The Sales Playbook is a Cornerstone for Your Company's Success

In today’s fast-paced business environment, sales teams need more than just raw talent to succeed—they need a well-crafted playbook that ensures everyone is working toward the same goals. A robust sales playbook isn’t just a guide for your sales team; it should be a cornerstone of your entire organization’s strategy, one that marketing, product managers and operations sign onto as well. Here’s why aligning your playbook across departments is essential.

1. Creating a Unified Message

When sales, marketing, and operations each operate with their own set of priorities, messaging can become fragmented. A unified sales playbook ensures that the message your customers receive is consistent across all touchpoints. Marketing campaigns should echo the same value propositions and pain points that sales representatives address in their conversations. Operations, in turn, should be aware of the promises being made so they can deliver on them.

Marketing should echo the same value propositions and pain points that sales representatives address in their conversations. This includes ensuring that anyone having the opportunity to speak with customers knows the purposeful questions and points needed to engage.

2. Improving Collaboration Across Departments

Marketing and sales have traditionally been siloed departments, often working in parallel rather than in unison. When these teams develop a sales playbook together, they create alignment that leads to smoother collaboration and most importantly, respect for each other's role. Marketing then knows what type of leads the sales team needs, and operations can understand where efficiencies or bottlenecks might arise based on customer feedback from sales.

3. Driving Accountability Across the Board

When all departments contribute to and agree on the sales playbook, there’s a shared sense of ownership and accountability. Everyone is responsible for its success, and this creates a culture of responsibility where all teams feel invested in delivering on the goals outlined in the playbook. No one needs to feel like an outsider; you are part of team that needs you.

4. Enhancing Customer Experience

A cohesive sales playbook ensures that no matter where a customer engages with your organization—whether through marketing materials, direct sales interactions, or operational touchpoints—the experience is seamless. When marketing and operations sign onto the same playbook as sales, customers enjoy a smoother journey, from the initial marketing interaction to the delivery of the product or service.

5. Adapting to Changes More Quickly

In an ever-changing business landscape, having marketing, sales, and operations on the same page makes it easier to adapt to changes. Whether it’s a shift in market conditions, a new product launch, or a change in customer preferences, a unified playbook allows for a coordinated response. Teams can quickly pivot together rather than working in isolation, ensuring a more agile approach to challenges.

Conclusion

A sales playbook that involves marketing and operations isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential for driving success across the entire organization. By aligning all departments under one strategy, you ensure that everyone is working in harmony toward the same goals, ultimately improving collaboration, accountability, and customer experience. When everyone is beating to the same drum, the results speak for themselves.

Responsibility

Starts at the top, the very top with a leader who understands that people need maps, they need to know that what they are selling, managing, or fixing is being done by the playbook. Leaving people to do it on their own might sound very sophisticated, and a very few may survive. But everyone knows you should manage for the masses to expect success from everyone.

Blogging IS For Everyone

Back in 1994, the first blog in the history of the world was posted by Justin Hall, a freelance journalist, who launched his page Justin’s Links from the Underground. This was used to talk about his life, mostly with fellow students at Swarthmore College, and it became the precipice for something much greater than just sharing details of one’s life.

Since then, the blogging world has exploded, and now there are over 600 million blogs on the internet.

If you are not blogging for your business, you are doing yourself (and your company) a great disservice. According to Hubspot, there are nearly five billion internet users each day, and about 60% of them are reading blogs daily. 55% of businesses with blogs get more traffic to their website – and 67% even earn more leads! This practice also works in getting some newer eyes to your business that might not otherwise find you. Did you know that blogging increases your chances of being ranked on Google by a whopping 434%?

