How do you set up a Claude Project for your sales team?
Every rep starting from the same playbook, the same price list and the same proof. Six files, one page of instructions and one person who owns it.
A Claude Project is a workspace with its own files and its own instructions, and Claude reads both in every chat you start inside it. For a sales team, that means every rep begins from the same playbook, the same price list and the same proof, instead of a blank chat box and whatever they remember.
To set one up, load six files: who you sell to, how you price, the case studies clients have signed off, how your best rep handles objections, the emails that worked, and your notes on competitors. Then write instructions that tell Claude who it is writing for, how you sound, and what it must never do.
Share it on a Team or Enterprise plan. Reps get view access, and one person owns edits.
It takes an afternoon to build. Keeping it current is the actual job, and that is where most teams let it slide.
Five minutes on why generic AI gives generic answers, and the one move that fixes it: giving it your business to read first.
What a Claude Project actually is
Think of it as a shared desk. Every chat inside the Project sees the same knowledge files and follows the same instructions, so the rep writing a follow-up at 4pm gets the same grounding as the rep writing a proposal at 9am.
A few facts worth knowing before you start, all from Anthropic's own help article on Projects:
- Projects are available on every plan, including free, though free accounts are capped at five.
- Paid plans get more room. On Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise, Claude switches to retrieval when your files get large, which expands how much a Project can hold by up to ten times.
- Sharing needs Team or Enterprise. Members get either "Can view", which lets them chat inside the Project, or "Can edit", which lets them change the files and instructions.
That last point decides how you run it. A Project everyone can edit turns into a junk drawer within a month.
What should go into a sales Project?
Six files. Each has one owner, and each gets a date in the file name, so anyone can see straight away whether it is stale.
| File | What goes in it | Why Claude needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Who we sell to | Your ideal customer by size, industry and trigger, plus who you turn away | Stops it writing to a five-person business when you sell to 150-person ones |
| How we price | Packages, what is included, discount rules, and whether prices are shown in AUD including or excluding GST | Stops it inventing a price or a discount you do not offer |
| Proof we can use | Case studies and numbers each client has approved for public use | Stops it borrowing a result from the wrong client |
| Objections | The ten you hear most, and how your best rep answers each one | Gives every rep your best rep's answers |
| Emails that worked | Five to ten real emails that got replies, with the names removed | Teaches it your voice faster than any description of your voice |
| Competitor notes | Who you meet in deals, where they are strong, where you win | Keeps comparisons fair and specific |
Leave out customer lists, contact exports and anything with personal details in it. The deal-specific stuff belongs in HubSpot, and Claude can read it from there when it needs to (more on that below).
What to write in the instructions
Instructions are the part people rush. They are also where most of the value sits, because they apply to every chat without anyone having to remember to paste them in. Here is a starting point you can copy and edit:
You help the sales team at [Company], a [what you do] business selling to
[who you sell to] across Australia.
Before writing anything, check the Project files:
- "Who we sell to" for fit
- "How we price" for any number, package or discount
- "Proof we can use" for any result or client name
- "Emails that worked" for tone and length
Rules:
1. Never quote a price, discount or result that is not in the Project files.
If one is missing, say so and ask.
2. Only name a client if they appear in "Proof we can use".
3. Show prices in AUD and say whether GST is included.
4. Use Australian spelling.
5. Keep emails under 150 words unless asked for more.
6. Write like a person who knows the product, not like a brochure.
7. If a request needs information about a specific deal or contact, ask for it or use the HubSpot connector if it is turned on.
When you are unsure, ask one question instead of guessing.Rule 1 does the most work. A Project that says "I do not have a price for that" is useful. One that makes up a plausible number is a liability with a nice writing style.
Who should own it?
One person, usually the sales manager or whoever runs sales operations. Reps get view access, which means they can use it all day but cannot change the instructions to suit one deal.
Put a monthly check in the owner's calendar. It takes about twenty minutes: swap in any new pricing, add the case study that got signed off, drop the competitor who stopped showing up, and read five recent outputs to see whether the instructions still produce what you want.
Treat the instructions like your sales playbook, because that is what they have become. If you already have an AI policy, the Project owner is the obvious person to name in it. Our one-page AI policy has a spot for exactly that.
Which six files would your best rep hand Claude?
Most teams find half of them have never been written down.
Where HubSpot fits in
A Project knows your business. It does not know that the Brisbane deal went quiet last Tuesday. That is what the HubSpot connector is for.
With a paid Claude plan and any HubSpot subscription, HubSpot's connector for Claude lets Claude read contacts, companies, deals, notes and emails, and create or update records. It only sees what that user can already see in HubSpot, and it cannot delete anything. HubSpot recommends setting write tools to "Needs Approval", so nothing changes in your CRM until the rep clicks yes. Do that before anyone uses it.
Together the two do the useful thing: the Project supplies your pricing and proof, and the connector supplies the deal history. If you want the detail on where that data goes and what we lock down, read where your data actually goes when Claude reads your CRM and what MCP changes for your CRM.
Three prompts to test it before the team gets it
Run these yourself first. If any answer is wrong, fix the files or the instructions, then run it again.
1. Write a first follow-up email to an operations manager at a 120-person
logistics company who asked about [product] on a call yesterday.
2. A prospect says we are 20% more expensive than [competitor].
Draft my reply.
3. What would you quote a 60-person business for [package]?
Show your working.The third one is the trap. If Claude gives you a number that is not in "How we price", your rule 1 is not strong enough yet.
The Australian bit: what not to put in
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's guidance on commercially available AI products is clear that the Privacy Act applies to personal information going into an AI tool and to anything it produces about a person. It also recommends that organisations do not enter personal information, and particularly sensitive information, into publicly available generative AI tools.
A company Team or Enterprise account is a different thing from a personal chatbot login, but the principle is sound either way. Keep personal details out of the Project files, let the connector read the CRM under each user's own HubSpot permissions, and check your privacy policy mentions AI. From 10 December 2026 it has more to say, which we cover in what you have to disclose about AI in your privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a Team plan to use Claude Projects? No. Projects work on every Claude plan, including free, which is capped at five Projects. You need a Team or Enterprise plan to share a Project with the rest of your sales team.
What files should a sales team put in a Claude Project? Your ideal customer profile, your pricing and discount rules, client-approved case studies, objection handling, emails that got replies, and competitor notes. Leave out customer lists and anything containing personal information.
Can a Claude Project read my HubSpot deals? Not on its own. The Project holds your files and instructions. The HubSpot connector for Claude, available on paid Claude plans, lets Claude read and update HubSpot records within each user's existing HubSpot permissions.
How often should the Project be updated? Monthly is a good cadence for most teams. One owner swaps in new pricing and approved case studies, removes anything stale, and reads a handful of recent outputs to check the instructions still work.
Sources
- What are projects?, Claude Help Center, for plan availability, the free plan limit, expanded knowledge on paid plans and sharing permissions.
- Set up and use the HubSpot connector for Claude, HubSpot Knowledge Base, for plan requirements, permissions and the Needs Approval setting.
- Guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products, OAIC, published 21 October 2024 and updated 17 January 2025.
Want a hand working out what should go in yours? Talk to us. We build on Claude and HubSpot every day.
Who would own your sales Project?
A Project nobody keeps current is worse than a blank chat.