The Definitive Guide to Writing Sales Scripts That Convert

The Definitive Guide  to  Writing Sales Scripts That Convert The sales department plays a very vital role in the success of any  business. Sales can actually be compared to oxygen for your business.Without sales, your business will eventually suffocate and die.  While the nature of business has changed and more sales are being made online, sales calls still remain as important as ever.According to a  report by  DiscoverOrg, 55% of high growth companies (companies that have achieved over 40% growth over the last three years) believe that  cold calling  is very important for them.The report also noted that companies that dismissed the importance of cold calling generally experience 42% less growth compared to companies that believe it is important.In addition, 78% of people in decision making decisions say  that they have attended events or made appointments as a result of a cold call or email.If you want to increase the effectiveness of your cold calls and emails, one of your best options is to develop a powerful sales script.So, it comes as a shocker that  40% of sales people do not follow a sales script, opting to just wing it instead, even when various survey show that following a sales script leads to improved sales performance.To help you improve the effectiveness of your cold calls, we took it upon ourselves to create a  step by step  guide on how to create a sales script that converts.But before we get to that, let’s take a minute to understand why exactly you need to use a sales script.WHY YOU NEED A SALES SCRIPT A sales script is essentially a prescribed set of talking points that sales reps use when  reaching out to prospective clients.It often includes the product/service description, the pain points of the prospective client, and the benefits of the product/service.Sometimes, it might also include the price of the product or service, as well as responses to common sales objections and answers to frequently asked questions.Over the years, sales script have developed a bad rap sheet, and many entrepreneurs and sales reps are reluctant to use them. They feel that using a sales script makes them sound phony and robotic.However, the problem usually stems from the desire to follow the script word for word.When used as a guide rather than something you have to follow word for word, a sales script can play an important role in helping your sales department achieve success.Below are some of the benefits of a sales script.It Allows You  to  Keep Your Message ConsistentWhen reaching out to potential clients, it is important to ensure that you are making the same promises to your prospective clients and sending out the same message.A sales script is a great way of ensuring that everyone within your sales department is sending out the same message and maintaining the consistency of your brand.Of course, this does not mean that your sales reps should not be allowed to go “off-script.”They can tweak the sales script  slightly to suit the situation, while at the same time ensuring that the overall message remains  intact.It Improves Lead GenerationWith a sales script, your sales reps are well prepared before they call a prospective client.They know what they are going to say, they have ready answers to questions the client might ask, and they have ready responses to some of the objections the client might give.This sets the stage for a more professional interaction with potential clients and stronger relationships, and ultimately leads to higher conversion rates  and more sales.It is Easy to Revise  and  UpdateAs your business grows, your target market might change or expand, you might increase your offerings, your internal policies will change, and so on. All this changes will require you to change the way you approach prospective clients.Without a guideline, your sales people might be all over the place, and it might take them a while to learn how to incorporate these changes to their sales calls.However, a sales script can be easily revised to incorporate the changes and ensure that all the important points are included.A sales script also allows you to conduct  A/B tests  on your cold calls and evaluate which approach works better.You can then update your script based on your findings, with the full knowledge of what works and what does not.It Keeps You  on  TrackWhen making cold calls, you will usually  be  making the call to a CEO or other senior executive in a decision making position.These people know they are in power positions and they might try to bully you or dominate the conversation, yet you need to be in control of the conversation if you are going to make the sale.If you find yourself getting overwhelmed and nervous because of the power dynamics at play during the conversation, a script can help to keep you on track and ensure you get your message across without getting distracted.If the conversation starts going off-topic,  or if you find yourself at a loss of something to say,  all you need to do is simply refer to your script and ste er the conversation back to the topic at hand.The Sales Script is ScalableOne of the greatest advantages of a sales script is its scalability. Naturally, some people are more talented at selling than others.If you are the top sales guy within your organization, you can test what works for you and then use it to develop a sales script that others in the sales department can use to duplicate your success.While the others might not be talented as you, by giving them your step by step formula for talking to prospects, you can help them achieve the same results you do, thereby increasing the performance of the entire sales department.These are some of the reasons why you should develop