Global has been providing contact center outsourcing services to the largest companies in Ukraine for over 15 years. During this time, we have gained substantial experience in handling inbound calls, telemarketing, and conducting customer surveys through outbound calls. Today, we want to share our expertise in creating and using phone sales call scripts, as they are crucial in helping call center agents achieve their KPIs and keeping us in demand with our loyal clients.
In this article, we will:
- Explain what sales scripts are and their advantages.
- Teach you how to write a sales script that guarantees results.
- Share tips on using sales scripts to maximize their effectiveness.
Let’s start from the beginning.
What is a Sales Script?
A sales script is a pre-developed, documented, and approved dialogue scenario for a call center agent to use when interacting with potential clients and customers. A phone sales script functions similarly to an algorithm, where each subsequent action by the call center agent depends on the customer’s response.
The Importance of Sales Scripts
Every person is unique, and we acknowledge the need for individualized approaches. However, in the realm of call center agents, consistency is key. Agents must effectively communicate information about the company’s products and services to potential customers. A sales call script provides them with a structured framework, helping them convey thoughts clearly, minimize pauses, and maintain professionalism.
Moreover, sales scripts play a crucial role in standardizing service, ensuring consistency and quality in customer interactions. By providing a clear guide, scripts empower operators to deliver information effectively, enhancing the overall level of service. This fosters trust in the company, positively influencing both sales and brand reputation.
Understanding Sales Scripts vs. Templates
In call centers, both sales scripts and templates assist agents, but they serve different purposes.
A sales script is a detailed scenario guiding agents through specific steps and phrases in a conversation. It covers all possible dialogue paths, aiming to steer the conversation towards service standards and the call’s goal, often a sale.
On the contrary, a template provides general points or information blocks for agents to cover during a conversation (greetings, addressing, farewells, etc.). It offers guidance without specifying the exact sequence of actions.
Templates help agents focus on key topics and questions. Unlike sales call scripts, they allow flexibility in dialogue construction, enabling agents to adapt their responses, resulting in more natural conversations.
Advantages of a Sales Call Script
Despite the seemingly formulaic nature of conversations using a sales script, it is one of the most effective ways to conduct dialogues during both “cold calls” and follow-up calls to existing clients. The benefits of sales scripts are evident for both businesses and call center employees, from managers to agents.
Advantages of a Sales Script for Businesses
For companies, a script provides transparent control over the sales process. With modern transcription and service quality evaluation systems, you can selectively listen to call recordings or request a report to assess whether agents are adhering to the script.
A well-crafted script reduces training costs. It mitigates employee turnover in outsourced call centers: you simply provide the new group of agents with a ready-made sales call script and monitor their adherence to it.
Most importantly, a script helps reduce the cost per lead, increases sales, and boosts business profits. It also facilitates the rapid scaling of the sales department when necessary.
Advantages of Sales Scripts for Call Center Management
For senior managers and supervisors, a script provides a controlled sales technology that reduces dependency on the human factor. Anticipating your concern that agents using scripts may act like robots, consider the following statistics:
- Research shows that using sales scripts increases conversion rates by 38%;
- Agents who use scripts close 25% more deals.
Overall, well-prepared conversation scripts and objection handling techniques can increase the efficiency of the sales department by 2-3 times. Thanks to scripts, contact center team leaders can train new agents faster and achieve set goals more easily.
Advantages of Sales Scripts for Call Center Agents
Admittedly, not everyone is born with sales skills. For frontline specialists, a script serves as a ready-made solution for sales and objection handling. A prepared scenario with response options to any possible questions boosts confidence, even for beginners, thereby reducing stress levels and preventing rapid burnout.
Additionally, sales call scripts help agents work more efficiently, improve their personal performance, and subsequently increase their earnings.
It is essential to understand that using a sales script is not only aimed at optimizing the sales department’s work and increasing the number of buyers. It should be viewed as a strategic system of interaction with clients who engage not with a specific contact center employee, but with the company. This way, changes in staff and other unforeseen circumstances do not lead to a loss of customers.
How to Write an Effective Phone Sales Call Script?
A sales script is not just a pre-written scenario; it is a clear action plan that guides the salesperson toward the desired outcome—making a sale or closing a deal. But how do you create a sales script for a call center that is guaranteed to work? There is no universal solution. Each client requires a unique, step-by-step action plan that anticipates any turn in the conversation, including customer reactions and objections.
