Scripts Are Essential, But You Need The Three T's to Bring Them to Life

When I write scripts for customer service and for selling, I test them, tweak them here and there, and then I deploy them at my clients' sites.

Minimally, it's a systematic process of validation, and once my scripts have been proven in dozens, hundreds, thousands and even millions of conversations, I can say, very authoritatively, that they work.

From my standpoint it is important to be as scientific as possible, not only to be dispensing solutions that are assured of producing sales and customer satisfaction, but to overcome the perennial cynicism that salespeople, customer service reps, and their managers bring to scripts.

There is always the question, "Will this work?" but an even more pertinent one is, "Will it work for me?"

And the answer is always the same: Unless you're an alien from a distant galaxy, of course it will work for you!

But this isn't the whole story, as you might imagine. As a trainer, manager, and consultant I've seen that scripts are only part of the answer. They're helpful and even necessary ingredients of success, but we need more to succeed.

Specifically, we need DIRECTION in bringing them to life.

This is where mere vendors of scripts miss the mark. They might advertise a script for getting insurance appointments, but without the appropriate instructions for breathing vitality into them, it's like showing words on a page to an 8 month old: they're gibberish.

Let me give you a quick example of a way of getting through call screening that I invented that should double the frequency with which you succeed.

Instead of asking, "Is Bill Smith in?" which launches secretarial countermeasures, starting with the universal, "May I tell him who's calling?" we shift the dynamics, entirely.

"Hello, Gary Goodman, Customersatisfaction.com, for Bill Smith please, thank you."

I invite you to reverse engineer this winning gambit at your leisure, and you'll see many fascinating, non-traditional facets to it. But for now, let me point out that a script needs 3 T's, and not one T, to succeed.

It needs the proper Text, Tone & Timing.

(If the Three T's are new sounding, I forgive you. I invented them, along with THE NEW TELEMARKETING ™ that they are part of.)

Let's just look at how one of the T's--Timing--affects the delivery of the screening line I provided.

Purposely, I don't pause before uttering the words, "Thank you," because I want those words to be FINAL, for the screener to fetch the person I'm requesting. If I pause before saying thank you, the screener will interpret this as a relinquishing of the call to her, and will encourage her to ask another disqualifying question.

(You're unlikely to figure this out on your own because we normally pause at punctuation instead of talking through it.)

My first generation trainees, the ones whose companies bring me in to speak, to consult, and to write scripts, receive this instruction, but their imitators don't. That's why those I haven't directed sound canned and their scripts "aren't working," or so they claim.

To be accurate, they should say, the scripts aren't working FOR THEM.

Again, scripts are essential to success in selling and in providing top customer service, but they need to be accompanied by the proper direction and training so reps can use them, effectively.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, customer service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than 1,000 articles and several popular audio and video programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with impressive academic credentials: A Ph.D. from USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies..

His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com and he can be seen on CNBC at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=417455932# and reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com His blogs include: YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS! and ALWAYS COLD CALL! At: http://www.alwayscoldcall.blogspot.com