Examples of scripts for communicating with clients. Telephone sales scripts - examples. Switches to decision maker

My favorite area among sales scripts is telephone communication. Since in the case of a telephone conversation everything is quite predictable and understandable.

You tell client A, he gives you B, C or D. All that remains is to take the telephone sales script, find B, C or D and read the answer.

But in order for everything to become so easy and wonderful, you need to learn how to write these scripts and understand what they are made of.

Basic moments

In our blog we have already written a sufficient number of articles on various topics on scripts and this article is a kind of excerpt of all knowledge, so we will briefly and to the point go over each topic of interest.

For a deeper study of the required area, you will see links to relevant materials throughout the article.

Let's start with the obvious, an explanation of the two strange words “sales script”. In other words, this is your ideal and standardized seller, implemented in the form of text instructions.

Such a miracle sample is written either by an outsourcing company (like us) or independently.

The most important thing is that these are written by actual salespeople, not theorists. Otherwise, besides putting the conversation script in a frame, it will no longer be useful.

Script from a theorist... Ugh

You can debate for a long time whether a company needs a sales script or not. I'll tell you what I need. And not because we develop them, but because it definitely won’t make anyone worse.

It will be useful for any sales manager. Those who sell poorly will be able to sell well with it, and those who sell well will do it perfectly.

I just beg you, there is no need to say that sales scripts are always heard. This is wrong. Unlearned scripts can be heard.

That's why I don't like all kinds of things so much. After all, it is from them that the manager reads the script and looks as robotic as possible. From all this the conclusion follows:

Important. Any script must be learned, and not read from a sheet or computer screen.

The right approach

Imagine an “apple”. Which apple did you imagine? Green? Red? Or even apple?

The same goes for a telephone sales script. As part of a script conversation on the phone, you can go in dozens of different directions.

Therefore, now we will look at what script you need and where to start. We looked at this in more detail in the article.

Script type

As I wrote above, there are dozens of different scenarios for talking with a client on the phone. Here is a list of the most popular orders in our company:

1. Cold calling scripts;
2. Scripts for incoming calls;
3. Scripts for processing an application from the site;
4. Scripts for calling back after measurement;
5. Client resuscitation scripts.

I have ranked them by priority. And now, with a greater degree of probability, I “want” that you came for point 1 or 2.

But my advice to you is to read this article not as instructions on how to write one of the scripts, but as a guide on how to write a sales script for any situation.

After all, increasing the effectiveness of all calls can easily increase your sales by 20-40%.

For those eager to receive specific instructions on writing an incoming and outgoing sales script, here are two of our materials, you can use them as a template. Everything is described in great detail and with examples:

Or immediately leave this task in the hands of professionals. We recommend ourselves as an advertisement :)

Strategy and tactics

The default for everyone in any conversation is a sale, or better yet, money in the till. But let's be realistic.

If your product is not an elixir of youth, then the client will go through certain stages before making the final decision.

This means you need to think over a strategy for communicating with the client, think conceptually about what you will offer and how to “enter”.

After all, now, in the same cold calls, calling and simply offering “mutually beneficial cooperation” will no longer work.

In the best case scenario, they will hang up, in the worst case scenario, they will say everything they think about you. There are a lot of options for “entries”, for example:

1. In an incoming call, we guide you according to the price range and then sign up the client for a measurement, and only then during the measurement we tell you the exact cost.
2. In an outgoing call, you can go with the classic scheme - sending for services on the first contact, or more interestingly, on the first contact, agree on free technical service for their company for a month.
3. When resuscitating a client, you can simply find out why they haven’t come to you for a long time. Or you can package this into a real show, where the director of the company calls and evaluates the work of his employees.

The more competitive your market is, the more original and unusual you need to be. Including, depending on the decision maker, the strategy may also change.

Because what is valuable to an engineer is not valuable to the owner. What is valuable to a woman over 40 is no longer valuable to a girl under 20.

Tactics

When you conceptually understand where to move and what you will do, you can move on to working out the stages.

With the classic strategy of filling out an application, there will be no problems with this task, everything is quite simple and logical. The main thing is not to forget about the stage of up-selling and identifying needs.

With complex strategies you will have to use your brain. For example, in one outgoing call we took a tricky route and our stages looked like this:

1. Greetings;
2. Offer head-on;
3. Agreement to send the CP;
4. Clarification of needs;
5. Presentation;
6. Closing for the meeting.

Looking at this sequence, it may seem that we do not understand anything about the sales stages and have violated everything we could.

But this was all done deliberately and this scheme shows amazing results. Since it is not standard and the client does not expect such a course of events.

Therefore, before writing the script, decide on the tactics (stages), which will be the reference points, if missed, the manager will be punished, including exile to Siberia.

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Techniques and tricks

Therefore, in this block I will tell you the basic rules, techniques and tricks when creating a telephone sales script.

Quick start

It’s great if the beginning of the conversation doesn’t start like everyone else’s. I'm not talking about going out and inventing a new bike.

I'm talking about the fact that you need to do 1-2 phrases/words, not like everyone else. These words can be either your position or a non-standard recognition of the opportunity to speak now.

For example, it’s not just Ekaterina who answers the phone, but specialist Ekaterina. Also, it is not the manager Vasily who calls, but the head of the department Vasily.

Or do you say not “Is it convenient to talk now?”, but “Take a couple of minutes, I’ll tell you about the purpose of the call. Fine?".

Seizing the initiative

My favorite topic, which I broadcast on everyone. Managers need to have conversations at all times.

They should be asking questions, not the client asking them. And if a client suddenly gets on the horse, you need to throw him off as quickly as possible, namely, seize the initiative. Rough, but honest.

This is done quite simply and quite naturally; your task is to close each answer with a question.

Moreover, it is advisable to make the answer as short as possible so that there is nothing to cling to.

