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.
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.
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:
- The specific selling scenario this fills a gap for (not “we need more content”)
- Evidence of the gap — a lost deal, a repeated rep question, a new competitor
- Proposed owner (Responsible party) — a request with no proposed owner goes to the bottom of the queue
- 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:
- Accountable owner marks status “Retired” with a retirement date and reason
- Asset is archived (not deleted) with metadata intact, for historical/audit reference
- Asset is removed from all active distribution channels (enablement platform, onboarding paths, CRM templates) within 5 business days
- 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
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.