CUTTER CONSULTING GROUP

E53: Q&A Week: What if I don’t like the sales script?

December 28, 2023



What do I do if I do not like the script my company is making me use?

In this episode, I answer:


  • What do I do if I do not like the script my company is making me use?
  • 

If you have any sales or mindset related questions, send me a message through the contact page or via LinkedIn.

  • Show Transcript

    Hi, and welcome to Episode 53 of The Sales Experience Podcast. My name again is Jason Cutter. Hopefully, you’re having a great week, closing lots of sales, having fun doing it, giving your customers the best sales experience possible.


    I am going to tackle some more questions and do my best to answer them in general for everyone listening as I go through these. Now, these are questions that I’ve seen online, people have asked me directly or I’ve seen in the normal routine of running a sales team or working with sales team, working with clients and these kind of things come up.


    So if you have questions, make sure to send me a message use the website, LinkedIn, two great places to find me at. But let’s dive into some questions.


    So the first one, what do I do if I don’t like the script that my company is making me use?


    Now this one has many different facets to tackle, depending on where you’re at in your sales career. Now, if you’re brand new, and your company just gave you a script, use that script. Always remember, they’re in the business of making money and closing deals, and so they wouldn’t give you anything that they didn’t think would work. Okay


    So, always keep that in mind. Now, a lot of people, especially sales people, they come into a sales role, especially if they have experienced doing sales in the past and they think, “Hey, I know better. I know what it takes to close deals. And so I don’t need your script, I don’t need anything, I’m just going to do it my way.”


    There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that once you know what you’re doing if the company allows you to take that latitude with what you say or do in the sales process. However, when you’re brand new, you need to trust the company, you need to trust their process, you need to trust that they wouldn’t give you anything that wouldn’t help you close deals.


    Keep in mind, depending on if you’re on a dialer, making outbound calls, your company is buying inbound leads that you’re taking, all of that cost money. The infrastructure, your phone system, the CRM, you’re using the seat in the office, the managers, the trainers; everything involved costs money and they need a return on you closing deals.


    So, kind of set aside that ego, set aside any thoughts you have of how a script may work or may not work and just trust the process and use the script as you’re being trained. Now, there’s some caveats to this.


    The first one is, is that if you see everyone around you using the script, and you generally see nobody at the company making any money or staying very long. And there’s a terrible amount of turnover from people who are using the script, then you need to question whether that script or that company is the right place to be.


    Now, with that being said, the flip side is if you see a lot of people failing, and you see a lot of people not making money, and/or quitting or being let go or put on a performance improvement plans, and they’re not using the script, and all of them are coming in thinking they know best, they’re just going to do it their way. Be careful not to be part of the mob that wants to do a mutiny and say that the script sucks or the company sucks.


    If you’re not using the script, and no one else is using the script and nobody is getting results, then that might be you and your co-workers who are not following the process. So, you’ve got to let go and you’ve got to trust the company that they’re going to give you something that works.


    And over time, generally what happens is you have a script that you use in the beginning, it is successful, it helps you close deals, it helps you kind of take the training wheels off of your sales experience while at that company. And then at some point, you make it your own or you memorize it, or you use it as part of your normal flow and then you keep running with it.


    So, try to separate whether the script is effective or not. If you don’t like the script, but it works like everyone around you is closing deals but you just don’t like the script, then maybe that’s also a sign that the company or the product or the service, the process isn’t for you.


    If you just don’t jive with that script, you don’t like it, you don’t like using a script, and everybody else is successful with it, then maybe that’s not for you as well. And there’s nothing wrong with that.


    A lot of people kind of go into a job, they get a job, they go into it, they don’t want to feel like a quitter if they were to leave early or to give up on it, they think I’m in a force this I can make this work. But sometimes literally, it’s a square peg in a round hole.


    Sometimes a sales position just isn’t for you whether that company has changed their process, gone to a new script, a new product or service that’s being sold a different approach different marketing, lead sources, sometimes that job just isn’t for you.


    And I’ll tell you, after having done many different jobs in my life, gone through different careers and all different scope of different vertical sales operations, many different things I’ve done. If something is not a good fit, and you’re not happy at it, then go.


    Just leave, you know, give your notice, move on and find something that makes you happy. Keep in mind, if you’re working, that’s 40-50 plus hours a week and commuting and your time thinking about it.


    If you have that feeling on Sunday night where you are getting that anxious feeling and you’re not excited about Monday or you’re worried about Monday, every week, and you’re just not looking forward to Monday, then take that as a sign that maybe it’s not the right place for you to be, and there’s nothing wrong with it.