For example, “Yes, we can do this. What volume are you interested in?” or “I’m calling to find out the need and save time, tell me, do you print more than 1000 documents a day?”

Name

Calling the client by name is a sales accordion. But in reality only a few do this.

Therefore, within the framework of a telephone conversation script, it is very important to insert “Client Name” throughout the entire structure. Moreover, this must be inserted not only at the beginning of each phrase, but also in the middle.

When making an outgoing call, calling your name at the beginning of the conversation helps to focus the interlocutor's attention on you.

Important. The telephone sales script needs to be learned, otherwise sales managers will foolishly read phrases like “Client’s name” out loud instead of substituting the name.

Objections

In addition to the dialogue itself, you must write . Without them, the script will not be complete and you will join the ranks of people saying “Scripts don’t work.”

Customers always object on the phone and that's normal. This is psychologically embedded in us from childhood, when we are accustomed to hearing from our parents one thing - yes, nine - no.

There are a huge number of different techniques when creating objections, you will see my favorite below in the video.

And here the basic rules for selling services over the phone are supplemented with one more:

Never contradict a client. When talking on the phone with a client, you have very little credibility to prove that you are right.

Next step

Always! Listen! You always need to agree on the next step. Observing the scripts of different companies, I notice how most miss this point.

And it's very bad. You could say you've lost a client if you haven't agreed on the next step.

Next step = next stage. Therefore, if there are no tactics, then there is no next step. To fix it, you just need to add literally 1-2 phrases at the end of the conversation:

“- Nikita Vladimirovich, I will call you tomorrow at 15.00 to find out if you received everything and at the same time I will answer any questions that arise, if any.”

Short phrases (conversation)

Time is money. Especially if you are talking to owners of large corporations who earn more than 50,000 rubles per hour.

Therefore, learn to speak concisely and clearly. Everyone will love you for this. Although, there are clients who like to chat. But at the same time, they like to talk more rather than listen more.

Therefore, check your written script 3-4 times, with the goal of making it more concise each time without losing effectiveness. You need to cut the script, but do it wisely.

Briefly about the main thing

A telephone sales script is the most detailed sales script, especially if we compare it with a meeting script or a sales script.

Therefore, when creating it, you need to think through everything. All possible outcomes of events, since in 9 out of 10 cases they can all be predicted.

The most important thing is to start working according to the script. A banal phrase, but so vital. Because it is impossible to create a script that will work and be perfect the first time.

Even we, developers with extensive experience (on an advertising basis), always include in the package the development of the script for up to 2 months.

By the way, all of our company’s sales-related employees are scripted from head to toe.

In our case, the shoemaker is not just with boots, but with a whole wardrobe of shoes, because in practice we noticed how significantly sales increased after the implementation of the main scripts.

There is no business without sales. An employee who masters effective cold calling techniques is valued by the company's management and receives a good salary.

Cold calling is one of the most difficult and, at the same time, effective sales methods.

What are cold phone calls

Cold calling is an initial telephone call to potential clients who have never worked with your company before, with the goal of attracting them to the ranks of your customers.

The client is not waiting for a call. The call is called “cold” because the person on the other end of the line treats it coldly. Even if he needs the proposed service or product, you need to try hard to interest him.

Cold selling techniques are complex and require effort, experience, and good knowledge of the product or service being offered by the seller.

Video - how to make cold calls, examples for a manager:

Mastering the cold calling technique is not easy due to the many barriers that must be overcome in order for the call to be completed effectively. Often you have to listen to the interlocutor’s refusals and objections and reluctance to talk.

All this affects the mood of the manager making cold calls. To make such calls more effective, you need to constantly train and improve.

In what cases are they used?

This active sales tool is essential for B2B sales. Recently, cold calling has become increasingly used in working with ordinary people.

Cold calling is needed:

• to constantly increase the number of new clients;
• when launching a new project, to inform the market that a new organization has appeared;
• to update a large base of potential clients: when there is a list of potential clients, and from it those who are most profitable for work are selected.

Cold calling in Russia is more often used in the following areas of business:

• forwarding companies - advertising rarely works, and clients are scattered throughout the country and abroad, there is no possibility of personal meeting;
• advertising agencies, magazines, print publishers - use calls to find new advertisers;
• manufacturing companies selling goods for business - to search for new markets and expand the customer base;
• wholesale companies selling goods to organizations;
• real estate agencies - for the purpose of selling commercial real estate.

Conversation outline

For a cold call to be successful and produce the desired result, you should prepare for the conversation in advance and draw up a rough outline. The conversation itself can be divided into the following stages:

• call to the secretary, switching to the decision maker (DM);
• getting to know decision makers, introducing your company, establishing contact;
• clarification of needs, presentation of a company, product or service, elaboration of objections;
• completing contact and scheduling an appointment.

Video - how to overcome the fear of making cold calls:

You should not call all clients indiscriminately. Before the call, you should study in detail the potential client, his profile, and possible needs. According to only 20% of customers make up 80% of the profits.

How to bypass the secretary

When working with organizations, there is often an obstacle between the sales manager and the person who makes the decision - a secretary or personal assistant. Many calls go through it throughout the day. Often people call and offer something.

In order not to distract the manager, the secretary does not call him, but answers that nothing is needed and hangs up, even if the product and service are really useful for the organization. The larger the company, the more difficult it is to bypass the secretary.

In such cases, techniques are used to bypass the secretary. Here are some of them:

• first find out the name of the decision-maker and, when calling the secretary, ask to be connected with the right person, calling him by name and patronymic. The secretary will decide that the call is repeated and will connect without asking unnecessary questions;
• use swiftness and suddenness, say in a confident tone: “Hello, please connect me with the commercial director.” Further questions should be answered briefly and confidently. For example, to the question: “Who are you?” We answer: “Serey Ivanov.” “What kind of company?” — “Company A”;
• instill confidence that this is not the first time you have called. You can say: “hello, company “A”, switch to the purchasing department”;
• call when the secretary is not there. This could be lunch time, the end of the work day, or 30 minutes before the start.

