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How to write your own sales call scripts

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2020 7206 7293 | www.leadforensics.com

Love them or hate them, sales call scripts are a necessary and helpful part of the sales process. If used effectively (and this guide will help you), then they will give you the structure you need to secure a healthy pipeline.

Knowing what to say when you’re on a sales call is a skill that some people find easy and others more difficult. Either way, with the right knowledge, training and some practice, it’s possible to improve your skills and write successful scripts.

If you’re a solopreneur, part of a small business, or working within a small sales unit, then it’s likely you’ll be tasked with writing your own scripts. You’ll probably have little, if any, experience in doing so, so it may feel like a steep hill to climb. But don’t worry, we’ve got just what you need. In this guide, you’ll find valuable pointers that will shorten that learning curve and help you get started.

Introduction

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Why should you use a script?

One of the biggest fears people have about using scripts is that they won’t sound natural. And yes, that can be a big problem - when they are used incorrectly. Unlike a script that an

actor may be given to learn, a sales script isn’t meant to be written and then read out line-by-line. If you can get away from that misconception and start treating them differently, then your scripts will become a powerful and very valuable tool in your sales tool box.

The main purpose of a script is to keep you on track and to cement your thoughts. It is to ensure you are crystal clear about what the purpose of the call is, what you want to focus on, what your

desired outcome would be and some alternatives, in case you need to fall back on them.

There are also different types of sales calls and that means different approaches must be taken. For example, introductory calls will naturally be a bit easier, as a sale is unlikely to be the desired outcome. That call’s primary aim will be to qualify a prospect and find out if there is a mutual benefit in continuing the conversation. In contrast, explanatory calls will be about educating a prospect, while closing calls will be where you go for it, and try to close the sale.

For all these different types of calls it helps to have a plan, in the shape of a well thought through structure, before you pick up the phone.

Useful questions to ask yourself while planning a script







Who is the target audience?

The first and most important issue is to fully understand who you are going to talk to. Knowing the buyer personas you want to pursue, will help you a great deal

when it comes to structuring your scripts.

Start by noting down a general description of how each persona is likely to interact with you on a call. Ask yourself: What type of communication do these people generally prefer? How easy or difficult is it to get them on a call?

When it comes to a specific call, however, you need to do your research. Dig about and see what you can find out about the person. See if your generic assumptions are likely to be true. If you’re lucky, they may engage in public conversations via social media platforms such as Twitter, which will allow you to get a better idea of their style.

interaction with your website, your content and other social outposts?

If you don’t have a comprehensive CRM that takes every touch point into consideration (something which can be difficult for smaller businesses) then don’t forget to check in with the various sources that could potentially give you this information.

Once you know where in the buyer journey a lead is, the next question to address is how this will relate to your sales funnel. What you’re trying to decipher here is the kind of sales call that will be the most appropriate at this point in time.

What is the purpose of the call?

Before you pick up the phone you always need to know why you are doing it and what your desired outcome is. If you’re talking to

someone at the beginning of the buyer journey, then it should be an educational conversation, while at the same time allowing you to qualify the prospect. Timing is a particularly important qualifying factor to have in mind, along with your sales readiness indicators.

If they’re further on in the pipeline, perhaps having had a free demo, then it’s time to bring home the sale. The conversation here will be very different. You will want to gently push closing points, such as making arrangement for delivery of the product or service.

Have at least two - but ideally three or four - possible outcomes in mind. If the top outcome you’re going for is that they say, “yes please, where and when can I sign?”, then your second outcome may be to find out any remaining objections (if there are any) so you can adjust the offer as necessary.

When it comes to a specific call, however, you need to do your research.

Have at least two - but ideally three or four - possible outcomes in mind.

The more you know about the person, the easier your call will be. Your script should include information you have learnt, such as injections about the person or their company. Being able to reinforce trust by showing that you care and know about the person and their problems is key to a successful sales call. Of course, sometimes you won’t be able to find out anything beforehand. In these cases, it’s important to be able to be super sensitive to what’s being said and how, so you can adjust your style on the fly.

