business
Sales Playbook
Write sales playbooks with qualification frameworks, discovery question banks, objection handling scripts, competitive positioning, and deal stage definitions that align the sales team on methodology.
salesplaybookqualificationobjectionscompetitivemethodology
Works well with agents
Works well with skills
sales-playbook/
SKILL.md
Markdown| 1 | |
| 2 | # Sales Playbook |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ## Before you start |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Gather the following from the user. If anything is missing, ask before proceeding: |
| 7 | |
| 8 | 1. **What are you selling?** (Product, service, platform — include pricing model and deal size) |
| 9 | 2. **Who is the buyer?** (Target persona, title, company size, industry) |
| 10 | 3. **What is the sales motion?** (Inbound-led, outbound, product-led growth, channel, enterprise) |
| 11 | 4. **What is the current sales cycle?** (Average length, typical stages, conversion rates) |
| 12 | 5. **Who are the main competitors?** (Direct competitors the team encounters in deals) |
| 13 | 6. **What are the top objections?** (Price, timing, competition, internal build, status quo) |
| 14 | |
| 15 | If the user says "we just need objection handling," clarify: objection handling without qualification criteria means reps spend time overcoming objections on deals that should never have entered the pipeline. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ## Playbook template |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ### 1. Ideal Customer Profile |
| 20 | |
| 21 | ``` |
| 22 | Firmographic Fit: |
| 23 | - Company size: [Employee range and/or revenue range] |
| 24 | - Industry: [Target verticals] |
| 25 | - Tech stack: [Required tools or platforms in use] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Behavioral Signals: |
| 28 | - [Currently using competitor X or manual process Y] |
| 29 | - [Recently hired for role Z / posted job for...] |
| 30 | - [Visited pricing page, requested demo] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Disqualification Criteria: |
| 33 | - [Below minimum deal size] |
| 34 | - [No budget authority within 90 days] |
| 35 | - [Locked into multi-year competitor contract] |
| 36 | ``` |
| 37 | |
| 38 | ### 2. Deal Stage Definitions |
| 39 | |
| 40 | | Stage | Entry Criteria | Rep Actions | Exit Criteria | |
| 41 | |----------------|----------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------| |
| 42 | | Prospecting | Matches ICP | Research, personalize outreach| Meeting booked with decision maker| |
| 43 | | Discovery | Meeting confirmed | Run discovery, identify pain | Pain, timeline, budget known | |
| 44 | | Qualification | Pain confirmed | Complete MEDDIC | Champion identified, process mapped| |
| 45 | | Solution Design| Qualified opportunity | Demo, technical validation | Technical win confirmed | |
| 46 | | Proposal | Technical win | Present pricing, negotiate | Verbal agreement | |
| 47 | | Closed Won | Signed contract | Handoff to CS | Revenue recognized | |
| 48 | | Closed Lost | Deal lost at any stage | Document loss reason | Loss reason in CRM | |
| 49 | |
| 50 | Deals cannot skip stages. If a rep cannot articulate the exit criteria for the current stage, the deal is not at that stage. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | ### 3. Qualification Framework |
| 53 | |
| 54 | | Element (MEDDIC) | Question to Answer | Evidence Required | |
| 55 | |-------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------| |
| 56 | | Metrics | What business outcomes does the buyer measure? | "Reduce onboarding by 50%" | |
| 57 | | Economic Buyer | Who signs the check? | Title and name confirmed | |
| 58 | | Decision Criteria | What will they evaluate on? | Security, UX, price | |
| 59 | | Decision Process | What steps to purchase? | Eval, security, legal | |
| 60 | | Identify Pain | What is the cost of not solving this? | "$200K/yr in manual work" | |
| 61 | | Champion | Who is selling internally on our behalf? | Can articulate why you win | |