To get results, you should follow the following rules when communicating with the secretary:

• speak confidently;
• there is no need to tell the secretary about your proposal, since he does not make decisions;
• Before calling the manager, you should find out his full name, this will help you bypass the secretary much faster.

Video - how to bypass the secretary during cold calls:

How to start a conversation with a decision maker and get him interested

The conversation with the decision maker is the most important stage of the call. The overall result and prospects for working with this company depend on how it goes. When you make the first call, you should not try to sell. The main purpose of the first telephone conversation is to collect information to draw up a profitable offer and a meeting agreement.

Here is an approximate diagram of a conversation with a decision maker:

At the beginning of the conversation, you should introduce yourself and identify your company. Briefly tell us what she does. It is better not to mention the position of sales manager, as it evokes unnecessary associations in the decision maker, fear that something will be imposed on him.

After the introduction, it would be correct to clarify whether the person has time to talk. You can start like this: “Hello, my name is Sergey, I represent company A, which produces raw materials for companies like yours. Is it convenient for you to talk now?”

If the decision maker says that he has time, then we continue the conversation using the sales script. If not, you will have to find out what time is convenient to call him. You should offer the person several call time options so that he can choose from them. We call back at the agreed time.

During the first conversation, it is necessary to arouse the person’s interest: tell about your company, the advantages of work, say that you work with the same companies as the one you are calling. Try not to talk about numbers or a specific proposal; this information should be left for the meeting.

Basic rules for conversation with a decision-maker:

• the main goal of the first call is not to sell, but to get acquainted, interest and schedule a meeting;
• The recommended duration of the call is no more than 5 minutes; as the time increases, the effectiveness of the call decreases;
• you need to speak confidently, smile when talking, as the client feels the mood of the caller;
• your interlocutor should be called by name;
• The key to successful sales is to feel the client’s mood and be able to adapt to it.

To make a presentation that may interest the decision maker, offer something interesting that makes the product stand out from the mass of other offers and explain how the client will benefit from the offer. It could be:

• promotion or super offer;
• cost reduction;
• increase in sales;
• reducing time costs.

Dealing with client objections

At the very beginning of a conversation or after a presentation, you can hear objections from your interlocutor. The main types of objections when cold calling:

• “we already have everything”;
• “we are not interested in the offer”;
• “I don’t have time to talk to you”;
• “Send us an offer, we’ll consider it.”

Having heard such phrases, you should not convince the client otherwise and prove the benefits of your offer. This is a common mistake and can end the conversation.

To avoid objections you should:

• from the beginning of the conversation, try not to give reasons for objections, ask more, be interested in the interlocutor’s situation, his concerns, which can be solved thanks to the product or service you offer;
• If an objection is voiced, it is necessary to answer them easily, arousing the interlocutor’s interest in continuing the conversation.

To the client’s response: “We already have everything,” you can answer: “I understand that you don’t want to change anything, everything is debugged and works great for you. But we will be able to make an offer for your company that will be profitable, because new is development.”

Video - how to work with objections:

How to make an appointment

Having worked through the objections, you need to end the call with an appointment, which is the main goal of the first cold call. You can offer several time options so that the client has no alternative - to meet or not. You should also clarify the nuances:

• date and time;
• place;
• meeting participants;
• discuss the purpose of the meeting;
• get confirmation from the client.

When ending the conversation, you need to leave your contact phone number, renegotiate the meeting agreement and say goodbye on a positive note.

Cold calling scripts

A call script is a pre-thought-out or programmed sequence of a conversation with a client, established in the company. It is convenient to use ready-made modules when making an initial call to a client. There are rigid and flexible scripts.

Video - 24 tips on how to create your own cold calling script (part 1):

Hard- used when selling a simple product, where there are not many options for customer answers. Such a script does not require a lot of knowledge and skills from the operator.

Flexible- used for complex products that involve ambiguous offers. Such scripts require managers to be creative and prepared.

Video - 24 tips on how to create your own cold calling script (part 2):

When developing a script, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the industry and the characteristics of clients. Standard, familiar phrases irritate people and cause rejection, so you should develop a unique script, different from other organizations, that will arouse the interest of your opponent.

How to organize: full-time managers or call center

An entrepreneur may be faced with the question of what is better to organize: cold calls on the basis of their organization and include them in the functionality of their managers or provide calling to a call center. To decide on this issue, all the pros and cons of these options are highlighted and considered.

The main advantages of outsourcing cold calls to call centers:

• there is no need to recruit and train your staff, in the call center the staff is already trained in such calls and has experience in making calls;
• no need to create sales scripts;
• receiving a full report on the work done.

The disadvantages include:

• lack of personal control;
• lack of specific knowledge about your specific product. Call center specialists are working on several projects in parallel; their employees only handle your order and know everything about it;
• minimal focus on results. Your staff, if motivated, is more focused on results than call center specialists.

Contacting a call center is beneficial when it is justified by calculations and the cost-benefit ratio. In small organizations where hiring an additional employee and training him is unprofitable, to increase sales it is worth contacting a call center.

Video - an example of a cold call according to the scheme:

If an organization has many employees who interact with clients, then investing in systematic training and motivation of its own staff brings good results over time.

In this case, it is better to choose the option of training your own staff and including cold calling in the functionality of your employees. At the same time, managers should be financially motivated for good results.

Pros and cons of cold calling

The main advantages of cold calling are:

• saving time and money due to the absence of the need to travel when meeting a client for the first time;
• faster communication by phone compared to correspondence;
• the ability to understand the client’s reaction over the phone to the information received;
• the opportunity to ask clarifying questions in a conversation and eliminate misunderstandings;
• the ability to lay out cheat sheets and necessary documents in front of you during a telephone conversation and look at them if necessary.