Of course, some work needs to be done on your part because these blogs don’t just write and make themselves look pretty. Content is key, and you want to make sure you have an engaging message, specifically in the headline. It is a bit disheartening that only 20% of people will ever read past the headline, and the average time for reading a blog is 96 seconds. But you can beat these odds with an engaging message, and some eye-catching photos. According to OptinMonster, blogs with photos will get 94% more traffic, and blogs with 7+ photos will get 104% more traffic. While this may apply more to food/travel blogs, you can still post photos of informative graphs, medical devices, or anything else that may apply.

Getting back to the readers, they play such a crucial role in how successful a blog will or won’t be. Most blogs will indeed be found through social media, LinkedIn, word of mouth, and generally shared methods. But what is interesting are the reading habits of people, and how they play into the overall scope of blogs.

One of the most intriguing findings from the Hubspot article is that 70% of people prefer reading blogs in the morning (9-10 AM), while only 40-50% of them like reading them at night. And it makes sense, considering most people are starting their workday at that time and begin their day by seeing what’s happening online.

Perhaps, the most interesting find was that most people leave comments for blogs on Saturday early in the morning. So, what does this mean? Is it that people don’t want to have a back-and-forth conversation during the workday, or is it something else? Is it a more comfortable time to interact, or are they just more relaxed? These are questions that you may have to ask yourself as a business owner – because conversation and interaction are ultimately what you’re looking for.

Business owners should take great solace in the fact that 37% of blog readers are 40-60 years old, with the average age of a blog reader being 41. Assumingly, this is the age range of most decision-makers in business, and you could make an impact in this demographic in a way that would be great for your business.

Hopefully, these findings from Hubspot and other outlets help you make an informed decision on how to capitalize on blogging for your business. Reach out to us at Sales-Link and we can help you even further along on your journey.

Do Entrepreneurial Spirits Brings Innovative Ideas?

I recently read some comments on a post discussing why certain tasks were not being completed within companies. The consensus was that upper management and the board were not prioritizing them. However, instead of proposing solutions, many people seemed to be giving up. While I understand that some individuals may feel defeated after repeatedly trying to change things, I was hoping to see some entrepreneurial spirits come forward with innovative ideas. Unfortunately, this did not happen. It makes me wonder if we have become complacent with new ideas.

Complacency refers to being pleased with oneself. However, an interesting read suggests complacency cannot be the root cause of an error or mishap. Rather, it is the system or workplace routine that is to blame, along with some other internal factors.

In the past, I worked with the Deming Method in a large organization to improve work processes that were not producing the desired results. Initially, many people were skeptical, but we got management's attention with concrete savings, findings, and changes that we presented during weekly meetings. We didn't wait for management to tell us what to do; instead, we incorporated the changes into our daily work because we, as managers, wanted to achieve something and demonstrate that our efforts were generating success. As a result, we saved time, reduced complaints, and made people happy. It was challenging, but it was also an accomplishment that we could look back on with pride.

Waiting for people at the top to give out all the directions can lead to complacency. This is why top workplace consultants often advise employees to "act as if you are the entrepreneur," regardless of whether they work for a small, medium, or large business. An entrepreneurial mindset (Forbes) is characterized by resiliency, adaptability, and a focus on growth. Even if you are not the CEO or the owner of a business, you are the CEO of yourself.

Complacency can hinder progress, and it is an entrepreneurial spirit that drives change and innovation forward.

Lucky Peanuts Superstitions

We all have our own quirky superstitions, and the debate has raged on forever about whether our “lucky peanuts” superstitions are fact or fiction. Whether it’s a special pair of socks, a four-leaved clover, avoiding the world on Friday the 13th, or knocking on the table three times before leaving the house, the act of performing or possessing a superstition is a practice that puts us in our best frame of mind.

But are physical objects and routines the true reason we come through in the clutch? Or do they give us the confidence to get the job done?

THE HISTORY OF SUPERSTITIONS

The history of superstitions dates back to ancient Greece in the 4th century BCE and derives from the Latin “superstitio,” which means “standing over” or transcending outside of ordinary logic. Superstitions are beliefs not based on reason or knowledge. When looking into examples of these practices, some of the earliest terms of superstitions include magic, prophecy, and fortune-telling in the ancient world.

