A sales play is a short, specific guide for one selling situation: what the rep should know, say, show and do when it happens. Below are nine examples, from cold outreach to a stalled deal, each with a trigger, the steps and the metric a manager should watch. After them comes how to keep plays current and how a sales manager guide or handbook puts them to work.
TL;DR
- A play covers one situation, such as a competitive deal, a stalled opportunity or an expansion, and tells the rep exactly what to do. A playbook is the wider system that plays come from.
- Good plays share five parts: trigger, goal, steps, assets and a measure of success.
- Start with three to five plays tied to your biggest revenue moments, not a 40-page document nobody opens.
- Managers make plays stick by coaching to them in 1:1s and deal reviews, not by emailing a PDF.
- Review every play on a fixed schedule and retire the ones reps stop using.
Table of Contents
- What a sales play is, and how it differs from a playbook
- The five parts every play needs
- Nine sales plays examples you can adapt
- What to put in a playbook around these plays
- Perspective
- How a sales manager keeps plays alive
- Common mistakes when writing plays
- Work with us on your team's plays
- FAQ
- Sources
What a sales play is, and how it differs from a playbook
A play is a structured, action-oriented guide that tells a seller what to know, say, show and do in a specific situation, such as winning against a competitor, introducing a product to an existing customer or reviving a stalled opportunity. The playbook describes the theory of how deals should happen. Plays take its highest-priority behaviors and make them executable. They do not replace it.
Think of it this way. The playbook says who you sell to, how you position, and what your stages mean. The play says: a champion went quiet after the proposal, so here are the next three touches, who sends them and what each one contains.
That difference shapes how you write them. A playbook can run long because people consult it. A play has to fit on one screen because people use it mid-week, between calls. If you are building the larger system first, our manager-ready playbook template shows copyable plays reps can use within 90 days.
Plays also change how you use technology. Teams exploring AI for sales calls get the most from it when the call has a defined play behind it: a clear goal, a script skeleton and a next step. Without a play, automation just speeds up an unclear conversation.
The five parts every play needs
Examples only help if you can copy the structure. Every play below uses the same five parts.
- Trigger. The event that tells a rep to run this play. A trigger is observable: a job change, a pricing page visit, a missed meeting, a renewal 120 days out.
- Goal. One outcome. "Book a first meeting with a second stakeholder" is a goal. "Build relationships" is not.
- Steps. The sequence of actions, with who does what and in what order.
- Assets. The email templates, one-pagers, call openers or proof points the rep needs, linked in the CRM.
- Success measure. How you will know it worked: meetings booked, stage conversion, days to next step.
If a draft play cannot name its trigger, it is advice, not a play. Cut it or fold it into the playbook.
Nine sales plays examples you can adapt
The plays below are working templates, written the way we would hand them to a team. Adjust the numbers to your sales cycle, deal size and channel mix.
1. Cold outbound to a new decision-maker
Trigger: A target account on your ideal customer list where you have no contact yet.
Goal: Book a first conversation with the person who owns the problem you solve.
Steps:
- Research one specific business fact: a hire, a launch, a quote in an earnings call.
- Send a short email that connects that fact to one outcome you deliver.
- Follow with a LinkedIn connection note that does not repeat the email.
- Call within a day or two of the email, referencing it.
- Close the loop with a brief breakup email asking whether someone else is the right contact.
Assets: Two email variants, a call opener, a voicemail script.
Measure: Reply rate and meetings booked per 100 contacts worked. Cold outbound email sequences are one of the standard play types described by sales teams as a core example.
2. Multithreading into a single-contact deal
Trigger: An active opportunity with only one stakeholder engaged after the first meeting.
Goal: Get a second and third stakeholder into the conversation before the proposal.
Steps:
- Ask your champion who else is affected by the problem and who will sign.
- Offer the champion a short summary they can forward, written for the second stakeholder's concerns.
- Request a joint call and send an agenda in advance.
- Log every new contact and role in the CRM.
Measure: Average number of engaged stakeholders by stage. We go deeper on this in our practical multithreading playbook.
3. Executive outreach for a stalled enterprise account
Trigger: An account with activity at the manager level but no senior sponsor.
Goal: Secure a short conversation with a VP or C-level leader.
Steps:
- The rep's manager or an executive from your side sends the first note, peer to peer.
- The message names one business outcome and one relevant peer result you can support with a real customer reference.
- The rep follows up through the champion, not around them.
Measure: Executive meetings held per quarter and the conversion of those opportunities. Our executive access strategies article covers the sequencing in more detail.
4. Discovery follow-up with a readiness assessment
Trigger: A completed discovery call where the buyer sees a problem but has not committed to a solution.
