Name: Decoding sales plays: Deliver measurable results across diverse teams
Uploaded: 2025-11-06T17:30:55.774Z
Duration: 19 min 24 s
Description: Decoding sales plays: Deliver measurable results across diverse teams

Transcript for "Decoding sales plays: Deliver measurable results across diverse teams": Initiatives, they're not just ideas on paper, but programs that stick. I spend a lot of time building, testing, and refining sales plays. I've seen what works and I've seen what fails. And I've learned that the difference between success and failure usually comes down to one thing, clarity. Ask five people to define a sales play and you'll get 25 different answers. That confusion can lead to wasted time, frustrated sellers, and misaligned programs. I can attest I've been one of those five people. I've been in the room when sales leaders have asked for a play, when marketing has asked for a play, when rev ops has asked for a play, and every single team had something different in mind. Somebody thought it was a sequence. Somebody thought that it was a campaign. Somebody thought that it was a target list with a catchy name. And I thought to myself, no wonder we're seeing sales place fail. We're all working off of different definitions. By the way, quick show of virtual hands, how many of you have been asked to spin up a sales play? Okay. Now keep them up if you felt totally confident you and your stakeholders were stakeholders were aligned on what that meant. There we have it. Lots of hands went down, and that's the reality. And here's the cost of that misalignment. Reps get frustrated because they're handed something that looks like busy work. Managers don't know how to coach to it without the why associated. And marketing enablement waste cycles building assets that never get used. Leadership sees little impact, which erodes trust, and that's the problem we're here to chat about today. What's the fix? Well, first, we need to start by clearing away the wrong definitions. Let's take a look at what a sales play isn't, and then I'll show you one definition that I really think actually works. So let's call out what it isn't. Too often, we confuse sales plays with things that aren't sales plays. A sequence? That's a tool, not a play. A call blitz? That's an activity, not a play. A target list? Well, that's data, not a play. And a one off campaign, that's more marketing, not a play. And my favorite, when somebody says, we just need to spin up some more sales plays. Well, that's not strategy. That's noise. Any of this sound familiar? Maybe you've had reps roll their eyes at a so called play because it didn't really feel any different from what they were actually already doing. And that's what happens when we get that definition wrong. Here's the thing. When we run something under the banner of a play, but it's really just a sequence or a campaign, we do more harm than good because we dilute that meaning. We teach our sellers and our managers that sales plays aren't really worth their time. And then the next time we bring them something strategic, they discredit it from the start. I've already lost their trust. If a sales play isn't clear and coordinated, it's not a play. It's busy work, and busy work doesn't build pipeline. That's the problem we're here to solve today. So think about a recent initiative you ran. Maybe close your eyes, write it down on paper. Maybe it was a competitive takeout, a product launch, maybe a cross sell motion. And ask yourself, did you have clarity on the audience? Did you have a story that gave reps that reason to call? And did you have that rigor in place? Process, governance, and coordination across go to market. If you can't check all four boxes, it might not have been a true sales play. It was one of those other confused inaccurate definitions. And that may be why it didn't get the traction you were after. If that is the problem, too many wrong definitions, too much busy work, what does the right definition look like? That's what we're gonna unpack next. And once you see it, you'll never look at sales plays the same way again. So what is a true sales play? One that earns buy in, builds trust, and delivers pipeline. It all comes down to me to these four essential elements. When these four elements are present, everything clicks. When one or more are missing, plays will inevitably fail or struggle. So let's unpack each one. Let's start with audience. So many times, plays fall apart first when we get the audience wrong. Too often, we try that peanut butter spread approach. Cover everyone, hope something sticks. Or love to throw the noodles at the wall, see what sticks. The problem, reps don't see that focus. Managers can't coach to it, and results can get diluted. Here's an example. Last year, we ran a play targeting CROs around AI adoption. We targeted current customers that had only purchased one outreach product and timed it six months ahead of renewal, the perfect moment to have an expansion conversation about tech consolidation. And here's a pro tip. This is how AI has changed the game for me. Our AI agents source new contacts that allowed us to break into marquee accounts like Okta and Yvonne, but we didn't really have those ATL above the line relationships previously. Reps knew exactly who to call and why that mattered, and here's the payoff. We saw a 7% reply rate. It flooded our own CROs calendar. We actually had to pause the play. A good problem to have. That's that power of getting the audience right. So think back to your last play that when we wrote down, could your reps name the exact target segment in one sentence? If not, perhaps the audience wasn't clear enough. Okay. So let's move on to element two, story. Once you know who, you need that story, that compelling reason for the reps to call. Without it, sellers often feel like they're just bothering people. This is where personalization comes in. Not just, hey, Bob. Saw you on LinkedIn. I mean, a reason that ties directly to business context. For example, we recently ran a competitive play, and it wasn't just our reach is better than our competitor. It's not a story. But the real story was, here's what customers struggle with in our competitor's product, and here's how outreach is. That's what gave reps confidence. They weren't calling to pitch. They were calling to