The Sales Resources you HAVE to Build

There’s a major avoidable source of conflict on sales teams. Reps feel like they don’t have the resources they need to sell. Leadership feels like reps don’t follow team methods or policies.

The solution is a contract: Leadership agrees to put together comprehensive resources in a resources repository. Reps agree that they have to be aware of everything in the repository.

Here’s what you need to build:

I. A List of Links, Not a Google Drive Folder

I’ve seen teams that “totally have it covered” because they have a Google Drive folder with a lot of stuff in it.

The problem is that it’s impossible to find anything, spot gaps, or to know what’s up to date vs. what isn’t.

The solution is simple: Create a Google Doc with links to the latest resources. 

Cost: $0.

When something is out of date, delete the link or replace it. If there’s a gap, call that out and let the reps know that the company is working on it. When there’s a new resource or policy, email the reps and mention it at a team meeting.

II. Categories That Map to Stages in the Sales Process

Most categories in the list should map to a stage in the sales process. The rep knows “I’m at the proposal stage,” so they go to the proposal section and find everything they need.

Easy.

Here are some categories and resources you should build: 

A. Prospecting

- Email templates: Mostly about the Problem, should include lots of social proof, keep it short. Go easy on mentioning your Solution, except in the context of case studies.

- Call Scripts: Call and voicemail scripts are designed to pique interest, not to close a deal. What can reps say that gets someone interested in a chat? 

- ICP/Personas: Defines the right types of people at the right types of companies to start the sales conversation with. Needs to speak to the personal objectives of the potential champion as well as the company objectives.

B. Discovery

- Discovery Guide: Contains questions that uncover the Problems you solve and facts that prove that the Problems exist and are important. If there’s no Problem, there’s no sales opportunity!

- Discovery Deck: Overview of the Problems you solve, the Solutions you provide, and the Impacts you deliver. Aim for somewhere between 6 and 12 slides. 

This allows you to offer value on a discovery call, gives you something concrete to run by the prospect to see their reaction, and saves the demo until a later call so you have time to customize it.

C. Demo

- Summary Slides: Summarize Problem, Solution, and Impact at the start of the demo so you’re talking value not dumping features. Let’s you get their reaction to the summary so you can shape the rest of the call and the rest of the sales process.

- Demo Recordings: Look for ones where the main value propositions came out clearly and there were some good questions.

- Product FAQ: Ask the sales team what the top 20 questions are that prospects ask on demos. Get the product team to answer them. 

Organize the answers by the sections of your demo so the team can learn the answers in the order that they’ll be asked the questions.

D. Proposal

- Template Proposal: The proposal is a way to help the champion sell the product internally, not just convey the price! It needs to summarize value before it gets to cost. How? Problem - Solution - Impact (that’s why it’s called P.S.I. Selling!). 

Make it editable so the team can insert the facts they learn from the prospect to prove customer-specific value.

Be sure it has a section specifying what is included in the price and also what is not included. Don’t let misalignments creep into your deals!

- Pricing Policies: What does the quote depend on - seats, features, company size? What can reps offer on their own, what needs approval, and what is out of bounds?

- Mutual Action Plan Template: Sales reps are project managers. The template should include the steps that deals normally have to go through and allow the rep to edit it. 

But the mutual action plan only matters if prospects want to take action - that’s why we summarize value in the proposal!

II. Resources That Apply to the Whole Process

The second bucket of resources is for ones that apply to the process in general.

Here’s what you should build:

- Product Themes: List and explain the Problems you solve, the Solutions you offer, and the Impacts you create. 

This isn't customer facing, instead it’s a list of the major value messages that are behind EVERYTHING you say and EVERY resource you build. 

This is a key part of P.S.I. Selling. Check out our methodology section for an overview of how the Product Themes factor into your process.

- Team Playbook: Has a couple paragraphs of advice on each major sales interaction and contains your rules of engagement (e.g. who owns what accounts) and forecasting methods.

- Forecasting Spreadsheet: If you don’t have a forecasting tool, have one spreadsheet where reps put in their forecasts.

- Case Studies: Ideally, these are slides so reps can put them into sales decks. 

They should be structured according to the Problem you solved for the customer, the Solution you provided, and the Impact that you delivered.

III. Conclusion

If you build these resources and organize them in your repository, you’re on your way to success! 

Check in with us at P.S.I. Selling if you need a hand creating any of these.

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If you liked this article, have a look at video series on Building Your Startup Sales Process to see how to define your value Themes and then use them to build the critical sales conversations that your sales process depends on. You can also check out the P.S.I. Selling Content Page for more insights on sales communication, strategy, and leadership.

Want to build a sales process that proves value and a team that can execute? Have a look at our services and get in touch.

For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.