Goal: Turn a vague interest into a shared view of the gap.
Steps:
- Within 24 hours, send a one-page recap of what you heard in the buyer's own words.
- Attach a short readiness assessment the buyer can complete in a few minutes.
- Review results together on a 20-minute call and agree on the next step.
Why it works: Gartner lists readiness assessments after discovery among its account-based plays, alongside custom reports for first meetings and on-site workshops such as security audits or customer-experience mapping. Those are good models for any complex sale.
Measure: Percentage of discovery calls that convert to a scheduled evaluation.
5. Competitive displacement
Trigger: The prospect names an incumbent or a vendor they are also evaluating.
Goal: Reframe the decision around the outcomes the prospect cares about, without attacking the other vendor.
Steps:
- Ask what the prospect likes and does not like about their current approach.
- Map those gaps to your strengths using a short, factual comparison sheet.
- Offer a reference call with a customer who switched.
- Agree on the evaluation criteria and timeline in writing.
Measure: Win rate in deals tagged "competitive."
6. Stalled deal recovery
Trigger: An open opportunity with no scheduled next step for 14 days or more (set the threshold to fit your cycle).
Goal: Either restart momentum or close the deal out cleanly.
Steps:
- Review the deal: last real conversation, stakeholders, decision criteria, what changed.
- Send a message that offers a new reason to talk, such as a relevant result, a changed price window or a new capability.
- Ask your champion directly whether priorities have shifted.
- If there is no reply after the third touch, send a closing note and move the deal out of the forecast.
This is the situation the recovery of a stalled opportunity play exists for. Reviving it is a recognized example of a situation plays are written for.
Measure: Percentage of stalled deals that return to an active stage within 30 days.
7. Handling the price objection
Trigger: The buyer says the price is too high, or asks for a discount before seeing full value.
Goal: Return the conversation to value and the cost of inaction.
Steps:
- Acknowledge the concern and ask what they are comparing against.
- Revisit the business problem and quantify it with the buyer's own numbers from discovery.
- Offer options that change scope or terms rather than simply cutting price.
- Confirm what has to be true for the buyer to move forward.
Measure: Average discount given and win rate on deals where this objection appeared.
8. Expansion into an existing customer
Trigger: A healthy customer with strong usage, a new executive, or a renewal 90 to 120 days away.
Goal: Introduce a second product or team and earn a new stakeholder.
Steps:
- Review usage and outcomes with the customer success owner.
- Ask your champion for an introduction to the adjacent team.
- Run a short discovery with that team, using results from the first deployment as proof.
- Propose a limited pilot with a clear success metric.
Expansion and upselling are both standard play categories, along with winning back churned customers.
Measure: Expansion revenue per account and the share of renewals that include expansion.
9. Lead nurture re-engagement
Trigger: An inbound lead or past opportunity that went cold 60 to 90 days ago.
Goal: Reopen the conversation with something useful, not a generic check-in.
Steps:
- Segment by the reason the lead went cold: timing, budget, no response.
- Send a message built around a new proof point that answers that reason.
- Use automated follow-up email sequences for the first two touches, then switch to a personal call or note from the rep when the lead engages.
- Hand off to the rep the moment the lead replies or revisits your pricing page.
Measure: Reactivation rate and meetings booked from the segment.
What to put in a playbook around these plays
You do not need to write everything at once. Most teams build plays first for the situations that decide revenue, then add background sections as questions come up. Common playbook components include company overview, team structure, messaging, buyer personas, sales methodology, objection handling and metrics, with plays as one section among them.
A practical order for a growing team:
- Buyer and positioning: who you sell to, the problems you solve, the language that works.
- Process definitions: what each stage means and what evidence moves a deal forward.
- Plays: the nine above, or the three to five that fit your motion.
- Objections and competitors: short, factual entries linked to the relevant play.
- Metrics: the numbers a manager reviews weekly.
If you are standing up a new outbound function, our 0 to 90 day plan to build an SDR team sequences these pieces week by week.
Perspective
Over a 25-year career building and leading sales development and business development teams, we have seen the same pattern at every company. The binder gets written, the launch meeting goes well, and within a quarter reps are improvising again.
The fix is rarely more content. It is fewer, sharper plays, each one tied to a moment where a rep has to choose what to do next. If a rep cannot find the play in under a minute, or a manager never mentions it in a 1:1, it does not exist.
That is why we write plays the way we coach: one trigger, one goal, a short list of actions, and a number to track. Our books and workshops are built on that same idea. Practical, repeatable behaviors that SDRs and BDRs can run today, with AI used where it removes busywork and not where it replaces judgment.