When developing a script, it is essential to consider the specifics of the business and the target audience, utilizing psychological techniques and successful sales practices. For our readers, we outline the most important stages of creating an effective sales script.
Research and Analysis
The initial steps in creating a sales script involve understanding the product/service, researching the target audience, and analyzing competitors. If the sales are to be conducted through an outsourced contact center, the majority of this information is typically provided by the client.
It is necessary to develop a customer profile: age, gender, profession, interests, behavior, problems, and segment the audience if needed.
Next, you need to thoroughly study the product, identify its key features, and find its Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
Additionally, it is important to analyze how competitors sell similar products or services. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of their sales scripts.
Sales Call Script Structure
An effective sales script that truly sells should include the following elements:
- Friendly and Professional Greeting: Establish contact and create a positive impression of the company.
- Identifying Customer Needs: Use open-ended questions to understand the client’s needs and problems.
- Product/Service Presentation: Highlight the features that address the client’s needs or solve their problems.
- Overcoming Objections: Anticipate all possible objections and provide counterarguments supported by facts and examples.
- Call to Action: Make a clear proposal to make the purchase now.
- Cross-Selling: Offer additional products or services that enhance the customer’s experience with the main product.
- Closing the Conversation: Confirm the agreement, thank the client for their time, and say a polite goodbye.
Additionally, the sales script should include a special section on how agents should handle crisis situations, such as when a client reacts inappropriately, shows aggression, or uses offensive language.
This sales call script structure has proven to be the most effective across all Global Bilgi telemarketing projects.
Script Development
When writing a sales call script, it is recommended to use simple and clear language, avoiding complex terms and long sentences.
For each stage, several response options are developed to address possible client reactions. This can sometimes be challenging, especially since selling certain products, and particularly services, involves many possible conversation paths.
From our experience, the ideal approach is to create a team for script writing that includes both the client’s specialists (technical experts, sales representatives) and contact center representatives (project managers, team leaders, quality assurance specialists). This team can combine comprehensive product information with current sales techniques, resulting in the creation of the most effective script.
Testing and Adjustment
This is a crucial and responsible stage in the creation of a sales script. It includes the following steps:
- Conducting test calls using the script.
- Recording and transcribing calls to analyze the effectiveness of the conversations.
- Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the script.
- Adjusting the sales script accordingly.
The sales script is tested on an initial set of phone numbers provided by the client. Sales agents conduct calls while the contact center’s analytics department monitors for potential errors, unaddressed client objections, and weaknesses in the script. Subsequently, a report is generated, and the sales script creation team makes the necessary changes based on feedback, optimizing the phrasing and structure of the script.
Implementing Your Sales Script: What Comes Next?
After crafting a sales script, the next steps involve integration and training for optimal utilization.
For effective use within the call center, the sales script must be seamlessly integrated into the existing software. This entails uploading the script text into the operator’s webphone and syncing it with the CRM system. When agents have access to basic client information and can follow the script on a user-friendly interface, call efficiency improves significantly.
Training sessions are crucial and should include a thorough product or service presentation. The better call center agents understand the offering, the higher the chances of successful sales. Role-playing exercises, such as “seller-buyer” scenarios, can be particularly valuable. They help identify challenges in script usage and determine the most suitable agents for selling specific products.
Can You Use a Free Sales Script from the Internet?
Certainly, this practice exists. However, it is essential to understand that template scripts do not account for the company’s target audience, the specifics of the product or service, or provide the necessary options for handling objections. Moreover, ready-made templates initially set certain limitations, causing you to potentially miss important aspects of selling your particular product. If you still decide to take this step, be prepared for the possibility that the conversion rate may suffer significantly.
Sales Script for Call Centers: Conclusions
So, you’ve learned how to write a sales script. We hope this information will serve as a valuable tool to help you improve phone sales in your contact center. If you aim to focus your efforts on creating your product or service, you can always use the telemarketing service provided by Global Bilgi.
We will not only help you create a truly effective sales script but also provide the necessary software for your contact center and quickly assemble a team of operators to carry out the sales.
Contact us today to get a consultation on the cost of outsourcing contact center services.