| 62 | |
| 63 | A deal without a champion is a deal without an internal advocate. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | ### 4. Discovery Question Bank |
| 66 | |
| 67 | Reps should use 8-12 questions per call, not all of them. |
| 68 | |
| 69 | **Pain:** "Walk me through what happens today when [problem scenario]." / "How much time does your team spend on this per month?" / "What happens if you do not solve this in the next 6 months?" |
| 70 | |
| 71 | **Decision Process:** "Who else needs to be involved?" / "What does your purchasing process look like for tools at this price point?" / "Is there an event driving this decision?" |
| 72 | |
| 73 | **Budget:** "Is there budget allocated, or would this need approval?" / "Where does this rank against other priorities this quarter?" |
| 74 | |
| 75 | **Competition:** "Are you evaluating other solutions?" / "Have you considered building this internally?" |
| 76 | |
| 77 | ### 5. Objection Handling |
| 78 | |
| 79 | Use Acknowledge, Reframe, Respond for each objection: |
| 80 | |
| 81 | **"Your price is too high."** Acknowledge pricing matters. Reframe to cost of the problem: "You mentioned [X hours/week] on [process] at [$Y/hour] — that is [$Z/year]." Cite a customer who saw ROI in [N months]. |
| 82 | |
| 83 | **"We can build this ourselves."** Acknowledge the team's capability. Reframe to opportunity cost: "Building typically takes [X months] at [$Y fully loaded], plus ongoing maintenance." Cite a customer who switched from internal build. |
| 84 | |
| 85 | **"We are happy with [Competitor]."** Acknowledge the competitor. Reframe to the specific gap: "Teams that switch typically cite [differentiator]." Offer a reference customer who made the same switch. |
| 86 | |
| 87 | **"Not a priority right now."** Acknowledge timing. Ask what would change priority. Quantify cost of waiting. Set a specific reconnect date tied to their trigger event. |
| 88 | |
| 89 | ### 6. Competitive Positioning |
| 90 | |
| 91 | | Dimension | Us | Competitor A | Competitor B | |
| 92 | |----------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------| |
| 93 | | Best for | [Segment/use case] | [Segment/use case] | [Segment/use case] | |
| 94 | | Pricing | [Model and range] | [Model and range] | [Model and range] | |
| 95 | | Key strength | [Differentiator] | [Their strength] | [Their strength] | |
| 96 | | Key weakness | [Honest limitation] | [Their gap] | [Their gap] | |
| 97 | | Landmine Q | — | [Question exposing gap]| [Question exposing gap]| |
| 98 | |
| 99 | Landmine questions surface a competitor's weakness without trash-talking. |
| 100 | |
| 101 | ## Quality checklist |
| 102 | |
| 103 | - [ ] ICP includes firmographic fit, behavioral signals, and disqualification criteria |
| 104 | - [ ] Deal stages have entry criteria, required actions, and exit criteria |
| 105 | - [ ] Qualification framework uses a named methodology with evidence requirements |
| 106 | - [ ] Discovery questions cover pain, process, budget, and competition (15+ total) |
| 107 | - [ ] Objection handling follows Acknowledge-Reframe-Respond with real evidence |
| 108 | - [ ] Competitive positioning is honest about your own limitations |
| 109 | - [ ] A new rep on day 30 could execute from this playbook |
| 110 | |
| 111 | ## Common mistakes |
| 112 | |
| 113 | - **Writing a playbook nobody reads.** A 50-page document is a shelf decoration. Keep it actionable and referenceable during live calls. |
| 114 | - **Generic objection handling.** "Our product is better" is not a response. Every response needs specific evidence. |
| 115 | - **Skipping disqualification.** A playbook that only says who to sell to wastes pipeline time on unwinnable deals. |
| 116 | - **Stages without exit criteria.** "Demo completed" is an activity, not a stage. Stages need verifiable conditions. |
| 117 | - **Trash-talking competitors.** Disparaging competitors damages credibility. Use landmine questions instead. |
| 118 | - **Static playbooks.** Competitive positioning shifts quarterly. Build a review cadence. |
| 119 |