The 8 steps of a great sales script

 by Tony Vidler.

 One of the most under-rated tools for success in any sales-orientated job is "scripting"...actually writing down the words you are going to use - in advance - and thinking about how those words work together.

Unbelievably though most sales people seem to prefer to pick up a phone, or make a call on a prospective client, and basically just work it out on the fly. 

They say they want to sound "natural", or don't want to sound "canned"....and after a little role play I can often assure them that their natural and un-canned approach to a prospect certainly doesn't sound like a rehearsed spiel at all. 

It usually sounds more like a spluttering teenager hesitantly asking a shotgun-armed father if he can take his daughter out....

The same salespeople then ask for help with improving their conversion rates....improving the proportion of the people they talk to initially wanting to talk further with them.  But they want to be natural while doing it.

So why bother scripting out what you are hoping will sound natural and easy?  Well, it is so you can be natural and easy....while being effective.

In any presentation, whether it be over the phone to a stranger or in an auditorium of attentive acolytes, you will be far more relaxed and easy with your audience if you know precisely what you are going to say and do.  Practice really does make perfect in this regard...rehearsing and practicing to get the right words in the right order and with the right inflection and impact makes a massive difference to your conversion rate.  It follows of course that a big difference in that conversion rate means far more effective advertising and marketing spend, and a far healthier bottom line for your business.  And you annoy less people.

What goes into a good sales scripts?

1.  The clients name.

The one thing guaranteed to get someone's attention is their own name, and it is a basic courtesy.  Try and use it 2-3 times early in the script as it gets their full attention on what you are saying.  You are also being courteous and polite in doing so, which creates a positive impression.

2.  Pauses.

Especially when engaging with a prospective client on the phone and they have no non-verbal clues to help them, you have to give reasonably frequent pauses.  It is difficult for most people to follow a conversation with someone they do not know well when they can only hear them, so you have to slow down and give them time to process what you are saying.

3.  Tone.

The tone can in itself make or break any approach - we all know that.  Think beyond the obvious though - it isn't just about being friendly and professional, but where you put inflection on particular words, and how fluidly you move through what you want to say can also make a huge difference to how positively it is received.  And a light mildly humorous tone can be magic - if you (or your line of work) can carry that off.

4.  Brevity

Life's short. Keep it brief.  Make it as short as possible - but no shorter.  One of the real advantages of scripting and role-playing is that you can actively refine what you want to say to get that optimal balance of brief, but detailed enough, to get the point across.

5.  WIIFM.

Every prospective client has Radio-WIIFM playing in their own head the whole time you are talking to them.  What Is In It For Me?  That's the question in their minds that MUST be answered sufficiently for them to agree to go further with you.  It is at the core of your script.

6.  Minimal choices.  

Too many choices confuse people, and their instinct is to either find a middle ground or refuse to choose anything.  The simple act of providing many choices creates a barrier for many consumers - it all gets too hard.  If for instance you are asking for an appointment, then just give them a choice of 2 times.  If you don't provide any choices, and leave an open question for them to solve, it just becomes too hard as they have to think of too many variables.

7.  Ask.

Seems obvious, but you actually have to ask for what you want at some point.  Clearly it is not appropriate asking for what you want before you've gone through the previous steps, however you do actually have to ask for the order, or the next step, or the appointment, or whatever.  This doesn't have to be complicated - in fact you are more likely to be trusted if it isn't some cunning "closing technique" - just simple and open, asking for permission to go to the next step, is very effective.

8.  Back-up.
No matter how good and polished your script and you are, there will be people you are talking to where they haven't quite got it and are hesitating.  Usually when they are hesitating or non-committal - but haven't hung up on you or thrown you out - they are saying inside their own minds "you haven't convinced me yet".

You have to be prepared with a back-up...something which cuts straight to the heart of the WIIFM again and helps them understand what the benefit is to them of doing what you ask.  It is not "objection handling" of the old fashioned variety where you supposedly will cunningly maneuver the prospective client into saying "yes" to something they will later regret.  This is your best shot...your key proposition put into words that show them how they will gain from doing what you propose.

There will still be people who don't go with your recommendation - and for lots of good reasons that they don't want to share with you.  But if you do construct a great sales script, and rehearse and polish it, at least you won't lose good people just because they couldn't understand you or thought you a bumbling fool.

