Scripts Are Not The Devil

Scripts are Not the Devil…They are your Friend

What do you get paid to do as a salesperson?  Now really think about it for a moment before you answer.  What do you REALLY get paid to do? 

I’ve asked the question to tens of thousands of real estate leaders, agents, and loan officers.  I always got answers like, “close the deal”, “provide value”, “solve their problems”, “negotiate powerfully”, and my favorite “make their dreams come true”.  While all of these are accurate there is a fundamental action that all salespeople take every day and the better that they do this one thing the more clients they will serve and the more money they will ultimately make.

What is it? Well, it’s really simple…

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH

That’s right, you get paid to talk.  When you are following up with a lead, what are you doing?  When you are on a presentation, handling an objection, negotiating a contract; you are talking.  My friends, we are in the TALKING business and the better you can communicate the more money you will make.  It’s that simple. 

Now, I know what some of you are thinking; “I don’t like to prospect, or I’m not good at presenting to buyers or seller”, or even “I get nervous when I have to handle and objection”.  Hey, I get it!  All of these can be hard, but the fact is that if you want to be successful in sales you MUST get better at communicating. 

One way to immediately start getting better at communicating is by using scripts.  I know, I know, you’ve been told in the past that scripts make you sound like a robot or a novice and that they take away your personality.  But that’s simply not true.  Let me explain…

When you are first starting out in sales it’s important to have a foundation to build from.  Scripts can provide that foundation.  By having a script to follow you can be certain that you are covering all of the important points in your conversation.  As you become more comfortable with the material you will naturally start to add your own personality and style.  But in the beginning, it’s important to have that foundation.  Just like a great pianist starts with learning scales, the ballerina starts with simple “positions” of their feet, or a great football player starts with simple blocking and tackling.  Scripts are your foundation on which you build your skills as a salesperson and your career. 

Another benefit of using scripts is that they help you to focus on your client.  It’s easy to get caught up in our own story and start talking about ourselves, but when you have a script to follow it forces you to focus on the needs of your client.  And after all, that’s what they are paying you for; to solve THEIR problems not tell them how amazing YOU are.  

Certainty is what every client is wanting from their relationship with their sales professional.  Powerful scripts and dialogues, delivered by someone who has mastered them creates certainty.  Certainty in yourself and more importantly: certainty that the prospect has in you and your abilities. One of the major 4 human needs is Certainty.  Clients will not move forward with someone that sounds unconfident, fearful or like they are “winging it”.

Actually, let’s look at the science.  Communication breaks down (according to the Psychologist Alfred Mehrabian in his decade long study of communication) into three parts:  Words, Tone and Body Language.  Your words represent 7%, tone 38% and body language 55%.  Even though words are the smallest they are in my mind, are the most important.  Why?  Because if you don’t have the words down and know what to say you can not focus on your tone and body and miss out on tone and body language and are 93% ineffective. 

Are you still with me?  I hope you are because this last section is probably the most important.   WHY DO WE RESIST EVEN HATE SCRIPTS AND DIALOGUES SO MUCH? 

Think about it, when I say “Scripts” (in relationship to sales) what is the first thing that comes to your mind?  Corny, canned, not me, “salesy”, unprofessional, for novices, cheesy.  Where did that come from?  Once upon a time, a salesperson used a script on you, you identified that they were, they did a horrible job and you said…

“No way do I EVER want to sound like that!  It’s unprofessional and canned!”  Boom…right then and there the game was over.  No more scripts for you.  However, I want to invite you to have a paradigm shift, to look at this from a different frame.   You made up that story based upon an unprepared, unskilled salesperson using the script.  When a great salesperson uses a script …YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT’S A SCRIPT.  It sounds like a normal conversation.  You see the greats in any industry or sport make the Planned seem Impromptu.  So really, it’s not that the script is bad, it’s that the person delivering it didn’t take the time to master the dialogue and presented it ineffectively.  

• A football team can have the best playbook but if they don’t put the time in practicing, they will get run all over the field.
• A ballerina can have the choreography down but if she doesn’t go through hundreds if not thousands of repetitions, she won’t appear like she is elegantly floating across the stage  
• A Formula 1 racer can have the most well-tuned, multimillion-dollar machine to drive but if they don’t take lap after lap on the track before they race…that’s right they won’t capture the checkered flag and could possibly crash.




Just like any athlete or artist, the salesperson must put in the time to master their craft.  And that means hours spent learning, practicing and internalizing scripts and dialogues until they become second nature and sound natural.  

If you are serious about becoming a top performer in sales then I invite you to let go of your resistance, humble yourself a bit and get to work learning and mastering some great scripts.  It will be worth it when you close more business, serve more clients, and in the end make more money!  

So, the next time you are thinking about whether or not to use a script…ask yourself this question; What is more important, my ego or the sale?