Sales Playbooks
Part of Sales playbooks
Keeping sales playbooks current after product changes
Trace a product change through affected sales plays, control uncertain claims, approve revised guidance and check that representatives can use it.
When a product changes, review the plays that rely on the changed capability, condition or promise. Confirm the new position with its owner, replace affected guidance and tell representatives what to use while questions remain open. A new version date alone is not enough.
Turn the change into an answerable brief
Ask the product owner for the effective date, what changed, which customers or configurations it affects and what remains available. Separate a feature that is live from one that is planned, in limited release or subject to assessment. Ask who may approve customer-facing wording and where the verified position is recorded.
Translate the change into buyer questions. For example, if a reporting feature moves from a standard offer to an optional package, buyers may ask whether their current agreement still includes it or whether a new proposal will. This is an illustration, not a claim about a product. If the owner cannot yet answer a material question, mark it open rather than filling the play with an assumption.
Trace the affected routes
Review more than the product summary. A change can alter a play’s trigger, qualifying question, suggested explanation, exception route or example response. It may also change who can approve an answer. Record each affected entry and the decision needed.
Playbook element / Change question
- Trigger
- Will representatives now encounter a different buyer question?
- Approved position
- Is the old statement still accurate, and for whom?
- Qualification
- Does the answer depend on plan, configuration or timing?
- Example response
- Does its overall impression match the verified position?
- Next step
- Does the representative need a different specialist or check?
Look for reused wording in related plays. If the same claim appears in a proposal or buyer-facing asset, route that item to its owner as well. The playbook owner should record the hand-off rather than assume an edit to the play has corrected every copy.
Control the gap before release
If a material claim is unsettled, give representatives an interim instruction: what can still be said, which wording is withdrawn, what details to collect and who will answer the buyer. Give the interim instruction an owner and a point for the next decision. Do not leave an old answer visible as though it remains approved.
The ACCC can require businesses to back up claims they make about their products or services, and may investigate if a business misleads.
Approve and release the revised play
Have the relevant specialist verify changed facts and conditions. Have the play owner check that the questions and routes still fit the selling situation. Record the approved version, effective scope and what it replaces. Then make the revised entry available where representatives work and identify the withdrawn version so copied wording is less likely to circulate.
Tell the team the practical difference: which buyer question now needs a new answer, which familiar line must stop and when to escalate. Give managers the same change summary so their feedback is based on the current position.
Key Compliance & Process Metrics
- ACCC Claim Responsibility
- Businesses must substantiate product claims under Australian Consumer Law
- Playbook Update Cycle
- Review required after every significant product change
Check the new route
Use a short buyer case that exercises the changed condition. Ask a representative to locate the current play, explain what applies and handle an exception. If the answer is correct but hard to find, fix access or labelling. If the play is easy to find but its claim is uncertain, return to the answer owner.
Keep a record of field questions after release. A recurring question may reveal a missing branch, unclear wording or an unassessed customer circumstance. Revise that point when its owner confirms the answer.