    I’ll tell you, there’s nothing more satisfying than getting to the point in your life where you know yourself, I talked about it a lot on the show before. You’re self aware, you know what you like what you don’t like what you’re really good at, what’s literally a home run where all time just melts away.


    You forget to eat, you forget to drink water, you forget to do everything else because you’re just in the zone at something where you can get paid for, right. Not just working on your car in the garage, but doing something work wise, unless that is your work and you can turn that into something you get paid for.


    But if we’re talking about sales related, if you’re we’re in a roll, and it seems like time’s going by and you’re just unhappy, and it’s not the right fit, then life is too short to do that for very long. So hopefully, that helps address this using the script.


    Now, if your company has not required to use the script, and then they make a change, they roll out something different. Also fully embraced that script. It can be tough, maybe you’ve done the same thing for years, or months or weeks, and you’ve done it your way and you’re kind of in the zone and you think it works.


    If the company again, is giving you a new script, they’re giving you a process, keep in mind that they’re doing it for a reason. Companies don’t just changed things to see what would happen and see if they could possibly get better results.


    There’s a lot of decisions, if you’ve never been a part of it, there’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes before a salesperson would even see a script or a new process or anything. All of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes with ownership, stakeholders, shareholders, whatever it might be, there’s so much that goes into any kind of decision.


    Because any wrong move could cause complete financial ruin for a company and so they only going to do it if it makes sense. And if your company is giving a new script, a new process, a new lead source, there’s a good reason.


    And just try to let go and trust that they’re doing it for something that will help you find more success, help the company find more success. Just remember, at the end of the day, businesses are there to make money, to make revenue, to generate profit.


    And if they give you something, it’s a tool to help you get there yourself and to help them get there. The only way the company’s going to win is if you’re winning. And so just take their script, whatever it is, and run with it.


    Now, I know that was a long winded answer for this, I get this a lot. A lot of people resist scripts. They put their hands up, they let their egos get in. They try to raise kind of a mob on the floor and other people getting on their side about how much the script sucks or how much they don’t want to change or how much they just think they know better. And they should just get to do whatever they want because they’re salesperson.


    And so I get this one a lot. I’ve seen this so many times over and over again and it literally baffles me how much salespeople are people who call themselves salespeople, right, that maybe they call themselves a salesperson. But they’re not really a sales professional because they’re resisting everything that companies putting in place.


    Now again, on the flip, flip, flip side of all this, there are times where a company is just constantly changing, constantly making it difficult for salespeople to be successful, that kind of places toxic. But otherwise, if they’re giving you tools, make sure you run with it, and this is so important.


    If you find yourself resisting, again, just embrace it or leave. Those are the two options. Might sound harsh, but it’s definitely true is you can either embrace it and go with it and understand the company is paying you for your time and your effort.


    And so if they give you something they’re expecting you to do it, or if they’re asking you to do something, they’re expecting you to do it and not resist. I mean down to the fact that if a company is paying you, and they say “hey, we need you to help with this, or we need you to move that or we need you to dump this garbage.”


    Fundamentally, they’re paying you for your time you have a choice to either do it and have it be a part of why you’re there, or put in your notice and quit and leave and go somewhere else. But don’t stay and be negative, or cancer or toxic on the floor. Make one of those two decisions, either go all in, or go all out and that’s basically it.


    So, that’s it for this episode. I got through one question, but it was an important one. I wanted to spend as much time as possible on this because it’s so critical. I see this so many times.


    If you’re in an organization, and your company requires you to use a script or you’ve seen this a lot and you struggle with it, take all this to heart and just understand you have a choice. So, this isn’t putting anybody down who resist it.


    It’s just really allowing you to have some self reflection and say, “Why do I resist it? What’s going on? And where do I really want to be?” And if there’s other sales people at your organization who are constantly resisting scripts, so it’s not you, but it’s other people share this episode with them.


    Share this with your team leads, your managers, the owner of your company, anyone you know who’s in sales, who’s dealing with sales, people who struggle with scripting or processes or objections or filling out forms or doing anything, they’re asked to; share this as much as possible because let’s see what we can do to help sales people just embrace the tools they’re given.


    And that’s it for another episode of The Sales Experience Podcast. And as always, remember that everything in life is sales and people will remember the experience you gave them.


