B2B sales appointments discovery calls sales & Phone Scripts

Phone Scripts

“Send Me Some Information” Response Wimp Test.

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SAMPLE BEST RESPONSE TO THE ” JUST SEND ME SOME INFORMATION” SALES OBJECTION IS BELOW.

IF YOUR OBJECTION RESPONSE TO “SEND ME SOME INFO” IS OFTEN “UM, OK” YOU ARE AN OFFICIAL WIMP. Here is what you can do about it. 

On the list of top sales objections, this may be the most common one you will hear. Let me be blunt. If your rebuttal to “Just send your material” is “um OK”, you are an objection wimp, your sales job is at risk, and you are dooming yourself to lead generation and appointment setting frustration. You’re also wasting a lot of time and company resources.

We know that most of the time when someone says “Send me some information,” it is really a blow off. Rather than tell you to get lost, they mumble a request to send them some info (which 95% or more intend to throw away) and for them the brush off is complete, the prospecting call is over. The most common responses to this sales objection wastes a great opportunity for qualifying as to worth and interest and leads to wasted lead generation time and a lot of frustration.

The “Send me more information” response is more often a golden opportunity to qualify rather than something that needs to be overcome.

Your cold call results will increase greatly when you use this an opportunity to qualify and kick out the tire-kickers and worthless. The additional leads you can identify, without all the follow up calls, vault you forward faster. Your phone script response helps identify those that are a fit for you right away.

If you let the caller control your response to this objection, you lose. Because then you will have doomed yourself to calling back… calling back… banging your head against the wall and getting frustrated because these people who asked you to send your material (who you thought might be legitimately interested) don’t return your follow-up sales call after sales call. When, after 10 or 15 attempts, if you do get them back on the phone, that “interest” has almost always vaporized. They at best vaguely remember you. If they did get something you sent they haven’t read it or they can’t remember receiving it all. Almost always, the end of the road is a “No.” Given that background “Um, ok” isn’t the sales objection response given by a top producing sales rep. Our sales results can turn on getting this right.

Inside Sales Teams Let a Lot of Opportunities Slip Away If They Don’t Nail This.

If you get on this sales response treadmill, it is your own fault, not the fault of the people you are prospecting. Remember that your sales objective in prospecting is not just to set sales appointments, it is to re-shuffle the deck and sort your prospects in accordance with their potential value and worth. If you just say “ok” to the send-more-information sales objection blow-off, you have received no information of value to your prospecting efforts.

Not only that, the people who are legitimately high-potential, high-value prospects are not given the opportunity to identify themselves to you. Your response to the send me information objection must give those types of prospects the opportunity to identify themselves. Otherwise, you won’t know who they are and you won’t know who is worth more of your sales prospecting follow-up time. A prime opportunity to engage a qualified prospect and close more sales is wasted. Sales jobs can be lost due to this one

How can inside sales cold calling sales reps avoid this brush off?

The next time you get the send-more-information-objection blow-off, consider a sales objections script something like this: “You know, I don’t send out general information. The corporate literature I might send you is only going to tell you what I just told you. We are a 90 million dollar company that’s been in business 15 years supplying technology equipment like widgets and wadgets to companies such as United Intergalactic, Mega Corp and I B Sorry Corp. Let me ask you. Is there is some specific information that would be helpful to you, or if you happen to have a specific purchase coming up, I would be happy to put it together and send it out to you. Do you have anything specific in mind that I can help you with?”

And at that point… you do the most difficult thing a salesperson ever has to do when responding to a phone sales objection. You say nothing and wait for your prospect to speak. A great indicator of sales talent and the ability to close more sales is the ability to listen. Want to be recognized as top tier sales professional? Ditch the search for the latest greatest fresh sales strategy and just shut-up and listen more. Your sales process will thank you for it.

If he/she can’t come up with something specific, recognize that you have delivered your most powerful benefit laden credibility building opening value statement. If they don’t respond with something specific so that you can properly prioritize them, you can with confidence go right into plan B and cut that target loose. Buh-bye.

If prospects do come up with something specific, like “Well, … we are going to replace $500,000.00 worth of widgets in a month…” or “well, we are going to buy $1,200,000.00 worth of stuff next quarter. Why don’t you send me some info on x y or z?” You’ll now know you have “a live one.”  

Contrary to the knee-jerk inclinations of the great unwashed, don’t try to immediately overcome the sales objection or act like a trained seal, “Oh, I’d be happy to send some.” 

When your prospect response with something specific they want, you have to do three things or your pipeline will suffer.

First, you have to really listen, let them speak. Don’t interrupt.

2nd, when they are done, ask an open-ended qualifying question or two in order to clarify their request and allow them to give you more information about their needs. 

When a target has told you he/she has a specific need or purchase coming up, it is even more important that you land a meeting.

Your prepared, practiced and ready to deliver response to “send some info” just identified the one out of 10 that have a real need and are not guaranteed to waste your time. So do what you intended to do with the call: sell the meeting. And remember: the most frequent reason people don’t meet with you is that you don’t give them enough reason to meet with you and you don’t ask for a meeting. 

So #3 is to give them a reason to meet and ask.

“You know, I could put together a lot of info that would be useful to you...right off the top of my head I can think of three companies in your industry that we’ve helped to select and install what you seem to be looking for. I don’t know a lot of details about your company. But, you do have a few options to consider on this and there are a couple of things you want to avoid that could really cost you some money. Super Salesperson is our rep in your area and she has a lot of experience with this. If she had the opportunity to learn more specifics about your company, she could give you a lot of information that would be helpful to you and specific to your situation. It may or may not lead to a next step… either is fine. I could set up a meeting for you now. Would that be worth 30 minutes of your time?”

Your sales objection script paths must stay 100% focused on accomplishing business objective: selling a meeting or discovery call to an active buyer. 

Let’s look at what you have done with that send me some information sales objection response. You have given those companies that do have a specific need the opportunity to inform you of that need. And you have leveraged that information into a tremendous benefit that they will receive if they agree to meet with you. They will get specific information on their particular needs from someone who is very knowledgeable. That is usually a pretty good reason for people to meet with you.