Cold calling also has limitations that must be overcome:

• the interlocutor perceives the call as a nuisance, distracting him from his own affairs;
• It’s easier for a client to refuse or come up with excuses over the phone;
• the opponent can end the conversation and hang up at any time;
• it is impossible to track a person’s reaction, since gestures and facial expressions are not visible, conclusions about the reaction can only be drawn from intonation;
• there is no way to support words with graphs or images;
• When making a phone call, there is a high probability of misinterpretations.

Conclusion

Mastery of cold calling techniques does not come to most managers right away. This requires experience, patience, constant learning and motivation.

Having learned the technique of conducting such sales, writing scripts, methods of working with objections and other elements of a cold call, an employee improves his financial situation and increases the profit of the company for which he works.

A brief one will help you understand the difference between them.

What you should pay attention to when submitting the acceptance certificate for completed work.

With the help of cold calls, it is unlikely that you will be able to sell equipment for the production of self-tapping screws; in such cases, several meetings will be required.

Video - examples of real cold phone calls to set up meetings:

One of the important components that affects the level of sales is the script. Even though everyone's target audience is different, everyone's communication style is the same. Some companies develop sales scripts on their own, others buy ready-made scripts. From this article you will learn which speech modules are used and how to write a script correctly.

Script development technology

When developing a script template, pay attention to its blocks. A high-quality script for sales managers makes it possible to more effectively influence the client. There are numerous types of sales scripts: when working with, with, with direct sales, when concluding contracts, making an appointment.

Now we will present the most common script diagram used when talking on the phone. During a personal meeting, for example, the first block is skipped, subsequent stages can be left.

The script includes 8 blocks:

• Walking around the secretary.
• Greetings.
• Identifying problems or clarifying needs.
• Competent proposals for solving problems.
• Offer of current shares.
• Demand clarification.
• Processing objections.
• Completion of the transaction.

Now we will tell you in more detail about each block and give examples of dialogue.

Secretary's rounds

When you call the company, in most cases you end up with a secretary. Its task is to weed out unnecessary calls. Often the secretary receives an order from the manager to dump all trade proposals. Secretaries have their own scripts when communicating on the phone, and it can be difficult to get past this stage. Therefore, you need to be connected to a competent person. Think about how this can be done in your case.

Example dialogue:

Secretary: Good afternoon. Solnyshko Company, how can I help you?

You: Good afternoon. I'm Natalia, I represent the company (name). We are partners of many companies in your profile. So we would like to offer you cooperation. Can you connect me with the person who solves these issues?

Secretary: Okay, I’m connecting.

Greetings

After connecting with the person in charge, you open the script and start a dialogue. First, it is important to find out whether this person can really make appropriate decisions.

The dialogue might look something like this:

You: Good afternoon. I'm Natalya, a representative of the company (name). Tell me, please, how can I contact you?

Representative of the company: Valery Petrovich.

You: Valery Petrovich, tell me, are you resolving issues regarding (specify the reason for the call)?

Company representative: Yes, did you want to offer something?

Troubleshooting

After establishing contact, we move on to the next stage. The main thing here is to identify the demand and not give the person the opportunity to immediately say “no”. This can be done with the help of correctly posed questions to which the client will definitely answer “yes”. Let's give an example. Let's say you offer office supplies, the dialogue might look like this:

You: You write with a pen, right?

Company representative: Yes.

You: And do you regularly run out of them?

Company representative: Naturally.

You: Then you need to buy new ones.

Company representative: Yes, what do you want to offer?

The main thing is to identify the demand and not give the person the opportunity to immediately say “no”.

Competent proposal for solving problems

Now that the client is ready to listen to your proposal, you can voice it. After all, the interlocutor has already confirmed his need for your services. The proposal should be brief and interest the representative of the company, for this you can use various levers.

You: We are ready to offer you high quality stationery at low prices.

Offer of current shares

In order to strengthen the effect of the offer, tell the client about the promotions that you currently have, which you can offer when concluding a contract on a long-term basis.

You: By the way, I would like to note that we have special benefits for regular customers (state them).

By offering a promotion, you can push the client to conclude an agreement in the near future. This is a very effective method.

For example:

You: And today we have a promotion - when purchasing goods in the amount of 20,000 rubles or more, we provide an additional 10% discount.

Demand clarification

In the third stage, you have already received confirmation of demand from the client, and when you ask him the same questions again, you will naturally receive positive answers. But now you have offered him quite favorable conditions, and this needs to be emphasized.

For example:

You: You said that you are interested in more favorable conditions, so this is what we are offering you, right?

Elaboration of objections

This is the penultimate stage, and the client may slip away by making claims that you are not prepared for. Therefore, think in advance about the questions that a company representative may ask you and prepare the correct answers. In this case, competent script technique will help you conclude many profitable contracts. Questions may concern not only the cost of the product, but also its delivery, quality, and the activities of competitors. Let's give an example of how you can respond to an objection.

Company representative: We already have a good office supply supplier.

You: But everything is learned by comparison, you haven’t worked with us and cannot evaluate our services and the quality of our goods. Let's try to conclude a medium-term contract and you can compare.

Questions may concern not only the cost of the product, but also its delivery, quality, and the activities of competitors.

Completing the deal

At this stage, a competent manager receives a positive decision from a representative of the company and begins to draw up an agreement and all relevant forms.

The sales department most often uses such scripts to effectively promote their products. The value of a well-developed script is that even a beginner will be able to react correctly to certain situations and successfully sell a product.

In order for you to have working scripts, test them in action several times, evaluate their effectiveness, and if necessary, supplement and make changes. Analyze speech, intonation, sequence of questions.

