how to build a sales playbook - auvik networks inc. · a sales playbook is a document (or set of...

How to Build A Sales PlaybookNetwork Management Edition

CONTENTSPlaybooks for the win 3

What exactly is a sales playbook? 4

Tips for getting started 5

Building Your Playbook: 6 Key Components 6

The Play 6

The Position 7

The Game Plan 7

The Team 9

The Equipment 9

The Opposition 10

Getting your teams to adopt your playbook 11

An example to bring it all together: The Seeing Is Believing Play 12

Give it your best shot 20

3How to Build A Sales Playbook | www auvik com

PLAYBOOKS FOR THE WIN

What secret sales tool can grow your MSP revenue and business performance?

New selling platform

New ninja-rockstar-unicorn hire

Documenting and optimizing your sales process in a playbook

Just as your favorite sports team follows a game plan to win, your sales team needs a playbook to close more business Think of it as a guide that helps all players in your organization understand their role in the sales process, how to approach particular opportunities or markets, and how to communicate the unique value of your solutions

When your team is equipped with a repeatable and scalable set of best practices—to articulate your business value, assess a prospect’s pain points, and ask the right questions—their efforts directly translate into a healthy bottom line for your MSP

The great news is, it’s not a go-big-or-go-home kind of document Using a playbook, however small or basic to start, can align your teams and enable them to be more successful and consistent in producing results

So start small—start with one play—and continue adding to it over time As your business evolves, so should your playbook

© Copyright 2019 Auvik Networks Developed in collaboration with CompTIA

4How to Build A Sales Playbook | www.auvik.com

WHAT EXACTLY IS A SALES PLAYBOOK?

A sales playbook is a document (or set of documents) an organization uses to gather the key information needed to help sales and technical teams:

• Understand the business and technology trends impacting their customers• Ask the right questions to qualify, scope, and propose the right solutions• Improve competitiveness and achieve higher win percentages• Sell solutions consistently across customers, improving profit and reducing risk

As for the format and delivery of your playbook, that’ll depend on your team and how they prefer to access information like this Some choose to keep it all in a single Word, PDF, or PPT document, or house several documents in a series of shared folders Others use binders of printed collateral, while still others dedicate space on their internal website to share the content The only real rule of thumb here is to make it easy for your teams to use and consume

The messaging and supporting resources within your playbook should clearly position the unique value of your company, solution, or service so your team is able to consistently communicate that value to your prospects

Since your team is made up of players with different roles and accountabilities throughout your organization, it’s important that everyone—whether they’re “in sales” or not—has access to the playbook so they’re familiar with your plays and are doing everything they’re expected to do to drive them forward

The ultimate goal is to pave the way for a lasting business relationship, which is increasingly important for managed services professionals who rely on recurring revenue So don’t forget to test and get feedback on how these plays are working and what can be improved, making adjustments along the way


TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED

Before you start defining your plays, game plan, and toolkit, keep these tips in mind.

Assign a leader and timeline.The leader is accountable for getting the playbook created in the agreed upon timeframe They will work with teams throughout your organization to gather and develop the contents of the playbook

Start small.Begin with one (really strong) play When done, roll it out to your organization and focus on getting your teams to adopt it After that, start another play and continue adding to your playbook over time

Get executive sponsorship.When you’re able to make this a top-down priority, it’s a lot easier to help all teams (sales, marketing, business development, pre-sales, support, etc ) understand the importance of the playbook

Involve the services and technical team.While the leader may be a member of your marketing or sales team, it’s critical that your services and technical teams are the ones accountable for creating the service you need to support your plays Otherwise, you could run the risk of promising a service you’re not able to deliver

Make it the cornerstone of your sales training program.Your sales playbook is not just “a” sales resource for new hires, it’s “the” sales resource for success It’s not an optional read—it’s essential to their success and that of your company’s It’s how your team operates, and everyone must know and play their part

Don’t forget about your seasoned employees too—weave elements of your playbook into team meetings to keep it top of mind and well used


BUILDING YOUR PLAYBOOK: 6 KEY COMPONENTS

1. THE PLAY

The play includes background information about the opportunity to sell a specific solution and should highlight your unique competitive advantage It must be directly aligned to an urgent customer need, so draw on what you know about your customer personas, recent trends or wins you want to replicate, and recent losses you want to address differently. It can be focused on an industry, targeted niche market, or even a particular type of buyer (And hey, have some fun naming your plays!)

