Introduction

A deal journey represents the sequence of sales stages that must be completed to close a deal. Each sales stage consists of a sequence of steps that must be completed to progress to the next stage. Deal journeys are depicted by sales pipelines, which can be tailored to the needs of a company. 

For example, sales reps at an audio equipment company may use separate pipelines to sell home theatre systems and loudspeakers.
 

Watch the video to know about Playbooks in detail.

 Feature Availability 
This feature is available in One Growth, One Professional, and One Enterprise editions of Vtiger CRM

 
Setting up Playbooks

A deal Playbook allows you to define the selling process for a specific pipeline. Each template consists of a sequence of playbook tasks that sales reps must complete in each sales stage. You can add the following types of activities as playbook tasks.

• Task
• Meeting
• Call

Vtiger CRM creates a Playbook when a new pipeline is created by you. The Playbook has all the sales stages present in the pipeline. You can then add playbook tasks to the template. 

Go to Main Menu > Sales > Playbooks to view all the Playbooks. Click the Related Deals tab on the top to see all the deals related to the pipeline you select.

 Creating playbook tasks

Follow these steps to create a Playbook and add playbook tasks:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Sales.
4. Select Playbooks.
5. Select a pipeline from the top-left of the page.
6. Create a playbook task in a sales stage by following these steps:
   1. Click +Add Activity.
   2. Pick an activity – 
      • Add task
      • Schedule a call
      • Schedule a meeting
   3. Click Add>.
   4. Enter the necessary information.
   5. Click Save. 

 Setting up task dependencies

Certain playbook tasks are set up in a sequence. If a task is not completed, then the others following it in the sequence will not start. In such a case, you can set up a dependency between the tasks. 

For example, a quote cannot be sent for e-signing without being approved by the sales manager.

Follow these steps to add a task dependency:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Sales.
4. Select Playbooks.
5. Select a pipeline from the top-left.
6. Choose a sales stage and click +Add Activity.
7. Choose Add Task and click Add>.
8. Add task title and duration.
9. Select a task from the Dependent on drop-down to set up a dependency.
10. Click Save.

 Setting up task delays

Task delays represent the time lag between two tasks. For instance, you can send a follow-up email to a customer one day after a demo meeting is held.

You can set up a delay for a task, based on either its parent task or the entry time of the current sales stage. 

Follow these steps to add a delay:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Sales.
4. Select Playbooks.
5. Select a pipeline from the top-left.
6. Choose a sales stage and click +Add Activity.
7. Choose Add Task and click Add>.
8. Add task title and duration.
9. Enter a delay time under Delay task by and choose hours/days.
10. Click Save.

 Skipping a playbook task

In the case where a playbook task need not be performed, you can skip it.

Follow these steps to skip a playbook task:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Sales.
4. Select Deals.
5. Open a deal record.
6. Click the Tasks tab on the right sidebar.
7. Hover over a playbook task and click Skip.
8. Select the reason for skipping a task from the Skipped reason drop-down.
9. Click Save.

 Using playbook tasks in Deals

Every Playbook is associated with a pipeline. When a pipeline is used by a deal, the Playbook associated with the pipeline automatically gets attached to the deal. Changes made to a Playbook are reflected in the deals associated with it. 

 Default start date and time 

The default start date and time of all the playbook tasks in a sales stage are set to the date and time when a deal enters the sales stage. However, the start date and start time can vary in the following two cases:

Case 1 - The task does not depend on any other task and a task delay is not specified. In this case, the start date and start time are set to the date and time when the deal entered the sales stage.

Case 2 - The task depends on another task. In this case, the start date and start time depend on the completion date of the parent task. When a delay is specified on a task, then it’s start date depends on the completion of the parent task and the delay.

 Default due date and time 

The default duration of playbook tasks is one day (depending on the business hours). You can change the duration by manually changing the end date. You can change the end date from the task record under Main Menu > Essentials > Tasks.

 Tracking a deal’s progress 

• You can track the progress of deals with the help of the Deal Journeys report in Sales Insights.
• You can create charts using activities in the Analytics tab of a deal. The activities encapsulate playbook tasks and other tasks created by a user. For example, you can create a progress chart called Planned Activities vs. Completed Activities in the Analytics tab.