Perhaps these superstitions don’t dictate a sequence of events. Rather, they put us in a more comfortable mindset to accomplish our goals. When we have our lucky charm or practice our rituals, there’s a sense of security – like nothing will go wrong. I know myself because, as a salesperson, I would try not to let my boss know about a potential deal until it was close to closing in fear that if it were divulged too early, it would be jinxed.

For NASA, they have their “lucky peanuts.” Before any launch or major mission, you may see jars of peanuts scattered around NASA’s control room. This tradition dates back to 1964 during the Ranger 7 launch when Dick Wallace passed around peanuts in hopes of calming people’s nerves. After six previous attempts to launch probes toward the moon, Ranger 7 was their first success. NASA’s lucky peanuts have since almost always appeared on a successful launch day.  “They [lucky peanuts] help remind those doing really hard things to approach challenges with humility because the difference between success and failure can sometimes come down to what’s beyond their control,” NASA’s website states.

SUPERSTITIONS CAN GO WRONG

As a mom of a son who played hockey, he thought some superstitions proved themselves. He had his successes with certain superstitions, like wearing the same unwashed shirt each game as long as they kept winning.  Even a stuffed parrot named Polly in his locker was included as the team mascot, looking over the team and bringing the winning spirit. There was also a time when one steadfast routine they followed was broken –they agreed no player would come out of the locker room until warmups started. However, they didn’t follow their routine during state playoffs and went on the ice before warmups for a group picture.  Sure enough, he is convinced that changing their entire routine lost them the game.

The example of NASA’s “lucky peanuts” in the section above didn’t always go according to plan either. There were a few instances where the peanuts weren’t on hand, and problems like damage to spacecraft and mission delays occurred. Is that just a coincidence, or do these peanuts really have some type of magical powers?

Here are some examples of superstitious ways: Lucky and unlucky colors or numbers, black cats, the evil eye, a broken mirror, knocking on wood, throwing salt over your shoulder, walking under a ladder, stepping on a crack, and breaking your mother’s back, itchy palms, and fingers crossed.

SUPERSTITIONS IN BUSINESS

So, what about superstitions in business? Is being superstitious par for the course for salespeople and buyers?

A study by YouGov in 2019 found that 9% of U.S. adults consider themselves very superstitious, and 20% of participants consider themselves somewhat superstitious. While these percentages are somewhat small, they impact businesses and markets drastically. Superstitious people will refuse to make purchasing decisions, stay off the roads, and change travel plans. The Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute state that these actions, or inactions, cause an estimated $800 million to $900 million in lost revenue every Friday, the 13th!

Key Advice:  Do not plan on closing anything on Friday the 13th!

It is said that superstitions do change behaviors. For instance, a salesperson having a great day finally reaching their sales revenue goals by signing with a major client.  That experience leading up to that moment will be forever in the frontal lobe of that person’s brain.  They want to repeat that feeling of success, so they might connect something they wore, did, or even an object in their hand or desk at the time of their success.  So, they will repeat that practice or ritual before moving on to the next big deal.  If it keeps bringing success, it then becomes their ritual.

It's fun and soothing to have rituals. It creates a uniqueness about the person.  It keeps a salesperson calm and organized, whether in another person's mind or the salesperson’s mind. After you have prepared your presentation message to the nth degree, having checked timing and relooked confirmations, I can see where a ritual can put the finishing touches on.  If you recall the mention in the Lucky Peanuts story, --- “the difference between success and failure can sometimes come down to what’s beyond their control.”

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I believe that superstition makes us comfortable. If we have a certain possession or routine that provides confidence and comfort, why not get with it? When we don’t have that comfort, we feel not in control—and we certainly cannot have that when attempting to make a sale.

