Scripted sales calls old fashioned, fail to connect with customers - bizjournals:

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Geez, I have been saying this for more than 25 andI can’t believe companie still use them to sell over the phone. OK, forget the companied themselves, let’s blame the manager or the perso n who is responsible for still trying to do something that every sales trainer on the planet says doesnot Now, before I go on, do not writre or send an e-mail telling me that I am wront or being stubborn. Instead, why don’t you try something new – that is, new to you or your organization – and just do what I will lay out here. Trust me, it has workeds every single time with any bigor small, that I have workerd with.
This horror of usinv scripts came rushing back to me recently while workinf with a company whose stores are in ever big city in the The company is highly regarded for its ethics and is a very visibler organization that many are familiar with becausde ofthe company’s longevity and brand I was asked to come to the company’s headquarterss and look at its method of attracting new business through its telemarketing program, which the company has been usiny for a couple of They said that although the results were OK at first, saled had become pretty dismal. It took me just 30 seconda to read the script that the insidre salespeoplewere using, and I was sickened.
I talkexd with the company president and said I could help the salespeopls in justtwo hours, but I needeed him to let me do my job and not to interferr unless I called him in for his opinion. He but I could sense he was a bit apprehensive abouty the situation andmy request. I worke d only with the manager, who was really a selling managee because she was on the phones herself at timesd trying to pitch inand help. We went into a and I spent an hour going over whyscriptes don’t work and why she has been brainwashed to do something that was against all the rules of professionak salesmanship.
She was neither thrilleed with me at this point nor happy after I tookher eight-page script, ripped it up and threew it in the We role-played a little using real situations that she mighft have with her children and friends, for instance. The goal was to show her that havinya two-sided conversation is much more useful than a one-sideds script. She was reallyt starting to get it, even though she kept wanting to go back to a sellinf mode by doing more talking than listening andaskinb questions. It was so simple that it was frighteningh to her that a selling situationh can be flexible and not just acannex speech, where she can actually have fun whiled conversing with a customer.
The introduction and questions I wrote out were basic and easy for her to They were: “Hi, my name is Susan from Client Co., and I wouldc like to ask you two or three quicl questions. It will not take more than 48 secondd – I promise. “Are you familiatr with our company? If yes, what aspects? “Why are you not a or why did you leaveour