From time immemorial, cold calling has been an effective way to get clients for products and services. Existing in various forms, its effect is known to increase sales exponentially. The role a great cold call sales script plays in the cycle is exceptionally crucial. Although coming up with out-of-the-box sale scripts takes time, it’s worth every bit of it.
Similarly, the amount of time put into rehearsing and filming a 3-minute advertisement that converts viewers to customers is the same for a phone sales script. Irrespective of the time spent in perfecting your cold calling sales script, the result will always outweigh the effort, which is why you should design your sales script meticulously, paying attention to every detail; most importantly, the unique selling proposition of what you are offering and the needs it fulfills. A successful sales script connects potential clients to the company and turns them into loyal clients.
What’s more, though a sale script is advised for cold calling, it should not be followed verbatim i.e word for word.
Every salesperson should be versatile and be able to answer any question concerning the products and services offered. You should ensure that you have all the benefits of what you are selling at your fingertips, even if it’s not in the sales script you follow. In essence, you should be able to improvise.
Essential Ingredients of an Effective Sales Script
Some essential ingredients are necessary for a near-perfect sales script, and they are:
Opening Sales Script
A cold call script should start with an interesting open-ended question that lures the prospect to be more interested in what you have to say. Try using an ice breaker or a basic greeting. Once you get your response, move straight to your pitch.
Your pitch
Certainly, there will be no call if there was no pitch to be made, so you’d want to do your best to impress the person on the other end of the line. This is how it goes – You should start with a brief introduction of the company or organization you represent and explain why you are calling, all in the same breath.
Refrain from going round in circles, you don’t want the person to get bored, but give them enough information to help them paint a clear picture of why you’re calling and where you’re calling from.
Stephan Schiffman opines that a cold call’s introductory statement should be a straight sentence. That is, it should be summarized into a statement or two, let your focal point be on how to make the prospect understand why you should be offered an appointment. After your pitch, you must find a professional way to work on the psychology of the prospect you are speaking to by shaping the response you intend to receive.
Shape the response
Allow the prospect to desire an appointment with you by shaping the response you receive. But how do you achieve this? It’s simple, by reiterating affirmative statements such as “I am convinced beyond all reasonable doubt that you will be interested in this product (or service) just as my other clients such as James Ruthler of Apple and Sharon Smith of Samsung.”
In a nutshell, you just need to give few recognizable names, but if you don’t have one, you can simply stop at “my other clients”. Try not to ask if your prospect is interested in your product or service because most times the answer will be ‘No’. So, pre-empt their response by shoving the popularity and benefit of your product or service in the prospect’s face, without apologies. The worst reply is a ‘No’ but most assuredly, there will be more positive responses than negative ones says, Schiffman.
Finalise your call
After you have successfully done all that’s to be done, the last step is to make your prospect agree to what you are offering. In this part, you want to ask a direct question and most likely if the prospect has not cut the call by now, you are in. Peradventure the result is negative; keep the door open by asking for the email address so that you can follow up. You can also offer to send a newsletter or brochure and you are home and dry!
Tom Abbot’s recommended elements for an effective phone sales script are worth taking into context, and these are:
- The Introduction
- Building Rapport
- Establishing credibility
- Provide the reason why you are calling
- Gain Commitment
- Conclude
Take a look at this example which follows the points above:
Good Morning I am Jason Anders from My ex and I Ltd. I work with My Ex and I as the production manager. We met at the Mall when you were picking out a dress for your god-daughter sometime last week. I told you about our services and you asked that I give you a call. What we do is assist companies with logistics and supply chain management and in turn, help them reduce the overhead cost of carrying out this service on their own. This is our 15th year specialising in this and just like Carson’s and Sons took up our services, we are sure that you will be interested in what we have to offer. Do you mind if I come for a presentation at a convenient time next week?
Summary
In a sales call script, avoid the temptation to recite what you may have memorised. Rather, flow with the direction of the call. This is because, no matter how much you cram, you may fail to get the key points of your pitch to the prospect.
Don’t forget that every prospect is different and will in most cases have different questions so you cannot be like an answering machine but a natural salesman or woman who is well armed with the knowledge of the products and services being offered. The most important thing is that you pass the message across as clear, concise and juicy as possible.
Read 4 Great Sales Scripts for Contacting New Prospects on the Phone