The next time you hear “send me some information” remember that you have a choice. Be a wimp, just readily agree and doom yourself to wasting 90% of the time following up on this blow-off. Or, you can stiffen your spine a bit. You can refuse the invitation to waste 90% of your time on hope and the mere possibility that someone that requests information has a real need and intends to buy.

You should have a script path ready to identify those that are “real” and book the meeting now, while wasting not one more minute on those that are blowing you off. 

Best wishes for prospecting success,
Scott Channell

50 Shades of “Not Interested.” A Sales Rebuttal Objection Strategy.

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Funny story. Newbie in training relates a call in which the decision-maker replied “not interested.” Get this. The newbie actually thought that meant they were “not interested.” Hilarious.

Newbie reps, they are so innocent.

When your prospect says “not interested.” The least likely reality of this blow off is that your decision-maker is actually “not interested.”

If your objection handling response assumes that there is an element of truth present when you hear the “not interested” objection prospecting blow off, you are losing a lot of opportunities and future closes.

Here are some examples to deal with this common sales objection that work better than begging them to not hang-up.

The “Not Interested” sales objection: What is really going on?

First consideration: Your sales prospecting scripts invited that response. What you said and how you said it are the reasons why you hear this common sales objection over and over again.

Sad but true. If you are hearing the “not interested” sales objection too often and want to craft a more effective responses, the first place you need to look is your mirror. Why? The words you spoke prior to hearing the “I’m not interested” objection probably caused the sales objection blow off you now feel a need to overcome.

Your first step is not to focus on overcoming this sales objection blow-off, and most of the time it is a blow-off, not an actual statement of truth. Your first focus is within.

When you hear “not interested” as a sales objection, your decision-maker may actually by saying one of these things.

“I don’t understand what they do so “I’m not interested.””
“Sounds like another dime a dozen service provider requesting a demo and not worth my time, even though I need what they offer so “I’m not interested.””
“This person sounds like the other idiot sales reps who call me and waste my time with a weak sales message so “I’m not interested.””
“I need this but I’m going to select the salespeople I talk to so “I’m not interested.””

Your sales objection and rebuttal script strategy in overcoming the “I’m not interested” objection starts before your prospects even say it.

How to overcome the “not interested” sales objection and “say something” syndrome.

Second consideration: Human compulsion to fill silence in conversation with something. When calling, blather will do.

When it comes to cold calling many inside sales teams suffer from neurological auto verbiage impulse compulsion. When callers don’t know what to say they say something anyway.

When precision crafting your “not interested” sales rebuttal better salespeople appreciate that many times “not interested” is the equivalent of “I don’t get it,” “I’m buying but this person isn’t worth my time,” “I’m buying but this company sounds pretty run of the mill, I’ll pick someone more credible,” “We are making this decision sometime in the future, not now,” or “I need more time to grasp what is being said.”

It is key that your response assume that what was expressed was not literally true. It is not because “buyers are liars.” It would be convenient for us if that was true because we then would not have to accept responsibility for causing that objection by our confusing, bland, non-credible, benefit-light sales scripts. But buyers are not liars. They may not understand what we offer, get our value, why we are more worthy than the rest or how they will benefit from meeting with us. That is on us, not them.

So your sales objection handling strategy for the “not interested” blow-off starts by understanding that when you hear “I’m not interested” what is really going on is…

1. They don’t understand what you do.
2. They need more time to grasp what you are saying.
3. They don’t think you are worth their time even though they have a need.
4. They will have a need in the future but don’t see the value in meeting now.
5. They will have a need in the future but don’t feel it is worth mentioning to you.
6. They have a need but have already or will pick their own providers to speak to. You don’t seem worthy.
7. They have no need now or in the future.

The least likely reality is #7.

The Worst Response to the “I’m not interested” Sales Objection Assumes it is True.

Third consideration: You need techniques to double-check what the potential customer is really thinking .

So, if you don’t know what the decision maker really means( frankly, most of the time the decision-maker doesn’t know what they mean or is still processing what you said) you have to give them more time to process what you say and reinforce the clarity of what you do, your credibility and value, and what they will get if they commit to a next step with you.

So your objection handling response to “not interested” assumes that what you are hearing is not literally true and gives the decision-maker more time to process what is being said and absorb what’s in it for them.

Your rebuttal to “not interested” must restate and reinforce what you do, your credibility, your benefits and specifically what they will get if they spend more time with you. [Shameless plug: Sample rebuttal scripts and examples can be found in my books available on Amazon.]

If their response is still something other than “yes,” you need to do one more thing. Check for future business needs.

Remember, when you hear the “I’m not interested” sales objection one of the more probable things it really means is “We will have a need in the near future, but not now.”

In my world most of my training and coaching clients sell longer sales cycle offerings. Their sales process acknowledge and reflects that reality. It is far more likely they interact with a decision-maker at a time when they are not in active buying mode. Many of those decision-makers will buy within the next 6 – 18 months. They will buy from a competitor if you are not there.

When you hear the “not interested” objection they may really be saying “not now.” So you have to enable them to tell you how to sell them.

So after starting with your impactful benefit and credibility laden “set the appointment” pitch,” and responding to the “I’m not interested” objection by repeating and reinforcing what you do, your credibility, the benefits clients get from you and what they will learn at a meeting… end with this.

“Not an issue, don’t want to be on your back, but obviously we do a lot of this. Could you suggest a time for me to be back in touch with you?” Then say nothing. Nothing.

You will be surprised at how many times after hearing the “I’m not interested” objection and hearing it again delivering your response, that you hear “Call me in two weeks, call me in a month or call me in 3 months.”

Your simple response when you do. “Happy to do that, is there a particular reason why that is a good time to call?” Be quiet. They tell you. You promise to call, say thanks and then hang-up.

Your “not interested” decision-maker just turned into a qualified opportunity. Ka-ching.