What stage are they in the buyer journey?

What do you know about them with regards to their potential for purchasing your service? What signals are they giving off? What

does your marketing software tell you about their







Like all good novels, your story needs to have a structure. A good model to follow is the 3fold story structure, which basically means you need a beginning, a middle and an end.

Before you start writing out your script, note down what the desired outcomes are going to be. Have an option A, option B and option C.

Beginning

In the beginning, the most important thing for you to do is quickly build rapport. By this we simply mean you’re aiming to get the other person interested enough to continue the conversation.

Unlike face-to-face conversations where your body language can help you, when talking over the phone it

can be far harder to build a connection. A good tactic to try is asking for permission to talk. i.e. “John, I just wondered if you have 10 minutes free right now to talk about how product X can help you achieve Y?”.

The key to success here is to respect the answer.

How to structure a sales call

If the person says “no” then ask when may be a good time to do so. Your option A outcome (to talk right away) may not have happened, so move on to option B (getting an appointment arranged to talk). Either way, you’ll be securing a positive outcome, as they didn’t just put the phone down on you!

Respecting other people and the fact that they won’t always have time right away, is going to help you build trust in the long term.

Also, make sure you’ve got the basics covered. Check you know how to correctly pronounce their name. If you don’t then ask right at the beginning of the call. This can also help break the ice, as

The key to success here is to respect the answer.

it’s likely they will be used to their name being mispronounced, so they’ll appreciate someone being conscientious enough to ask, and not just assume.







Referring to the individual by name, during the conversation, is a method used by sales teams the world over. Just be careful you don’t overdo it, as it can quickly sound forced and anything but authentic - which is what you’re going for. It needs to flow naturally like the rest of your conversation.

If you’re wondering how much small talk you should make, the answer is ‘how long is a piece of string?’. In the end, it’s a question of being a good listener and figuring out while talking to the person, what they would prefer. They may want to let off some steam via small talk, or they may prefer you get straight to the point. This is something you can only learn through experience and by analyzing your sales calls.

to remain focused on the outcome you’re aiming for and to steer it in that direction. If you’re qualifying a prospect, then you’ll be asking a lot of questions to try and reveal the information you need. Keep it conversational, as the last thing you want to do is sound robotic, or like an interrogator. There’s an art to steering a conversation in the way you want it to go, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t go so well to start with. It will

get better with more experience and practice. Just keep going and don’t worry too much about messing up.

What is the nature of the call? If it’s educational, you will probably talk more. If it’s qualifying a lead, then you’ll probably talk less. And when it comes to a closing call, you should talk even less and simply aim to nudge the person to the necessary conclusion. Again, practice makes perfect with this.

In the end, it’s a question of being a good listener and figuring out while talking to the person, what they would prefer.

There’s an art to steering a conversation in the way you want it to go, so don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t go so well to start with.

Keep it conversational, as the last thing you want to do is sound robotic, or like an interrogator.

If there have been any previous interactions, either with you, or if the prospect has interacted with a colleague, or even your website, then make a point of bringing this back to their attention. “Did you find the e-book on xyz covered everything you wanted to know?” is a good line when you know that they recently downloaded an e-book. Just be aware, if the download happened more than a week ago they most likely won’t remember, in which case you may need to rephrase your question, or not even ask it. Key points:

• Ask permission to talk

• Use their name correctly

• Build rapport and trust by engaging in the right level of small talk

• Reference their past experiences with your company

Middle

Once you’ve started a conversation, it’s important

In the middle stage of your conversation, try to find some meaningful ways to make a couple of promises. This is your opportunity to show you can

promise something and deliver it. For example, over the course of the conversation, it may come up that the other person has heard about a new industry report. If you know about it too then you







may offer to find and send the information across to them.

Make a note and fulfil your promise immediately after the call. It goes without saying that it’s vital you don’t promise anything you can’t do. If you know it’s unlikely then don’t offer it. Stick to the easy, low hanging fruit. Listen for any clues as to how you could help the other person, then make a promise and deliver on it fast.

