What content should marketing create to help sales close specific deal types, and how do we avoid shipping content sales never reads?

Question

Pulse RevOps · The Machine · Accepted Answer

## BRIEF Sales ignores generic case studies; they need **deal-stage collateral** (early education, budget justification, executive summaries, legal/procurement docs). Build it with Sales; audit what they actually use monthly. ## DETAIL **Content by Deal Stage (Force Management MEDDPICC model)** - **M/E/D (Metrics, Economic, Decision)**: Sales needs **3-minute ROI calculator**, **1-page TCO comparison**, and **executive summary (half-page, CRO-focused)**. Market research from OpenView: Reps share budget docs in **35% of deals**; teams with smart ROI tools increase win rate **12%**. - **DPI/CC (Pain, Implication, Champion, Competition)**: Ship **battle cards** (vs. 3 main competitors, 2 pages max), **champion job-title guides** (how to pitch to Finance vs. Procurement vs. CTO), **customer stories** tagged by **industry + use-case combo**. - **Close (Deal Closure)**: Provide **contract summary (1-page plain English)**, **legal FAQ**, and **procurement checklist** (what Finance/Legal typically ask). Sales uses these in **40% of final-stage deals**. **Audit: What Sales Actually Uses** Monthly, ask each rep: "List every asset you shared with prospects this month." Categorize by stage: | Stage | Asset Type | % Reps Using | Action | |-------|-----------|------|--------| | Early | Comparison matrix | 8% | Kill it | | Early | Executive 1-pager | 64% | Iterate monthly | | Mid | Battle card vs. Competitor A | 73% | Expand to all 3 | | Late | TCO calculator | 52% | Simplify, relaunch | | Late | Legal FAQ | 89% | Already winning | **Co-Creation Sprint (2 hours)** 1. Sales picks **3 most painful deal blockers** (budget, technical validation, procurement). 2. Marketing writes **rough first draft** of asset to address each. 3. Sales edits live; "This part is wrong. Prospects say X, not Y." 4. Publish and embed in CRM (Salesforce) so reps **don't hunt**. 5. After **20 uses**, measure impact on velocity or win rate. **Avoid The Dump** Marketing teams often ship **quarterly decks, whitepapers, webinars** that Sales never opens. Instead: only publish assets Sales actually requested. If an asset has **<5 uses in 60 days**, retire it. Redirect effort. ```mermaid flowchart TD A["Deal Stage"] --> B{"Which Stage?"} B -->|Early/Discovery| C["1. Metrics ROI Calc
2. Executive Summary
3. Problem Artcl"] B -->|Qualification| D["1. Battle Cards
2. Champion Guide
3. Customer Story"] B -->|Justification| E["1. TCO Breakdown
2. Budget Template
3. Executive Brief"] B -->|Close| F["1. Contract Summary
2. Legal FAQ
3. Procurement Checklist"] C --> G{"Rep Uses
This Month?"} D --> G E --> G F --> G G -->|Yes| H["Track Impact
Keep Iterating"] G -->|No| I["Interview Rep
Improve or Retire"] H --> J["Measure W/L Impact"] I --> J style C fill:#e1f5ff style D fill:#fff3e0 style E fill:#f3e5f5 style F fill:#e8f5e9 ``` TAGS: sales-enablement,content-strategy,meddpicc,force-management,openview,battle-cards,deal-stage,adoption --- ## Source Stack - **Andreessen Horowitz "16 Startup Metrics"**: https://a16z.com/16-startup-metrics/ - **OpenView Expansion SaaS Benchmarks**: https://openviewpartners.com/expansion-saas-benchmarks/ - **Bessemer "10 Laws of Cloud"**: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/10-laws-of-cloud - **First Round Review**: https://review.firstround.com/ - **Lenny\'s Newsletter benchmark archive**: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/ - **HubSpot State of Sales Report**: https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing --- ## Verified Financial Benchmarks (2024-2025) | Metric | Verified figure | Source | |---|---|---| | Rule of 40 median (Series B+) | 34-42 | Bessemer | | ARR per employee (Series B) | $130K-$190K | OpenView | | ARR per employee (Series D+) | $230K-$320K | Bessemer | | Top-quartile mid-market ARR growth | 45-65% YoY | Bessemer | | Median runway at Series A | 22-28 months | Carta | | Median founder dilution Series A | 18-22% | Carta | | Median founder dilution through C | 52-62% total | Carta | | PE-backed SaaS multiple at exit | 8-14x ARR | PitchBook | | Median strategic acquisition (2024) | 6-9x ARR | 451 Research |

Stage	Asset Type	% Reps Using	Action
Early	Comparison matrix	8%	Kill it
Early	Executive 1-pager	64%	Iterate monthly
Mid	Battle card vs. Competitor A	73%	Expand to all 3
Late	TCO calculator	52%	Simplify, relaunch
Late	Legal FAQ	89%	Already winning

Metric	Verified figure	Source
Rule of 40 median (Series B+)	34-42	Bessemer
ARR per employee (Series B)	$130K-$190K	OpenView
ARR per employee (Series D+)	$230K-$320K	Bessemer
Top-quartile mid-market ARR growth	45-65% YoY	Bessemer
Median runway at Series A	22-28 months	Carta
Median founder dilution Series A	18-22%	Carta
Median founder dilution through C	52-62% total	Carta
PE-backed SaaS multiple at exit	8-14x ARR	PitchBook
Median strategic acquisition (2024)	6-9x ARR	451 Research

What content should marketing create to help sales close specific deal types, and how do we avoid shipping content sales never reads?

BRIEF

DETAIL

Source Stack

Verified Financial Benchmarks (2024-2025)

What does the score mean?