We have given an example of a script that is advisable to use when selling a product. But a script can be written not only for sales, but also for setting up meetings, concluding contracts and many other actions. To do this, you need to select questions correctly and distribute them into blocks.

The algorithm for communication between a sales manager and a potential client is an important tool in active sales technology. The success of the manager's call and the activities of the entire sales department depends on how well all the aspects are worked out - from presenting the service to dealing with objections and closing the deal. A conversation with a client, which is built according to a certain algorithm, is usually called a script. Find out how to correctly construct a negotiation script and what examples of telephone sales scripts already exist in our instructions.

Four Key Points

Regardless of what and to whom you sell, the text of the script may change. But still, the template should be built on four fundamental principles that allow you to successfully conduct telephone conversations.

The template should be based on four fundamental principles.

Equality of contracting parties

Must be done by a person who is authorized to make decisions about the purchase of goods or services. This could be the general director of the company, the head of the relevant procurement or supply department. The conversation with the client is built on equal terms. But getting through to them is not an easy task in itself. On this path, many barriers await you in the form of office managers, deputies, deputy deputies and other characters whose task is to “protect” and “prevent”. Therefore, here we allow some superiority, and the use of lexical constructions like “Who can I talk to about ....” unacceptable. Remember the principle of equality. Instead of interrogative constructions, you need to use affirmative ones: “How can I hear Mr...”, “Mr.. is in place? Connect!”

Presentation

It is important to remember that the needs of individuals who are competent to make a decision to purchase a product or service are different. As a CEO or business owner, it is important to reduce costs and increase profits. The head of the supply department wants to make his work easier. Put yourself in the shoes of your counterpart and adjust your approach. The presentation begins with an introduction and should follow a question-and-answer scenario.

Example of a successful presentation:

– Good afternoon, ... (addressed by first name and patronymic). My name is Ivan, I represent the company (company name). We are doing... I hope I'm not distracting you from your business, can we discuss a few issues?

So, let's look at an example. The phrase “Good afternoon” itself carries a positive charge and, on an unconscious level, “melts the ice” between interlocutors. She significantly beats the hackneyed “hello.” The first name must be full, but the last name can be omitted. 1 out of 10 potential clients will still remember it.

There is no need to present the company as an LLC. This is dissonant and does not add advantages to the image. The last phrase should be said rather in an affirmative manner, in the nature of a formal question. The client must be addressed by name and patronymic, but without forgetting the principle of equality of the contracting parties.

The script should contain at least 10 questions to which you already know the answer. The questions in each script will be different; they depend on the industry in which your company operates and the company that is a potential counterparty. For example, wholesale sales of products and organization of holidays involve different facets of discussion.

The script should contain at least 10 questions to which you already know the answer.

It is important that 70% of the questions receive a resounding “yes”. The “Three Yes Technique” still works flawlessly. The main question is whether the person is ready to get acquainted with the commercial offer. If you get a resounding “yes”, half the success is achieved.

Commercial offer

You must be ready to send it in any way convenient for the client. Archaic fax means fax. Yes, even a carrier pigeon. Fortunately, almost all companies use email. After 30-40 minutes, it is important to call the client back and check whether he received your letter. At this stage, you need to inquire about the next communication session. It is better to immediately seize the initiative, for example, in the form of a question: “I will call you back about our business on Monday the 15th at 12 o’clock. Will this suit you? The client can agree, or can set his own date. It is important that it is still appointed.

Call again

The scenario for the next outgoing call to a client comes down to the following. You remind the person of yourself and find out your attitude towards the commercial offer. The situation can develop in two ways. The client may be positive, and you make an appointment to sign the contract, or he may not be satisfied with the proposed conditions. In the latter case, the stage of dealing with objections begins.

You need to find out what the client is not satisfied with and whether these objections are far-fetched. In such a situation, lexical constructions like:

– What exactly doesn’t suit you in our proposal?

– (client response)

– Okay, if we finalize this issue, will you be ready to continue negotiations? Are there any other points that require adjustment?

If there are few disagreements and they can be easily resolved, the deal is closed by a meeting and signing of an agreement. If the client is not ready to cooperate, agree that you will call him back after a while.

Finally

All of the above is a constructor for writing ready-made scripts for your sales department or manager. Remember that the sample must be constantly “tested” in practice and modernized.

Telephone sales scripts allow you not only to effectively negotiate with a potential counterparty, but also to reduce the influence of the human factor. For the inexperienced, this is a cheat sheet to help you with your work. Practice shows that a person armed with a script, even calling with offers for the first time, can get a meeting. But in this case, it is better to entrust the closing of the transaction to a more experienced colleague.

Sales scripts– one of my favorite destinations. And not only because they are expensive and relatively easy to write. This is perhaps the only direction in copywriting where you can see the result of your work in real time. Moreover, only here you can check the performance of certain modules yourself by communicating directly with the target audience.

That thrill when you pick up the phone in anticipation of the first phone call. The face and ears turn red, the pulse quickens, the hands become clammy, and the adrenaline goes through the roof. Honestly, sometimes it seems that it’s easier to slide down an extreme slide at a water park a la “kamikaze” than to make the first cold call using a developed script. However, over time you get used to it and the feelings dull. But that's not the point.

This is a kamikaze slide at the Brazilian water park Insano. And sometimes it seems that moving out is easier than making a scripted phone call... At least until you go upstairs.

With this article I want to solemnly open a new section on the blog dedicated to telephone sales scripts (and not only). In it, I will share my experiences and approaches to “programming” managers so that they call and sell products, services or ideas more effectively.

What are sales scripts for calls?

Telephone sales scripts(or, their other name is speech modules) are pre-prepared phrases that the manager uses in a conversation with the client. In other words, this is a kind of program, an algorithm for the manager, what and how to say to the client in all possible situations and in any response of the latter. If you regularly read my blog, you've probably noticed that I often compare copywriting to engineering. One of the most illustrative examples here is pure programming. Only the performers are not computers, but people. Living people.

