Should Salespeople Use Scripts?

Daniel Wood, author of Looking to Business, recently wrote a post called, "Should You Use a Sales Script?" Soliciting response from people in the sales arena on this highly-contested issue, I made a fairly lengthy comment. Here's what I had to say:

This is a tricky question, because a script can range from a word-for-word reading to an outline to simply a list of questions that need to be asked. It really depends on how narrowly you define a “script.” A general defintion that I think makes sense is “whatever you plan on saying to the client.” That, in a nutshell, is your script. Now, do you plan out the entire conversation word-for-word or do you pick out a few keywords or phrases you plan on integrating into the dialogue? How much, I think the question is, of your dialogue should be scripted?

I will endeavor to answer this question the way I think any sales question should bs answered, by asking, “What does the customer think about it?” Does the customer want us using the script? Now, I think our gut response is, “Of course not!” They think it’s phony, right? Like they’re talking to robots. Or maybe they think we’re just trying to close them and go for the quick sale with carefully crafted language designed to trick them into buying. Often, this is undoubtedly true. But let me ask the same question a little bit differently: does the customer want us to be prepared? Oh, well that’s a different story. Of course the customer wants us to be prepared, right? Well, is that not the purpose of a script? We have a script so that we know what to say and we consequently don’t waste the customers time. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.

Okay, here I am two philosophical paragraphs later and I still haven’t answered the question. I guess my answer would be a cop-out: it depends on the situation. A cold call should probably be more heavily scripted than a follow-up call. I don’t know. I’m just throwing this out there but maybe it’s the shorter the conversation, the more rigid the script. An appoint can be set with a rigid, word-for-word script but more flexibility should be allowed when calling a customer after fhe sale to ask questions about their experiences with your product. A presentation can be scripted but flexibility should be allowed for a discussion.

I guess I agree with both camps. I want to be genuine with my customers. I want them to feel like they are talking to a real person. People value authenticity. At the same time, I understand the everyone uses scripts in communication. Emails are scripted. (Who doesn’t use the backspace button more than any other button on the keyboard?) Phonecalls, to an extent, are scripted by everyone. (“Hello, may I speak to so-and-so?”). My comment on this post is scripted. I really don’t want to say anything stupid or out of place when I’m communicating with anyone, even more so in communicating with customers. That’s where preparation, or a script, comes in handy. Sometimes, scripts make us helpful and sometimes they damage our credibility. The key is knowing when and to what extent to use them.