I did a teleconference a few weeks ago with people who were new in sales and new to prospecting. The focus of the call was to help participants get beyond fear and understand their prospecting process.
One of the participants on the call told me that she had
been given the telephone prospecting script that her team
leader uses to set appointments. The team leader was a
highly successful sales professional who had been in the
business for many years and made quite a lot of money. The
participant, who had been in the business for approximately
a week, told me that she was going to work with the script
and “make it her own.”
“No!” I cried out. “Don’t do that! Don’t make it your own!”
My reasoning? This participant was a beginner. She knew
nothing about sales or prospecting. She had a script that
was crafted by someone who was highly successful on the
telephone. This particular participant did not know enough
to make it her own. More than likely, in making the script
her own she would eliminate all of the powerful, persuasive
and motivating language used by the sales super star who
had given her the script.
Some words are better than others. Some words are stronger
and more evocative than others. When you are on the phone
with a prospect, you have about 10 seconds to grab and hold
your prospect’s attention. If you do not do that within
that first 10 seconds, your call is more than likely over.
If you get through that first 10 seconds, that buys you
another 10 seconds. If you get through that 10 seconds it
buys you yet another… and so on… 10 seconds is not a
lot of time. To get through those 10-second increments, you
want to use the most powerful words that you have at your
disposal.
If you are a beginner it is entirely possible, indeed even
likely, that you may not be comfortable with certain
powerful words or phrases. They may be very unlike your
usual way of speaking. Even if you’ve been in sales for a
while you might be set in your ways, accustomed to a
certain delivery, and changing that might feel
uncomfortable.
I’ve met many people who say they do not want to work with
scripts because then they “cannot be themselves.”
Remembering that your prospecting call happens in 10-second
increments, you want to be the very best self that you can
be, every time. That requires preparation.
One of the things that I’ve always loved about being in is
sales is that it is crystal clear. You always know exactly
where you are. You are either scheduling appointments, or
you’re not. You are either closing, or you’re not.
If you are new to sales and a successful professional gives
you their script-don’t change a word. That script will be
your gold mine. If you’ve been in sales for a while and
want to try out a new script, test it first. Your old
script becomes your baseline. For example, make 30
prospecting calls using your usual script and keep track of
the number of appointments that you schedule. Then make 30
more prospecting calls using your new script exactly as
written. Keep track of the number of appointments that you
schedule. At the end of those 60 calls you will know which
script works better. That becomes your new baseline.
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Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,†is a sales
trainer, author and sales coach who helps entrepreneurs,
business owners and sales professionals gain confidence,
reach more prospects, close more sales and make more money!
Pick up her free report, ‘How to Write an Effective Cold
Calling Script’ at http://www.queenofcoldcalling.com and
create a compelling script that grabs and holds your
prospect’s attention
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