LANDING YOUR CUSTOMERS IN 2024

A ridiculous number of calls from marketers after filling out a landing page.

The process of landing healthcare insurance in this modern age is nothing short of chaos, and you are truly mishandling potential customers this way. I just helped a friend looking for health insurance and thought, “Why is this such an excruciating experience?”  We clicked through multiple sites, and they all had landing pages asking for contact information in exchange for pricing lists.

 Within a few minutes, my friend was inundated with phone calls from several healthcare provider call centers and spam callers – and the calls still haven’t stopped! He averaged 20 calls per hour for the first two hours.  Calls probably won’t stop for another month. The result?  Another person won’t fill in their information on a landing page again.

 WHAT SHOULD A LANDING PAGE DO FOR YOU AND YOUR PROSPECTS?

To become a reliable source, you should first deliver what you promised without being slick in your wording.  Carefully design your landing page to collect details about your prospect, but be thoughtful in your questions that will yield important demographics to educate you about the prospect.  This valuable information shouldn’t just be a name, phone number, and email address, but rather data that will help you better understand the persona of your prospects.  

You could then create more tailored responses and future marketing material that provide what interests them, and you could also do this around your product or service based on the demographics of your prospects.

For example, instead of collecting a phone number in exchange for pricing and immediately calling, why not send a custom message back to your prospect before calling them back? How could that help further? In the example above with looking for health insurance, if one of the callers sent something back that was specific to the shopper about healthcare options for his age, gender, and location, then it would have made the experience a lot more palatable and meaningful.

 UNDERSTANDING THE EXCHANGE BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR PROSPECTS

Once you receive potential customer responses from your landing pages, it will take a combination of the data you received, along with your expertise to decide the next steps.  Based on the feedback, decide what is needed for your upcoming landing pages to be effective, as well as any changes you see fit to your website and blogs. It may not be a quick one, two, or three-time exchange. In one of our previous blogs, we mention the many exchanges needed to engage your prospect.

YOUR WEBSITE IS YOUR STOREFRONT

If you are preparing marketing materials, put yourself in your customers’ shoes — you already know they DO THEIR RESEARCH! Your website, blogs, landing pages, and your social media postings should always focus on your customers’ needs.

A website, for example, is a storefront that you dress up based on some of the information you received from exchanges with your prospects. In your prospect’s eyes, you are the expert in your field, and they should take the time to engage and continue prospecting with you.

As you plan, think about the results, and outline the needed exchanges to set you on a path to success and do what is needed to stay the course.

 CONCLUSION

Landing Pages or what we should call them, i.e., “Lead Pages”, have a specific purpose -more than just collecting names, phone numbers, and emails. If you plan out your exchanges with your customers, your content and other marketing materials, will help do the job for you and that is to turn your prospects into customers and do it effectively.

Hit the Target With a High-Five

Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player to ever live, once said that you miss 100% of the shots you never take. However, in the sales world, you need to be firing pucks at the net as often as possible. Believe it or not, lead generation should take you at least five to seven tries before you reel in your desired contact – and even another five tries to land them as a customer! 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to finally convert the target after the first rejection.

Be sure to check out this article from LucidChart.com and learn about their 7-step sales process.

At first, you are targeting someone who is a great prospect for your company. A simple introduction of yourself and/or the services that your company offers via email/phone will suffice; you want your target to be familiar with what you’re bringing to the table.

Think about yourself and how you would react to being approached on a cold call. More often than not, these calls come from a telephone company or an energy company claiming they can save you 40% on your monthly bill. The majority of us may feel fine with how things are going in our daily lives, and we don’t need to be thwarted into anything. As a great salesperson, think about how you can increase that person or company’s income, or how you can at least save them money/operational costs in the process.

On your second attempt, a modest reminder of sending your initial email/call will be a satisfactory connection with your target. In some ways, the second connection could be more important and may determine if there even is a third time you get a chance to speak with them. In this interaction, you should remind them of what you were conveying the first time around and why you thought they would appreciate the offer and then go into a little more detail about your product or service. Keep alert to hear their objections!

