Scripting Your Way to Wins: Some Ideas to Make Your Cold Calls More Successful

I have had several inquiries about scripts recently. Readers want to know how to say what they want to say, or they want to know why a proposition that seems perfectly reasonable and compelling to them doesn’t go over well with the prospect. Or they want to ‘break the code’: find the perfect sequence of words that will in a high percentage of cases lead to ‘yes’.

While a good script is not a cure all, it can make a difference both in the effectiveness of your call and in your willingness to make the call in the first place.

A few principles to keep in mind: keep it short; have a hook or special offer; be clear about your benefits; offer to send information since it earns you the right to make the second call. If progress is below the norm, either change the script or change your list.

A client wants to know how to pitch a web site design service to the small business community.

Here is what I told him: “The first thing to consider is the hook. Some ideas might be... special discount for first time customers, time delimited,i.e. if they buy by the end of the month, etc. Or free e enablement if they buy by a certain date or made available for free later if they so choose, if they buy now. Or some other give away unrelated to the site itself: chance to win a palm pilot, for instance, if they buy now, special to first time customers. The hook has to be real, but not too costly. That's the trick.

The hook would be separate from the benefits. You would know better than I but I imagine they relate to improved competitive advantage in marketing this way; increased exposure as the Net grows over time and e commerce becomes more the norm; flexibility of change and the fact the customer has control over editing

So, if it was me, I might say:"Hi, this is .......................with Blue Rock (?) enterprises (your company name). We specialize in web design and hosting for small businesses like yours and this month we are offering a special to first time customers, a..........................(whatever you decide.) Can I send you some information about what we do? or about our service.? (This is easy for the prospect to agree to and earns you the right to make the second call.)

Or, before the close, I might mention some of the benefits of having a web site:'You know Mr. Prospect, having a web site for your business is an inexpensive way to get the word out about your business to an ever increasing flow of traffic; it can provide a significant extra channel of revenue and the return on your investment is extremely rapid. Can I send you some literature about our service?"
Always keep it short and business like and move on to the next call. Expect to make a high volume of calls.”

Scripts are tricky. You don’t want to sound canned, so you need to put them in your own voice and wording. They function primarily to get the dialogue going; they are a bridge to qualifying the prospect either as a potential buyer or as someone who belongs off your list. Your task is to get them off your list, either as prospects or as non -buyers. The purpose of your call is to find out on which side they belong.

If your company name is not recognizable or your product or service is new then your script has to be more self disclosing. And this is always the case too when you go into a company and don’t have the name of the decision maker; then you have to have a revealing story to overcome their suspicion. And, if you are an unknown, you need to spend some money on top quality collateral so that when you send information it carries the message that you are a quality operation.

A final point. An old sales manager once told me:’Don’t spill your candy in the lobby’. Don’t waste a lot of time convincing the gatekeeper of the virtues of your proposition. You do that you are just giving him/her ammunition to ‘shoot you down’.

Mark Sanford

Thanks Mark That Did Help a great deal. I'm re writing my script, practicing
it tommorrow and after listening to the "reluctance tape" make calls for an
hour.
Thnaks for giving your time

Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Sanford
To: Steve Rolling
Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2000 3:48 PM
Subject: Re: Advice

Steve,
Sorry in delay in getting back to you but my ISP was down for a time.
As for the hook: some ideas might be... special discount for first time customers, time delimited,i.e. if they buy by the end of the month, etc. Or free e enablement of they buy by a certain date or made available for free later if they so choose, if they buy now. . Or some other give away unrelated to the site itself: chance to win a palm pilot, etc, if they buy now, special to first time customers. The hook has to be real, but not too costly. That's the trick.
The hook would be separate from the benefits. You would know better than I but I imagine they relate to improved competititve advantage in marketing this way; increased exposure as the Net grows over time and e commerce becomes more the norm; flexibility of change and the fact the customer has control over editing
So, if it was me, I might say:"Hi, this is .......................with Big Planet (?) enterprises (your company name). We specialize in web design and hosting for small businesses like yours and this month we are offering a special to first time customers, a..........................(whatever you decide.) Can I send you some information about what we do? or about our service.? (This is easy for the prospect to agree to and earns you the right to make the second call.)
Or, before the close, I might mention some of the benefits of having a web site:'You know Mr. Prospect, having a web site for your business is an inexpensive way to get the word out about your business to an ever increasing flow of traffic; it can provide a significant extra channel of revenue and the return on your investment is extremely rapid....etc. Can I send you some literature about our service?"
Always keep it short and business like and move on to the next call. Expect to make a high volume of calls.