Sales scripts– verbatim written remarks with marked intonations and explanations. This type is usually used by call centers or inexperienced sales managers.

Writing scripts is not a cheap pleasure. And this is good news for a copywriter. The average cost of a set of speech modules, depending on the goals and objectives, varies from 60 to 600 thousand rubles ($1000-$10,000).

However, it is important to understand that this money is not paid for nothing. And despite all the seemingly simplicity of development, a scriptographer (as copywriters who write custom scripts are sometimes called) requires real sales skills. Without them, it is almost impossible to write a working script the first time.

Where are sales scripts used?

Yes everywhere. Where there is communication, there are sales scripts everywhere. And this applies not only to business, but also to everyday life. Almost every person before an important meeting (it doesn’t matter whether it’s meeting the parents of a future spouse or an interview for a new job) creates in their minds intellectual models of future interlocutors and plays out certain conversational situations in their minds. That's why everyone creates scripts all the time, regardless of whether they get paid for it or not. Another thing is that not everyone develops this skill and monetizes it.

If we are talking about scripts for business (for which the copywriter is paid), then we can distinguish two main areas.

Scripts for incoming telephone conversations. The simplest option, because the manager working according to the script is the “receiving party”. Those. it’s people calling him and they need something from him (information, goods, services, etc.). In other words, the manager has a strong position here, and communication is easier.

Scripts for outgoing telephone conversations. The most difficult option, because the manager is in the weak position of the “asker”. They weren’t expecting him, and he’s “calling here for some reason” and “offering something.” It is more difficult to communicate from such a position. Especially if you have no experience.

The approaches to developing scripts in both cases are very different, both in strategy and logic. In particular, the main difference lies in the sequence of conversation stages. In the case of incoming calls, the client is already at least warmed up, and the stage of processing objections begins immediately. In the case of outgoing calls, there are certain “preludes”: going around the secretary, contacting the decision maker, calling for interest, etc. More on this below.

How to write a sales script: “golden rule”

Do you know what I like most about scripts? This is an absolutely unpredictable direction in which there are no rules. Actually, this can be called the only, and therefore “golden” rule. You can write a script exactly following the experts' proven recommendations, and the script may fail miserably. Or worse.

A good example. I have a friend. He is a business consultant. One of his clients had scripts compiled by professional scriptographers according to all the canons. And their main tragedy was that they consistently failed at the first stage - bypassing the secretary. No matter how hard the scriptographers tried, nothing worked. And so, my friend comes to consult this company. Naturally, they immediately complain to him that there are scripts for cold calling, compiled according to all the rules, but... They don’t work!

My friend takes it, looks at the scripts, sighs and says:

- So, who is the toughest secretary you have here?
- Here in this company N - there is a beast there!
“Okay, look: I’ll show you a trick.”

- So, quickly, she connected me with the boss!!!

The secretary is shocked and starts to say something into the phone, but he doesn’t wait, interrupts rudely and begins to raise his voice even more:

- What are you telling me?! I didn't ask if he was busy or free! Quickly took it and connected it! Why should I waste my time on you?

The secretary, under such pressure, tried to simultaneously resist, dampen the conflict, and get at least some information. But this only made the situation worse. My friend got into character and interrupted her every remark, with increasing rage and some kind of angry breath in his voice:

- What do you mean, who is speaking?! Ivanov says. I-va-nov. So tell the boss. And if you make me wait one more minute...

After this, the secretary apparently realized that the lesser evil was to connect the interlocutor with the boss (out of harm’s way), and then getting the boss himself interested was only a matter of technique.

Why am I saying this? Moreover, sales and communication using scripts (or without them) is a game without rules. Moreover, 99% of novice managers will not be able to repeat my friend’s trick. And, alas, I am no exception. What is needed here is character, experience, charisma, assertiveness and unconditional self-confidence, which are transmitted through a non-verbal channel. Plus, emotional intelligence plays a huge role here, to which I also plan to devote a separate article. Subscribe to blog updates so you don't miss anything.

Two key principles when writing a sales script

Despite the fact that there are no rules as such when developing scripts, there are two principles, knowledge of which significantly increases the chances of success.

1. Initiative

In any conversation there is always someone who leads the conversation and someone who follows. As a rule, the initiative in a conversation always remains with the one who asks the questions. Unfortunately, in most companies, the manager’s conversation with the client is structured according to the scheme below. Please note that the conversation is incoming when the client calls the company himself, and the manager initially has a stronger position.

Client: Hello, hello!
Manager: Hello!
Client:
Manager: 15,000 rubles.
Client: How long does development take?
Manager: 1-2 weeks.
Client: Do you give discounts?
Manager: Yes, when ordering more than 5 CP.
Client: What if it doesn't work?
Manager: This is a risk, and it is always there.
Client: Okay, thanks, I'll think about it and call you back if anything happens.
Manager: Yes, of course, call! All the best!

Do you see? In this example, the conversation is completely controlled by the client because he is asking questions. Managers who conduct conversations according to this principle never sell. They just sit on the shipment in the hope that the client will call and say:

And here he told him:

- Take it!

And everyone seems to be fine. And it would be good if the manager worked for a monopoly company. But in practice there are many competitors, and such managers simply drain potential clients that they could “close in a deal.” It is for them that sales scripts are written.

A good specialist always takes the initiative. If the manager is weak, then the interception of initiative must be provided for in the script. See how this is done using the same example.

Client: Hello, hello!
Manager: Hello! How can I help you?
Client: Tell me, how much does it cost you to develop a commercial proposal?
Manager: Are you interested or have a commercial offer?
Client: Um... What's the difference?
Manager: Cold is when you send an offer in bulk. Hot - after a preliminary call. They differ in the principle of operation, volume, price and timing. I can guide you more precisely. Tell us what you sell, to whom and how the sales process is currently structured?
Client: Well, we are a manufacturer, we sell gas silicate blocks. First, we call and ask for a commercial offer. We tried to draw up our own, but it doesn’t work well, there are few contracts...

