# Sales Content Governance Framework

> Defines who owns, approves, updates, and retires every battlecard and playbook, so content stops rotting silently in a shared drive nobody's responsible for.

Free framework for sales leaders. Topic: [Sales Content, Playbooks & Battlecards](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/sales-content-playbooks-battlecards/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/sales-content-governance-framework/

## How to use it

Assign a named Responsible and Accountable owner to every existing asset using the RACI table before adding anything new, then run the Part 8 audit checklist every quarter alongside the Sales Content Effectiveness Calculator to decide what gets promoted, fixed, or retired.

## What's inside

- RACI model for 5 content types (battlecards, playbooks, decks, ROI tools, scripts)
- Intake process for new content requests (who can request, what's required)
- Review cadence per content type (with trigger-based reviews, not just calendar ones)
- Version control and metadata standard (fields every asset must carry)
- Approval gate, who signs off before publishing
- Retirement criteria and process (tied to the Sales Content Effectiveness Calculator)
- Distribution rule, where content lives and how reps find it
- Quarterly governance audit checklist

*Content rots silently unless someone owns each piece by name, this assigns that name.*

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## Part 1: RACI by Content Type

| Content Type | Responsible (creates/updates) | Accountable (final sign-off) | Consulted | Informed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlecards | Product Marketing | Sales Enablement Lead | Sales Reps (top performers), Sales Leadership | All Sales, CS |
| Playbooks (stage-based) | Sales Enablement Lead | VP Sales/Head of Revenue | Sales Managers, Ops | All Sales |
| Decks (pitch/proposal) | Product Marketing | Sales Enablement Lead | Design, top-performing reps | All Sales |
| ROI/Calculators | Sales Ops/Finance liaison | Sales Enablement Lead | Finance, Sales Leadership | All Sales |
| Scripts/Swipe Files | Sales Enablement Lead | Sales Manager (per team) | Reps who authored the win | All Sales |

Every asset must have a named Responsible and Accountable individual: not a team, not “Marketing”: a person, listed in the asset's metadata.

---

## Part 2: Intake Process for New Content Requests

Anyone can request new content, but requests must include:

1. The specific selling scenario this fills a gap for (not “we need more content”)
2. Evidence of the gap: a lost deal, a repeated rep question, a new competitor
3. Proposed owner (Responsible party), a request with no proposed owner goes to the bottom of the queue
4. Urgency tier: Active deal blocker (48hr SLA) / Recurring gap (2-week SLA) / Nice-to-have (next quarterly cycle)

Requests are logged in a single intake tracker (not scattered across Slack DMs) and triaged weekly by the Accountable owner for that content type.

---

## Part 3: Review Cadence

| Trigger | Review Required |
|---|---|
| Calendar: every asset | Quarterly, minimum |
| Product/pricing change | Within 5 business days of the change going live |
| Competitor product/pricing change referenced in a battlecard | Within 10 business days of detection |
| CES score (from Sales Content Effectiveness Calculator) drops into Zombie quadrant | Immediate review: retire or revive within 2 weeks |
| 3+ reps flag an asset as inaccurate or unused | Immediate review, regardless of calendar cycle |

---

## Part 4: Version Control & Metadata Standard

Every published asset carries this metadata block, visible on the asset itself or its cover page:

- Owner (Responsible) name
- Approver (Accountable) name
- Version number (v1.0, v1.1…)
- Last reviewed date
- Next scheduled review date
- Status: Active / Under Review / Retired

No asset without this block is considered published, it stays in draft/internal-review status regardless of how finished it looks.

---

## Part 5: Approval Gate

Before any asset moves from draft to Active status:

- [ ] Accountable owner has signed off in writing (email/ticket, not verbal)
- [ ] At least one rep who'll actually use it has reviewed it for realism
- [ ] Any claim referencing pricing, competitors, or legal/compliance language has been checked against current source-of-truth
- [ ] Metadata block is complete

---

## Part 6: Retirement Criteria & Process

An asset is retired when ANY of the following is true:

- CES score lands in the Zombie quadrant two quarters running
- It references a product, pricing, or competitor claim that's no longer accurate and can't be fixed within one review cycle
- Usage rate is under 10% for two consecutive quarters with no plan to revive it

**Retirement process:**
1. Accountable owner marks status “Retired” with a retirement date and reason
2. Asset is archived (not deleted) with metadata intact, for historical/audit reference
3. Asset is removed from all active distribution channels (enablement platform, onboarding paths, CRM templates) within 5 business days
4. Reps are notified once, with a pointer to its replacement if one exists

---

## Part 7, Distribution Rule

Content lives in exactly one system of record. Every other location (Slack pins, personal folders, email attachments) is a copy, not a source: if a rep finds a conflicting version anywhere else, the system of record wins and the other copy gets deleted, not debated.

---

## Part 8: Quarterly Governance Audit Checklist

- [ ] Every Active asset has complete, current metadata
- [ ] Every asset due for calendar review has been reviewed on time
- [ ] CES scores pulled and Zombie-quadrant assets flagged for retirement
- [ ] Intake tracker reviewed, no request older than its SLA sitting untriaged
- [ ] Distribution channels checked for orphaned/duplicate copies outside the system of record
- [ ] Retired-this-quarter list reviewed with Sales Leadership