Connecting people is also a great way to keep in a prospect’s good books. Learn the art of networking and look for opportunities to help connect people. You will reap the rewards many times over.

The most effective sales people have developed a real intuition for this and will use it to their full advantage. Very few people are born with this ability though and instead will acquire it through experience and making many calls. It may be tempting to give up, if it’s not clicking and you don’t feel you’re making any progress, but the truth is, without tenacity and persistence you’re never going to close any sales.

Make a note and fulfil your promise immediately after the call. Key points:

• Steer the conversation towards your desired outcomes

• Keep it natural without making it feel like an interrogation

• Understand the nature of the call - what’s expected and what’s not

• Make easy to deliver promises

• Connect people within your network

End of the call

Now it’s time to bring it home and achieve your most wanted outcome. It takes instinct and awareness to decide during the call which of your options is going to be the best one to push for. Remember, no option

is better or worse, they’re all just options.

In any sales conversation, you want to move talks on to the next level. If the other person won’t play ball, there is no way it will happen. Sometimes that simply means is may take a little longer. People generally don’t like to be pushed, so you always need to be on your guard and assessing if it’s ok to go that bit further, or whether you should back off.

One (not so) secret top tip is to close a sale by making arrangement for delivery. Instead of asking “When can I come over for you to sign the papers?” ask “When do you want to take delivery?”. Depending on their answer, you will have gained a valuable insight into just how close you are to closing the deal. You are in fact painting them a picture of what it will be like once they have your product and can subtly remind them they still need to order it.

After the call

The process doesn’t end when you put the phone down. After a call has finished, make sure you record in your CRM all the information you have gathered, but also take a moment to conduct a debrief

on how the call went. Ask yourself:

• Did I achieve my goal? If yes, how? If not, why not?

• What did I do well?

• What could I have done better?

• What have I learned with this call?

• What am I going to change in future?

By investing some time in self-development, you will very quickly master and improve your sales calls. Make sure you refer back and use the information you’ve gained, to help you improve your next script.

People generally don’t like to be pushed.







Never read off the page

When you have a script in front of you it can be tempting, especially if you’re nervous, just to read it out. Don’t! No one likes talking to a robot, your conversation needs to be natural. Use your script for role

playing and practice, but during a call only use it as a brief to remind you of the key elements you want to cover. It’s good practice to write scripts out but to then have a summary of the key points for use during the call, to remove any temptation to read it out.

5 top tips for writing scripts and using them

Role play your scripts

Role plays are pretend situations, which means they often feel awkward and difficult, but they serve a useful purpose. They will help you practice

speaking the words and give you an opportunity to hear them spoken out loud. That will help you see where you may need to adjust what you’re saying to make it sound more natural. If you train often enough (and that means not just once but as an ongoing exercise), then you will have your own voice in the back of your head during your real calls, whispering the right words at the right time.







Start with fully worded scripts

Start by writing everything out in full, then put it into your own language and delete the punctuation. We never speak with punctuation; our conversations are never that neat. In real life, our thoughts constantly flow. We don’t finish sentences, we interrupt, we stop mid-sentence…the list goes on. Scripts sound wrong when they are learnt by heart, so don’t do it. To come across as natural as possible, use script writing so you know what to talk about and role play to practice your delivery.

Record yourself

You may cringe at the thought of hearing yourself speak, or even worse watching a video recording, but it can a great way to improve what you’re doing. It takes time to get used to how you actually come across, which is why it’s so

helpful to listen or watch yourself back. Record your solo practices, role plays and (if you have permission) your actual conversations. It may be painful in the beginning, but over time it will pay dividends in honing your skills and helping you sound much more natural.

Attend an improvisation class

There’s no better way to get your head around thinking on your feet than by attending an improv class. It is one of the easiest ways to learn how to loosen up in any conversation.

Plus, it’s fun to do and will take you out of your comfort zone, so no call should ever phase you again.

Finally, once you’ve developed a couple of sales scripts and have used them in your sales calls - don’t forget to revisit and evaluate, either alone or with your team. There’s always going to be more room for improvement.







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