The next time you hear “not interested,” be ready.

These Two Phone Scripts are Real and They’re Spectacular

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Your “Set the Meeting” Script: Two Sample Scripts with Variations.

Consider this.

You launch your call process with many decision-makers by making the first call to get the name or if you are confident you know the name, making the first call to try to get them to pick up.

Your objective is to obtain a commitment for that person to spend more time with you or a representative of your company. That time could be face-to-face, a discovery call by phone, webinar or attendance at an event. Same concept.

You are seeking to enable them to conclude that more time spent with you would be worthwhile. That the risk of you wasting their time is pretty low.

Lets review two variations of a “set the meeting” script.

Script number one:

Suspect: “Hello, Busy Bobby here.”
Lead generator: “Hi, this is Paula from Super Service Group, specialize in widgets, wadgets and custom services. More than 600 companies such as Mega Corp, Brito and I. B. Sorry have worked with us to reduce production cycles by 12%, downtime and unplanned expense. If you are open to reviewing options regarding widget production and customization, we would like to introduce ourselves and share case histories, strategies and some things we do differently that companies appreciate. No clue if we might be a fit some time, but willing to share our experiences. Would you have any time in the next week or two?”
BOOM. Read that script again and think about all the bases that are being covered.

Script number two: Slight variation.

Suspect: “Hi, Distracted Dan here.”
Lead generator: “Hi, this is Scott from Super Services. We specialize in employee relocations. Companies like L. L. Beanstock, Microsquishy and 500 others selected us to manage the move process for 30,000 employees last year, as they get a single point of contact, 98% transferee satisfaction and competitive pricing. No idea if you might be open to reviewing options to improve your move process. If so, would like to share some examples of strategies used to improve satisfaction and cost efficiencies. If you hear something you like and think of us in the future that would be great. Do you have any time in the next week or two?”
BOOM. This verbiage covers the same bases in a slightly different way.

Your Mindset

When you approach these calls and these scripts, would recommend you adopt the following mindset.

1. The buyers are out there. There are people right now that understand they have problems to solve, that certain things could be better and they have an itch. A good number of these people will write checks to one of your competitors within the next 3 – 15 months. Or maybe you, if you are there.

2. You have a worthy offering. You or your company are superior, dependable, top shelf and do a great job for your accounts and clients.

3. It is the most normal and natural thing in the world for you to be calling those that are most likely to benefit from your offering.

4. It would be the most normal and natural thing in the world for them to conclude that you are worth their time.

5. You are doing buyers a favor, performing a service for them, helping them, by contacting them and enabling them to become aware of a quality provider that could be of great service to them.

6. On this call you are a peer. You may not be a CEO, VP of Sales or Exec VP of HR, but on this call and at this stage you have information that is valuable to them and communicate with them at their level.

7. Be professional and direct, so that the buyers can grasp that you may be able to help them.

8. Resist the temptation to water down your upfront verbiage to have more comfortable conversations with non-buyers. Non-buyers will make up most of those you speak to. You do a disservice to those you can help and would welcome interaction with a provider of your caliber when you water down your verbiage. It is less likely they will conclude you are worthwhile. They lose a great provider option. You just shrunk your paycheck.

Worth Repeating: You do a disservice to those you can help and would welcome interaction with a provider of your caliber when you water down your verbiage

To gain a commitment for a next step, you must convey confidence that your prospect would agree to invest more time with you.

Within the first 3 – 5 seconds after saying hello, your target is going to make a decision. “Is this a person worth listening to or not? Is this a waste of time or someone that may have something beneficial to me?” Within the first 3 – 5 seconds after hello, assuming you are talking to a buyer, you must enable them to conclude that you would be worth listening to just a bit longer.

Again, assuming you are talking to a buyer, if you don’t give them “cause for pause” within seconds of hello, what you say after that doesn’t matter. They have concluded you are not worthwhile, they cast you off, they are not listening anymore. You lost them at hello.

If they are not buyers, if they do not recognize a need you can fill or they would not be willing to act, fuhgeddaboudem.

What they think is irrelevant. Focus on making an initial connect with buyers (those that recognize a need you can fill) within seconds.

Door to Door Sales Scripts 911 Rescue. “Sell Now or Die.”

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Door to door sales challenged? Door to doorers take heed of this true tale of cold calling on front steps success.

Mark from TX creates 6-figure income knocking on doors with new door-to-door sales scripts and techniques.The 911 call… the 5 step turnaround… the effective opening pitch and sales strategies.

Could you engineer a similar cold calling improvement? Why not?

Short story illustrates the power of a door knocker understanding proper script structure. When you can craft good phone scripts you can craft scripts that will work in other sales and marketing situations, even door to door. Mark got a good result approaching home after home with a solid door to door sales pitch. He learned what the components are of a total front step sales pitch process that will convert to contracts.

Door salesman need to know how to establish a solid foundation to close a deal, what is counter-intuitive about top scripting pitches and just how rapidly the closes can come when you get it right.

When Mark first called me my initial reaction was not good. He was a failing and frustrated door to door salesman and needed a sales opener pitch script and some techniques that worked right away. Didn’t know whether to laugh out loud or just politely bow out.

Mark needed to make this commission job work. He told me he was door to door prospecting with the mindset of someone approaching a haunted house. He was working like a dog but making nothing. His scripts and sales techniques were not working. It had been 4 weeks of doors slammed, “not interested,” and just send me something.

Mark was in a “sell now or die” situation. Job prospects weren’t good for Mark after getting laid off and he needed to sell now. Something about his door to door sales techniques were off.

The top people were closing 3 or 4 per three-hour shift and making 6 figures a year. He was closing one every other night and eating Ramon noodles. He desperately needed to improve his door to door success rate.

Bottom line? Within two weeks he is closing 3+ a night and buying steak. Solid sales scripts and sales techniques can do that for you.

Totally revising his opening lines and script structure and the way he thought about interacting with prospects between a barely opened door did it. Let me share some of the best tips and lessons.