solve. And when marketing neared that story in their air cover, digital ads, content, webinars, reps saw that consistency. They knew they weren't alone in carrying that message, and that consistency built trust for us. So ask yourself, if you picked up the phone with your sellers tomorrow, could they tell me in one sentence why they were calling the accounts in your current play? If not, consider strengthening that story and ensuring it's compelling reason for them to act. Now here's an element that doesn't actually get talked about enough, rigor. We used to call this air cover, and believe me, marketing still plays a huge part. But what truly makes or breaks a play is whether I have that operational discipline behind it. When rigor's missing, here's what happens. Everyone launches their own version, reps log activity inconsistently, managers don't know where to inspect, and soon, nobody really trusts the results. Sound familiar? We've probably all lived it. And now contrast that with rigor in place. For us, that what looks like workflows in Asana, so everybody stays aligned and on track. Smart views and outreach, so sellers know exactly who to target. And governance checks across go to market to inspect progress. And with this rigor, the play isn't chaos, but it's coordinated. And that coordination builds trust. So let's do a quick gut check. When you launch a play, do you have a governance cadence for it, or do you simply cross your fingers and hope it sticks? That's the difference between simple activity and true revenue impact. Now last but certainly not least, metrics. This is where our plays either prove themselves or often die quietly. We've all seen a version of this, measuring activity. Hey. Hey. We've sequenced 500 accounts. I've made a thousand calls. We've sent 2,000 emails. Okay. But did those actions actually create pipeline? Did they generate meetings? And did they move revenue? The right way to measure is definitely outcome based. So at Outreach, we're really trying to ensure consistent outcomes with clear time boxed goals that make results measurable and, of course, repeatable. And here's the beauty of this method. When you measure those outcomes, you can prove the why to your reps and managers. They see the results. They know your efforts are worth it, and that drives adoption. So if you had to defend the ROI on that plan we've been thinking about to your CRO, would those metrics hold up? If the answer makes you a little nervous, it's a sign we can go back and strengthen those. How does the behavior metrics really drive revenue? Okay. There was a lot of valuable information packed in there. And to reiterate, here's that definition that finally cuts through the noise. One, audience. Two, story. Three, rigor. And four, metrics. You get these four. Right? And if sales play isn't busy work, it's a coordinated effort that builds trust and delivers real impact. That's the golden rule we live by at Outreach. Driving trust through coordinated efforts and integrated programs that deliver that revenue impact. When we align on this definition, we stop wasting time debating what it is and instead spend our energy burning plays that win. And to prove it, I'm gonna take a look at an example from our own business because nothing makes the definition come alive than seeing it in action. Okay. So here's a sales play we ran at Outreach that shows exactly how these four elements come together. This was our AI powered outreach play. It was designed to create awareness of our competitive differentiation in AI and to enable our field on our new AI offerings. We started with the audience, targeted tier one and two new local accounts, 12,000 accounts, and 24,000 prospects. This wasn't a peanut butter spread like we talked about. It was intentional. We zeroed in on accounts where we knew the AI message would resonate based on segmentation and intent, and that clarity built confidence so the reps could act. They didn't question who to call. Managers didn't waste time redefining the list. Everyone knew where to focus. Now the story. Our reason to call was clear and tangible, and we gave them a $25 lunch offer and paired it with a real time demo. Hey. I'll buy you lunch. I'll show you how I've used Outreach Smart Email Assist to respond to this email. That story worked actually for us on multiple levels. It was personal. It was relevant, and it showcased our AI in action, not as a concept, but as a tool that saves time and makes work easier. Because of this, reps had confidence because they weren't just pitching outreach, they were offering prospects and customers immediate value. Oftentimes, you'll see that this is the point where execution breaks down, but this play worked because we built in that rigor. We had a specified date where we kicked it off with manager enablement calls. We equipped the field with an AI intro deck and smart email assist training, and AEs and XDRs had a clear three step sequence to follow, a call and two follow-up emails. Dedicated meeting types allowed us to directly tie that play for measurement. And finally, an activity dashboard was reviewed weekly and pipeline calls by segment. That right there, for us, was an excellent example of how we put that rigor in place. Everyone had their marching orders, execution was consistent, and progress was clearly tracked. Without rigor, this effort would have been chaos. With rigor, it became coordinated and strategic. And finally, the metrics. The real proof is in the pudding. We didn't stop at activity. We set clear time box KPIs. Three contacts per account sequenced by set date. That gave us a clear target and a clear finish line. And here's what that play delivered. A 105 meetings booked, 2,700,000 in source pipeline, and 61 new opportunities, which led to multiple 6 figure deals. Now that's not activity. That's impact. So why did this play succeed? Because we followed the definition. The audience was targeted. The story gave reps a compelling reason to call. The rigor kept execution disciplined. And the metrics, they prove success, not just activity. I don't have a magic wand, and it definitely wasn't busy work. It was a coordinated program that built trust at every level from the rep to managers and with our leadership team. And that's the golden rule in action for us, driving trust through