a sales script for your cold calls and emails.With  this  out of the way, we can now move to the process of creating a powerful sales script that converts.Before we get  down to writing the sales script, there are a few things you need to get in order. These includeIDENTIFY THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE YOU ARE S ELLINGThe aim of a sales script  should  not  be  to market your company, but rather to sell a particular product or service.If your organization has multiple products and services, you should develop a sales script for each product, rather than trying to sell multiple products at once  or using the same script.Focusing on a single product or service will make your cold calls and emails more effective.DETERMINE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCEBefore you start creating your sales script, you also need to determine who you are selling to. Develop a  buyer persona  of your ideal client. Doing this has two benefits. First, it allows you to tailor your message to ensure that it resonates well with your prospects.Second, knowing your ideal customers will prevent you from wasting your time on prospects who are not interested in your products or services. Instead of  making numerous pitches to all and sundry and getting numerous rejections, focusing on a specific buyer persona allows you to make fewer pitches and at the same time increase your conversions.IDENTIFY BENEFITSThink about the product you are focusing on and identify  its features and see how these  features translate into  benefits  for  your client.Will it help them to cut costs, save time, increase productivity, and so on? While identifying the product’s benefits, you should from your client’s perspective.If a feature on your product or service does not translate into a benefit for the client, don’t mention it.IDENTIFY PAIN POINTS THAT YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE SOLVESOnce again, assume your client’s perspective and think of the  pain points  that might drive them to purchase your product or service.What does your client struggle with?A good way of coming up with pain points is to look at your product’s benefits. Each benefit will usually be tied to a related pain point.CREATE A LIST OF QUESTIONS TO GET THE PROSPECT TALKINGAsking questions is a great way to understand the prospect’s pain points even further an d at the same time determine whether your product or service is a good fit for them.Look at each pain point you came up with in the previous step and use it to  come up with one or two questions that you will use to uncover the prospect’s needs, problems, or goals in relation to your product or service.YOUR SCRIPT TEMPLATEWith the above information ready, we can now move ahead to the actual writing of the sales script. Below are the  elements that  you should  include in your  sales script.A Proper IntroductionThe first thing you need to get right is the introduction.Without a proper introduction, your prospect might hang up before your sales rep even get a chance to explain why they are calling.The introduction should be brief and professional.  Use the prospect’s name to get their attention.As part of the introduction, your sales rep should say their name and the name of the company, and ask the prospect if they have a moment to talk. If the prospect is busy at the moment, you r sales rep should set up a different time to talk. Below is an example of a proper introduction:“Hello  Mr/Ms. {prospect’s name}. This is  {name}  from  {company name}. Do you have a minute to talk?”Short and sweet. This introduction is professional, brief, and shows your prospect that you have respect for their time.Value StatementAfter introducing himself, the sales rep should quickly move on to explaining why he is calling.We have named this section the value statement because the sales rep needs to show the prospective client what value  he or she  stands to gain from the conversation.This is not the point to talk about the features or benefits of your product or service.Instead, the sales rep should give a short statement explaining what problem  your product or service  can solve for  the prospect. Done well, the value statement entices the prospect to continue listening to the call. The value statement should look something like this:“I am calling because we help com panies with {insert the value you provide}, and I wanted  to see if you’d be interested.”Qualifying QuestionsHaving introduced yourself and given your value statement, you should quickly move on to qualifying questions that allow you to determine whether the prospect is part of  your  target audience.Continuing the conversation with someone who is not part of your target audience will only be a waste of  both  your time and theirs. This is where the questions we developed earlier come in handy. Below is an example of how to ask a qualifying question:“I want to make sure that our services will be a good fit for you, so would you mind if I ask you a few questions regarding your work? Great! How do you find the process of hiring technical talent? Have you had any problems when it comes to identifying and attracting technical talent?”Common ProblemsOnce you are sure that the prospective client fits your target audience and is interested in what you have to offer, you can move ah ead to discussing some of the problems faced by your target market. These common problems are the pain points you identified before starting the actual writing of the sales script.Discuss the pain points and find out whether the prospect has any of these pain points. This also opens up an opportunity for them to tell you about  related  problems  they have that  you might not be aware of.Discussing the problems also