Mark was door to door prospecting and his company was selling cable digital fiber optic upgrade services. When the business installed a new area, after the mail and phone blitz they sent people door to door to try to convert the stragglers and close more deals. Mark was part of this business team.

1st step. Get congruent with what those already successfully selling door to door what you offer.

Learn from their opening line techniques and pitch process from start to finish. Write down sales pitch examples. Your open door front stoop sales verbiage must be congruent with the selling scripts and blather that is working for others.

The business Mark worked for provided zip for training. You felt that you weren’t walking door to door, rather you were walking off a cliff. The scripts the sales manager provided were worthless. Not even close to a door to door sales script with a door bells chance of working. Might as well have thrown rocks at the house and called their mother names.

When we started along the yellow brick walkway to door to door sales success, I asked Mark if he could identify top sellers and speak to them, arrange to shadow them. Find out what they were doing. He was able to do that quickly. Note for emphasis here. Mark was starving. He needed to close on those door steps desperately. Yet he spent three days trudging down walkways with door to door salesman far more successful than he. Three days spent with no chance of earning a sales commission for himself, yet giving him a chance, a chance, to turn his door to door job of drudgery into something that would bring home big bucks. Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward.

Step two. Break the door to door sales script down line by line and understand the components.

Any sale is only as strong as the foundation it is built on. The reason why Mark’s door to door sales success rate was low was due to an extremely weak cold calling foundation. His opening lines and sales pitch started with a lie, then asked an irrelevant question, then babbled on about stuff he had no idea whether the prospect might value, then asked multiple “qualifying” questions, then never stopped closing until the door was shut… or slammed. Very dumb.

Here are the sales script components used with Mark’s new door to door sales pitch

The revised pitch opened with a sentence that aroused curiosity and stated a major benefit… which earned cause for pause. A door that was opened a crack stayed open.

Then stated a legitimate truthful reason for them to approach the home and knock on the door. Credibility.

The sales script pitch path then made reference to the popularity to the plan and three major reasons why people liked it. More credibility and a chance to hit a hot button. The door is opening a bit more.

Then some questions to find out what benefits the homeowner most valued.

Then a very clear statement of a powerful offer. The prospect understood it and could say yes or no, all while you conversed on the door step.

Step three. Go back and massage your opening line each component of your sales pitch.

Once we had a sales script draft that made sense we went back and focused on each component to make sure it would work in a door to door sales prospecting environment. It might have been a sentence or just a phrase, making sure we had an effective open. We punched it up and made it more powerful.

Mark was beginning to understand strategically how a total sales script path worked and why the company provided travesty was only helpful in getting doors slammed in your face.

Step four. Go out and hear a lot of doors slam.

Mark wrote down the best sales pitch he could from start to finish. To be a top door to door salesman you must write down the best words you could use to accomplish your sales objective. Same as cold calling, but here you are door to door cold calling. Write down the best pitch you can using the most common scenarios you face in the door way. Then Mark went out and used his new sales script and revised his door to door sales techniques. After every call made and door slammed he made note of the questions, reactions, stall points, blow offs and objections he was hearing.

He then anticipated these responses and altered his opening lines and sales pitch path to head them off at the pass. It is better to avoid objections than have to overcome them.

Step five. Write it down. Revise it.

I insisted that he write down every variation of his door to door prospecting plan and what he was hearing from homeowners on every call. He then thought about each repetitive scenario and prepared for it.

The bottom line… from a door to door sales script success rate horror story (one close every other night) to 3+ a night within a few weeks… just by following a process and proven sales script structures.

He went from being a door to door salesman approaching homes with a feeling of doom similar to entering a haunted house, to being a door to door salesman approaching the house as if he owned the house.

I see a lot of people like Mark, very capable yet not working the right process or using the right sales techniques and strategies to get the results they should.

Mark told me the 2 biggest thing that made a difference for him to keep that door open and close more contracts was seeing the sales pitch script as distinct components that had to accomplish a specific objective in order for him to close a deal. He kept the pieces that were working and left the pieces that were not on the steps.

The 2nd key thing for him was understanding that it wasn’t what he did that mattered, but how the homeowners mind moved through the stages necessary to buy. When he started to realize that his words and sales techniques must move the prospect though certain stages in order to close deals, and understanding what stage they were in and how to move them from stage to stage, then he started to have some fun with door to door sales and improve his success rate and closing ratio.

Mark rose to walk among the very few that master door to door selling. If you are cold calling, an inside sales rep or need to improve a phone script, the scripting turn-around process is the same.

Mark was working very hard and earning little. He was just a few steps, little knowledge, a little organization and a little focus away from an income explosion.

You may be able to engineer the same kind of door to door sales jump-start. Mark’s story is not unusual.

Master Core Script Paths, Before Thinking Of Lunatic Fringe

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It’s a common worry among those new to appointment setting or high-level prospecting.
Frankly, it also absorbs too much bandwidth among those that are working hard at prospecting yet not getting enough results.

The worry which distracts from using the right verbiage to reach your business objective with a call or meeting, called preparation or scripting, is overthinking about what to say if someone is rushed, angry, busy, or rude. Or, how to respond if they say this, or say that, or ask this question. What am I going to say if, if, if, if, if. Yikes, slow down.

Your Team Will Not Respond Well To Less Common Situations Unless They First Master The Most Common Situations

If you want to be a better prospector, master your most common situations before you start worrying about how to handle one-offs, exceptions to the rule, and the lunatic fringe.

All good phone scripts or sales conversations are built on strong foundations. If your goal is “good sales scripts” then you should work a process of getting there. The first step in the process is to identify your most common call path.

Master your most common call path

A decision-maker answers the phone.

You say something to open the call.

They object, ask a question, or call your mother names.

You respond.

They either tell you to get lost or say, “OK.”

You will either book the meeting or, if they have rejected you again, end with one final question. “Totally understand, don’t want to be on your back, but we do a lot of this, could you suggest a time for me to be back in touch?”

