Do You Have A Sales Script?

As soon as I ask clients this question, I usually get two answers: “Yes, we teach a script, but no one uses it” and/or “No, we don’t like to use one and would rather just keep it casual.”

The first answer is usually from the owner or someone in executive leadership, while the latter is from an actual sales rep.  Nevertheless, both have issues that need to be challenged.  And if one gets a good script, it will greatly increase closing percentages and thus revenue for the company.

Here’s my top 3 reasons for having a sales script:

1. It allows for the sales rep to build value consistently.  What I mean by this is, during the sales meeting, the prospective client only has a limited amount of mental bandwidth to listen and pay attention to you.  As with most business owners, their minds are on a thousand different things all at once, and now they’re trying to sit and pay attention to you, the sales rep.  A good script will allow for the rep to build the most amount of value, using the least amount of words, in the least amount of time.  Thus, when it comes to the close and discussions of costs and terms, the prospective client has the mental fortitude to talk numbers, rather than saying they need to “think about it.”  Not many sales close after someone suggests that they take time to “think about it.”  

2.  It allows for the sales rep to lead the appointment.  Many reps that I have been on training meetings with, don’t lead the time well.  They allow for the client to talk and steer the time.  Also, as all sales reps know, there will be phone calls, customers walking in, sometimes children who are in the office (sick or off of school), or any number of distractions.  If one has a script, it allows for them to know where they are at all times.  When the owner has to run to do something or answer a phone call, a script helps the sales rep know where to pick back up.  It also shows the prospective client that the rep is the one leading the time.  People like to be led through the buying process by an expert, especially when it comes to their business, brand and especially, spending money.  Thus, having a script provides this clear delineation on whose appointment it is and how it should be run.

3.  It helps a sales rep get better at making sales and being coached.  When I travel to field train and coach Market Reps, I look at both their hard skills as well as soft skills.  I listen to how they connect with the client, tone of voice, building value, making clear points, asking good questions and then handling objections (before they even come up).  This would be impossible to do, if they all didn’t follow the same sales script and flow of the entire appointment.  Imagine if a golfer wanted to improve their swing, but each time they swung, it was a different kind of swing?  Where would a coach even begin to help them?  Having a sales script gives the coach a standard to go by (a proven standard).  It also allows for the rep to be able to study, evaluate and get better at something that is proven to help them close better.

In my most recent career path, I was able to help a small company go $600k a year in sales contracts to $1.8 million in contracts, in only 20 months.  This was mostly done through building a good and well proven sales script, off of which we were able to build a sales coaching program.  Our script not only helped our clients enjoy their times with us more, but it helped our sales reps enjoy the sales process more while getting better at their craft.

Do you have a script?  Let me help you build one or revamp an old one.

Send me an email: Jeremy.Rueggeberg@gmail.com