If you’re reaching out to your target for the third time, this is where you need to bring them to your side of the table. You have already introduced yourself and your product/service; by now it’s time to drive the point home. In this instance, you can move forward with presentations, case studies, or whitepapers – anything to woo your target. And again, listen to those objections and answer them if you are ready.!

Salespeople may look at the fourth attempt as some sort of lead generation desperation, but you shouldn’t feel that way. This is yet another opportunity to reach out to your target, and possibly levy any questions they may have on their end of the table, i.e., their objections! Listen to what they have to say because if you can resolve any issues they may have, that could be the difference between getting them on this call or needing to go further.

When it’s the fifth time that you’re reaching out to your target, take all the lessons you learned from the previous attempts and apply them to this endeavor. By now, you are both familiar with one another, and there shouldn’t be any hesitation on your end. Of course, there will always be questions in your prospect’s mind, but you need to assure them in this step that you have a solution that will show value and benefit them.

Hopefully, it doesn’t take you five or more tries to get your prospect in position to take the next step towards a bid, final defense meeting, or even perhaps a sale– but it very well could. Once they have agreed they are interested in buying (your marketing qualified lead (MQL), you can start counting from one again, because there may be five times back and forth through negation steps.    

If you are finding difficulty in getting a commitment from them, consider some options to show you are earnestly trying hard to get them a great deal for the product or service that will bring value to them.  Offer payment options or test some of your claims for free so they see you are right on with the recommendations you have made to them.

 As a salesperson, you have to imagine yourself on the other side of the table. Would you buy what you’re selling? If yes, pour some of your beliefs into the conversation.  If not, be quick on your feet to get answers so you are ready for your next discussion (The Close) with your prospect.

12 Month Roadmap to Sales Happiness

Instead of throwing out the old and bringing in the new, how about we consider looking at the process?

The sales environment can be a tough one to face day to day. Why? Because you are typically only as good as your last sale, so the saying goes. I often wonder if that is true and have come to believe that the answer is Yes, it is true that your worth is based upon what you did last especially when the company is under pressure to increase revenue. But really, what company is not wanting to increase revenue?

If we just step back for a sales minute, I wonder (with good reason from experience), just how many sales organizations are working as a team with the rest of the company. Too often you hear some condescending comments about salespeople which are heard by the salesperson. If other departments of the company are talking negatively about the other, then you have a foundational problem that will not help your growth.

More traditional departments like HR or Operations all seem to have the day-to-day procedures they follow down to an almost silent routine. Their daily/weekly/monthly meetings; the onboarding; their financial reporting and forms to fill out and procedures to be followed all just go on without much notice. But when it comes to sales and marketing you will hear about the “big company sales meeting” and sales reports can be a bear to prepare. It is so loud that everyone in the company is aware they are happening. But it is the everyday processes and procedures that aren’t spoken of that often and so they can be ignored. So, while sales and marketing may have meetings and may have reports to do, it is the day-to-day processes and procedures that are loosely followed.

Emotion (positive and negative), is recognized I believe more so in sales and marketing. Maybe because they are often told the company is counting on them, that they feel a lot is riding on their shoulders. Having a quota is a big responsibility you carry home with you, so the ups and downs create a rollercoaster of emotions.

While the emotions are bouncing, company management can try to keep the salespeople surrounded with a safety net, a form of security to bolster their convictions so they keep going for the win! And how do we do that? With a roadmap that is followed and put in place as a support mechanism for the team that has the entire company riding on their shoulders.

The RoadMap

a. Add a Lead Generation Process/Program.

              i.     Prepare and/or schedule proper content by persona.

