If you're in B2B sales, you know the slog: endless email threads, decks nobody reads, and "custom" proposals that are just copy-paste jobs. If you’re using Journey to send sales materials, you’re already ahead of the game. But if you’re just dropping your old PDFs into their templates and hoping for the best, you’re missing out.
This guide is for sales teams, sales ops, and anyone tired of deals getting stuck in the mud. You’ll learn how to actually customize Journey templates—the right way—to cut the busywork and keep your sales cycles moving.
Why Templates Matter (But Only If You Do Them Right)
Let’s get real: most sales templates are either so generic they’re useless, or so bloated nobody reads them. The whole point of using Journey’s templates is to make it easier for your buyers to say “yes”—not just to tick a box for your CRM.
Done right, customized templates should:
- Save your team hours each week
- Help buyers actually understand what you’re selling (and why it matters to them)
- Cut out the “can you send me more info?” back-and-forth that drags deals out
Done wrong, they’re just one more thing for people to ignore.
Step 1: Audit Your Existing Process (Skip This, and You’ll Regret It)
Before you start tinkering with Journey templates, stop and get clear on what’s actually slowing you down.
Ask yourself (and your team):
- Where do deals get stuck? (Is it waiting for legal, getting approvals, or just radio silence?)
- What info do buyers always ask for, even after you “send everything”?
- Which parts of your current templates do you actually use, and which are just filler?
Pro tip: Don’t just trust your gut. Pull up a few recent deals—look at email chains, buyer questions, and what materials they engaged with. Patterns pop up fast.
What to ignore: Fancy graphics and “brand storytelling” slides that nobody reads. Focus on clarity and the info your buyers genuinely need.
Step 2: Pick the Right Journey Template (Don’t Overcomplicate This)
Journey comes with a bunch of templates—proposals, onboarding guides, mutual action plans, and more. The trick is to start simple.
- Choose the template that matches your sales stage. Don’t try to mash onboarding steps into a proposal, or vice versa.
- If you’re not sure, start with the “Mutual Action Plan.” It’s flexible and makes next steps clear for both sides.
What works: Templates that lay out what you need from the buyer and what they get from you, side by side.
What doesn’t: Templates overloaded with your product’s features or company history. Nobody cares (yet).
Step 3: Strip It Down—Less Is More
Here’s where most teams mess up: they add more to templates, thinking it’ll help. In reality, the best sales templates are ruthless about what they include.
How to trim the fat:
- Delete any slide or section you wouldn’t read if you were the buyer.
- Use plain language. If you can’t explain it simply, you probably don’t understand it well enough.
- Highlight only the essentials: pricing, timeline, deliverables, and who’s responsible for what on both sides.
Pro tip: The more time you spend explaining things in a call, the less you need to write in the template. Use it as a reference, not a script.
Step 4: Personalize Without Creating Extra Work
The point of customizing isn’t to rewrite everything for every deal. It’s to make small tweaks that show you’ve done your homework.
- Have a “swap-in” section for buyer-specific info: their logo, their goals, or a quick summary of what matters to them.
- Pre-build content blocks for common scenarios: industry-specific case studies, pricing tiers, or integration details.
- Set up merge fields for names, dates, and details—Journey supports this, so you’re not copy-pasting every time.
What to ignore: Personalizing every line. Nobody expects you to write War and Peace for each prospect. Focus on the parts they’ll actually notice.
Step 5: Make Next Steps Blindingly Clear
If there’s any ambiguity about what happens after you send the template, you’re giving buyers an excuse to stall.
- Add a “Next Steps” checklist or timeline. Spell out exactly what happens after they say yes.
- Assign tasks: Who needs to sign off? Who’s scheduling the kickoff? Make it obvious.
- Include your contact info and a clear call to action: “Reply with questions” or “Book a time to review together.”
What works: Bullet points, dates, and real names. Not vague “we’ll be in touch” promises.
Step 6: Test With Real Deals, Not Just Your Team
You can spend hours tweaking templates, but you won’t know if they work until you use them in the wild.
- Send your new template to a real prospect. Watch how they interact with it—Journey’s analytics can show you what gets clicked (and what doesn’t).
- Ask for honest feedback. Buyers are usually happy to tell you what’s useful and what’s confusing.
- Iterate fast. Don’t wait for perfection; update as you learn.
What to ignore: Internal feedback that’s all about “brand voice” or “on-message.” If buyers don’t care, neither should you.
Step 7: Build a Template Library (But Don’t Make It a Graveyard)
Once you’ve got a few templates that actually work, save them so your team can use them. But don’t let your library turn into a junk drawer.
- Keep only what gets used. Archive anything that sits untouched for more than a quarter.
- Add notes on when to use each template. Make it easy for new reps to pick the right one.
- Review quarterly. Toss what’s outdated, and keep things fresh.
Pro tip: If you find yourself constantly tweaking a section, turn it into a modular block you can drop in anywhere.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Trying to automate everything. Some personalization is worth the time. Blind automation feels, well, automated.
- Over-designing. Stick to clean, readable layouts. Fancy graphics can actually slow buyers down (and break on mobile).
- Getting precious about “the perfect template.” Sales cycles change. What works today might not work next quarter. Stay flexible.
Keep It Simple. Iterate As You Go.
Customizing templates in Journey isn’t about making everything “on brand” or impressing your marketing team. It’s about making life easier for your buyers—and for yourself.
Start small. Swap in what works, cut what doesn’t, and don’t be afraid to experiment. The fastest sales cycles usually come from teams who keep things clear, simple, and human. That’s how you actually close deals faster—not by adding more tabs to your proposal.
Now, go clean up your templates. Your future self (and your buyers) will thank you.