playbook Template

## Sales Playbook: [Product/Service]

### Ideal Customer Profile
[See ICP section above]

### Value Proposition
[One-liner and full framework]

### Discovery Questions
[Top 10 questions to ask]

### Common Objections & Responses
[Top 5 objections with LAER responses]

### Demo Flow
[20-minute structure]

### Pricing Presentation
- Lead with value, not price
- Anchor high: "$X for enterprise, but most start at $Y"
- Show ROI calculation
- Offer options (good, better, best)

### Closing Process
[Preferred closing techniques]

### Success Metrics
- Lead → Qualified: [X]%
- Qualified → Demo: [X]%
- Demo → Proposal: [X]%
- Proposal → Close: [X]%
- Average deal size: $[X]
- Sales cycle: [X] days

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Common Mistakes

Don't	Do
Talk more than listen	Listen 60%, talk 40%
Lead with features	Lead with their pain
Skip discovery	Thorough discovery every time
Give up after one objection	Use LAER framework
Forget to ask for the sale	Always ask for next step
Wing it	Follow the playbook
Ignore pipeline metrics	Review weekly
Compete on price	Compete on value

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Tools & Resources

CRM:

• HubSpot (free tier available)
• Salesforce
• Pipedrive
• Close

Outreach:

• Apollo.io (prospecting)
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Hunter.io (email finding)

Resources:

• "SPIN Selling" by Neil Rackham
• "The Challenger Sale" by Dixon & Adamson
• "Predictable Revenue" by Aaron Ross

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Related Skills

• /pitch-deck-review - Creating sales presentations
• /pricing-analysis - Setting pricing strategy
• /copywriter - Writing compelling emails

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Last Updated: 2026-01-22