Making a good phone script

What makes a script "good"?

Short answer: quite a lot

Long answer: We have seen that our successful customers always start with stressing two things, locality and competence. This is the part the pros know how to execute well, calling around existing customers versus blasting a shotgun in the air.

Locality

noun

• the position or site of something."the rock's size and locality"
• an area or neighborhood, especially as regarded as a place occupied by certain people or as the scene of particular activities."a working-class locality"

Of course being local is important, but it's how you target local that makes the world of difference.

Two examples:

• Rep 1 calls a huge set of data they pulled to reach as many people as possible in the shortest time
• Rep 2 calls small batch quantities around their existing sales

Who do you think performed better?

Once school of thought is that Rep 1 reached more people and therefore set more appointments... but we have the data to back up why that isn't so.

• Rep 1 might have made a lot of calls but their conversion rate was extremely low (usually under 0.25% to appointment).
• Rep 2 didn't call as much but spent more time having meaningful connections (usually 5-10% to appointment)

Why does this matter? One word:

Competence

noun

• the ability to do something successfully or efficiently."the players displayed varying degrees of competence"

How does one display competence without listing a laundry list of their accomplishments? Here's a thought provoking scenario:

You need your loved one drive you to the emergency room because you sustained an injury. You pick the closest hospital, and you're off!

On your drive in you see the large hospital campus and well maintained shrubbery. You pull into the emergency drive and before you can exit the car a hospital staff member greets you at your car door with a wheel chair.

They escort you to a room to get checked in and get your vitals. During taking your blood pressure you notice how clean the premises is.

You get promptly escorted back to a private room in which you await the RN and attending physician.

The attening eventually enters and starts with this "So whats going on?"

Did you need to ask the attending where they went to medical school, where they are from, how many injuries they treated, of if they have every treated an injury like yours?

No.

Why? Becasue there was a sequence of events that occured before thier arrival that displayed massive levels of competence. They acted as though they were SUPPOSED to be there and you trusted it because the stage was set. Why would such an elaborate establishment and employ someone subpar and jeopardize the entire environment? They wouldn't.

Have the confidence of the doctor.

Set the stage for your customers. Rule of thumb is that someone needs to experience you or your company 7 times before they can remember by name.

A great place to start is around your installation. They have probably seen the following (just by being a neighbor): your vehicle, a card in the door, a door hanger, a yard sign, a supply truck, a crew vehicle... and then you just happen to call.

Lead with FOMO

FOMO: fear of missing out. People hate missing out (I know I do). Would I still feel like I'm missing out if I didn't know what IT was? Probably not. Obscurity is usually our biggest battle.

Instead of beginning with what you can do for them, lead with what you did for thier neighbor.

This display's locality and competence in the same breath! Not only did you do what you say you did (and they have the proof because they saw it), but you did it near me for someone I know.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not the pushy type of sales person, I like to educate people and leave the tools at thier feet for them to use.

Something like this..

Make it simple

Most good scripts are simple, it should feel like you are a concerned member of the community just looking out for them.

Roofing example (the trade I started in):

"Hi, is this <customer name>? This is <rep> with <company>. I just finished a roof install for <neighbor> at <house number> and I noticed your home is a lot like thiers. We were able to get thier insurance company to pay for an entire roof replacement due to the storms that came through recently and I think we can help you too. Have you had your annual roof inspection this year? Well, I'm going to be back in the area on <day> and I was going to see if I could stop by while I'm there and give you a free inspection to see if you qualify, does <time> work?"

Let's break down why this exact script has such a high success rate.

"Hi, is this <customer name>? This is <rep> with <company>. I just finished a roof install for <neighbor> at <house number> and I noticed your home is a lot like thiers."

• You know thier name
• They have seen your company
• You proove you are relevant (and not sitting in a call center) because you mention the neighbors name and the house number of the project you installed.

"We were able to get thier insurance company to pay for an entire roof replacement due to the storms that came through recently and I think we can help you too. Have you had your annual roof inspection this year?"

• You mentioned what you did for the neighbor, not what you could offer them (remember that FOMO we were talking about earlier?)
• The reason that area was relevant
• You mentioned how you got the project funded which implies little to no cost to them
• You implied that everyone gets thier roof inspected once a year and it's unlikely that they have gotten thiers

"Well, I'm going to be back in the area on <day> and I was going to see if I could stop by while I'm there and give you a free inspection to see if you qualify, does <time> work?"

• You'll be there anyway, so you might as well help them
• You offered a complimentary servic
• You set an option for a time which makes it feel like that is all you have available

The numbers

Alright, let's get down to brass tacks here

• FACT: It's quicker to jump from one call to another than to go from one door to another
• FACT: It's better in an air conditioned or heated room that being outside in the intense sun or snow
• FACT: You save gass money

Average conversion rates:

Decent: 100 numbers -> 5 appointments (5%) -> 1 contract (20%)

Good: 100 numbers -> 10 appointments (10%) -> 2 contracts (20%)

Great: 100 numbers -> 15 appointments (15%) -> 4 contracts (25%)

Rockstar: 100 numbers -> 20 appointments (20%) -> 6 contracts (30%)

There are many variables that seperate these tiers, rep skill level, sounding good on the phone, disapline, experience, etc.

With a little pactice and following these simple princlples, we have found that the reps we train can consistently do these numbers.

A few coins to remember:

• Every dog has its day because dogs are friendly
• Storytelling is a superpower, use a structure like: setup, tension, and resolution
• Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments
• A persons favorite sound is their name, so remember it
• The best networking strategy is a helping others first strategy

Happy hunting!