Sales Playbooks
Part of Sales playbooks
Separating useful guidance from a rigid script
Keep approved facts and limits clear while giving representatives room to follow a buyer’s answer. Use this editing test to revise scripted playbook copy.
Useful playbook guidance tells a representative what must be understood and what may accurately be said. A rigid script dictates the words and sequence even when the buyer has already answered the question or raised a different concern. Keep the facts and limits stable; let the conversation follow the buyer’s response.
Sort each line by its job
Read a draft play and label each line as a required fact, a question prompt, an example phrase or an escalation rule. This exposes where a suggested sentence has quietly become a rule.
| Type of guidance | How to write it |
|---|---|
| Required fact or limit | State the approved meaning and the circumstances in which it applies. |
| Question prompt | Explain what the representative needs to learn; allow different wording. |
| Example phrase | Show one natural way to respond, clearly marked as an example. |
| Escalation rule | Name the unanswered point and the owner who can resolve it. |
Some wording may need to stay exact because the organisation has approved that statement for a particular use. Identify those passages and keep their conditions attached. Do not make every conversational sentence mandatory merely because one claim needs control.
Four kinds of playbook line and how to write each
- Required fact or limit
- State the approved meaning and the circumstances in which it applies.
- Question prompt
- Explain what the representative needs to learn; allow different wording.
- Example phrase
- Show one natural way to respond, clearly marked as an example.
- Escalation rule
- Name the unanswered point and the owner who can resolve it.
Replace assumed dialogue with a decision
Consider a fictional play. It begins: “Say, ‘Our process saves your team time.’ If the buyer objects, say, ‘Most customers see the value quickly.’” It assumes the buyer’s priority, makes unsupported outcome claims and leaves no way to handle a different answer.
A more useful prompt would be: “Ask which part of the current process consumes effort and what change the buyer would need to see. Describe only the verified steps of the proposed process. If the buyer asks for a time-saving estimate, identify what would need to be measured before giving one.” This describes an imaginary offer; it makes no claim that a product saves time.
The ACCC says it can require businesses to back up claims they make about their products or services and can investigate misleading behaviour. A flexible conversation still needs disciplined claims. A memorised line does not become supportable because everyone uses it.
Give the representative choices with boundaries
A play can show a few routes without scripting the whole exchange. If the buyer needs a definition, offer the approved explanation. If they describe a required workflow, ask for the details that affect fit. If they request a commitment beyond the approved position, record the request and route it to the right owner.
Write prompts in plain language. Use “Find out who signs off the change” or “Check whether the date is a preference or a fixed requirement.” Avoid instructions that presume a motive, such as “Overcome the buyer’s resistance.” The representative should be able to summarise the buyer’s answer before choosing a route.
Routing a conversation by what the buyer actually needs
- Buyer needs a definitionOffer the approved explanation, then check it answered the question.
- Buyer describes a required workflowAsk for the details that affect fit before responding.
- Buyer requests a commitment beyond the approved positionRecord the request and route it to the owner who can decide.
- Before choosing any routeSummarise the buyer's answer back to them to confirm it was understood.
Review the play with a changed answer
Give a colleague a fictional case, then change a material detail midway through the conversation. Can the representative adapt the questions while preserving the approved claim and its limitation? Can they stop when an answer requires specialist input?
Revise the play if people can recite it but cannot respond to the changed detail. Where the problem is a missing or conflicting approved answer, ask its owner to settle that answer first. The final guidance should make a correct conversation easier without assuming every buyer will follow the same lines.
Testing the play with a changed answer
- Brief a colleague on a fictional case, then change a material detail midway through the conversation.
- Check whether they can adapt the questions while preserving the approved claim and its limitation.
- Check whether they stop and escalate when an answer needs specialist input.
- Revise the play if people can recite it but cannot respond to the changed detail.
- Where the real problem is a missing or conflicting approved answer, ask its owner to settle that answer first.
