Are you having trouble filling your calendar with client appointments? One of Senior Market Advisor's leading columnists, John Boe, believes he has the answer to the problem: a lack of a workable phone script.
In a recent item he sent to me, Boe writes: "many salespeople labor under the false believe that they're too experienced to use a phone script and as a result, sabotage their phone calling effectiveness and income."
Below, Boe provides seven tips to help advisors create a phone script that will fill their appointment calendar:
- Write out your entire phone script from hello to goodbye.
- State your name and organization at the beginning of the call.
- Timing is everything. Be considerate by asking your prospect if they have a minute to speak with you. If your call is viewed as an interruption, you're dead in the water before you even begin. If your prospect indicates that it's not a good time for your call, apologize for the interruption and ask them when it would be OK for you to call back.
- Use a series of open-ended questions to draw your prospect out. Keep in mind when you design your script that your primary goal is not to sell anything, but rather to build rapport, gather information, and make an appointment.
- People are more comfortable with salespeople who they feel are similar to them. Use your voice to build trust and rapport quickly by "matching and mirroring" your prospect's voice tone, pitch and pace.
- Never interrupt your prospect and allow them plenty of time to respond to your questions.
- Look for opportunities to make an appointment, don't just answer questions. Avoid the temptation to answer all of your prospect's questions over the phone but instead, guide them toward scheduling a face-to-face meeting.
