How To Throw Out Your Cold Calling Scripts
Five Ways to Be Yourself Again in Cold Calling!
by Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game ®

Recently you may have received a cold call from someone using an old-style linear sales script.  You probably recognized it as a cold call because the person sounded a bit robotic and kept talking without allowing the conversation to “breathe.” 

If you’ve been selling for a while, chances are you’ve been asked to use sales scripts yourself.  Consequently, you’ve probably used them because they were the only way you knew to start a cold calling conversation. 

Here are some questions you need to ask yourself:

• How do you really feel when you use a script?
• How do your potential clients feel when they know you’re using a script? (And they do know.)
• How many sales are you losing because you’re using a script?

When people call me and ask how they can throw out their scripts and cold call the natural way, the first thing I do is ask them whether they’re willing to role-play with me using their script.

After a few moments of listening, I gently stop them and tell them they’re sounding like a totally different person from the one who called me and talked with me so naturally about their sales issues.  You know what they always say.  “Ari, you are so right.  When I use a script, I feel as if I can’t be myself.  I feel like a robot or an actor, and it’s awkward and uncomfortable. Is there any way I can be myself again?”

Here are five ways to throw out your linear selling script and be yourself again:

1. Admit that Scripts Make You Sound “Scripted”

When you begin your sales script, potential clients detect the very subtle change from your natural voice to your unnatural scripted voice within seconds.

“Fine,” you might say, “I’ll just work on making myself sound natural.” However, that in itself creates a conflict.  You can’t “work at” being natural.  Really, you either are or aren’t. 

2.   Start your Cold Call as a Conversation, not a One-Way Pitch
 
If you’re used to scripts, you’re probably wondering, “How the heck will I know what to say without a script?”

You might want to ask yourself why you think you won’t know what to say, because the reason for that is important.  It means you’re basing your cold call on what you have to offer, and not on what’s important to the prospect. 

Pitching your solution as soon as you begin a cold call is one of the biggest problems with linear sales scripts. That’s because you trigger sales pressure by doing that.  This causes potential clients to react with defensiveness or immediate rejection.

3.  Create Openings Rather than Forcing a “Yes”
 
Selling scripts are designed to be linear and step-by-step so you can move cold calls in the direction you want them to go.  From the traditional cold calling point of view, that direction is toward a “yes.”  The belief is if you don’t get a “yes” at the beginning of the cold call, you’re not “selling.” However, that’s the biggest problem with scripts. They give you only one path to follow.
 
If you can start a conversation that triggers a “What do you mean?” response from your potential client, then you’ll find you can explain yourself in a natural way.  It creates a two-way dialogue, which in turn lets you learn what you need to find out.  You flow with the conversation without feeling you’re getting off-track. 

4.  Tape-Record yourself talking with someone you know. Then Record yourself Reading your Script.
 
Have you ever heard yourself calling a potential client and reading your script?  The answer is probably not.  Most people who use scripts think they sound natural because they’ve never actually heard themselves before.   If you do this simple exercise, you’ll hear the same kinds of differences I hear when people role-play with me.

In our day-to-day relationships, we simply want to get to know and communicate with others. However, when we go into cold calling using scripts, we have an agenda, which is to make the sale.  People sense this immediately and put up their guard.  Between our hidden agenda and their reaction, there’s no chance to build trust through communication. 

5. Set a New Goal for your Cold Calls

Focus on simply opening the conversation rather than trying to control it, so that potential clients feel comfortable telling you the truth about their situation. We've been taught for too long that we have to control the process.  We never stop to think that scripts make it impossible for us to be flexible in how we communicate. 

Surrendering your use of a script probably seems scary.  Nevertheless, when you are able do this, you can begin to engage total strangers on the phone in ways that feel as comfortable as calling a friend.  Yes, it’s possible, and don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not.

To your success,

 

Is Selling Painful For You?  It's not your fault -- and there is a better way  Is this how selling is starting to feel like for you? Old "tried and true" cold calling and sales techniques that were once successful have completely lost their effectiveness over the years. That's why I developed a new sales mindset and cold calling approach that will quickly and automatically put you ahead of the game and instantly in a league above your competition. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 1  - "Cold calling is a numbers game."  But, sales is only a numbers game when all you know is traditional selling. Yes, you can call people over and over, chase them until they listen to you so that you just go away. However there is a better - easier method of building trust and getting your product or service message across - all on one call. Simply by changing your sales approach you'll make FEWER CALLS and MORE SALES. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 2 - "Use a sales script to cold call." People can tell when you're reading from a script, even if you think you're pretty good at it and getting away with it. There's nothing personal about it and people can pick that up. Being artificial just puts you into the typical "Salesperson" category. If you can learn to get your message across in a different way, you'll eliminate the negative triggers that can lose your sale within seconds. OLD SALES GURU MYTH # 3 - "Focus on closing the sale." Are you "going in for the kill" with your closing sale technique? - If you are, you could end up killing your deal instead. Old sales techniques do nothing more than pressure the client or prospect, and as a result they naturally want to retreat away from that pressure - and that pressure is you. By learning to avoid the "push and pull" dynamic between you and your prospect, you'll be able to move the sales process forward to get the result you want. Welcome to Unlock The Game™  Unlock The Game is a radically honest sales and cold calling approach based on integrity and common sense. It challenges traditional sales thinking and helps you achieve better sales results. It's the missing link -- a new mindset and language that converts selling into a natural conversation between you and your prospect. It offers you a new way of thinking about selling, from cold calling -- the most dreaded selling experience of all -- to the end of the sales process. You don't have to abandon the selling skills you already know -- Unlock The Game gives you a new approach and new tools to help you let go of old behaviors that bring you negative results. It's incredibly effective. Best of all, it's easy to learn.   "Unlock The Game is a breakthrough that takes the rejection out of cold calling"   "In a new age of frustrating and difficult selling challenges, more specifically the fear of cold calling, and starting new conversations without feeling rejected, Unlock The Game gives us all the answers to a natural way of engaging new prospects over the phone. Keep up the good work Ari!" Brian Tracy is a leading authority on personal and business success. As Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, he is the best-selling author of 17 books and over 300 audio and video learning programs.        Brian Tracy  Want to learn more? Get FREE Access to The Teleseminar That Put the Old 'Sales Gurus'  Back Into Sales Pre-School!      Learn how to:   Make less cold calls - and get better results   Rip up your sales script and easily get your message across    Change from the "Dreaded Salesperson" to a trusted advisor in a matter of minutes    Get rid of your "Fear of Phone" once and for all    Stop chasing prospects and gain the respect you deserve  Take The Free Test Drive:  Enter your First Name, Primary Email, Phone Number and Your Selling Challenge below to get the first of your 10 free Unlock The Game cold calling audio mini-lessons:     First Name Last Name Primary E-mail Phone Number Your Selling Challenge:   SECURE AND CONFIDENTIAL         (Your email address will be 100% protected and will never, ever be shared.) To your success,    Email to a Friend   Print this Page