Hello again! First off, sorry for my absence. I could chalk it up to being busy, but the truth is I was kidnapped by pirates and taken to their jungle hideout. It took me a while to escape and then fashion a raft out of trees lashed together with coconut fibers. But I’m back, and I’m excited about helping you suck at sales!
This one’s for anyone who uses any kind of sales script. Odds are you have at least a rudimentary sales script in your head, and you know the four or five talking points that come up in 95% of your sales calls or conversations. Having a sales script can make the entire sales process easier and more automatic.
But it can also make the entire sales process stilted, clunky, and ineffective. So here are 4 ways you can use your sales script to completely destroy your ability to sell anything to anyone ever again.
Read Your Script While You’re Talking on the Phone! Nothing says “I’m selling a product I don’t know or care much about” quite like the awkward cadence of a salesperson who doesn’t even know the next word he or she is planning to say. “Hello!…Well I’m glad you asked that question, because…do we ever have a…solution for you! You’ll be…thrilled at how easy our…” And they’ve already hung up.
Never Deviate From Your Script! It’s true that many sales calls and conversations are fairly straightforward, which is why the idea of a sales script is even possible. But some of them come straight out of left field as people ask questions you could never have anticipated – the nerve of those people! When it happens, though, just stick to your script! That way you won’t have to bother with answering their question or finding a creative solution to their issue. And you also won’t have to bother with making the sale!
Make Sure Your Script Is Written In Ways You Would Never Talk! We all have a different way of speaking. We use different idioms, vernacular, and rhythms, and the ideal sales script has been tailored to your idiosyncrasies. But an ideal world would be boring, and it’s way more fun to try and fit someone else’s words into your own mouth. Doing so, by the way, will almost guarantee that you have to read your script during phone calls, which is what I call a win-win!
Wait for Others to Improve Your Script For You! If you notice that your scripted approach isn’t working and you’re dead certain that you aren’t coming off like a recording, then there’s probably something wrong with the script you’re using. You’re easily the most qualified person to fix it, since you’re the one actually using the thing. Which is why you should patiently wait for someone else to notice your helpless floundering and swoop in to rescue you! Of course, if I’d done that myself, I would never have escaped that pirate island. Hmm…
Hope that helps. A sales script is supposed to be a tool, not a crutch . 
Click to Tweet! So get out there, be creative, be confident, and start making some sales! Because if you don’t, I’m going to find out where you live and beat you up. And then you’ll need a real crutch. Is that what you want?
I didn’t think so.
Jeff Havens is a keynote speaker and corporate trainer who addresses leadership, generational issues, and other areas of professional development through a unique blend of content and entertainment. He has been a regular guest on Fox Business News and featured in CNBC, BusinessWeek, and Bloomberg News. To see more from Jeff Havens, sign up for his monthly email newsletter.
So true. I needed a new roof a few years ago. Got two quotes, having told them specifically I was interested in a ROOF. Company A came in a little lower than Company B. You’d think I’d go with A, all things being equal, right? Only thing that was not equal was that Company A’s salesman’s presentation started with several pages of pictures and talk about… not a roof, but siding. I did not want to know about siding. That told me that the company was not interested in what I was interested in. So I went with the other guys, even though it cost a tad more.
Amen, brother! I’m a sales trainer, and nothing bugs me more than someone insisting on using the “script” to the exclusion of common sense! The dialogue, as I call it, is a roadmap, not a zipline, and you can deviate as necessary. The only thing I insist, whenever possible, is that my salespeople hit as many points of the dialogue as the conversational dynamic allows. Anything more is robotic, anything less is lazy. Great article, and will definitely sign up for your newsletter!