You are here: Home / Archives for sales pros

Sales Scripts: Seven Secrets of Persuasion and Influence Secrets 3 & 4: Program Questions and Probing Statements, Benefit Bridges

By 1 Comment

sales_scriptsSales scripts are one of the most powerful ways to persuade and influence your prospects. Sales scripts can help transform you into a Master of Persuasion and Influence, only if you know the secrets.

Secret 3: Probing Questions and Probing Statements
Many salespeople agree that asking questions is a key component of discovering the prospect’s needs and making the sale. It is the level of detail and the types of questions asked that separates the average salesperson from a Sales Pro.

Sales Pros write out all the possible questions they would want to ask a prospect and then objectively choose the most effective probing questions and probing statements to use in their sales presentation. The probing questions and probing statements are then scripted for maximum impact. A Sales Pro decides what is the best order to ask those new questions.

Probing questions are fairly self-explanatory and Probing Statements encourage a prospect to reveal other important information that will help the salesperson to close the sale.

Here are two examples of probing statements:
1. "Tell me more about that." or
2. "Describe to me your investment style."

A Fundamental Principle of Selling is That People Buy Benefits

Secret #4: Benefit Bridges
A fundamental principle of selling is that people buy benefits. Sales-people, who have been selling for a while, sometimes fall into a trap and feel that the benefits of their product or service are so obvious and self-evident that the prospect will automatically "get it."

Part of selling is education. Use Benefit Bridges to help the prospects understand how the product or service will help them. The structure of Benefit Bridge looks like this:
[Benefit]    [Benefit Bridge]    [Explanation of how the benefit helps the client]

Here's how the Benefit Bridge works in action using the above format:
[Benefit]    "What that means to you is..."    [Explain how the benefit helps the client]

John Kurth
Sales Script Writing Expert

Click here to read Seven Secrets of Persuasion and Influence Secrets Part 1 & 2

Filed Under: featured, Questions, Sales Benefits, sales scripts, Scripting, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sales Scripts: Seven Secrets of Persuasion and Influence - Secrets 1 & 2: Baseline Script & Scripting Syntax

By 2 Comments

sales_scriptsSales Scripts are one of the most powerful ways to persuade and influence your prospects. Sales scripts can help transform you into a Master of Persuasion and Influence, only if you know the secrets.

Secret 1: Baseline Script
You must be able to answer these three questions to begin unlocking the true potential of your script:
* What is a baseline sales script?
* What is your baseline script?
* What did your script look like and sound like when you first used it?

What is your baseline sales script?

A baseline script is a script you are using right now in your selling. The baseline sales script is a starting point from which you develop your main script. If you have not recorded your script and written it down word-for-word, you can't improve the script. It's that simple. Set a goal, right now, to record your script.

Sales pros consistently close sale after sale. Why? Sales pros have consistently improved their script over time, but every sales pros started with a written baseline sales script.

Sales scripts are living documents. You are always looking for ways to field-test your script to make it better. Every time you make changes to your written script, write the date down, which gives you time-series data to work with. Sales pros are always looking for ways to improve their scripts and you should too.

Secret 2: Scripting Syntax
Don't let the term "scripting syntax" scare you. Scripting has its own language. "Scripting syntax" refers to the various component parts of the script and the rules governing script construction.
1. Identify the various component parts of the script.
2. Learn how these scripting pieces are used.
3. Now you can craft a Master Script of persuasion and influence.

What are the various component parts of scripts?
Many of you are familiar with "Objections."  Objections are a normal component of a sales script. Here are just a few of the various component parts of sales scripts:

* Four (4) types of stories,
* Five (5) different types of benefits,
* Buyer Fingerprint,
* Nine (9) components of the Close (I'll cover this in Script Secret #6)
* Outcomes and Chunks,
* Contrast,
* Testimonials,
* Probing Questions and Probing Statements.

The above list is not exhaustive, and there are many more script components to cover than we have space for.

Understanding the different types of scripting forms and how they are used makes the difference between an average script and a Master Script for persuasion and influence.