A great sales script is founded on elemental psychology and an acute understanding of what is likely to be happening in the other persons mind.  The right words, put together in the right order, and then said the right way, and all done with conviction and certainty make for success.


Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.

The BEST "Prospecting" Question Ever

by Tony Vidler.

I thought I'd share the best prospecting tip I ever heard....so simple, but soooo clever.


Many years ago a fantastic adviser that I knew well (since retired) working in rural town in New Zealand managed to be one of the top producing agents for well over a decade using this simple technique. 

He would simply ask the people he knew - but who were not clients - as he wandered around doing his business a question. Well, it was two questions really.


The first queston was "Do you mind if I ask you something?" 

Invariably people respond: "of course not". Think about the psychology of that simple opening; a courteous request, seeking permission (so not in obvious control of the discussion), and virtually impossible to deny if you are the person being asked the question. It would be rude to say no, wouldn't it, and nobody wants to appear rude? So everyone agrees that he could ask them a further question.


The key question that followed was: "Can I ask you why you have never done business with me?" (said very politely, quizzically, and most emphasis upon the "me"). It is an almost apologetic approach that caused no offence or discomfort to people as he was careful to set it up correctly, and ask the question in the right tone.


Responses varied of course, but could be grouped into a simple set of about 4 types of responses:
1. I have a great adviser and am happy
2. You never asked me to do business with you
3. I thought you were too busy/tooexpensive/too....something or other
4. I don't know why I never have/I've never thought about it.

In the case of the first response (I have a great adviser!), the best course of action is to congratulate them, thank them for answering, and move on from that topic. Stay engaged in the conversation of course, but leave that topic. In doing so you have been just as courteous and respectful, and unintrusive.


In all other cases though, the opportunity for a business discussion has just been created....

This is an incredibly simple technique for determining whether you should be having a business discussion with people you know. It causes no offence (if asked correctly), the prospective client has given you permission to ask the question, and then feels compelled (having given you permission) to respond sincerely.


The follow up to engage the prospecive client in the business conversation was also a very politely framed question, that usually started with "I'm sorry I never explained properly how I help people, do you mind if I go through that with you sometime?" 

The overwhelming proportion of people would then agree to meet up later and have a business chat....and that is how a single adviser working in a small rural town became one of the best producers and most popular people in the region.


Try it sometime, and you'll be amazed at how many people you know will be willing to talk business with you - if you just ask the right questions, the right way!

Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.

The 6 P's of sustained peak performance

 by Tony Vidler.

How to stay on top of your game, get the results that you want in business, and maintain peak performance....it all comes down to having a system, or a process.

The formula is - like all good things - a simple one. 6 P's become your process, and lead to sustained performance, instead of the frequent ups and downs of business that can be so demoralizing and stressful.

It all begins with marketing of course - and marketing is the main thing. I recall hearing from Winston Marsh once that "you have to be a better teller of what you do, than a doer of what you do". He is right - it doesn't matter how good you are if nobody knows it. And they won't necessarily come and find you just because you are great - unless you are one of the absolute elite at the top of the game with a truly international reputation and strong personal brand. But even those people are constantly marketing...

The point of this system is to stay focused on the daily activities that create value and generate business. It is a cycle that doesn't stop. And it all begins with marketing - every day.

Promote:
Marketing should be a daily activity, not just an annual think-tank & planning session. Apply the strategy daily, and keep sending the message out to your target market continuously. For example: if your primary marketing strategy is to establish credibility and authority in a particular market niche and dominate that niche, then they need to see and hear from you continually - you have to be the voice that is listened to. A daily routine of providing content via Twitter and Facebook (both aimed at your target market), supporting your content and positioning on LinkedIn, might be your daily "promotion".

Produce:
The next most important thing is to generate revenue. Constantly. It is the next most important focus, and you must be doing that, and working upon doing more of it, daily. No matter how nice the fee or commission for any particular piece of work, it will be gone in no time. (I've seen many spend it twice - the day they make the sale it is often spent in anticipation, and then again on the day the revenue actually arrives). You have to keep selling. Marketing isn't enough, as that just provides the opportunity to sell. Selling gets the dollars in the door - it needs constant focus. You might do this by ensuring that you are in front and presenting to "x" number of people per day.