              II.    Ensure continuous outreach to primary targets.

              iii.    Ensure continuous outreach to secondary targets.

              iv.    Send appropriate responses to leads.

b. Cheer on the clicks and help sales by providing proper response management.

c. (Win Room) Give some glee at certain checkpoints like:

                i.     Soft leads (Marketing Qualified Leads)

                ii.    Hard leads (Sales Qualified Leads)

                iii.    Incoming from website/conference leads

                iv.    Referrals 

                v.     Meetings

                vi.   Proposals

                vii.  Bid Defense

                viii.  Wins/Loses

d. Lead Scoring - Make it a rewarding fun exercise.

e. Change Management when needed and not as a punishment.

f. Identification of Brand - Campaigns are fun!

                  i.    Review client assessments/questionnaires.

                  ii.    Understand competitors' market strategy.

                  iii.   Ensure website and content materials reflect the proper branding.

                  iv.    Ensure SME’s are aligned.            

g. Ensure conference events align with the branding - Make a big splash.

h. Value propositions for go-to-market strategy - make it a social media extravaganza.

                  i.     Prioritize product/service packages.

                  ii.    Identify gaps/challenges/strengths.

i.  Encourage salespeople to develop meaningful partnerships- encourage celebrations.

                  i. Identify the top three partners likely to help increase revenue.

                  ii. Arrange/schedule meetings.

                  iii. Identify potential go-to-market strategy.

                  iv. Continuous program of engagement.

Sales and Marketing are very unique and challenging functions for each company. Without support and foundational processes in place, the job is harder and results in high sales staff turnover.

Sales-Link is a veteran in lead generation and sales support for the pharma vendor services industry. Over two decades of professional engagements have prepared Sales-Link to support its customers.

Don't Make the Holidays a “Ruff” Time

The holiday season is right around the corner, and that means that our pets will need extra care. For some, it’s as easy as packing up your small dog in the handbag that you traveled in. For others, it may take the whole back section of an SUV. Nevertheless, our precious fur babies need to be there with us on these special days. Here are some ideas to make your pets feel comfortable during the holidays:

1.      Create a Safe Space

If you have a huge family or even other dogs around, there should be an open play area for the animals. With plenty of hot plates, sharp objects and foot traffic all making troubles in the area, our furry friends can sometimes get in the way and make the situation even more chaotic.

Give the animals a safe area and let them have a break while everyone sits down to eat. At some point, you can even go over and give them a treat.

2.      Set Up Holiday Pictures

Pets aren’t exactly the steadiest ones, but they sure are cute! There’s nothing better than turning your Golden Retriever into a lion or your pug into a Jabba the Hutt.

 Since we feed and bathe them, it’s only right that they let us dress them as a turkey or Santa for five minutes. It’s worth a memory of a lifetime- or as we tell them, a treat.

3.      Get a Dog Sitter

It’s going to sound like the end of the world, but the animals can use a break from us humans too. You never know if there’s another family member with an extra seat at (or under) the table, or someone that isn’t necessarily celebrating the holiday.

Whatever the case is, someone would be gladly willing to accept your furry friend.

Please be advised, if you’re going to leave your dog with an overnight stay (in-house, retail, personal watcher) be sure to conduct a thorough background check. You always want to make sure your pet is under the best care, so make sure that person/business is a dependable one.

4.      Everyone, Let’s Get Along (Depends What Size Dogs You Have)

 This is always a lot easier said than done, considering some dogs are larger than others. Some people like feeding their furry friends under the table more than others, so the occasional dog or two is simply fine to mix with the family. Then again, it also depends on how much space you have. It’s always the smallest dogs making the most noise, but the bigger dogs certainly take up the most space.

5.      Location, Location, Location

It’s not a bad idea to talk with friends and family before the holidays to decide who has the best house to accommodate ALL our family members, four-legged included! It’s best to have the gathering at the house with the biggest yard especially when every family might have one or two dogs. I love being outside so for my family I would be outside with the dogs!

Enjoy all your holidays. Feel free to share your pictures of your pets!