Be sure to read my next Blog post
Secret #3: Probing Questions and Probing Statements
Secret #4: Benefit Bridges and Magic Words

Filed Under: featured, persuasion, Questions, sales scripts, Scripting Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bring the Tangible Benefits of Your Product or Service to Life!

By 1 Comment

Benefit Scripts Part 1: Tangible Benefits

5 Types of Benefits

Sales Pros know that benefits are what sell products or services—not  features.  There are 5 different types of benefits:

1.    Tangible Benefits
2.    Intangible Benefits
3.    Benefits of Taking Action
4.    Consequences of Not Taking Action, and
5.    The Benefit-of-the-Benefit.

Today we will cover tangible benefits, which are benefits that you can touch or feel.  They are real. The best types of tangible sales benefits produce measurable results.

Here are a few examples:
1.    Make more money.
2.    Decrease employee turnover.
3.    Live longer.
4.    Save money.
5.    Saves time.

There can be many other real benefits for the products and services you sell; be sure to add those other benefits to the above list.

Using the “Before, Product/Service, After” Format

Using tangible benefits with a “Before, Product/Service, After” framework is very powerful.  Think of advertisements for diet or weight loss products.  These companies use the “Before, Product/Service, After” format to showcase the benefits of the product: Losing Weight.  For example, a person was 320 pounds before using the product and now weighs 185 pounds.  This type of advertisement usually has before-and-after pictures that dramatically demonstrate the physical benefits of losing weight.

A financial advisor could persuasively demonstrate the real benefits of saving money by using a story from a client.  Prior to meeting with the financial advisor, the client was not able to save any money towards their retirement.  After meeting and working with the advisor, the client is now able to save $285 dollars a month towards their retirement.

You can apply the same sales scripting strategy to the tangible sales benefits of your product or service.

Remember, prior to going on an important sales call, review all of the different types of benefits of your product or service.  You will be more persuasive if you bring the tangible sales benefits to life for the prospect!

Be sure to read my next Blog Post.
Benefit Scripts Part 2: Intangible Benefits

Filed Under: Closing, featured, Scripting Tagged With: , ,

The Hidden Selling-Power of Sales Stories, Part 1: Discover Why Sales Pros Use Stories

By Leave a Comment

story1It’s no secret that Sales Champions use sales stories.  Let’s take a closer look.  Why?

Stories Quickly Build Trust and Rapport with Prospects:
A story is the easiest and fastest way to develop trust with a prospect.  When you are telling a relevant and interesting sales story, the prospects treat you more like a friend than a salesperson.  Friends listen actively to each other and their stories.

Sales Stories Act as Invisible Selling:
When you use the script: “Let me share with you a story…,” the prospect lowers resistance and thinks: “Oh, the salesperson is just telling me a story” and they let their guard down.  Your selling stories will powerfully deliver your main selling points and motivate the prospect to take action and buy today.

Sales Stories Move People Emotionally:
Many of us realize that prospects buy with emotion and justify their buying-decision with logic.  A story takes an abstract product or service and makes it real in a way that emotionally connects with the prospect.

Think about the heart-rending stories used in a life insurance sale to help the prospect connect—emotionally—to the reasons why life insurance is so important.  You can effectively utilize the emotional power of stories in promoting your business or industry.

Sales Stories Suspend Time:
An engaging and dynamic selling story holds and grabs the prospect’s attention, since the prospect is focused on the story and is not primarily focused on the time.

Sales Stories can be Humorous:
Stories that are appropriate and humorous can improve the effectiveness of your sales presentation, so don’t be nervous about including a relevant, humorous one to your prospect.  Script your story—word-for-word—and remember: Funny equals Money!

What are you waiting for?  Start using stories in your sales presentation today!

Be sure to read my next Blog Post:
The Hidden Selling-Power of Stories, Part 2:
Learn Where to Strategically Place Your Stories in Your Presentation.

Filed Under: Success Stories Tagged With: ,