Are You Scripted Yet?

There are books and seminars, webinars and white papers floating around the Internet these days, all of which have one theme in common: they all say business cold calling is a colossal waste of time.Why would people think that? One reason is many have tried it, struggled with it, and eventually given up. They didn’t have a plan of attack, they just picked up the phone and relied on their experience to help them wing it.

Really bad idea.

Next time you’re tempted to give up on cold calling, try putting a little more thought into your approach. Try writing a script to help you connect with decision makers.

Why use scripts?

·          A script in front of you for ready-reference will allow you to hear the other person. I know, that sounds exactly backward, doesn’t it? Aren’t you supposed to write a script to sell better? Give a better sales pitch? Well, yes, and no.

·          A written script will help you focus on listening to what’s being said, then allow you to say something back to give the correct response.

·          A written script will help you maintain the flow and control the conversation. You will learn to create the response by the way you say it with the words you use. The script will quickly become more verbal, but it starts with the best effort you can give it to write it down first. Then the script becomes more verbal and natural.

·          Remember, listening carefully is more important that what you actually say.

·          A written script should never be memorized — instead a written script should be internalized.

·          A written script makes you sound completely professional. You won’t stray or make things up on the fly. Most importantly, it allows you to hear yourself measured against your best standard.

Three facts about cold calls:

1. All responses will be predictable. Write down what you predict they will say in advance. Spend some time doing this – you’ll be amazed at your psychic ability.
2. All responses will be topical. People you speak with generally stay on topic because you picked the topic.
3. All responses will be a story. Let them tell their story, don’t cut them off. Then you’ll get to tell your story. We all communicate in stories.

In our next post, we’ll discuss who your real competitor is in cold calling (and it’s not who you think it is).

Take the challenge to implement these simple ideas in the front end of your sales process. Cold calling is not hard just because everyone says it is. It’s hard because you’ve never really tried to do it the right way, and we can help with some great suggestions based upon our experiences.

Stay tuned and we’ll tell you more as we go.