Great plays are not only repeatable, but also help you set the stage for ongoing business so design them in a way that directs the prospect to the next action you want them to take

For example, you could have a Seeing is believing play to sell your network assessment solution when first introducing the concept of managed network services to your more tech-savvy prospects (i e , those accountable for their company’s IT)

If they’re sold on this, you can plant the seed for a Fix IT play where you then offer remediation services for the issues identified during the assessment. You can also pave the way for your Always on play at the same time or toward completion of your Fix IT play, where you sell them on your managed network services program

When you’re creating a play, ask yourself:

Does it align to a meaningful and urgent customer challenge?

Is there a clear action the prospect can take or solution you will recommend?

Does it include a unique service that only you deliver?

Is it a multi-phased approach that paves the way to additional business?

Does it align with strong in-house technical skills for pre-sales?

Is it packageable and repeatable?

Is there a known and predictable profit profile for the play (i.e., can you easily forecast results and margins)?


2. THE POSITION

Now that you’ve established the opportunity, it’s time to dive deeper into your prospect’s problems and needs to understand your position and develop a customized game plan What challenges are they facing, what are their pain points related to these challenges or changes, and what are they trying to achieve? In other words, what’s the situation?

When you’re defining their problems and needs, ask yourself:

How do your prospects typically handle these challenges now?

What are the negative impacts to their business of a poor or inefficient approach?

What would your prospect like to deliver to their staff or customers but cannot?

What business benefits could your prospects achieve if they were serviced by a company like yours and addressed their challenges with the solutions you provide?

3. THE GAME PLAN

Now comes the strategy—your approach to executing on this play. This involves defining the solution that addresses the prospect’s problems and needs, clearly defining their motivations so you’ll know how to present your solution, and asking the right questions to properly qualify and scope the opportunity Let’s break that down, shall we?

Use case / solution definition: This is essentially your elevator pitch to the prospect, relaying the essential details of the solution and the benefits to the prospect—as clearly and concisely as possible Whether used in person or over the phone, this is the messaging your teams will use to pique the prospect’s interest

Discuss cases where other clients faced a similar challenge and how you helped them overcome those obstacles and achieve results. Keep confidential information under wraps but use the situation and story to make it relevant for your prospect by painting a picture of the problems you can solve

Need to develop a new solution specific to this play and the unique needs of this target audience? This is where you should pull in your service and technical teams Work with them to determine what you can offer to prospects that will have the greatest impact on their business. Only then will you be truly confident in the solution you pitch.


Whatever happens, don’t make promises you can’t keep Avoid saying “yes” to a prospect’s request for a custom solution before first checking in with your service and technical teams. Prospects will respect you more if you tell them you’ll get back to them versus telling them you can and then not being able to deliver

Audience definition: Who in the prospect’s organization will be most interested in your solution? What motivates them? Use these details to tailor your use case and solution definition.

For example, if you’re targeting the CFO, you know they’re motivated by the financial benefits of a solution or how much it can cut costs If you’re targeting the head of operations, they’re motivated by operational efficiencies for their workforce. Use cases and solutions that reflect these primary motivations will generate more interest and more success for your sales team

Prospecting / scoping questions: What questions do you want your sales team to ask prospects to properly qualify and scope the solution? These questions should uncover the prospect’s needs, build credibility, and help your team understand the financial, business, and operational impact of your solution

When you’re crafting these questions, ask yourself:

What would the prospect’s solution look like?

What are the key business and technical benefits?

What’s the financial impact or ROI of the solution?

Who is impacted by the solution? What do they care about? How do the benefits apply to them?

How can you determine their challenges and what matters most to them?

How would you price the solution?

TIP!

Get your sales and technical teams in a room to brainstorm the ideal list of questions to qualify and scope, as well as the types of answers to expect from these questions Talk through how different answers impact the type or size of solution, and consider additional questions to probe deeper into the need


4. THE TEAM

What players are needed to make this play successful? Identify exactly who will be involved, what their roles are, and what level of support they’ll need to provide

Not all plays will require the same players Some plays are simpler than others and may involve only one or two players, while others are more complex and may require a lot more support from several areas of your organization Some may require executive support while others won’t You may even want a certain level of support from a vendor partner to seal the deal

So skip the blanket approach and really think of what’s needed for that specific scenario and why—and then pick the people who are most capable of executing the different steps of the play, from pre-sales through to post-sales

5. THE EQUIPMENT

What tools and resources can your team use to successfully execute the play? Why are these materials helpful, how should your team use them, and when? Do your vendor partners have resources you can use? Are new resources needed to support this play?