They give you a call back date or don’t.

Bye.

Master your most common phone situations first

If you are hemming and hawing, using a script that needs to be improved or projecting a lack of confidence with stammering, hesitations, and sounding like you are searching for words, you should not be thinking about how to handle situations that arise less frequently.

Those that try to prepare for everything on day one have a much harder time discovering what works.

But, if you realize that you must walk before you can run. And that you will be better on day 30 than on day one, better the end of your 2nd month than you are the end of your first, then you can build your script confidence and improve your script responsiveness by taking things step by step.

If you are a newbie, training a new hire or onboarding a new BDR, focus first on getting comfortable with your most common scenarios.

Remember, you are not an over the phone mind reader or trying to guess what will work best on each individual call you make. If you are doing it right you are calling into a group of similarly situation suspects and need to get a baseline sense of what scripting approach will generate the most results from the group you call.

With enough calls, practice, and patience, if you work a process of testing as you call, you will conclude:

– Most successful calls start when you open with a particular script.

– That there are typically 3, but usually no more than five objections or questions you hear most often.

– That there is a response you give, which tends to work best for each of those 3 – 5  objections or questions.

– If they say “no,” there is a best way for you to ask if they could suggest a time for you to be back in touch.

– If they say “yes,” there is a best way to set the date and time and maximize show rate.

Perfect and polish the most common scenarios first, from start to finish

Worry and fret about phrasing, delivery, what words to use, and when, for your most common situations first. Put all the other stuff that “might” happen aside. In the beginning don’t be overly concerned about what to say if maybe, possibly, they might object or ask you a question. Until you get your core scenarios right, you are not in a position to even try to come up with what to do in less common situations.

Until you get a strong sense of what works overall, you or your team is unlikely to figure out what works in less common scenarios, so don’t spend a lot of effort there.

Top 10 Phone Scripts Mistakes to Avoid

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It takes a lot of effort, monotony and frustration to get an active buyer on the phone. Someone who is going to write a check to your or a competitor. A competitor for sure if you are not there.

So at the moment of truth when you hear “Hello” and an active buyer will decide whether you are worth listening to in mere moments…. are you and your team ready to maximize opportunities? Or, after all your hard work will you hear “we are all set.”

“We are all set” is code for “we are going to write a check to someone, but this person doesn’t seem worth the time compared to my other choices, so I’ll just say “all set” and be rid of them.”

This article is about how to avoid 10 common sales prospecting script mistakes that grab defeat from the hands of victory.

Ten Common Strategic Scripting Errors That Let Active Buyers and Great New Account Opportunities Slip Right Through Your Fingers.

10. Failure to have a strategic response to common objections.

When you hear “send some info.” “we are all set” or “call me back,” do you meekly say “OK?” Or, do you have a strategic response ready that separates the qualified prospects from the tire-kickers and can get you a meeting now rather than later?

9. You don’t communicate value.

If you continually get interrupted, shut-off or turned down, you are not communicating value. You are the issue, not the people you call.

8. You think scripts are the key to prospecting success.

Wrong. Great scripts only help you if you are having conversations with the right people and enough of them. It is your system of organized calling and touches (you do have a system?) that consistently delivers you those conversations.

7. Failure to eliminate extra unnecessary words.

Get to the point. Seconds matter on the phone.

6. Failure to communicate credibility.

What experience or results have you achieved that makes you worth listening to?

4. Failure to communicate specific benefits.

You’re great. Provide great service. Nobody is listening. Jolt them alive by relating specific significant benefits you deliver.

3. You give your decision-maker control over the conversation.

Lay the proper foundation for the business result you seek to achieve before you start to speak.

2. Failure to communicate as a peer.

Don’t present yourself as the unworthy begging salesperson. You have value to present. You are just as important as they are. Act like it. Be confident.

1. Failure to write it down.

Prepare for common phone scenarios by writing down the best words to use to accomplish your business objective. Do you “make it up” or “wing-it” every time? You are leaving a lot of money on the table.

BONUS MISTAKE. You try to sell your product or service rather than the meeting.

Big difference between the two. Sell your service, no meeting. Sell the meeting, you have a shot at selling your service. Understand the difference in approach.

Best wishes for sales prospecting success,
Scott Channell

Voicemail Disruption in B2B Prospecting Land. 6 Fun Facts.

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Six fun facts about using voicemail in your sales prospecting process.

There is disruption happening is voicemail land. You want to be aware of the changes and do what is necessary to stay ahead of your competition. Let’s review some statistics on voicemail volume, rates of retrieval, abandonment and why transcription and smartphones should have your restructuring the voicemails you do leave. Then I have six recommendations for you.

There is no question that voicemail use, on both sides of the phone is changing. These are statistics I’m seeing consistently from various sources.
Voicemail volume is dropping 8% a year.
Retrieval of those voicemails is dropping 14% per year.
30% or more of voicemails left are not listened to until 3 or more days later.
Voicemail abandonment rate is 50%- 75% and increasing.
30% or more of voicemails are being read (not listened to) via voice to text services on smartphones.

So not a surprise to those of us in sales prospecting and appointment setting land. People are leaving fewer voicemails. More and more are not listening to their voicemails. More and more callers are reaching voicemail and bouncing rather than leave a message. And, significantly about 30% of voicemails left are being read, not listened to, but read, on a smartphone.

What is happening in voicemail land is not change, it is disruption. The increasing numbers of those that don’t leave or listen to voicemail is not a trend, it is a stampede.

So, if you are a sales manager tasked with generating opportunities by use of phone, voicemail and email, or an individual salesrep whose paycheck is dependent upon generating sales appointments that convert, what does all of this mean and what do you do?

1st point. The trend is thundering away from voicemail.
That does not mean that NOBODY is listening. There are fewer and they are much quicker to say bye-bye, so when you use it adjust your expectations and make your message count.