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By Jason Cutter February 17, 2025
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By Jason Cutter February 13, 2025
The Balance of Effort in Sales The blogs this week have been about the other person going most of the way. Whether it’s a prospective customer and your salesperson, where the salesperson truly can’t want the deal or make most of it happen for that customer to truly be successful. On the path for that prospect to becoming a customer, they should go at least 51/49. Whether it’s your team and their manager, the manager can’t want the team to succeed more than the team actually wants it for themselves. It’s not scalable for the coach (manager) to run on the field every play to win the game for the salespeople. What about sales ops processes and systems? What about the tools available to the sales team and the ones that are classified as sales enablement? In a reversal of philosophy, I believe the sales ops processes should go 90, the team should only have to go 10. Why Do We Need Salespeople? Let’s start where it matters – what is the point of having salespeople? I know many owners question the need and desire to have salespeople. They are hard to manage, tough to deal with, always want more money (potentially for doing less work and closing less deals), and are very resistant to change. Of course, that is a generalization. Of course, there are salespeople who don’t check those boxes. However, having worked with a lot of teams in a lot of industries, that generalization isn’t completely wrong or unfair. So if there is even a small part of that which is accurate, why would we even mess with the messiness of having salespeople? Of needing to employ and manage humans? The Human Element in Sales We need them. That’s why. Even in 2025, AI and technology has not successfully replicated the requirements of sales – which is about helping a human (prospect/customer) make the right decision and move outside of their comfort zone to buy something new. It still takes your human (salesperson) to persuade that other human. It’s why I say all the time that its not B2B, B2C, Retail, SaaS, etc. – it’s H2H. Sure, people can buy something online or even in a store without speaking to someone. But if it’s a considered purchase where there are options and decisions to be considered – it still takes a human being involved. That means ultimately your human (salesperson) has one job, and one job only – persuade the right prospective humans to buy. Minimizing Distractions for Salespeople Everything outside of that mission, task, focus is a distraction that takes away from their highest and best use. Imagine if we had a surgeon who had to prep the room, prep the patient, schedule the surgery and meetings, and do all the parts of the surgery themselves. Nope – they show up for the surgery and do what they do best. Then they take off their gown, gloves, and walk away to get cleaned up and move on to the next thing. Your goal as a sales ops leader is to support the team with systems and processes that allow them to focus on the one thing you need them for. The human part. It would be amazing if they could show up, talk to people, and make sales happen. Of course, there is more that they (and any professional) need to do before, during, and after the sales conversation. But your goal is to minimize all that. Every hour that your salespeople aren’t selling or doing sales-related activities, they aren’t moving revenue forward. The Ultimate Goal of Sales Ops What processes can you put in place that go 90 percent of the way, where the salesperson can do the last 10 percent? An example would be building an email campaign that runs automatically, and when the right people reply, the salesperson gets involved in getting that person from email to phone call. Another example would be your CRM serving up people for the salesperson to call – leads or anyone in the sales pipeline flow – with all the backstory, research, data, intel needed for them to review it then take action. What can you put into place that takes away as much distraction and effort from your sales team such that they can focus on the one thing you need to focus on – other humans?
By Jason Cutter February 12, 2025
The Danger of Doing Too Much as a Sales Leader Alright – so maybe they don’t need to go 90. In true servant leadership mode, you would go way more than 10% of the way to your team. But you have to be careful, as a sales leader. The inclination might be to do it all for them. To help them close their sales. To make excuses for them to your leadership as to why they aren’t closing more sales. Especially considering the very high likelihood that you are a sales manager because you were a great salesperson in the role that you are now managing. And there is a slight chance that you are a player-coach…so you are leading and selling. This can make it really tough not to want to run out on the field to win the game each time. But that doesn’t scale. That doesn’t lead to increased results. You can only sell so much as one person. Creating a Culture of Ownership So, you need to have people on your team that are coming to you. What does that look like? The pinnacle is a salesperson who doesn’t close a deal, comes to you right away and asks for feedback. They want some critiques as to where they could have done things better, different that would have led to the desired result – a closed sale. That takes a healthy level of ego by a professional who has the ultimate growth mindset. They know there are always ways to improve. They want to improve. And they are willing to risk their ego (and the internal, protective, primal part of our brain that doesn’t want to risk our place in the tribe) by asking for feedback that could be negative. Whenever you can, encourage that type of response. Ensure that the team knows that the team itself, and you as their leader, is a safe space – where the goal is to improve, grow, win and that everything done to support