There is too much resistance to scripted sales language and planned dialogues. Salespeople resist scripts because, for reasons that I will never understand, they believe that the idea of scripts means that they are supposed to read from a piece of paper. It doesn’t. Sales managers and sales leaders also resist scripts, but they resist taking the time and effort to plan, write, and provide effective dialogue.
As salespeople, we are already using scripts. You might as well take the time to make sure they are effective.
But there is a reason to provide effective language that is every bit as important as ensuring that the dialogue will help you to achieve the outcome of your sales interactions; that reason is confidence.
Words Are Power Tools for Sales
Language is a powerful tool for salespeople. I have yet to meet an effective salesperson that doesn’t love to capture effective language to add to their repertoire. This is especially true of experienced salespeople; the more great language choices they collect, the more competent and confident they are in sales calls.
Go on sales calls with effective salespeople, and it will appear to you that they have the right language for every question or statement made. They do have the right language; they have, no doubt, been collecting it for years.
When you know you have powerful and persuasive language, you are much more confident in making your case, asking for what you need to both win and succeed for your dream client, and to make the calls to open the relationships that open opportunities.
Thinking On Your Feet In Advance
Designing the language choices ahead provides you, the salesperson, with confidence.
It’s more than likely that you know what questions typically come up in your sales interactions. You also know the common concerns that your dream clients express during your sales process. It is good to possess the ability to think on your feet, but the dark side of that gift is a tendency to wing it (and winging it isn’t a strategy).
Taking the time to write effective language for the common questions, the common concerns, and the most powerful ideas that you need to convey during your sales interactions can raise your game. Rehearsing this language and using it to replace the scripts that you have unconsciously written and used will build your confidence and make you more effective when you are speaking with your dream clients.
When you sound confident in your answers, you sound professional. When you language is thoughtful, logical (or emotional), and persuasive, it is more effective than when it is something less than these things.
Take the time to write, plan, and rehearse the language that you need for your most common sales interactions. You’ll not only be more confident, you’ll be more effective.
Questions
This is not a question; rather, it is a strong suggestion.
Get with your sales team and make a list of the common questions and concerns you hear from your dream clients. Also make a list of all of the important ideas that you have to convey, and all of the commitments that you must obtain to open an opportunity and move it from target to close.
Brainstorm together and write the most effective language you can for each and every interaction. Rehearse together, and craft the language that will demonstrate your professionalism and your business acumen. Ask the difficult questions as to whether or not you would be persuaded by the language.
Then, take it out into the field and test it. Repeat as necessary, or every three months so neither you nor the language gets stale.
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