In this example, the manager seizes the initiative and begins to establish rapport (emotional connection) with the client. He begins to control the conversation and ask questions. With the help of questions, the manager gets to know the client, his business and problems better, which means it’s easier for him to advise something substantive, inspire trust and handle objections (“expensive”, “I’ll think about it”, “I’m not sure if this will suit us”, “no”) money”, etc.).

It would seem that in both cases both the client and the manager are the same, but how strikingly the dialogue differs, depending on whose hands the initiative is. If we abstract from the topic of the conversation and pay attention to the initiative, then the conversation between the manager and the client is somewhat reminiscent of a game of table tennis. The one who has the initiative always plays on the offensive, and the one who does not have the initiative is forced to play on defense.

A scripted telephone conversation is somewhat reminiscent of table tennis. It is easier for the one who has the initiative to win.

2. Consistency

This principle is very simple, but also very important. Many people discount it, for good reason. The essence of the principle is that you break the conversation into simple steps, and track how effectively it flows from one to the next. For example, a conversation may have the following stages.

1. Performance
2. Output to (DM)
3. Arousing interest
4. Getting the point across
5. Objection processing
6. Transfer to the next stage (compredator, meeting, presentation, etc.)

Managers often do not take into account the sequence and lose clients already at the stage of initial communication:

- Hello, hello! We offer wood at a price of XXX rubles per cubic meter. Interested?
- No.
- Well, excuse me then.

There are, of course, exceptions, and direct sales are successful. But only when the manager immediately gets to the decision-maker, and when the “head-on” proposal itself is strong. For example, if the price is the lowest on the market. In other cases, the results are disastrous. On average, it is believed that the effectiveness of cold calling is 2% - this is a very good result. Although, in my opinion, this is a total fiasco. Just imagine: 98 potential clients out of 100 refuse. Tough.

When you build a conversation according to sequence, you always know what stage you are at and where the main “drain” occurs. For example, if you successfully contacted a decision maker, but he doesn’t even want to listen to you, then there was a failure at the stage of generating interest, and the script needs to be adjusted. Or, even worse, if the manager cannot get around the secretary.

In any case, it is very important to know at what stage of the funnel there are problems and how critical they are. Then they can be easily eliminated. To track the effectiveness of promotion, you can enter a KPI, which is calculated using a simple formula: divide the number of stage closures by the number of conversations and multiply by 100%.

Progress of a telephone conversation using a sales script.

Another important point: when you have written a script and are testing it, it is important that the statistical sample is reliable.

Reliable sampling when testing a sales script- this is making a sufficient number of calls so that statistical patterns can be judged. For example, if you made 1 call and received 1 consent, this does not mean that your script is 100% effective. Although the numbers all add up.

Each specific case has its own reliable sample. You need to look individually. For example, in a mass market, 300-500 calls may be required, while in complex B2B markets, where potential customers can be counted on one hand, each call is worth its weight in gold.

And one more important point. When testing a sequence of scripts, it is extremely important to get as much feedback as possible. I had a case when the script worked perfectly in the niche of selling PVC windows, but failed miserably in the niche of selling spare parts for special equipment. And the reason for the failure was identified only thanks to feedback (it was hidden in the specifics of processing applications).

Default Factors

It is believed that if a potential client calls you, then he is already initially interested in your products or services. This is in theory. In practice, everything is different. Therefore, when developing scripts, copywriters, as a rule, proceed from the “axiom of the worst evil.” It sounds scary, but don't be scared. In other words, we create scripts based on the worst case scenario of a conversation. So to speak, so that there are no disappointments. On the other hand, if the conversation doesn’t go according to the worst-case scenario, it’s better for us, the task is simplified! Worst case scenarios can be described something like this.

For incoming calls:

• The client is rather not interested in our products and in us as a seller.
• The client doesn't trust us. Moreover, he has no reason to believe us until we prove otherwise.
• The client is not going to buy anything from us.
• The client is skeptical or even hostile to everything we say until we win him over.
• The client trusts competitors more than us.
• The client intends to buy from a competitor, and calls us to once again make sure that his decision is correct.
• The client does not rule out manipulating us for his own purposes, for example, to bring down the price or “push” the current supplier.

For outgoing calls or meetings:

• The client doesn’t know us and can easily live without us for at least 100 years.
• The client does not need our goods and services, and he is not going to buy from us until we convince him otherwise.
• The client is completely uncomfortable talking now.
• The client does not want to listen to us, he is not interested in what we want to tell him until we prove otherwise.
• The client does not believe a single word we say.
• The client is convinced that cold calls are aimed at getting in, and therefore initially builds protection against any of our proposals.

In short, we develop a script based on the client’s worst psychotype and worst circumstances. If we solve a problem even in such harsh conditions, then we solve it even more so in simpler situations.

I remember when I developed scripts for one client and implemented it into the sales department, the managers were ready to kill me on the spot. I had to be such an inadequate bastard in simulated calls. But then, in practice, real sales were much easier. At the same time, they honestly told me that they had never met such inadequate clients. However, I am still convinced that it is better to play it safe, and what is hard in training is easy in battle.

Ready-made templates, samples and examples of sales scripts

There is one common misconception. Many business representatives believe that they can develop one ideal script (download, buy, underline what is needed), and then adapt it to any niche. Just know - change the name of the company and the name of the decision maker and, voila! Everything works - the principles are the same, and the speech modules, therefore, too. And this seems to be true... But, again, only in theory. In practice, everything is different.