2nd point. If people are listening to your voicemail at all, they are deleting quicker and a significant number are reading it on their smartphones. So, what they see on the first 2 or 3 lines determines whether you get dismissed or they read further.  The days of you leaving a voicemail starting with “Hey this is Billybob over at Mega industries and I know you are busy and I will only take a minute but we are a full-service blah blah blah yada yada are over.

To have even a shot of success with voicemail today you must lead with an interruptive statement wedged next to credibility or you are toast.

“Sally, is your widget service performing satisfactorily? More than 500 companies in the East Yazoo area chose us to get big benefit A, mega benefit B and humungous benefit C, yada yada yada…” Boom, Boom and Boom.

No name up front, no how are you doing, no wasting time by telling them you won’t waste their time, drive home with clarity and impact right up front so that the buyers, those that know they have a need, can immediately recognize that you might help them and that you are worth more time.

Those rules were always the case when leaving voicemail but they are even more important now.

3rd. You want your competitors eating your dust, you don’t want to be left scrambling for the crumbs they leave behind. You must be ahead of this voicemail curve to compete. 
You must make your voicemail messaging more effective today to beat your competitors. If you are leaving voicemail messages today craft them to have the greatest chance of success. In addition to that, as voicemail effectiveness declines, you must integrate alternatives into your prospecting process to beat your competitors. Y

4th. In some industries most appointments and discovery calls are being made by email without phone calls.
Effective use of email is becoming rapidly more important. If you are going to beat your competitors it means knowing how to craft an email to get a response, no small challenge, and getting very familiar with the great tools out there today that enable you to find and send emails to your targeted decision makers. Tools like Hunter, getprospect, anymailfinder, findthat.email do an amazing job of providing accurate email addresses. Some even integrate with Linkedin Sales Navigator. Review these tools and decide which ones will help you.

5th. Companies ahead of the curve have learned how to integrate calls, voicemail and email into their process for best appointment setting and discovery call process results.
Some, that see great results from email have said “Wait a minute. Our emails are getting responses and meetings. Why not just email those top prospects we don’t have the time or resources to call for even more meetings now?” They are doing that, parallel to their more traditional phone outreach effort and reaping a lot of opportunities because of it. This can give you a big boost quick if done correctly. Look at tools like outreach, persistiq and quickmail for cold emailing those you cannot call.

6th. Like fashion trends from the 90’s that are coming back what’s old is new again and marketing tools like direct mail are getting more use and attention.
Now, am I advising you to ditch what you are doing and start mailing? No. But I am telling you that as calling and voicemail become more challenging that you will need to add more techniques to your repertoire to stay ahead of the competition. Certainly, as to your best prospects, your highest potential value prospects, you should at least think seriously about what other marketing techniques make sense, and direct mail should get your consideration.

So that’s it. Some fun facts about the state of voicemail and six tips to help you stay effective in generating new opportunities.

If you need some help in this area or want to talk about your situation, contact us for a chat.

Prospect and prosper,
This is Scott Channell

Stoopid Phone Script Phrases. Part To.

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Being consistently less stupid than the competition is often the road to success.

The goal is to attract prospects, not to chase them away with a stick. Yet, when good people work the phones to get face-to-face meetings, discovery calls, webinar or event attendance, that is often what they do. Chase the prospects away with a stick.

You want to say things that communicate credibility, value, and worth. You want valuable prospects to conclude that it is worth their time to explore your offerings.

So let’s eliminate the self-sabotage and stop shooting ourselves in the foot by eliminating these self-defeating phrases from our phone prospecting vocabulary.

We would like to stop by for 10-15 minutes…

Is that all you are worth? Then you must not have much to offer. Good bye.

A short visit is not a benefit. You communicate value, let the prospect tell you if they have an issue with time.

Plus, when you set expectations like that and end up staying longer, you have started the relationship off with a lie. They know you misrepresented something to get a meeting. You are building a relationship with sand.

How are you?

Write down this Scottism. Don’t make it easy for them to throw you in with the idiots. Your best prospects are barraged by time-wasting worthless phone prospecting calls. If you say the things that idiots say that waste people’s time, you will also be perceived to be an idiot.

You think you are being “nice.” That has nothing to do with getting results. The first few seconds of a call are most important. Instead of using it to communicate value and credibility, you chose to fill those seconds with something of no value to buyers and is said by many that waste their time.

Be professional, but get to the point and lay the proper foundation for them to conclude that you are worth more of their time.

Are you the person in charge of….

If you didn’t know, why did you call them? If they were identified as the decision-maker why ask this question? Launch right into your pitch. If they are the right person you have a shot at a next step. If they are not, if they know what you do and perceive you as credible they will refer you to the right person. Asking this question is self-defeating.

I know you are busy…

Really? You don’t “know” anything. Are you a professional with worthwhile info and expertise that can help or are you a peon begging for a few seconds audience with a superior? People buy from peers. You won’t earn time from worthwhile prospects if you project an image of a 3rd class citizen begging for whatever scraps of time can be thrown your way.

It won’t take much of your time…

Again, this phrase projects weakness and uncertainty. Short meetings are not a benefit if you are perceived to have no value. You spend the few seconds you have to communicate credibility, value, benefits and what they will get if they spend more time with you. Let them tell you if they have an issue with time.

You shoot yourself in the foot and diminish your value when you say this.

We work with companies just like you…

The lies begin. The decision-maker on the other end of the line immediately thinks “BS. They haven’t met us or know what our objectives are or what we are trying to do.” They mouth “All set, have a vendor we love” or another excuse to get off the phone with you but they are really thinking “This person is clueless, making assumptions and a waste of my time.”

If that statement is true, then say things which enable your decision-maker to conclude that you have experience worthwhile to them.

Don’t state what you wish them to conclude, lead them to it. Much more powerful.

Do you have a minute?

Really bad. You are handing control of the conversation over to your prospect before you have communicated value and credibility. Why should they have any time for someone who has given them no information to conclude they are worthwhile? Bye-bye.

Giving you a quick call to…

Again. Don’t waste your precious upfront seconds with a promise of brevity which provides them no information to conclude you are worth listening to and sounds like all the other schmucks who waste their time.

