Why you need to test your sales playbook before taking it to the field
A sales development playbook documents everything your team needs to generate, qualify, nurture and close leads, including processes, cultural values, call flows and content that shape consistent communication.
A good playbook is a carefully crafted resource that makes sure everyone’s on the same page. It’s developed to help the tele-prospecting team members perform at their best.
While the playbook is central to driving and developing the leads sales needs to grow the business, in some cases it makes sense to test it before putting it in action.
Prospect-Experience clients rolling out new solutions or addressing new markets see the value of test driving the playbook in a controlled environment to make sure it works as intended.
We call the deliverable a PX Pilot Playbook.
The word *pilot* in the title tells you that in addition to providing a step-by-step lead development approach, we’re also going to give it a trial run to give us the insights we need to fine tune.
Prospect-Experience incorporates input from our client’s marketing and sales leaders, as well as best industry practices, into all its playbooks. That way any questions that need to be addressed before reaching out to the market are answered; everyone’s on the same page; and expectations are level set.
If we’re developing a PX Pilot Playbook for a client, we put it into action, identifying contacts, doing the tele-prospecting outreach per the recommended cadence, and reporting back on results. A pilot program conducted to the letter by one or more highly experienced sales execs give us the controlled environment needed before it’s scaled. A low-risk pilot eliminates the variables of inexperience that may negatively influence ongoing efforts.
Prospect-Experience has one client that worked closely on the pilot playbook with us. Their healthcare solution was developed for the provider industry, and is now being marketed in a completely different space. We’re halfway through a multi-touch, multi-media, multi-cycle tele-prospecting campaign with 50 initial decision-makers in this brand new arena. We’re getting results—and we’re gaining intelligence about what it will take to penetrate this market successfully.
We’ve proven a pilot approach makes the playbook stronger. We can also incorporate Account-based marketing processes to improve short and long-term results.