After a startup achieves product/market fit one of the most important next steps is to develop a sales and marketing machine. The sales team should be working towards a reproducible, and profitable, sales process. As part of that iteration, a sales playbook should be at the top of the sales manager or entrepreneurs list of items. A sales playbook is the how-to manual for a sales rep. The goal is to document and categorize as much sales related information as possible in a digestible format.
Here are some items for a sales playbook:
- Corporate information
- Sales pitch
- Elevator pitch
- Market space
- Recent trends
- Target customer
- Types of buyers
- Features and benefits
- List of references
- Sales process
- CRM process
- Competitors and differentiators
- Objection handling
- Glossary
As you can tell, the sales playbook is very detailed covering upwards of 50+ pages. A key aspect is that it should be a living, breathing document that is constantly updated (e.g. a shared Google Doc). Startups should develop a sales playbook.
What else? What other items do you include in your sales playbook?
David Cummings on Startups 
Excellent article, David. A sales playbook is indispensable. Mine includes a list of my top 25 suspects – those people or organizations that I’ve admired and want to work with someday. As I run into people or hear of companies that sound like a great fit for my services, I add them to my list. Also, I review and update the list several times per year. You’d be surprised how many “A-listers” eventually become clients!