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Sales Play - Brief Template
Standard template for all new plays
This is the standard Play Brief template. Every section is required before a play can advance to governance review.
Play [ID]: [Play Name] — Content Briefs
[One-sentence play thesis: what you’re trying to capture, by when, and the core positioning angle.]
Play Overview
Field
Value
Segment
[e.g., Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB]
Product
[Primary product + expansion path]
Trigger Event
[What changed that makes this play timely]
Play Type
[Always-On / Campaign — see Play Framework for definitions]
Owner
[Who owns sequence design + execution]
Status
[Draft / In Review / Approved / Build / Live / Retired]
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GUIDANCE: The trigger event is the most important field. If there’s no clear ‘why now,’ the play will struggle to generate urgency in outreach. Weak trigger = weak play. Push back on sponsors who can’t articulate this.
Why This Play, Why Now
[2-3 paragraphs explaining the market context, the forcing function, and why your company is uniquely positioned. This is the strategic rationale — it should convince a skeptical sales leader that this play is worth the team’s time.]
Target Audience
ICP Criteria
Dimension
Must Have
Company Size
[Employee range, revenue tier]
Tech Stack
[Required tools, integrations, signals]
Industry
[Strongest verticals or ‘any’ with rationale]
Disqualifiers
[Who should NOT be in this play — be specific]
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GUIDANCE: Disqualifiers are as important as qualifiers. Every play that skips disqualifiers ends up with reps wasting time on accounts that were never going to convert. Be ruthless here.
Champion Personas (Coaches)
[Who feels the pain daily? What titles, what departments, what does their day look like?]
Sponsor Personas (Budget Holders)
[Who approves the spend? What do they care about strategically? What’s their decision framework?]
Problem Statement
The Buyer’s Problem (In Their Words)
[Write this as a direct quote from the buyer’s perspective. If you can’t write it in their voice, you don’t understand the problem well enough yet.]
GUIDANCE: This section is the litmus test for the entire brief. If the problem statement reads like marketing copy instead of something a real buyer would say in a meeting, rewrite it. Show it to a seller and ask ‘would your prospect say this?’ If not, it’s not ready.
Objection Map
[What are the 3-5 most likely objections or fears? For each: what the buyer says, and what your answer is. This drives sequence design and discovery prep.]
Objection / Fear
What They Say
Our Answer
[Name it]
[Their words]
[Your response]
[Name it]
[Their words]
[Your response]
[Name it]
[Their words]
[Your response]
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Positioning
Core Narrative
The One-Liner: [Single sentence that captures the value prop. Not a tagline — a positioning statement a seller could use verbally.]
Messaging That Works
Messaging That Doesn’t Work
GUIDANCE: The ‘Messaging That Doesn’t Work’ section prevents the most common failure mode: sellers defaulting to generic product pitches. Be specific about what NOT to say and why. This is where the Quip play excels — look at PE-001 for examples.
Outbound Sequence
[Define the sequence structure: number of touches, cadence, channels. Each touch should map to an objection or fear bucket from above.]
Step
Channel
Subject / Hook
Angle
Timing
1
[Email/LI/Phone]
[Subject line or hook]
[Which objection/fear this addresses]
Day 1
2
3
4
5
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GUIDANCE: Every touch should have a clear angle — ‘follow up on my last email’ is not an angle. Map each touch to a specific objection, fear, or proof point from the sections above. The PE-001 Quip play maps each touch to a ‘fear bucket’ — that’s the model.
Sequence Design Notes
[Call out the strategic logic behind the sequence: what to lead with, what to save for later, what NOT to do. This prevents sellers from freelancing on the sequence.]
Discovery Framework
[3-5 trap-laying discovery questions that force the buyer to articulate the gap before you fill it. For each question, include the follow-up if they give a weak answer.]
Q1: [Question]
[Follow-up guidance and what you’re listening for]
Q2: [Question]
[Follow-up guidance]
Q3: [Question]
[Follow-up guidance]
GUIDANCE: Great discovery questions make the buyer sell themselves. Bad discovery questions sound like a qualification checklist. Write questions that expose the gap — then shut up and let the buyer talk. See PE-001 for examples.
Enablement Requirements
[What does the sales team need before this play goes live? Be specific about each asset, who owns it, and its current status.]
Asset
Description
Owner / Status
[Asset name]
[What it is and why it’s needed]
[Owner] — [NEEDED / TO BUILD / DONE]
[Asset name]
[Asset name]
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Measurement Contract
[Every play ships with a measurement contract. Define leading and lagging indicators with specific targets. Include kill criteria.]
Leading Indicators (Weeks 1–4)
Metric
Target
[e.g., Sequence completion rate]
[e.g., > 80%]
[e.g., Open rate]
[e.g., Reply rate]
[e.g., Meeting booked rate]
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Lagging Indicators (Weeks 4–12)
Metric
Target
[e.g., Pipeline generated]
[e.g., Avg deal size]
[e.g., Sales cycle length]
[e.g., Win rate]
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REQUIRED: Kill Criteria. Define the specific thresholds that trigger a pause or pivot BEFORE the play launches. If you don’t set kill criteria upfront, you’ll never kill a play that isn’t working — it’ll just limp along consuming resources. Be specific: ‘If [metric] is below [threshold] after [timeframe], we [action].’
Kill Criteria
[When to pause, pivot, or kill this play. Be specific with thresholds and timeframes.]
Estimated Contact Volume
[How many accounts and contacts does this play target? What’s the realistic deliverable volume after quality filters? This is validated in Step 1.2 (Targeting Feasibility).]
Dimension
Estimate
Total addressable accounts
Accounts after quality filters
Contacts per account (avg)
Total contacts for enrollment
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