Don’t Throw Away The Script, But Make It Your Own: The Importance of Authenticity and Flexibility in Sales
10 minute read
As a trainer, much of my life is spent in classrooms discussing sales and human behaviour. (Hopefully we can return to the classroom soon – in the meantime stay well).
We discuss how to best serve customers with a process that works, using behavioural science and an understanding of people as the foundation. How to enhance outcomes using ethical and human-driven techniques and strategies. How to “sell”.
But really, how to connect and serve, and help people make a change. Because that’s all selling is really – you’re facilitating the process of someone making a change. And change is hard, which is why there are inevitably human concerns and challenges that come up for most customers before they dive in. It’s also one of the reasons the sales world can be such an incredibly fulfilling one, because we’re with people throughout their process and we get to help them on their journey as they make important decisions.
In class, we also often discuss word tracks.
Perhaps one of the most common questions I'm asked by salespeople and managers alike, is this:
Should we all use scripts for everything? Or should we not?
Here is my long-winded view.
Scripts and word tracks can be valuable resources, for the following reasons:
First, a script for someone new gives them the foundations. It can enhance confidence, help them understand the process, and instil some brilliant habits.
Second, some word tracks are great because they simplify things. Instead of having to think of an isolating question for an objection, if you can jump straight to a word track like “Aside from X, is there anything else holding you back?” the process is simpler to follow.
Third, word tracks allow people to build up a sales vocabulary toolbox that they can bring out in various circumstances. Writing down ten different responses to a single objection, for example, gives you a variety of resources that you can utilise in situations that call for them.
Fourth, behavioural science inexplicably demonstrates that language matters. I have a whole course on language. Some phrases are more psychologically positive or powerful than others. And the small words we use make a big difference, so if we can habituate ourselves to use better words, we will get better results over time.
Fifth, for salespeople who have been selling for a long time, reintroducing word tracks or new ideas can help them if they find themselves getting a little lost in complacency or laziness. I don’t mean that in a judgmental way – it’s common that after doing something for a long time, we start skipping steps. Having a clear process can help bring the basics back and revive some motivation to increase outcomes.
And finally, a clear process facilitates conformity across the business. You know that all salespeople are qualifying, presenting, and handling objections, for example. And in all my years in sales and learning and development, the one thing that remains the cornerstone of teams that do well vs. teams that don’t is a clear, accepted, uniform sales process.
However.
Authenticity and flexibility also matter. So although a script can be good, if it's too rigid it can be limiting.
My theory of selling is that there are two main ‘parts’ to it.
First, there are principles. These are the “big non-negotiables” related to our process. They include what we want to achieve at different stages of the process, and approaches for how we conduct certain interactions. Principles of sales guide how we do things.
And then there are particulars. Particulars are the specific details – the precise language we use and questions we ask in different circumstances.
For example, "always ask hypothetical questions in a negotiation" – that’s a principle. In practice, that means don’t frame your offer as a certainty, but instead, use hypothetical language to maintain a balance of power and ensure there’s reciprocity in your ask. You should always do this, because if you don't you lose control of the negotiation and can end up negotiating with yourself.
An example of this would be instead of saying “Okay, you can have $100 off. Would you like to go ahead?”, you could say “If I could get you $100 off, would you be happy to go ahead?”. The latter follows the principle; the former does not.
However, the example I just gave is itself, a particular. You could just as easily ask “What if I could get you $100 off?”; or “If we could achieve another $100 off the total amount, would that make a difference for you?”; or “If I asked my manager and got approval for a further $100 discount, would you place an order today?” and have the same effect, still following the principle but using different particulars.
This might sound a little dry, but it’s important. In my view, the universal principles for our sales process must always remain consistent and non-negotiable.
The particulars, however, are more flexible. There are better ways and worse ways, sure, but there are also some word tracks that work well for some salespeople and flop with others.
When it comes to the particulars, there’s no perfect script that covers every situation in every sales interaction. Sometimes you have to work with the same objection in three different ways over one communication. Sometimes the customer doesn’t respond how the ‘script’ says they should. Always, we have to be flexible and responsive.
It’s all like a kind of dance. You have the choreography, you move to the rhythm of the process, but you also incorporate your own flair. There is no perfect response because human decision-making is not a perfect science.
So. What I think the best possible thing to do for any new salesperson, is to learn the scripts and master the scripts – but then, make them your own.
And it is this progression – from rigid script-based selling to an authentic salesperson who is flexible, proactive and enthusiastic, that can make a big difference.
As an example, I have seen some teams where you could take the two highest performers – selling the same thing to the same demographic – and on an analysis of how exactly, they do that, find that both people have completely different styles. They follow the same process, but their tone, their words, their small techniques, their particulars, are vastly different. They have found their authentic selling voice.
