Sales plays and motions are important parts of any sales strategy, but what’s the difference, and how do they work together?

In this article, we’ll explain the difference between sales plays vs motions and show you how to optimize both to meet your KPIs and unify GTM strategies.

We’ll also define the concept of “pipeline harding” and show you why it’s so important for your outbound sales campaigns.

Sales Plays vs Motions: What’s the Difference?

Sales Motions

Closing a sale doesn’t happen by chance. Successful salespeople and teams follow a blueprint or roadmap, otherwise known as a sales motion.

A sales motion is the combination of actionable steps combined with the overall sales methodology of a business. Sales motions will dictate the framework of the sales process and follow a particular philosophy, providing an overall picture of how sales activities should be carried out.

The sales motion should be a repeatable framework closely aligned with the journey stages and lifecycle value of your ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles).

Sales motions will be different for every team and company – small businesses and startups might apply a high-velocity transactional approach, whereas large enterprises might implement a more consultative sales motion.

Sales Plays

Sales plays are the smaller, actionable steps taken within a sales motion. A “play” is a specific action or set of actions taken to achieve a particular objective, usually a conversion.

Sales plays are used to engage prospects, address customer pain points and move leads through the sales funnel. Each play is tailored to different scenarios, and multiple plays will often make up a playbook containing actions for different scenarios, such as qualification calls and follow-ups.

Companies may have persona-specific playbooks for different audience segments, such as engineers and product managers.

Sales Plays vs Motions: Key Differences

The key difference between sales plays vs motions is that a motion is the strategic framework, whereas a play is a tactical action.

Sales motions are persistent and repeatable, whereas plays will change depending on the scenario. Motions tend to focus on the number of leads coming through the pipeline, whereas plays prioritize precise targeting and specific outcomes.

Get to Market Strategies with Sales Plays and Motions

If you want to unify GTM strategies, clearly defined sales plays and motions are crucial.

Sales motions are important for GTM strategies because they provide a framework that makes the process more efficient, predictable and scalable.

Examples of sales motions for a get-to-market campaign might include frameworks for inbound and outbound lead generation, as well as pipeline harding strategies.

These GTM motions should extend across the entire customer journey and require collaboration from different teams and stakeholders within the business, such as SDRs, AEs and marketing teams.

Sales plays are also crucial because they define the specific actions teams should take at critical deal phases. Integration between sales plays vs motions will ensure there are no silos across sales, marketing and customer success, resulting in a more efficient and agile cycle.

Example: Sales Plays vs Motions in GTM

A startup launching a new technical product might use a targeted outbound motion, which is supported by competitor analysis and positioning plays.

A larger company looking to expand into new verticals might deploy a more exploratory sales motion, relying on plays like gathering ICP feedback and refining its brand messaging for a new audience.

What is Pipeline Harding?

Pipeline harding means strengthening the sales pipeline. It’s an important process in tech companies due to the high levels of churn and volatile markets. Hardening a sales pipeline ensures it stays resilient during periods of economic or operational change.

Sales plays and motions both have an important role to play in pipeline harding.

A strong sales motion will ensure consistent alignment with your customers, reducing wasted effort and resources. AI-enhanced sales motions will also facilitate data-driven decision-making, which will help you stay agile and pivot quickly.

A clear sales playbook will help you make real-time changes at each stage of the sales pipeline in response to customer engagement signals and feedback.

How to Unify GTM Strategies in Sales Teams

In smaller companies, it can be hard to unify GTM strategies. You might have limited funding and resources, with concerns about diluting your brand messaging as you grow.

Unifying your GTM strategy will help you map each sales play and motion to your ultimate business objective, ensuring alignment across teams – this will also help you meet your revenue targets.

You should design sales plays collaboratively, with input from sales, marketing and product teams. Using an AI sales tool like Topo makes it easier than ever to streamline and integrate your sales plays vs motions – plus you’ll also be able to monitor KPIs holistically across motions and plays, helping you react quickly to changes or customer feedback.

Here is a step-by-step approach to help you unify GTM strategies:

Assess Your GTM Teams

You’ll need to take the temperature of your current strategy to identify areas that need better alignment or efficiency.

Set Clear Targets

Next, it’s time to define your sales motions and set targets that fit your revenue goals and ICPs.

Build Sales Playbooks

Add specific plays to your sales motion to target customer pain points and respond to different scenarios. The goals of each play should be aligned with your overall sales motion objectives – you should also keep pipeline harding in mind.

Test and Iterate

Lastly, it’s important to use data insights to continuously refine your sales plays and motions. Testing and iteration will help you scale into new categories or verticals, as well as to different regions.

Optimize Your Sales Plays and Motions with Topo

Topo will help you optimize your sales plays and motions through end-to-end automation, precise targeting and industry-specific customization.

Here are some of the benefits of using Topo:

Precise Targeting

Our AI will help you precisely target ideal customer profiles (ICPs) by utilizing data that’s specific to your industry. Topo also supports pipeline harding by flagging at-risk accounts so you can act on them quickly.

Unify GTM Strategies with Support

Topo integrates sales plays and motions into GTM workflows, connecting easily to CRMs and other vital software. Our AI also provides actionable recommendations to drive more leads and conversions.

Scaleable Play Execution

Topo completely automates sales play deployment, unifying teams like marketing, sales and customer support. Our tool will also personalize your outreach with contextual insights, boosting engagement and increasing conversions.

Sales Plays vs Motions: Which is More Important?

When it comes to sales plays vs motions, neither is more important than the other. In a strong sales team, sales motions underline the strategy while sales plays define the tactics – both of which are essential if you want to unify GTM strategies or run successful sales campaigns.

If you’re a small or scaling business or tech startup, Topo can help optimize your sales plays and motions, hardening your pipeline and helping you navigate growth challenges as they arise.

To effortlessly scale your GTM strategy and future sales campaigns, sign up today.