Draw on real examples—case studies, customer success stories, and testimonials—to illustrate how you’ve already helped clients in similar situations Weave stories in throughout your discussions to demonstrate your experience and the value you deliver

Use presentations and videos to facilitate your storytelling efforts. Conduct assessments and use calculators, report templates, and proposal templates to present facts in a highly relevant and tangible way

Whatever you choose to use, make sure your team understands the purpose and benefit of each resource—training and communication is key here

TIP!

If you need Auvik to help with your play, email us at [email protected]

TIP!

Check out the Resource Library in the Auvik partner portal for resources you can use during your network management plays


6. THE OPPOSITION

What obstacles might you face during a play? Consider two audiences when building out this section: your prospect and your competitor(s)

Prospects aren’t necessarily your opposition, but they may have concerns or objections you’ll need to address Fortunately, there are many common objections (around price, budget, time, etc ), so you can craft some ready-to-go responses to these common objections in advance

As you may have done when building out your game plan, get some of your key players in a room and brainstorm the objections you anticipate hearing and craft responses that your team can reference and use Document them and continue adding to it as new ones come up

Maybe your prospect has already been approached by another company, or they’ve done their homework and are now comparing their options Knowing who you’re competing with and how you stack up—before a prospect brings it up with you—can make or break your play If you don’t have battlecards to help your teams know your key strengths and differentiators, consider bumping that up on your priority list!

https://www.auvik.com/wp-content/themes/auvik/downloads/MSP-Activity-Cards-Handling-Objections.pdf


GETTING YOUR TEAMS TO ADOPT YOUR PLAYBOOKWe wish this was a Kevin Costner flick and we could tell you to simply build it and they will come. But, as much as we loved Field of Dreams, the reality is that you need to promote your playbook and integrate it into your processes or it will be just another document that gets opened and forgotten about

To increase adoption, we recommend the following strategies

Get executive sponsorship.We mentioned this earlier, but it’s worth repeating When you’re able to make this a top-down priority, it’s a lot easier to help all teams understand the importance of the playbook So get the email that announces your new playbook to be sent from your executive sponsor, or get them to announce it and highlight its value at a company-wide meeting Whatever route you take, get them involved to reinforce how important this initiative is to the success of the company—it’s not optional

Get feedback to get buy-in.Hopefully you’ve involved several different players while developing your playbook, but know that it’s also never too late to start After rolling your playbook out to various teams, send follow-up surveys or conduct workshops with each team to find out what they think works well and what could be improved. When players have a say, they tend to be more willing to do their part and put in the extra effort to adopt plays and processes because they see the value in it and how it directly benefits them.

Keep talking about it.Even if adoption is low at first, don’t get discouraged. Bring it up at team meetings, at one-on-one meetings, during quarterly business reviews, during individual performance reviews, in company newsletters, etc And it MUST be included in all new hire training—make it the primary tool in your sales training program

Recognize people who are using it (in front of their colleagues) and showcase their success stories Announce changes and additions to keep it fresh and top of mind Ask teams to participate by adding resources to it

Whatever you do, don’t give up


AN EXAMPLE TO BRING IT ALL TOGETHER: THE SEEING IS BELIEVING PLAY

THE PLAY

Background & Opportunity

At [insert your company name here], we know that almost everything our prospects need to run their business, from email to invoicing to processing payments to payroll, has moved or is moving to the cloud

With so many applications and data now in the cloud, the network is their employees’ lifeline to everything they need to get things done It’s the gateway to the cloud

If a problem causes the network to slow or drop completely, their business grinds to a halt That interruption means lost productivity and, of course, lost revenue Not to mention how frustrating it is for their employees—and for their customers

That’s why it’s so important to keep the devices that form that vital connection as healthy as can be If network infrastructure like switches, routers, firewalls, and access points are up to date and running smoothly, their connection to the cloud is more reliable

But managing network infrastructure is complicated It’s very manual, time-consuming, and technical—and keeping their network equipment up to speed isn’t the primary purpose of their business

That’s where [insert your company name here] can help—managing the network is our business’s primary purpose

But for many prospects, seeing is believing They need tangible proof to understand their risks and what can be done to improve issues and avoid underlying problems that could lead to costly downtime

Offering to do a network assessment addresses this hurdle head on The Seeing Is Believing play is about selling the network assessment solution


Our Unique Advantage

[Insert your company name here] uses Auvik, the best network management software in the industry, to keep clients connected and avoid costly downtime

