Dien Rice
October 10, 2008, 04:04 PM
Every word of every movie you see is scripted... and yet...
Hi TW,
I think what Sandi is getting at is that people can "sense" when someone is speaking strictly from a script.
As you know, I'm sure, sales is in part about creating rapport with the customer. In order to do that, you have to have freedom to change what you say - to empathize with them when you need to, and to make light-hearted jokes when you need to. (Each person would do it differently, depending on their personality.)
So good salespeople make it "natural" - they "customize" what they say to fit the person on the other end of the phone line.
You can use a script as a guideline, of course. But I'd use it as a starting point. The goal is not to follow a script, the goal is to make the sale - and sometimes to make the sale, you have to deviate from the script.
I'm pretty sure that's probably what Sandi is getting at. (I have some selling experience too, though not as much as many of the sales experts here!)
By the way, the script you wrote initially sounds to me to be a bit too confrontational. In my opinion, being too confrontational doesn't usually work on the phone, since it makes people uncomfortable and they will just hang up.
In contrast, Glenn's script questions are non-threatening and non-confrontational, and in my opinion that type of approach would probably get a better response.
The only way to know for sure if it will work is to test it!
Best wishes,
Dien
Hi TW,
I think what Sandi is getting at is that people can "sense" when someone is speaking strictly from a script.
As you know, I'm sure, sales is in part about creating rapport with the customer. In order to do that, you have to have freedom to change what you say - to empathize with them when you need to, and to make light-hearted jokes when you need to. (Each person would do it differently, depending on their personality.)
So good salespeople make it "natural" - they "customize" what they say to fit the person on the other end of the phone line.
You can use a script as a guideline, of course. But I'd use it as a starting point. The goal is not to follow a script, the goal is to make the sale - and sometimes to make the sale, you have to deviate from the script.
I'm pretty sure that's probably what Sandi is getting at. (I have some selling experience too, though not as much as many of the sales experts here!)
By the way, the script you wrote initially sounds to me to be a bit too confrontational. In my opinion, being too confrontational doesn't usually work on the phone, since it makes people uncomfortable and they will just hang up.
In contrast, Glenn's script questions are non-threatening and non-confrontational, and in my opinion that type of approach would probably get a better response.
The only way to know for sure if it will work is to test it!
Best wishes,
Dien
