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Using a good sales script can maximize time with prospectBy Iain Macfarlane
This principle applies whether you are proactively making the contact, in person or by phone, or whether you are reacting to the contact being initiated by the prospect. To achieve this goal, it may be wise to create scripts for your sales team to use. It's important to recognize that the scripts sales teams use will be very important to maximize conversion of prospects to new customers. But a successful script needs to be based on a successful idea. It will not matter how you present a product or service if it is uninteresting, unappealing or unaffordable. So for starters, seriously evaluate the overall offer you are making to the prospect. Is what you're offering really worth the effort of marketing it? Four important principles There are four key principles beyond the actual words used to developing effective sales scripts. 1. Identify the target market: You're not going to generate appropriate interest nor do you want to invest any cost in talking to people who would not be candidates for the product or service. 2. Process: It is necessary to plan the process of the sale. For example, business-to-business sales will usually take several steps before the sale is made, whereas a retail store sale may be completed on the first interaction with the prospect. 3. Appropriate urgency: In most cases, buyers can put off a purchase indefinitely. So if you don't provide a reason to take some action now, then the script will be unlikely to work. 4. You focus: The script must always be focused on the customer. If the scripting is based on "I" and "we", then the wording will tend to be boring to them and you can't bore people into buying. For example, you could say, "it seems like you need this ... by buying from us, YOU will get the following benefits and YOU have told me how important that will be." Essential steps in script In developing scripts, there are a number of consistent elements that need to be incorporated. Greeting: Get this right. It sets the tone for what follows. Include a greeting that announces your name, company and asks how the prospect is. Make sure you listen and allow time for the response, as this will set a comfortable tone. Outline the reason for the call/visit: Explain why you are calling and ask for permission to continue and detail the process you'll be going through. And then ask, "Is it OK if we go through the call that way?" This may surprise the respondent as a different approach, but that's good. You want to stand out, giving the impression this call is different and that you are a professional. Ask open-ended questions: It is important to ask questions that initially cannot be answered by just "yes" or "no." Ask questions that encourage the prospect to do the selling for you. Briefly explain the benefits of your product or service that are appropriate to the prospect and then say, "What benefits do you see in having a product (or service) that will do that for you?" Get agreement: The above questioning approach makes it easy for the prospect to say, "Yes, it would be a good idea to deal with you." This is the approach to get feedback from the prospect. If the response still leaves you looking for the confirming agreement, the "yes" agreement, propose an additional benefit (never 'give away' all your benefits on the first round) and then say, "You can see the sense in what I'm saying, can't you?" Once you have agreement on this, proceed to propose the next step in finalizing their commitment. Deal with objections: This most likely will be part of the process. Get the prospect to elaborate and acknowledge that what they are saying is true for them at this time ... and then use your standard replies to known objections (knowing what the most likely objections will be is part of the preparation for any sales contact). But remember that you will not be able to sell to people at this time if they legitimately do not have the means to buy or if they absolutely have no interest in buying. Close and take the next step: When you have an agreement, when you have dealt with the objections as above, you will then try an assumptive close, "We'll make an appointment now ... would you prefer tomorrow or Thursday?" Or, "Would you like to open an account or would you prefer to pay by check or a credit card?" If this presumptive close fails and they say "No," "Not yet," or "I don't want to," then you will say, "I thought you were ready to get the process under way ... is there anything else you have not told me?" This again allows you to deal with objections and move to another presumptive close. Developing scripts is a critical part of the sales process. It is part of the preparation that any member of the sales team should make before contacting a prospect. However, the script must allow for the human element of each sales person to show through. It shouldn't feel artificial or rigid. By developing scripts, and testing with feedback from the sales team, your business will develop a highly effective sales tool to improve prospect-to-customer conversion rates. And importantly, the whole sales team will have a consistent framework to follow to provide a like-minded approach to all prospects regardless of who from the sales team is speaking to the prospect. This approach will also provide an immediate procedure for training new sales team members and will make them more productive quicker. Iain Macfarlane is the president and founder of BizCOACHING & Associates in Madison, a franchise of Action International. He was named "Coach of the Year 2005." iainmacfarlane@action-international.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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