Pitch:
You have to continually top up that sales funnel. There is no point in having a heap of well qualified prospects that you are not doing business with, and there is even less point in not doing business just because you are worried you will use up all your prospects. At a personal level - the prospecting part of any sales process - you have to be pitching daily. Pitching just means "tell your story" to people - not corner them, or try and sell them straight away. You know that the best clients come from a well established, trusted relationship, and that can only be built over time. Take the pressure out of the business by ensuring that you are talking to people each day who will be future clients - not today's sale. You might do this by ringing and talking to to "x" people per day who are at different points in the sales or relationship building process.

Process:
Look for an area to create just a little efficiency within your business each day. aim for 1% improvements daily - not giant leaps forward. Incremental process improvement is easy, and far more quickly than you would think it leads to a very efficient business machine. It is the same approach as the ant trying to eat the elephant....just one bite at a time. You might do this by standardizing one letter, or paragraph for reports, each day that you can use continuously to save time or make the job easier in the future. Keep building and refining proceses for a more efficient business.

Perfect:
Work on the business, even if it is just a little, each day. Some time with the staff, the key suppliers, the centres of influence, the financial management, analysis of marketing efforts - there are so many things to do and continually work on in building a great business. Work on it constantly in easily digestible chunks (remember the ant and the elephant? it is the same principle). The goal her is not "perfection", it is about continually perfecting and refining.

Plan:
Every day, review the activity plan. Not the business plan as such, but work the diary for the days, weeks and months ahead. schedule the work, know who you are going to call, know where you are going next.

...then get on and promote....

This simple daily routine will keep the wheels turning in your business, and ensure that all the important components in building a great business are being worked on - while keeping the revenue coming in the door.

Attaining peak performance is simply a matter of having a good process that focuses your time and effort in the right proportions on the right things. Then being able to get into the routine (habit) of applying it.


Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.

WOMBAT is the word!

 by Tony Vidler.

A couple of recent conversations reminded me that there is one single thing that is continually forgotten, or under-utilized, in the marketing efforts of professional advisers - TESTIMONIALS!

You may well ask what this has to do with a Wombat - you may even wonder what the heck a Wombat is.  Humor me for a few moments though, and all will become clear I hope.

In literal terms a Wombat is a native Australian animal, renowned for its tough, resilient, plodding approach to life.  Even their metabolism is remarkably slow - some 8-14 days to digest their food.  Slow and steady is their way.  In colloquial terms the acronym WOMBAT is often used to describe a human that is rather useless really - a Waste Of Money Breath And Time. 

That observation has nothing to do with anything really, but is perhaps a useful or amusing piece of nonsense - you may know a wombat or two, and now have a useful label for them that is not openly offensive. I know some wombats for sure.

From a sales and marketing perspective though WOMBAT stands for Word Of Mouth Beats Any Thing.

Word of mouth advertising is the best there is.  Referrals and endorsement from happy customers, who advocate for you to other potential customers, produce the best new customers.  Cost of acquisition for the new client is generally one of the lowest of any marketing methods.  Ease of business in terms of gaining rapport and establishing trust is superb.  Your expertise and value is largely accepted by the potential customer before you even meet.

Everyone knows this of course, but few generate enough referrals to be able to rely upon them as the primary constant source of new business.   There are a number of reasons why that is the case, not least of which is the reluctance for professionals to beg their clients for the names of others.  That is something which nobody feels good about - especially your customers.  The extremely basic concept often touted is to ASK!  Ask and all shall be delivered!  Well...it IS true that if you ask often enough, you'll get something from enough people, so that it is sort of effective I suppose.  Truth be told this method usually results in obtaining little more than a list of the client's B-list acquaintances, and they are barely qualified at this point (if at all).  The result is effectively a new list of cold-calling candidates for you, and a nervous new client wondering what the heck they have just done. Brilliant.

Let's face it, it is poor form and a bad look (especially early in a business relationship) to put somebody on the spot and bluntly ask them for a bunch of names.  Do you really expect that someone who is still only beginning to trust you will deliver your next wave of super clients?  Just because you asked the magic question do not expect your new client to open his contacts list and electronically transport his entire social network to your I-phone, with the ringing endorsement that everyone they know should place their faith in you. The chances of that are nearly as good as playing Lotto.  You'll perhaps win plenty of small prizes if you play this game often enough, but you'll still be losing money overall and missing out on the big money.

