How much time and money did you spend last year to make sure your sales and marketing teams could articulate your value proposition? Now, how much did you spend making sure the rest of the company could do the same? If you’re like most organizations, with the exception of what might be in an employee manual or on a corporate brochure, the remaining employees (often over 80% of the staff) have been ignored. And so what is the result?
If you go into most mid-sized businesses and ask anyone outside of marketing and sales what the company does, you will get a different response from each person. There is no cohesiveness or understanding across the organization. But these are the people who are interfacing with your current and future customers on a daily basis. Outside the company they are talking to prospects, future employees, potential investors, you name it! Wouldn’t it make sense that they have a clear understanding of your business? That is where the Playbook comes in.
The Playbook is for everyone in the company. It isn’t an employee manual. It isn’t a business plan. It is a key to success. The average Playbook is about 20 pages long, and it clearly articulates your brand, your corporate values, and the business you are in. It defines your target audience, the value you bring to your customer and your unique selling proposition. It may contain other elements, like customer testimonials, lists of competitors, and quick examples of customer successes. It also explains the company’s missions and goals and your vision for the future.
Here is a sample outline of a Playbook. It can be modified or changed completely to suit your needs.
- What is your company mission or goal statement?
- What do you sell and how do you make money?
- What are the company values?
- What is the brand and why is the brand important.
- A three to five sentence description of what your company does, written from the perspective of the problems you solve for the customer.
- Who are your top customers?
- What are some examples of products/services you’ve provided to them?
- What was the impact on the customer?
- What the future plans are for the company, what is your vision?
- What makes a good prospect?
- Why did you start the company?
- How does the company define success?
- Why are the employees important to your success?
- Who is the management team?
You can start by sending a survey out to all your employees. Let them answer anonymously but ask them to submit the one burning question about the company they’d want you to answer. Get everyone on the same page and watch what happens.