Start with the three situations that cost you the most pipeline. Write those plays this week. Coach to them for 30 days. Then add more.
Chad
How a sales manager keeps plays alive
A play only changes results if the manager uses it. The managers who succeed treat plays as the language of coaching, not as compliance.
Build the operating rhythm around the plays
Public manager handbooks show what this looks like. GitLab's enterprise sales manager handbook frames coaching as ongoing and built into routine activity: managers join calls with newer reps and debrief right afterward, and strategic planning checks that focus and pipeline are sufficient. It describes its playbook as a guide to help manage the business, not a set of hard mandates, and as a one-page view of key activities.
That last point is useful for your own sales manager guide: if the manager version cannot be read in a few minutes, it will not be used.
A simple weekly cadence
Here is a cadence we would put in any sales manager handbook:
| Rhythm | What happens | Play connection |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Quick check on triggers fired and next steps logged | Which plays were started? |
| Weekly 1:1 | Review one call or email, one deal, one personal check-in | Coach to one step of one play |
| Weekly pipeline review | Deal-by-deal: stage, next step, what is stuck, decision needed | Name the play that applies |
| Monthly | Review play metrics and rep feedback | Revise, merge or retire plays |
| Quarterly | Compare plays to wins and losses | Add a play for any new pattern |
The deal-by-deal inspection matters most. For each active opportunity, the manager asks for the stage, the next step, what is stuck and what decision would move it forward. Stalls show up early that way, and the stalled-deal play above has a clear trigger.
Coach to the play, not the person
When a rep misses, point to the step. "In the multithreading play, step two asks for a forwardable summary. Let's write one for this account" is specific, fair and repeatable. "You need to build more relationships" is neither.
Keep plays consistent and current
Plays drift when no one owns them. Four habits stop that:
- One owner per play. A named manager or enablement lead who approves changes.
- One home. Put plays in the CRM or the tool reps already open daily, linked from the deal stage where they apply.
- A review date on each play. Check it against the last quarter's wins and losses. If reps skip it, either fix it or retire it.
- A change note. When a play changes, tell the team what changed and why in two sentences.
Teams that adopt AI tooling should refresh plays when the tools change what reps can do. Our AI sales strategy for sales leaders and the AI sales workshop overview explain how to diagnose the pipeline first, then decide which plays AI should support.
Common mistakes when writing plays
- Too many plays. Twenty plays at launch means reps remember none. Begin with three to five.
- No trigger. If the rep must decide when to use a play, they will not.
- Scripts without judgment. Give a skeleton and examples. Reps should adapt the words, not the sequence.
- No measure. A play without a metric cannot be improved.
- Written once. A play that nobody reviews slowly stops matching how buyers behave.
- Manager absent. If leaders never mention plays in reviews, reps conclude they are optional.
Work with us on your team's plays
If you are a CEO, CRO or founder who wants plays like these built and coached inside your SDR or BDR team, we can help. We work with leaders on pipeline growth, AI-supported sales development and hands-on team leadership, and we run speaking sessions and workshops for sales teams.
For speaking and workshop engagements, start on our speaking and workshops page. To see the thinking behind our playbooks in full, browse our books on AI for sales and lead generation, or reach us from our home page.
FAQ
What is an example of a sales play?
A stalled-deal recovery play is a clear example. The trigger is an open opportunity with no scheduled next step for a set number of days. The rep reviews the deal, sends a message with a new reason to talk, asks the champion directly about priorities, and closes the deal out if there is no reply after the third touch.
How many sales plays does a team need?
Start with three to five plays tied to your largest revenue moments, such as cold outbound, competitive deals and stalled opportunities. Add more only when reps and managers are using the first set in real deal reviews. A small set that gets coached beats a large library nobody opens.
What should be in a sales manager handbook?
Include the manager's weekly and monthly operating rhythm, a 1:1 format, a deal-by-deal pipeline review process, coaching guidance by skill, and links to the plays reps run. GitLab's handbook is a public example of coaching built into everyday activities such as calls, account planning and pipeline reviews.
How is a sales play different from a sales playbook?
The playbook explains how deals should happen overall. A play is a narrow, action-oriented guide for one situation. Plays turn the playbook's priorities into behaviors and sit inside it, not in place of it.
Sources
- The essential guide to sales plays, Sales Enablement Collective
- 13 Sales Plays for Account-Based Everything, Gartner
- Enterprise Area Sales Manager Handbook, The GitLab Handbook
- B2B sales plays: examples, success measurement, and team guidance, Leadiq
- 18 Key Components of a Successful Sales Playbook, HowToSaaS