Sales training and coaching · Team foundations
Give every rep one matrix that says what to know, say and show.
A pain, persona and proof playbook is a single table that pairs each buyer worry with the person who has it and the evidence that answers it. It covers how to build the matrix, who fills which column, and how to tell whether your reps actually open it before a call.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A pain, persona and proof playbook is a single table that pairs each buyer worry with the person who has it and the evidence that answers it. It covers how to build the matrix, who fills which column, and how to tell whether your reps actually open it before a call.
A distributor of water purifiers in Hubballi has a good brochure, a folder of installation photos, three customer letters in a drawer and a pitch the owner gives from memory. Four reps, four different pitches. When a hospital purchase officer asks about annual maintenance, one rep sends a price list and another forwards a photo from a Sunday install.
The playbook is the fix, and it is one sheet, not a binder. Down the left, the pains your buyers actually voice. Across the top, who has that pain, the stage the deal is at, and what the rep should know, do, say and show. Each cell points to a real file: a letter, a photo, a one-page comparison.
The sales head owns the sheet and one top rep checks every cell against what really wins. Marketing, or whoever looks after your WhatsApp catalogue, supplies the proof. The owner reads it last and strikes out any claim they would not repeat to a customer's face.
It replaces the folder on the owner's laptop and the forwarded messages that nobody can find at five in the evening. Buyer persona describes the person; the sales pitch scripts the conversation; this matrix joins the two to the evidence, so the rep is never holding a pain with no proof for it.
Where this sits
Topic 5 of 8 in sales training and coaching: team foundations. The shared definitions a team needs before coaching.
- The topic before
- Objections and closing practice
- The topic after
- Coaching the sales team
If you want this done for you
New hires learn the job by listening in on other people's calls.
The work
What this is actually like.
“A pain with no proof is the real gap”
List the pains first and look at the proof column. Every empty cell is a claim your team makes with nothing behind it. Two or three empty cells are the case study you need to collect from your next delivery, and they are a better to-do list than any content calendar.
“Proof has to fit the person”
A purchase officer wants a reference letter on company paper. A clinic owner wants a phone number of another clinic. A homemaker comparing interior designers wants photographs from a flat like theirs. One proof item in every cell is the mistake; match it to the persona.
“The matrix dies in a drive”
Sheets saved in a shared folder are opened twice. Pin the link in the team WhatsApp group, and print the first page for the rep who goes out on visits. If a rep cannot reach the proof file within half a minute on the phone, it will not be used in the conversation.
“Stage changes what you say”
At first contact the rep needs a question, not a claim. After the quote, the same buyer needs a comparison and a reference. Put the stage in the column headings, otherwise reps use the late-stage proof on cold buyers and scare them off.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The pain list
One row per pain, written in the buyer's words from your last ten enquiries. Columns: pain, how often it comes up in your own log, which persona says it, which service line it touches. The rep who takes calls fills the first draft.
Result: Finished when a rep reading a row can recognise a call they took last week.
The know, do, say, show grid
For each pain and stage: what the rep must know about the buyer, the one action to take next, a sentence to say, and the exact file to show. Keep each cell to two lines.
Result: Finished when a new hire can run a first call from the sheet with the owner out of the room.
The proof register
A list of every letter, photograph, test report, before-and-after and reference contact, with the date, the customer's permission to use it and the file location. The person who delivered the work adds to it.
Result: Finished when every proof item in the grid has a row in the register with permission noted.
The gap list
Pains with no proof, and proof that fits no pain. Each gap gets an owner and a date by which the item will be collected or dropped.
Result: Finished when each gap names a person and a customer to approach.
The pinned link
A shared document, one page per persona, with edit rights only for the sales head and viewing rights for the team. The link is pinned in the team group.
Result: Finished when each rep opens it on their phone in front of you without searching.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How many pains should the sheet hold?
Should it be a PDF or a shared document?
What if we have no case studies yet?
Who should be allowed to edit it?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of team foundations
Or read all of sales training and coaching.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.