Sometimes being smarter than your competition isn’t the answer. Being less stupid is.

Evaluate your phone and sales scripts for self-sabotaging language.

Always say things that communicate value and credibility to buyers.

NEVER say things that diminish perceptions of your value. Seconds matter.

Go forward and be less stoopid on the phone.

Worst Sales Script Phrases to Set Discovery Calls/Sales Appointments

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When it comes to scheduling more discovery calls with high-probability buyers, there are a lot of people working very hard and shooting themselves in the foot.

It is unfortunate (ridiculous, actually) that someone would invest the time to dial, dial, call, voicemail and email. Then when a potential client who would love to hear about new options, work with a better vendor or solve a problem they have picks up the phone, at the moment of truth, the salesperson chooses words that CHASE THEM AWAY. Rather than choose words that enable them to conclude that more time with the caller or the caller’s company would be worthwhile.

Here is a laundry list of phrases that you should ban from your “set the discovery call” script.

That is, what you should not say when that qualified high-level decision maker you have identified picks up the phone, and you have less than few seconds to enable them to conclude that you are worth more time and ask them to meet.

In the end, I will share the two big misconceptions that drive salespeople to use phrases that chase great prospects away and four things that SDR’s get wrong about setting discovery calls.

How are you?
How is your day going?

You have seconds to communicate what you do, your credibility, how you help and what you want. In the most important first three seconds, you choose to communicate none of that?

Did I catch you at a bad time

Is this a good time to talk…

Do you have a few minutes…

Do you have a moment to answer a quick question about …

We can assume that people who can authorize big checks are busy. In fact, don’t we hear over and over again that “everyone is busy” and “no one has time?” So why waste precious seconds with a question you know the answer to? It makes you look like all the other knucklehead time-wasters that don’t get to the point, and turn control of the conversation to your prospect to boot? Makes no sense.

If your thought is that you are “nice” or respectful to the person you have interrupted, you are wrong. You have already decided to interrupt them. Respect them by saying something that would help them decide if you are worth more time.

I know you are busy, I’ll be brief

You “know” nothing. You sound just like many time-wasters that call me so why should I keep listening. And you are not brief by wasting seconds with verbiage that does not help me at all.

Just want to ask a quick question. Giving you a quick call to…

The reason I called is …

The reason for the call today is

Get to the point. Just say it. This drivel is not providing information helpful to your suspect. Precious seconds are wasted. Tick tock tick tock.

We help companies just like yours

You know nothing about us. The lies are starting already. If that is true, relate specifics so that they conclude that on their own. It is immediately discounted 100% and throws you in the same trash can with the other time-wasters. Particularly unfortunate when that statement is true. You turn off the prospect before you can get there.

Asking a question in your initial pitch, any question.

How are you handling that?

Would you like to save money?

If I could wave a magic wand, what is the one thing…

This will not go over well with the herd, but it is a strategic blunder for you to ask a question, or heaven forbid, multiple questions, during your initial 30-second or less set the discovery call pitch. When seeking to set a discovery call with a qualified prospect the only question, you ask initially is “would you have some time in the next week or two?” That is the only question at this point.

Your goal is to set up a meeting. Everything you say must relate to that goal. When you ask a question, they are now in charge. They rarely have the same goal as you at this point.

You must lay a solid foundation of clearly communicating what you do, your credibility, the value delivered and what you want. You must do that without exception first.

Asking questions derails that objective and puts them in charge. Once they get what you do and why you might be worth their time and what you want, then you have the option of maybe asking some questions, not until.

Are you the person in charge of …

Are you the person that handles X

Or worse…. I spoke to so and so who told me you were the person in charge of X. Is that true?

Most of the time you are calling someone that you feel is the decision-maker. Why waste precious seconds confirming something you already know. In the few cases where you are wrong, if you are clearly communicating what you do, the person you are speaking to will recognize that and redirect you. 95% of the time those are wasted words, and you are providing no info of value to your suspect in the most crucial first few seconds.

We provide the best, most affordable, unique, leading widget services

Stay away from any hype words. As prospects don’t know you, any hype words you use are immediately discounted 99%. Initially, Stick to fact-based statements they will not immediately discount.

I this, I that, I want, I, I, I.

Nobody cares about you. Rip out every “I” or “we” you can from your scripts. Rephrase to a “you” perspective.

We want to get to know your business and see how we can help you.

What we would like to do is…

What we would like to do is meet with you and see what kind of value we can provide …

Nobody cares.

Looking to find 15 minutes to meet, discuss,

Among the most common example of sales prospecting malpractice, shoot yourself in the foot, steal defeat from the jaws of victory in discovery call setting land.

If you are saying this, you need to work on your self-esteem. If you are not worth their time the fact you will waste only 15 minutes is not a benefit. If you are a worthwhile credible, trusted advisor who can deliver desired outcomes to me or my organization and has valued information to share that is helpful for us to hear, why are you worth only 15 minutes? It must be because you are not worth it. Bye.

You diminish your value in the eyes of your best prospects when you drivel out this phrase.

If top people have an issue with time, they will ask

Four reasons why these worthless phrases are used.

  1. Callers think they can out-nice the competition.

Don’t get me wrong. You are always professional and courteous in your communication, never rude, never pressuring. But you make a mistake confusing being direct with being rude, too-salesy (don’t get me going) or pushy.  You think that if you are super nice, nicer and more considerate than the rest, that it will win you some points. It won’t.

You win points among BUYERS with a well prepared pithy pitch professionally delivered that enables a busy decision-maker to decide if you are worth more time.

  1. Callers fear annoying someone, so they do verbal backflips not to offend.

Here is a bulletin. You have already decided to interrupt them. The same verbiage that will be welcomed by those most likely to buy, those that recognize a need and understand what you do, your credibility and value you deliver, will be rejected by those with no needs or happy with their situations.