As another example, when I was selling in a B2C environment, I made a lot of jokes. (If we’ve met before that’s probably not surprising.) I used humour when it seemed appropriate with the client, and that was successful for me. Would I come into a training session and prescribe that salespeople must make jokes? No. I might give some examples of particular ways one could make a lighthearted joke with a client, but for some salespeople, this would be inauthentic for them, and for others, it might backfire completely.
What I’m getting at here is that although there is inherent value in scripts and word tracks, there is also a critical next level: authenticity, flexibility, proactivity. And for every sales professional in the long term, they must find their own sales style that is authentic, ethical and works for them. This requires following the process (keeping the principles aligned) and then absorbing as many different tools as they possibly can into their own sales vocabulary. Taking parts from various resources, training, peers, and creating their own authentic concoction over time. Throughout a career, this concoction will continually improve, because it is iterative. Our development never stops.
This is why in training, I always focus first on the principles, and then on working through a variety of particulars for different scenarios and circumstances. As far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re being ethical, honest, and aligned with your company’s values, if it works for you you should do it. Training is fantastic because it allows salespeople to open up their mind to different approaches, helping them build a diverse portfolio of particulars while mastering the principles. Often, my training will start with research in behavioural science, then look at what principles are important, and then some examples of particulars to put that into practice. Sometimes the principles do involve specific word tracks, but usually they can still be sculpted to suit the salesperson.
This process is how we slowly acquire a personal selling style that works. We start with the best possible resources for our foundations and commit ourselves to progressively refining our approach. Sometimes that means adapting to new market circumstances or technology. On other occasions, we may realise we work well with certain types of customers and have to develop our skills when it comes to connecting with another kind of customer.
Disclaimer: This doesn’t mean everyone must stick with only what’s comfortable for them. Comfort has nothing to do with it, and in sales, we must be comfortable with the concept of discomfort. In fact, what I’m advocating for requires that salespeople try even more techniques, experiment with new approaches and word tracks, and put themselves out of their comfort zone more often. You can’t say “that doesn’t work for me” until you’ve tried it several times, so this shouldn’t be an excuse for not venturing out of one’s comfort zone.
One thing I cannot stand in learning and development is the notion that there is a perfect golden script out there that applies universally to everyone and every scenario. There are some parts of human behaviour that we have found to be universal, which is why sales processes (despite the changing acronyms and packaging over time) are relatively consistent. Rapport building, qualifying, presenting, trial closing and closing, objection handling, negotiation, following up. These are all important and probably always will be. Some things will always apply. There are also some things – statements, approaches – that will always be wrong, or inferior to a different approach.
But within those bounds, we must slowly inject our authenticity into that process as salespeople. We must learn flexibility. Having a diverse team with different personalities, values and approaches serves a company well in this way, because not only can they learn from each other, but they can also help different kinds of customers more effectively.
The more we bring ourselves into the process, the more we humanise it. Treating our business as a human business actually makes it easier to connect with clients and move the process forward.
I remember maybe four or five years ago when I was doing a one on one training session with a salesperson. She was script bound. She’d learned a script for a pitch, and gave it to every customer verbatim. Different objections were each dealt with in the same way – a scripted response that she’d learned and memorised. She was not doing too well. I remember working with her on some different approaches she could take, how she might incorporate a specific customer’s experience into her process, different word tracks she could play with. I remember at the end of it, she looked at me and said, “wow, there’s actually a bit of an art to selling, isn’t there?”
One of the most brilliant things about sales is that it pushes us to be innovative. It’s a human skill about working with people. And because people are not robots, a script as a lone tool is not good enough. It is a foundation we start with, but then we must add more tools to our toolbox. We must learn from our customers, be flexible, proactive, creative, and authentic. We must acquire skills and knowledge in observation, psychology, behavioural science, and how humans work. And the more we grow to allow our own authenticity in, the better we usually do.
These days, when automation is making our processes far more efficient in many different areas, don’t lose yourself in monotony. Stay enthusiastic, bring your energy and your whole soul to each customer interaction, and watch as your sincerity and humanness becomes one of the reasons your customers want to work with you.
If I can encourage you here to consider anything, make it be this: That selling is not about finding the perfect line. Selling is, as I said in the opening, about helping people to make a change and serving them with valuable products and solutions. And if you can abandon the idea that there is a golden script waiting for you somewhere in the virtual world (perhaps for only $89, down from $999, in a six-week online course that will lead you to billions), then you can move towards the real path of success, which is paved with personal development, authenticity and value.
What do you think? To what extent do you use scripts in your process?
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