Cold calling and scripts. It is not necessary to memorize a script.
How many times do we hear our sales professionals tell us they’re much better on the phone when they don’t memorize a script? Here’s what we should be telling them in response…
“No problem! I agree with you. What we really should be doing is internalizing it. Make it second nature so that it just rolls off the tongue. Let’s hear yours.”
Be prepared for, “Well I say something like this…” After they stumble through it, go back to the written scripts and ask them how that relates to what the company went through great lengths (not to mention expense) to develop. Then throw as many negative responses as you can at them and see how they handle them. Trust me; they’ll stumble through that as well.
When sales professionals use our methodology called The Formula™, one of the benefits is that they’ll limit the different types of negative responses they’ll hear, which will make their job easier.
So back to the original statement: It really isn’t necessary to ‘memorize’ the scrip, but they do need to ‘internalize’ it.
What’s the difference between memorization and internalization, you ask? Nothing really. But you can tell them that it means to take the script, put it in their own language (without changing the underlying message), and practice enough so that it rolls off the tongue just like conversation. Only then will they deliver the same message every time.
For more on this topic, see my blogs: Cold Calling, the ‘whack-a-mole’ and the teleprompter.Top Ten Biggest Mistakes Cold Callers Make on the Phone–Mistake #4
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
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