A little higher, I already told you about how the same script worked brilliantly in one niche and failed miserably in another. And this is far from an isolated case. The fact is that every business has its own specifics. And, yes, if companies are similar in type and business processes, then the same script can work well in both places (which does not negate testing). However, to do this you need to know where, what and how it works.

Yes, you can find ready-made samples, templates and example scripts on the Internet. You can even download them for free. They are positioned as universal, but when blindly copied, without adaptation, they are usually useless. For two reasons.

Reason #1: they do not take into account the specifics of the business

When you start selling over the phone or at a meeting, the interlocutor on the other end of the line always sees whether you are on topic or not. If you are not prepared, then at best they will tell you where your gaps are. At worst, they will point the way in a direction that is not entirely censorship.

Reason #2: they do not take into account the specifics of the target audience

A good example. Very often, the beginning of a conversation in scripts is based on the principles of SPIN sales. This is when four types of questions are asked in sequence:

1. Situational, allow you to determine the current state of affairs (for example, “ Do you provide contextual advertising?”)
2. Problematic, identify the relevance of the problem (for example, “ Does it happen that clients cheat on your budget?”)
3. Extractive, increase the scale of the problem, “put pressure on the callus” (for example, “ And how much money do you lose on such clicks per month?”)
4. Guides, connect the solution to the problem with what we offer (“ Do you want to protect yourself from clicks and loss of money?”)

So here it is. In some niches, this scheme is used with a bang. But try to use it when communicating with suppliers who make purchases on the stock exchange. You will learn a lot of new things about yourself. Therefore, templates can be used, but it is necessary to adapt them to the niche, target audience and specifics of a particular business. Plus, always remember to be consistent. As a rule, it is not described in script templates.

Information for writing a script

Good preparation is half the battle. And here's the good news. Most of the work is already behind you if you have done the basic marketing analysis that I already wrote about. You “sew” all this data into the script, and the more factual information you have on hand, the stronger the script.

Just in case, I will present the mind map here again. Use it to structure the data you have. At the same time, remember that the more you know about a potential client’s business, the greater your chances of hooking him.

Mind map of basic marketing analysis for writing a sales script (click to enlarge).

How to write a sales script: practical examples

I've been looking for a solution for writing scripts for a very long time. There was a time when I drew these block diagrams.

An example of a block design for a telephone sales script

But such a solution was completely unsuitable for large projects, where the scheme was inflated to several Whatman papers in A0 format, and the connections in it could confuse even a seasoned Stakhanovite spider. In short, at first glance everything looked quite impressive and expensive, but in practice it was extremely inconvenient to use.

There was a time when I used the Axure system to create interactive scripts in HTML format. I uploaded these scripts to my secret server, and everything seemed to be convenient and clear for the client. If not for one big “BUT”. Scripts in this format were very labor-intensive to develop. And I am silent about making changes to them. Even if I had mastered all the master layers, the work of creating the interactive model itself was labor-intensive and thankless. Plus, it was easy to get confused and there was no autosave. And if you forget to renew your hosting, then... In a word, it’s also not an optimal option.

Script fragment in HTML format

Finally, as an option, there are special services. They are also called SaaS platforms ( S ite a s a S service). But I don't trust such services. Firstly, the client pays money, and most often I sign an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement). And if the service leaks, and no SaaS system is immune from this, then I could have problems. In addition, any service may also be unavailable, become a victim of a hacker attack, etc. Plus, not all services are ideal from a usability point of view. In a word, there were also some nuances here, so I also refused this option.

And quite by accident, somewhere (I don’t remember where) I spotted the ideal (in my opinion) option. It can be easily implemented in regular MS Word, Google Docs or any other text editor. The point is this.

You are drawing a table with two columns. In the left column, write what the manager says. On the right are the interlocutor’s possible answers or objections. All objections are made in the form of links. Links lead to anchors. Anchors are subheadings in the left column.

An example of a telephone sales script fragment in Google Docs.

For example, I have block A001, and the secretary’s remark “On what issue” leads to it? To set an anchor, simply select the subheading and style it as Heading 2, for example (if you are using Google Docs). By analogy, you can do it in MS Word.

If you insert a table of contents at the beginning of the script, you will get a rubricator of all possible remarks and objections of a potential client. Great, right? And just.

Finally, as you have already noticed, each replica is numbered with an alphabetic and digital index. Plus, there is a multi-colored fill in the fields. This is done in order to break the script into sequence steps. For example, the first stage for me is going around the secretary. Consequently, I number all the manager’s remarks at this stage under the letter A (A001, A002, A003, etc.) and mark them in sky blue to quickly find the desired stage in the document.

However, note that each stage of the script sequence has its own specific task. And a specific criterion for completing this task. For example, in the case of going around the secretary, your task is to get in touch with the decision-maker, and not to “inform the secretary”, “get to know each other”, “clarify the data”, “tell about the company”, etc. And the criterion here is either we have come out and can communicate with the decision maker, or not. There is no third.

The same is true when talking with a decision maker. Your task is to solve a specific problem in your sequence - to transfer the person to the next stage. That's all. No more, no less. For example, if after communication you have to send a commercial proposal, then only the decision maker’s consent to send him a proposal is important. Everything else (“met”, “talked”, “discussed”, etc.) is considered a failure in the sales funnel and requires mandatory adjustment of the script.

Summary

As I already said, anyone can write a sales script. And every person does this on a non-profit basis. A single copywriting rule also applies here: the more scripts you write and test in practice, the stronger they become. In addition, it is important to understand that there are no perfect scripts the first time. Any script, one way or another, needs to be polished and adjusted after launch based on feedback from managers and clients. Plus, it is important to understand that as testing progresses, more and more new objections will appear, which also need to be added to the script. But I will tell you how to process these objections and select the replicas for the scripts in one of the following articles. Subscribe to blog updates so you don't miss anything.

And remember: you will succeed!