With Auvik, we can remotely and automatically discover, monitor, and manage their network We can scan the prospect’s entire IT environment in a fraction of the time it would take to conduct a manual assessment. It’s also significantly less intrusive for the prospect, as it runs seamlessly in the background without interrupting their operations

We can leverage Auvik’s intuitive visualizations to show prospect’s their network map—to help them make sense of the findings in the assessment and show them how quickly we can identify and solve hidden issues before they impact their business

Desired Action The prospect agrees to having [insert your company name here] perform a detailed network assessment for a fee Included in that fee is a report that summarizes our findings, recommendations, and any remediation actions taken (if agreed upon)

Suggested Follow-Up Play(s)

If you successfully execute this play, you can transition to the Fix IT play, which includes remediation services for the issues identified during the assessment

You can also set the stage for the Always on play at the same time or toward completion of the Fix IT play, where you propose [insert your company name here]’s managed network services program


THE POSITION

Problem The prospect doesn’t have the expertise to identify and resolve network issues or they don’t have the time to do so effectively. It’s too manual and takes way too much effort to manage.

They may have experienced a slow or dropped connection

Pain When the network is slow or has dropped completely, the prospect loses money

Their employees are frustrated because they can’t do their jobs They may be unable to meet their production or sales quotas, and overtime hours may be required to catch up

Their customers, who aren’t able to purchase or get serviced during downtime, have a negative experience, which could impact the prospect’s reputation and opportunity for future sales

If the prospect has IT members on hand who are attempting to find and resolve the issue, it’s a painfully manual process (e g , tracing wires) and takes them longer than necessary to do

Need • A network that works—all the time Downtime is not an option

• They need a fast, reliable, and secure connection to power their business

• They need to understand what’s wrong in order to improve their connection

• They need to spend less time or money to manage their network

Benefit of Our Solution

An assessment from [insert your company name here] is customized to each prospect’s environment—it’s not just broad best practices they should follow We use real-time data to diagnose the current status of their network and spot current and potential issues, so we can recommend or make actionable changes to improve it


THE GAME PLAN

Audience Their CEO or CFO: • Focus on how they’ll be taking a proactive approach to avoiding

costly downtime and supporting revenue-generating efforts.

• With a detailed assessment that identifies and classifies issues by severity, as well as a report with actionable recommendations, they can address critical issues immediately to reduce their business risk, and they can plan and budget for less-critical issues to enable more efficiencies over time.

• If an in-house resource is currently managing the network, reinforce your expertise and ability to automate and streamline the process Shift internal resources to tasks and projects that are their specialty—networks are ours

Their head of IT: • Focus on reducing the labor-intensive tasks associated with

assessing the network They’ll be able to gather more data in a fraction of time, while enabling their team to focus on their areas of expertise

• Explain how an assessment gives them increased visibility into the network and helps with their project planning efforts. With a detailed assessment that identifies and classifies issues by severity, as well as a report with actionable recommendations, they can address critical issues immediately to reduce their business risk, and they can plan and budget for less-critical issues to enable more efficiencies over time.

• You’re essentially shifting the burden and effort of assessing the network while still maintaining control over their core IT responsibilities One less thing for them to worry about


Use case/ solution

What you might say to position the solution with the prospect:

“The only thing worse than a slow or dropped network connection is knowing that it could have been avoided

[Insert your company name here] had a client that [insert your own relevant example that demonstrates how costly downtime could have been or was avoided thanks to your assessment or monitoring]

With a detailed network assessment, [insert your company name here] can help you go from reactive to proactive—avoiding costly downtime and big headaches along the way

In just minutes, our automated network management system starts discovering everything on your network—where it is, how it’s connected, and what issues exist Alerts are ranked by severity, so we can easily recommend critical fixes and help you develop a project plan for less severe issues

Whether you’re interested in having us look at the ongoing monitoring and management of your network, or you’re just looking to level set—find problems and fix them—we can help. Either way, we always recommend starting with an assessment It not only pinpoints current problems, but also potential bottlenecks that could soon become a problem Simply put, assessments remove the guesswork for both of us

Included with the assessment is a detailed report of our findings, as well as our recommendations and—if we agree to certain fixes upfront—any remediation actions we took We’d also be happy to walk you through your network map, if that’s of interest to you ”


Prospecting/ Scoping Questions

If you haven’t already uncovered the answers to these questions, ask these now to properly scope your proposal:

• How big is your team? Are there multiple locations?

• What types of technology does your team interact with daily? How much do you rely on the cloud?

