Sales collateral

# Sales collateral

## Goal

Produce the smallest set of sales documents that let someone other than the founder tell the same story: playbook, pitch narrative, proof that actually exists, and objection handling. Collateral is a delivery mechanism for the position and the offer. It is not a design project.

This is an authoring task for internal and constrained external artifacts. Do not publish pages or send decks. Do not invent case studies.

Complete the analysis autonomously. Do not stop to ask clarifying questions. When evidence is missing, omit the asset or mark it internal.

Do not modify application code.

## Prerequisites

Read the latest ICP, positioning, pricing, pipeline, deals, and campaign files; existing decks, one-pagers, quotes, and objection notes; and any existing `docs/gtm/collateral.md`, `docs/gtm/collateral.yaml`, and `docs/gtm/collateral-changelog.md`.

Reuse the positioning narrative sequence, vocabulary, and objection map. If collateral needs a different noun or alternative, the position is broken. Return `REVISIT POSITIONING` instead of writing around it.

## Evidence standard

Use the shared GTM labels and the positioning proof-readiness classes: `PROOFED`, `PARTIAL`, `PLANNED`, `ABSENT`, `UNOBTAINABLE`.

A logo is not a case study. A compliment is not a result. A pilot still in implementation is not retention proof.

## Step 1: Inventory what already exists

For each existing artifact: audience, claim it makes, proof, allowed use, and whether it contradicts the current position or price.

Recommend keep, rewrite, or retire. Do not keep a pretty deck that sells the wrong job.

## Step 2: Choose the minimum set

Default set, cut if unneeded:

1. internal sales playbook (when to talk, what to ask, when to walk)
2. pitch narrative, slide-level, not decoration
3. one-pager or leave-behind
4. alternative comparison to the named status quo or competitor
5. objection cards
6. proof appendix: only `PROOFED` or clearly limited `PARTIAL` items
7. case outline only when a real customer outcome exists

Do not create a brand book, persona posters, or a 40-slide vision deck.

## Step 3: Write each artifact as claims plus proof

For every artifact:

* audience: buyer, champion, user, or internal
* job in the deal path it supports
* claims, each labeled
* proof or explicit absence
* anti-claims
* allowed surfaces
* owner of updates

The pitch narrative must follow the positioning sequence: who it is for, job and trigger, alternative, difference, proof, who it is not for, next commitment.

Case studies, if any, include context, job, alternative, what changed, what did not, sample limits, and whether founder heroics were required. If those cannot be sourced, do not write a case study.

## Step 4: Objection cards

Start from the positioning objection map. For each live objection:

* buyer words
* class
* response
* proof
* when the honest response is “we cannot do that”
* whether this is a disqualifier

Do not write around unanswerable objections.

## Step 5: Desk-test

1. A new hire can pitch from the playbook without inventing claims.
2. No artifact exceeds the evidence ceiling.
3. The deck and the one-pager tell the same story as the website position.
4. Comparison pages do not strawman.
5. Missing proof removed assets from external use rather than filling them with adjectives.

## Decision

* `ISSUE`: named artifacts may be used as specified
* `ISSUE NARROWLY`: internal playbook and objection cards only
* `HOLD`
* `REVISIT POSITIONING` or `REVISIT OFFER`

Lead with:

“As of [date], sales collateral for [beachhead] is [issue / hold] with [N] external artifacts and [N] internal-only artifacts, at ceiling [ICP version], decision [ISSUE / ISSUE NARROWLY / HOLD / REVISIT POSITIONING / REVISIT OFFER].”

## Deliverables

### 1. `docs/gtm/collateral.md`

Inventory, minimum set, full text or outline of each artifact, objection cards, desk tests.

### 2. `docs/gtm/collateral.yaml`

`version`, `status`, `decision`, `inventory`, `artifacts`, `objection_cards`, `forbidden_claims`, `proof`, `assumptions`, `unknowns`, `sources`.

### 3. `docs/gtm/collateral-changelog.md`

Append only.

Also write the artifact bodies under `docs/gtm/collateral/` when an artifact is `ISSUE`d, one file per artifact, using the names listed in the YAML.

## Boundaries

* Do not invent customers, logos, quotes, or metrics.
* Do not publish.
* Do not change the retrieval noun to make a slide prettier.
* Do not include roadmap as current product.
* Do not produce unused decorative collateral.
* Preserve uncertainty.

## Done when

* The minimum set is named and each artifact has allowed-use flags.
* Unproven stories are internal or absent.
* Desk tests passed or forced `HOLD`.
* Markdown, YAML, changelog, and any artifact files agree.