Word of mouth though is where it is at.  Constant streams of referrals from satisfied customers ARE possible.  However, like the wombat you have to be prepared to plod along, and understand the slow metabolism at work here.  

You do have to be referrable to begin with of course.  That is, be someone professionally who is easy to trust, and easy to recommend because of your expertise, enjoyable manner of doing business and interacting with customers, and because there is a bit of a WOW factor in the customer's mind.  You do things that exceed their expectations, and impress them enough that they are confident to share their positive stories with others.  And people actually like telling others about their good experiences, so give them the chance to do so by being a good experience.

Clients also have to know that you actually want new clients.  Now that sounds really basic, but it is amazing how many customers believe you are successful, and busy - too busy in fact to take on anyone new.  Incorporate the message into your entire marketing and client engagement process that your business depends upon doing such a good job that clients introduce new clients.  And you have to keep reminding people that this is still the case.  It should be part of your marketing process that you are continually conveying this message.

There is a huge difference too between asking for referrals, and asking to be recommended.  The first is usually an uneasy process, the second is usually a comfortable process for the clients.  Asking to be recommended might not generate new leads immediately, it is a bit more passive than that.  It is however the road to repeated referrals from satisfied clients.  It is where clients become advocates for you and your business.

One of the simplest methods of all for generating awareness is to actually ask a question that invites criticism.  Of course you have to comfortable enough and confident enough in your relationship with the client that you are prepared to take that risk, because the last thing you can afford to do when asking the question is defend a position.  Whatever the clients answer is, is valid to them. Their perception is the reality of the relationship.

The little chat, and key question, that is often very effective in opening the recommendation discussion and positioning for it is:

"You know that we enjoy working with you and you are exactly the type of client we are focused upon helping, but I am a little worried that we might not be quite up to the mark in your view.  You see, clients that are really happy with us and think we are doing a good job generally refer others to us - that's actually how our business grows; through word of mouth from satisfied clients.  I am not aware of us being recommended by you to others, which makes me think we haven't got it quite right.  Can I ask what we need to do that would make you happy to recommend others to us?"

The objective here is to actually find out what you need to do in order to become referable.  then you have to be prepared to act upon that feedback - if it is reasonable & fair.  If it isn't reasonable, you were probably having the talk with the wrong sort of client to begin with, and probably don't want more clients like that. You do only want to ask those who can refer you to the right sort of clients for your firm.

Ideally what you also want from this chat is endorsement from the client.  That may come in a number of forms - perhaps they are comfortable with you being allowed to refer to them as one of the clients of your firm.  No details of their business with you of course, but a simple acknowledgement that you provide advice to them and they are comfortable with others knowing that.  In itself, that is powerful to other prospective clients, particularly if the endorsements are from well known people or businesses.   

Testimonials are gold.  Brief and to the point (50 words or less are best) - about why they think you are excellent, and hopefully why you WOW'd them.  Put the testimonials on your website, your brochures, and any marketing material you can.  Put them everywhere it makes sense, and where other potential customers can find them.  If you find yourself in a situation where you have a delighted customer for some reason, definitely ask them for a testimonial while they are delighted.

These days many potential customers will check you out before even meeting you.  Give them something positive and powerful to check.  Google rules!  So feed Google....Customers gain confidence from realizing others have positive experiences with you.  It takes away some of the risk for them in deciding to engage you.

Naturally I follow my own advice in this respect, and gather testimonials from happy clients and business colleagues.  You would not believe how many people refer to the Testimonials page when they meet with me.  Seriously - more than half refer to it at first meeting.  They have not necessarily read everything, in fact mostly they are looking at the names of the people who provided the testimonials and forming a view on that basis alone.

The key to a successful and perpetual stream of the right sort of new clients is to be referable, ensure people know that you rely upon it, exceed client's basic expectations, and seek their testimonials.  It is about generating Word Of Mouth.  It really does Beat Anything Else.

http://www.strictlybiz.co.nz/testimonials


Like this?  Then share it with others...or visit www.strictlybiz.co.nz for loads more useful and interesting information.