Adding verbiage that communicates no helpful information at all to BUYERS, so that you can have more comfortable conversations with those who will not be receptive to your message is not helping you. In fact, your effort to “not annoy” is increasing the annoyance you create.

In the same amount of time, you spend groveling and apologizing, beating around the bush and trying not to annoy you could say something worthwhile. So that those you speak to can “get it” and say “yes” or “no.” That is being respectful to your prospects.

  1. You are not trying to set a discovery call with everyone you speak.

You should be focused on those you speak to who are BUYERS. A buyer is someone who if they heard the right things would write a check or change vendors.

Not everyone you speak to is a buyer.  Only a small percentage might be. Stay focused on choosing words and phrases that would enable BUYERS to conclude you are worth more time. FORGET THE REST.

When you water down your verbiage or delay getting to the point to have a more comfortable conversation with those that will not meet or buy, you are diluting your message to the buyers. You, with the verbiage and behaviors you choose, have chosen to deliver a weaker watered down message to BUYERS, in the hopes that non-buyers might be less annoyed. Makes no sense.

  1. It is not your responsibility to convince anyone of anything

Relieve yourself of the burden of thinking you have to set a meeting with everyone you speak to. That is the wrong mindset. It is your job to work a total system so that you bump into more qualified prospects at the right time. And when you do bump into them, you deliver the words they need to hear to conclude you are worth more of their time. Some will, some won’t. Next.

Hope these phrases and comments challenge your thinking and help you rewrite your scripts.

A Message About Voicemails

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Lets Review Some Voicemail Basics,
Then Analyze a Voicemail Script, Phrase by Phrase (below)

Bulletin: Very few people who listen to a voicemail will return the call. How insightful. Some will and we want every word we select to encourage that. However, immediate response is not the only purpose of a voicemail.

The voicemail works as part of your total system of interaction to ultimately achieve your business purpose. Gain a commitment for a solid next step from a highly-qualified decision-maker.

The other purpose of the voicemail, just as important as generating an immediate response, is to increase name recognition, and build familiarity with your message.

People respond to things they are comfortable with. You want to keep your message consistent among your phone scripts, voicemails and Emails so that your suspects can absorb the message and be comfortable with it. If they can absorb it and understand it you have a greater shot of them saying “Yes.” If they cannot grasp it they cannot say “Yes.” So you get a non-response or something else.

It’s common for newbies to think they have to write multiple voicemails to mix things up. This is the exact opposite of what you should do. Two reasons. First of all, it’s difficult enough to write one good voicemail that works for you. Trying to write three good ones is mission impossible stuff.

You want to keep your messaging consistent so that people can absorb it, understand it, then act on it. If you send them mixed messages, it is less likely they will absorb it, it will be harder for them to understand it and the odds that they will act on it plummet.

Consistency of messaging builds credibility and recognition.

Your voicemail is a touch. The more touches you deliver to your carefully chosen suspects with to the point consistent messaging; the more likely it is that they recognize your name and grasp what you might do for them.

If that happens, it increases the odds that they will respond to a touch, call you if they have a need or be more receptive to your phone call. That is why we leave voicemail messages. It is part of a total strategy to penetrate the minds of our suspects.

Lets review a voicemail script 

Beep. “If you are looking to improve your employee relocation process, companies like L. L. Beanstock, Microsquishy and 500 others use us to simplify administration and achieve 98% employee satisfaction. Would be happy to share case histories and strategies that worked for others. This is Charlie Chatty. Super Service Group. 1-800-123-45XX. Charlie . 800-123-45xx.” Click.

Slightly different version.

Beep. “Dan… regarding your employee relocations, 500 companies selected us to move 30,000 employees last year as they get improved transferee satisfaction and cost efficiencies? Would be happy to share examples and strategies as to how they improved their programs. This is Charlie Chatty from Super Group. 800-123-45xx. Charlie 800-123-45xx.” Click.

The hovering finger problem

Decision-makers listen to their voicemails with their fingers hovering over the delete button. The task of your voicemail script is to keep it hovering. Just one split second of say nothingingness and no value and DELETE.

Voicemails should be 20-seconds long. Look at all that you do within 20-seconds.

“… regarding your employee relocations…” BOOM. Within 2 seconds you have told them what you do. If they have a need in this area you have given them a nugget of info upon which to decide to listen a few moments longer.

Then you continue.

“… 500 companies selected us to move 30,000 employees last year …”

You just slayed them with a credibility statement. If they have needs with their employee relocation program they know you might help them as you have been crystal clear as to what you do. Not only that, they know you must be a top notch provider as 500 companies work with you and you moved 30,000 employees last year. BOOM.

If they are open to making improvements in this area they know you might help them and that you are a top shelf provider. Within seconds. Those likely to write checks to a competitor soon are still listening. The rest? Who cares? Buh-bye.

You then continue to drop a few benefit bombs “… improved transferee satisfaction and cost efficiencies… ” offer to deliver something at a meeting worth their time even if they don’t buy from you “…examples and strategies as to how they improved their programs…” and leave your name and contact info at the end “This is Charlie Chatty from Super Group. 800-123-45xx. Charlie 800-123-45xx.”

You covered a lot of bases in about 20-seconds.
This structure will earn you next steps.
Water it down, beat around the bush and add extra words and your voicemails will earn you silence.

Another voicemail challenge. Technology.

In addition to the fact that most people you leave messages for have no needs and are guaranteed to ignore you no matter what you say, you have another modern day challenge.

Most people don’t listen to their voicemails.

Most are reading transcriptions of them.

So your great delivery and confident voice have no impact on the majority that are reading your message, not listening to it.

Worst still. Most of those viewing transcriptions of your voicemails are reading them on mobile phones. So the first 2 or 3 initial lines will determine you success or failure. Fill that space up with blah blah blah and you get zip. Fill that space up with info that signals to a buyer that you might be able to help them and are super credible, you have a shot.

The modern day human attention span is your enemy. It is now 8 seconds.

Goldfish have longer attention spans than those you prospect. Not kidding.