Don't Be A Script Reader

Just got off the phone with a telemarketer, he was offering me a special discount on a trade magazine subscription. But I subscribe to the competition AND at a lower rate.

Having worked in sales and a marketing background, I'm always interested how sales people handle objections. I mentioned to him that I subscribe to the competition and the deal that I have from this other publication is $30 less than what he was offering.

When I gave him the price objection, I do give him credit for explaining the Value of the $99 package and mentioning it included online access. What he couldn't overcome is that I pay $30 less for the same trade information, he did start by saying that last week the package was $199, which I know to be true. He was pretty truthful with me, but NEVER talk bad about the competition to a customer, which he did.

As someone who has written sales scripts, I don't understand when salespeople don't learn the information and reading the script is obvious. It's a learned response, we all say "No" when we feel being "sold" to. So when I interrupted him, he would lose his place and have to start over. This drives me nuts.

Regardless if you sell in person, on the phone, or even at a food establishment, know what you're selling. If you work off a script, know it top to bottom and bottom to top. So when someone interrupts or jumps ahead, you can answer their question and continue on with the information without covering the same information over again.

Two years ago, I ran into a kid selling candy and he rattled off his script so fast, I had no clue what he said. I told him that's why people say "No" to him. Not that they didn't want to help him, but they had no idea what he was saying. It's human nature for us to say "No" when asked a question. How many of us say "just looking" when a salesperson says hi at a retail store? I asked him what he was selling the candy for, told me it was for an after school program that would teach him about computers. None of this information was in the script that he was rattling off. I told him to slow down and just talk to people, like he did with me and would probably sell more candy. I did buy a chocolate almond bar from him and got $2 off from Pizza Hut...

Tips and commission depends on satisfying the customer's expectations, as well as, offering a solution to their situation. Often, I ask the server "what's good here?" If the server's response is "everything here is good" and the place is empty at the peak time, I usually think about leaving. We all do ONE thing really really well, that's what the focus should be.

Major Points:

1. Learn everything you can about the product or service that you're selling.

2. If you're using a script, learn it from front to back and vice versa. If you don't know what you're talking about, the customer will pick up on it.

3. Don't trash the competition.

4. Believe in what you're doing, if you don't, maybe it's time to look for something else.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by...