sets the stage for you to pitch your product or service as the solution to these problems.The statement of common problems should go something like this:“In our conversations with other executives, many have mentioned that they often have problems with {insert the pain points}. Is any of these a problem you are also experiencing?”Information  About  Your Product/ServiceBy this point, you know what problems the prospect is experiencing and you are sure that you can solve them. This is the point where you give the prospect more information about your  company and your  product or service and why it is the best solution for their problems.Remember the benefits you listed earlier? This is where they come in handy.Mention the benefits to the prospect, making sure to tie each benefit to a problem the prospect is experiencing. This section can go like this:“Based on the information you have given me, I think it might be productive for us to have a more detailed conversation. As I mentioned, I am with  {company name}  and we have a product/service that might be perfect for you. We provide {give a brief description of your product/service and the benefits it presents for the prospective client}.”Statements That Establish CredibilityJust because you claim to be able to solve your prospect’s clients does not mean that they will actually believe you.Anyone can get on the phone and claim to be capable of doing anything.If you want the prospective client to take you seriously, it is important to provide some  social proof  to boost your organization’ s perceived credibility.There are two effective ways of doing this.The first one is to mention any notable results you have achieved for other clients, or mentioning a great testimonial you received from a past client.The second method is to mention the names of some huge clients you have successfully worked with in the past. Below is an example of a statement that establishes credibility:“We have also worked with other companies in the industry, such as {insert big name clients you have worked with}. By working with us, {client name} was able to {notable results  you helped the client achieve}.”A Call  to  ActionThe aim of the sales call is to get the prospective client to buy or to schedule an appointment where you can give them more details about your products and hopefully make the sale.Therefore, an effective sales call should end by asking for this.  Be proactive and ask them when they are available for a meeting or a more detailed phone call. Here is how you can do this:â €œSince I called you out of the blue, I don’t want to take a lot of your time. Are you available for a 20-30 minute meeting where we can discuss your challenges in greater detail and see how we can help  you overcome these challenges?”A  Wrap  Up  StatementEnd the conversation by thanking the prospect for their time.  If you have scheduled a meeting or a different time to talk, restate the time and day of the meeting for confirmation and finally provide your contact information in case the prospect needs to get in touch before the next meeting.By following the above steps, you will come up with a great sales script that will make your cold calls more effective and increase your conversion rate.POINTS TO KEEP IN MINDDon’t simply rattle off the words on sales script like a robot. This will only make you sound phony and will turn off your prospects a few seconds into the call, and some might even hang up on you. You should infuse your personality into the script and make it sound as if the words are coming to you naturally, rather than something you are reading. This will make you sound more sincere and will make it easier for your prospects to trust you.Practice makes perfect. If you are working with a sales script that was written by someone other than you, it might feel a bit “scripted” at first. You should practice using the script until it sounds natural  to you.The sales script is not meant to be followed word for word. Sometimes, the situation might force you to deviate from the script, and that is perfectly fine, so long as you don’t forget the reason behind your call. Where necessary, tweak the script according to the client. Remember, the aim is to make the sale, not follow the script.  The script should only be used as a guide to ensure that all the important information has been covered.The most important part of making the sale is to learn to listen to your prospect. Don’t be so focused on following the script that you miss what the pro spect is saying. Listen to them, answer their questions (even unanticipated questions) and focus on creating a rapport with them.It does not matter how charming you are on the phone, your phone call is still an interruption to your prospect’s day. Therefore, don’t keep them on the phone any longer than necessary. Make the call brief and professional and request for a meeting where you can discuss your product/services at length.WRAPPING UPA sales script can be a very valuable tool for your sales department. By following the above guide, you will be able to easily come up with a powerful sales script that converts.To be effective, the sales script should contain a few main elements: a proper introduction, a value statement to explain the reason behind the call, a few qualifying questions, some of your target market’s common problems, information about your product/service, a statement of credibility, a call to action and a wrap up statement.It’s also good to note that a phone call will rarely  go according to the script, so don’t feel the pressure to make sure everything goes as per the script. Remember, the aim of the sales script is simply to act as a guide and ensure that you don’t forget the important points during the conversation.