Raising Series A is a milestone. It means you’ve proven product-market fit, convinced investors of your vision, and now have the capital to scale. But the hard part is just beginning: turning early traction into repeatable, predictable revenue.
At this stage, a Sales Playbook is your most critical tool. Without it, every rep sells differently, deals slip through cracks, and growth becomes unpredictable. With it, you align your GTM team, shorten ramp time, and scale your pipeline systematically.
Why You Need a Sales Playbook at Series A
In the seed stage, sales is usually founder-led:
- You sell directly through your network.
- Deals close because of founder credibility.
- The process is messy, but it works for early traction.
By Series A, you’re hiring your first 2–5 AEs and SDRs. If every rep is left to “figure it out,” you’ll burn runway fast. What you need is a playbook that codifies:
- Who you sell to.
- How you sell to them.
- Why they should buy.
- What steps convert consistently.
A Sales Playbook turns hustle into repeatability.
The 6 Core Elements of a Series A Sales Playbook
1. ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
Define your ICP with precision. Don’t chase “anyone who could use the product.” Focus on:
- Firmographics: Industry, size, region.
- Triggers: Funding, hiring, regulatory pressure.
- Roles: Which personas feel the pain most acutely?
At Series A, your ICP should be narrow and high-pain. Winning 10 perfect-fit logos is better than chasing 100 random ones.
2. Messaging & Value Proposition
Your reps need a clear answer to:
- Why change? (the pain)
- Why now? (the urgency)
- Why us? (the differentiation)
Document your core narrative: elevator pitch, 3 pain-point hooks, and objection-handling scripts. Consistency builds credibility.
3. Sales Process & Stages
Define the stages of your sales funnel and what “done” means at each stage. Example:
- Prospecting → ICP account identified + initial outreach.
- Discovery → 30-min call completed, pain validated.
- Demo → Product tailored to customer use case.
- Proposal → Mutual action plan defined.
- Commit → Verbal buy-in from decision-maker.
- Closed/Won → Contract signed.
This clarity prevents “happy ears” and helps with forecasting.
4. Plays (Repeatable Motions)
This is where the “playbook” gets its name. Define specific plays that reps can run repeatedly:
- Inbound Play: How to qualify and convert inbound leads.
- Outbound Play: Messaging + cadences for cold outreach.
- Network Play: How to activate warm intros through Vieu to open doors with credibility.
- Expansion Play: How to upsell/cross-sell early customers.
Each play should include templates, scripts, and success metrics.
5. Tools & Enablement
At Series A, keep it lean:
- CRM: HubSpot or Salesforce (set up correctly from Day 1).
- Sales Engagement: Outreach/Salesloft or simple HubSpot sequences.
- Network Intelligence: Vieu for GTN motion (to unlock warm intros at scale).
- Analytics: Early dashboards for pipeline, conversion rates, and CAC.
Don’t over-stack tech. The key is discipline in usage.
6. Metrics That Matter
At Series A, avoid vanity metrics. Focus on:
- Pipeline coverage: 3–4× quota.
- Meetings booked per SDR.
- Conversion rates by stage.
- Ramp time for new AEs.
- Win rate of warm vs cold opportunities.
Tracking warm-intro sourced pipeline (via Vieu) is especially valuable—it usually converts at 2–3× the rate of cold outreach.
How Vieu Fits into a Series A Playbook
Most Series A sales teams overlook the most powerful lever they already have: their network.
Your employees, investors, advisors, and early customers collectively have thousands of hidden connections into ICP accounts. Vieu’s Go-to-Network (GTN) motion operationalizes this by:
- Mapping relationships into the VieuGraph.
- Surfacing warm paths into decision-makers.
- Equipping reps with pursuit plans and intro strategies.
- Driving repeatable, warm-intro pipeline alongside inbound and outbound.
Instead of burning CAC on cold SDR outreach, your team starts with credibility at scale.
Example Play: Network-Led Discovery Call
Here’s how a Series A AE might use the playbook + Vieu:
- Identify ICP account “FinTechCo” in CRM.
- Vieu shows a warm intro path via investor board member.
- AE requests intro → meeting secured with VP of Operations.
- Run discovery call → validate pain → progress to demo.
- Shorter cycle (weeks instead of months) due to executive-level credibility.
This is the power of turning GTN into a repeatable play.
Common Mistakes to Avoid at Series A
- Over-engineering the playbook. Keep it simple, actionable, and usable.
- Chasing too many personas. Nail one ICP before expanding.
- Ignoring enablement. New reps need onboarding content + call recordings.
- Relying only on outbound. Cold emails alone won’t scale—blend inbound + GTN.
- Not updating the playbook. Treat it as a living document, not a PDF you write once.
A Series A Sales Playbook is the bridge from founder hustle to repeatable, predictable revenue. It aligns your GTM team, codifies what works, and accelerates new rep ramp time.
The companies that succeed at Series A aren’t just the ones sending more cold emails. They’re the ones who activate their networks, document what works, and scale with credibility.
That’s where Vieu comes in. By making the Go-to-Network motion a core part of your playbook, you turn relationships into your most powerful and repeatable revenue engine.
Ready to build your Series A Sales Playbook? Book a demo with Vieu and see how GTN accelerates your path to repeatable growth.