• What products and/or services do you offer? How do you service your customers, and what role does your network play in that?

• How do you currently assess, monitor, and manage your network?

• How are you typically notified when there's a network issue? How long does it typically take to resolve a network issue?

• What would the impact or cost of a network outage look like for your business? Or what has it looked like?

The larger and more complex the network, the larger the scope of work required to complete the assessment and report [Insert your company name here] will need to price accordingly

The greater the impact on the prospect’s business when a network outage occurs, the greater the opportunity for you to execute on our Fix IT and Always on plays This is especially true if the prospect is not actively monitoring and managing their network, or are not doing it as efficiently as they could.

THE TEAM

Business Development

Prospecting and qualification

Account Manager

Positions and sells the assessment, services the prospect (also the captain of the play)

Technical Lead Leads the technical discussion, conducts the assessment, and compiles the report

Vendor— Sales Engineer

Supports the sales discussion from a technical perspective


THE EQUIPMENT

1- page PDF Auvik one-pager: Custom Network Assessments

Available in the Resource Library in the Auvik partner portal, this customizable, client-facing handout highlights the importance of a healthy network to the prospect’s business—and the value of a professional network assessment

Ebook How to Slam Dunk a Network Assessment with Auvik

Available in the Resource Library in the Auvik partner portal, this 12-step breakdown (with screenshots) is designed to help you conduct an effective network assessment with Auvik.

Template Template: Network Assessment Report

Available in the Resource Library in the Auvik partner portal, this sample report is designed to help you present the findings and recommendations of a network assessment to a prospect

1-page PDF Features/Benefits Overview: Network Management & Monitoring powered by Auvik

Available in the Resource Library in the Auvik partner portal, this client-facing handout helps you position the capabilities of Auvik to differentiate our offering.

Auvik Use Auvik to conduct the assessment You can choose to demo Auvik to the prospect, walking them through their own network map in real time

Success Stories/ Other

[Link to or paste your company’s own client stories, pricing sheets, calculators, proposal templates, and other resources to help your team prove the effectiveness of your solution.]

https://www.auvik.com/partner-marketing-item/one-pager-custom-network-assessments/

https://www.auvik.com/partner-marketing-item/ebook-how-to-slam-dunk-a-network-assessment-with-auvik/

https://www.auvik.com/partner-marketing-item/template-network-assessment-report/

https://www.auvik.com/partner-marketing-item/features-benefits-overview/

https://www.auvik.com/partner-marketing-item/features-benefits-overview/


THE OPPOSITION

Prospect Objection:

It’s too expensive

Ask the prospect: What would several hours of downtime cost? What impact would that have on your customers and reputation?

Discussion points: Recall common risks found in assessments, and how much easier and less costly it is to fix emerging issues before they become a problem Share a non-network example to reiterate how not seeing something is a false sense of security (e g , If you saw a big hole in your wall, you’d fix it. But what about the crack in your foundation you can’t see? If you knew about it and the damage it would cause, would you make it a priority to fix? That’s what we do with a network assessment—we spot issues before they can cause damage )

Prospect Objection:

I don’t have the budget for it

Ask the prospect: Where do you normally get budget for unexpected expenses, like if the internet went down and it was determined that a firewall needed to be rebuilt? What lost revenue would you incur during the X hours it took to rebuild the firewall and you were unable to take orders or respond to customers? What’s the cost of lost productivity when employees are unable to work? Get actual numbers

Discussion points: Explain how a detailed assessment can actually help them budget more effectively by ranking issues by severity—they roll out immediate fixes for critical issues (that would also save them money to fix now in comparison to additional downtime costs when something breaks) and they can do a phased roll out of less critical issues, aligning to monthly, quarterly, and annual budgeting goals

Prospect Objection:

Other

[Add other objections your team may encounter here.]

Competitors [Add known competitors and key details about their offering here. Highlight your company’s key strengths and differentiators (like Auvik!) for each. If available, link out to battlecards as well.]


GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOTLike most things in life, you get out what you put in The more you want to get out of your sales playbook, the more effort you’ll need to put into building it and getting your teams to use it.

But, just remember that you don’t have to write it all at once. Get your first play down on paper, get your teams to agree on it, roll it out, and repeat the process with your next play With continual improvements to your playbook come continual improvements to your results, so stick with it!

If you have any questions or want to involve Auvik in your plays, email us at [email protected] We’re happy to help

http://[email protected]

how to build a sales playbook - auvik networks inc. · a sales playbook is a document (or set of...

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