each other is done in that mode. They truly have to feel safe to share their mistakes and to get support in learning how to do more, better. Feedback That Drives Growth Part of this takes team and individual meetings that are actually filled with positive support. That doesn’t mean it’s always positive, motivational fluff. It’s not even about the shallow strategy of the feedback sandwich. Its about being real, honest, and empathetic – meaning “I see you are here, I know you want to be there, I will help you get there – even if its hard and it means saying hard things.” It should never feel mean or abusive or like an attack. But you can give some really direct feedback that will sting that ego I mentioned, but the person will know the intent behind it. The second part is hiring this type of person. Hiring people for the team that wants to win, grow, succeed. And they know that you don’t get better by being coddled, sheltered, or protected. You want people who don’t like the thought of perpetually living safely in their comfort zone. And they are excited about the opportunity to be a part of a team that pushes everyone, empathetically, outside of their comfort zone. Are You Leading or Just Managing? If you find yourself as a leader having to push your team, or going to them most of the time, or most of the way mentally – then they see you as a manager not a leader. They see you as someone who manages them, pushes them, and wants them to do things they don’t want to do. I have written some blogs here that go into what your role should be – as a leader, not a manager. Pulling people along with you, inspiring people, and supporting yourself with a team of people who want to win. Not just those that want to show up, do as little as they can and hopefully go unnoticed (yet – complain about not making enough money and how the comp plan isn’t fair, or the leads are bad, or their schedule means they can’t be successful.) Make sure your team knows that they need to come to you – at least 51/49. They should be asking for help, guidance, training, feedback, and support more than you are having to push it down onto them.
By Jason Cutter February 3, 2025
If you have seen the movie Hitch, then you know the scene. Will Smith’s character (Hitch) is trying to coach Kevin James’ character (Albert) on how to finish out his upcoming first date. He is giving him pointers, one being that if his date fumbles with her keys at the door, it could mean she wants a kiss. So Hitch wants to see if Albert knows what to do – for a good night kiss. Hitch gives him the advice “you go 90 percent, and then wait for her to go 10%” which Albert then asks “wait for how long?” Hitch: “as long as it takes.” Albert leads in, Hitch is holding back to see if Albert will wait, and then Albert goes all the way and gives him a kiss. Hitch gets upset, and says “You go 90, I go 10 – you don’t go the whole 100%.” The Sales Analogy Kissing our prospective customers is not acceptable (just ask HR!). But the concept is the same. You don’t want to ever make 100% of the effort for your prospective customers. You don’t want to be the one who is doing all the work. Fundamentally, it is not good practice to want the deal more than the other person. When you go your 90, you need to wait – as long as it takes – for the prospect to go to their 10. And I would say that you want to go somewhere between 10-49, in reality. How Successful Sales Professionals Balance Effort Successful sales professionals know how far they have to go to meet the prospect where they are, while also knowing how much effort the prospect needs to put in to show they are committed. Where most salespeople get in trouble is they get desperate. They want the sale (kiss) more than the other person and they go the full 100%. Of course, persistence is important. And you won’t get what you don’t ask for (although…if you have followed me for any length of time, you will know I am very against having to ask for the sale). But you also have to ensure that your prospects actually want what you are selling. And they want it for their reasons and their motivations. They are driven to pursue your production option(s). They must go 10, 40, 60% of the way to you. The Pitfall of Chasing Your Prospect Just like courtship and relationships – if you find yourself chasing and one-sided-pursing the other person then it means you want it more than they do. It also means they own you. You are essentially begging them for the relationship – convincing, manipulating, begging, bribing, persuading your way forward. Which means they consciously and/or subconsciously know that they are in control. Because if they say no, you will keep pursuing and offering solutions. In sales – that looks like a salesperson who is calling, emailing, stalking a prospect – making offers, offering discounts and trials, and trying to find any way to make deal work. They are going 90-100% of the way for the prospect, not requiring them to go anywhere towards the agreement. This will end terribly. If they do decide to buy – taking the discount, free trial, taking the sale bait – they will not be happy (since they weren’t bought in for their reasons), they will look for reasons confirming why they didn’t really want to buy anyway, and they will know that they own you. Your company will have to convince them on a regular basis to stay in the relationship. The Right Balance for Customer Ownership You fundamentally need that prospective customer to come to you. Not 100% where you are just an Order Taker. But potentially 51% of the way – so they want it more than you. The more you can get them across that 50/50 threshold, the more they will be a satisfied customer. But remember – at 51/49 – they still need persuading, they still need to understand the value of your product for where they ultimately want to be in their life/business, and they still need your support. They lean in the right amount, you lean in the right amount = sales magic!
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