I’ve been brought in by thousands of different companies to boost their sales teams for two reasons:

1. It was how I really developed a reputation and got into business.
2. I’m damn good at it! Selling, and training others how to improve their sales.

The reality is that anyone who has invested the amount of time I have invested into learning the psychology and nuances of sales will be an elite sales person and capable of understanding why sales works well enough to explain it as well. There just aren’t very many people who have been willing to put in the amount of time I have.

Over the years of both being and working with ultra-high performing sales reps, I’ve noticed one key that consistently differentiates the sub-par reps from the reps who confidently stride in and out of sales calls with contracts and clients in abundance.

Ultra-High Performing Sales Reps Use Scripts!

When I say ultra-high performers, I mean the people who are making hundreds of thousands of dollars more in commissions than your average sales rep.

And when I say “Scripts” I don’t mean the super cheesy/corny scripts that get handed out to every sales rep and has a habit of turning prospects off. Scripts that are…

• Overly Aggressive
• Super Cheesy
• WAY Too Personal (Asking super personal questions right off the bat… For example, asking a potential client if, within the first 30 seconds of meeting them, the home they are in now is their “forever home”).

The list of bad kinds of scripts goes on, but I’m not talking about those kinds of scripts.

I’m talking about the scripts used by the high-performing sales reps who are so reliable they don’t have to worry!

Ultra-High performing sales reps make six and seven figures a year in commission and will have a job regardless of the economic turmoil, because they can reliably sell. These individuals use scripts based on the same principle that keeps you chuckling at the same jokes in a movie you’ve seen a thousand times.

Think about it! Princess Bride is a classic movie that has been seen multiple times by it’s fanbase. And yet they still chuckle along when the doddering old priest goes off:

“Mawidge, Mawidge is what bwings us togevah, today.”

That’s what a good script does - it’s effective even after it’s been used a hundred times.

Here are the keys of making scripts that are effective (even the hundredth time)

Create the Essence

Don’t worry about memorizing or creating word-for-word scripts. They rarely work!

My best analogy is the Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Everyone has a preference for their cookies: Gluten-free, vegan, brittle-style, thick and gooey, two-bite size, pancake-size, with walnuts, with pecans, without nuts. The list goes on.

But the essence of the recipe doesn’t change! Flour, sugar, eggs (or substitute), vanilla, fat (usually butter) and chocolate chips. What changes for each type of cookies the quantity of the ingredients.

Sales scripts are exactly the same thing!

The way the ingredients are mixed together might change (because everyone is different), but the essence of the recipe remains unchanged.

Scripts that might work for me, probably won’t work for you because our sales styles are going to be different just like our preferences in cookies. Remember, this is not about creating and memorizing a script word for word. (Unless of course, you want to sound like Wall-E… again, bad idea!)

Instead, think about what key pieces of information you need from the prospect, and they need from you, and then determine the best outline to follow to deliver that information, and then use your own words to actually deliver that information.

For example, your closing essence might include:

1. Transition to the close

2. Value and/or retail rates

3. What’s included (features & benefits)

4. Urgency Builders & risk reducers

5. Call to Action

Create the Words

After you’ve got the general outline, you’re going to fill it in and write it down the way you would say it.

I’m a direct person. One of my appointment setting scripts might read like so:

“Hi, I’m Stephanie Scheller with Grow Disrupt. I’d love to sit down with you for fifteen minutes sometime to sit down with you and go over where you want to go in your business. If we can do that, I’d also like to see if I can give you a few tips to continue growing your business regardless of whether or not we move forward.”

In this whole thirty second script, I’ve done the following:

• Introduced myself and my company

• Honestly explained why I’m calling and asked for 15 minutes of their time

• Give them some value for just meeting with me

But I’m direct. That’s how I’d write my script.

The best way to create a script that works for you is to put it into your own words.

Create the Habit

This is the memorization part!

You have to create a habit of knowing exactly where you need to go in the conversation by practicing your sales script - in a mirror if you have to!

Memorize the key parts, the written out essence of your script. Because let’s face it, we’re all going to get stage fright at some point. Nerves hit and we get concerned about landing the sale.

If you’ve got it memorized, the nerves won’t matter.

Even if you get lost!

Even if the conversation doesn’t go the exact way your script is written, you’ll know the key points of the script and can continue the conversation with those.

The best part about this is that you can always re-work it if the script doesn’t work for some reason.

Trial and error is a regular thing, and scripts are no different until you’ve found your sales style and you’ve created your own fool-proof scripts. This is a key that makes a world of difference in the world of sales, so work it and tweak it until it works for you!

Grow2020 is going to have a session specifically on sales! Cindy Ashton will be joining us for an epic session on how to create the perfect 60-second pitch, and how to make your body-language support your awesome script. If you’re interested in being in the room for the conference unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, sign up for your interview here!