coordinated efforts and integrated programs that deliver that real revenue impact. This is what a true sales play looks like. Okay. So just saw how our AI powered outreach play came together. Audience, story, rigor, metrics, and those results it drove. But here's the thing. The play didn't work because I got lucky. It worked because we had that strategy in place, and Outreach AI made it executable. Without AI, we've been relying on sellers to remember every task, managers to chase adoption, and leaders to piece results together manually. And that's how, for me, those plays used to really break down. But with Outreach, AI takes the friction out of execution, and it builds that rigor into every step. And that's what made the play stick. So let me break it down into the three areas where AI changes the game for sales plays, agentic AI, conversational intelligence, and AI powered insights. First, AI agents. You know, historically, one of the biggest execution gaps in place has been those manual dependencies. Reps need to remember to add contacts or build those sequences, personalize the messaging, and it creates delay, inconsistency, and plays that will lose momentum. But with Outreach's AI agents, you can take the busy work off your reps' plates. Agents can enrich accounts with signals, suggest or generate personalized outreach, and even add prospects into the right sequences automatically. What does what that has done is reduce friction, frees your reps up to focus more on the conversations and less on the admin, and it helps ensure the play maintains momentum, does install, and stays aligned with the definition we walk through. Second, outreach Kaya, our conversational intelligence. One of the biggest challenges in enablement is proving that reps are actually using the play out in the wild. And in the past, we'd asked reps to role play with their managers, but that didn't really give us the insight on how they actually performed live in the wild on a customer call. Now Kaya lets us require reps to submit real calls into a playlist. So now the managers can listen, they can coach, they're seeing how the messaging is landing with customers and prospects, And it's really giving visibility into adoption, not just during a practice session, but out in the field. That accountability is what built the trust. The reps know managers see the impact. Managers know reps are using the play, and leaders see it translate to pipeline. And third, outreach analytics. Here's where we're able to connect the dots. You know, it's not enough just to say 500 people were sequenced, a thousand emails were sent. When I think back to that metrics definition from earlier, really calculating how many contacts were sequenced only speaks to that activity. But what truly matters is, did it successfully resonate? Did that convert into results? So with outreach, we can surface sentiment classification on replies. So I don't just see that they replied, but how they reacted. I can use meeting types to categorize meetings so every play driven meeting is identified. And we can leverage the pipeline dashboard to watch how those deals move through stages, spot which opportunities are progressing, and connect the dots to revenue. That's how we knew the AI powered outreach sales play generated those 105 meetings, 2.7 in pipeline, and 61 opportunities. When you can measure what's actually working, you can refine quickly, replicate and scale success, and kill the plays that don't deliver. So the key takeaway for me is AI isn't the play, but it's what makes that play efficient and achievable. It ensures your four elements, audience, story, rigor, and metrics, don't just live in an enablement slide, but actually make it out to the field. And that's how I was able to move from activity to impact, from busy work to trust, and from noise to results. And that, to me, is the AI advantage. Okay. So I've covered a ton here today. Let's take a moment to bring it all together. You know, we started with that problem asking five people to find a sales play knowing that you're gonna get 25 different results. And that creates confusion that only serves to waste time, frustrate reps, and probably erode trust. But the good news is that we've established a better way with proven success. Our unified definition incorporates an audience that is focused and intentional, a story that's compelling and provides sellers a reason to call, rigor that establishes operational discipline that drives impact, not chaos, and metrics that are based on clear time box goals and measurable outcomes. That's it. Those four elements. And when you get those right, a sales play isn't busy work, it's guaranteed growth. This is what happens when we stop spinning up activity for the sake of activity and start running true strategic sales plays. It's Outreach's golden rule in action, driving trust through coordinated efforts and integrated programs that deliver real impact. Impact. Finally, here's my challenge to you as enablement leaders. Take this framework back to your go to market teams. Align on the definition. Don't waste cycles on busy work disguised as place, but build trust with your reps, managers, and leaders through plays that are driving measurable impact, and use outreach to make it happen. With Kaya and AI agents, execution becomes measurable, scalable, and repeatable. Please stop being theory and start being results. Imagine the conversations you'll have with your CRO when you show not just the activity, but pipeline and revenue from your place. That's the moment when enablement stops being seen as that cost center and starts being recognized as a growth lever. Okay. Covered a lot today, and now I wanna hear from you. What's resonating? What challenges are you facing? What questions do you have about making plays land in your organization? If there's any questions that we can't answer today that will take a deeper response, we will get back to you. To kick us off, though, I'll share a question I get most often. Where do I start if my go to market team can't even agree on what a play is? My answer, just start with run. One, run a single play with the four elements. Prove that it works and then build from there. Alright. It was so great to speak with you all today. Please connect on LinkedIn, and I hope to chat with you soon.