Most salespeople, by nature, thrive on competition. They feel valued and proud when they close the big sale and destroy monthly targets. In fact, those who don't derive self-worth from hitting ambitious objectives tend to exit the world of sales pretty quickly.
Let me explain how this reality sometimes clashes with using a sales script. And then answer the question that got you to this article: should your sales team use one?
Why reps resist scripts
The competitive nature of salespeople makes them want to be the best… not average. And the problem with most sales scripts is that they're average by design.
Many reps feel a script will make them sell less, not more. I understand that instinct… I felt the same way for a big chunk of my 10-year career in sales. And honestly, that instinct might be right, if the script was built the wrong way.
Here are a few wrong ways to build a sales script:
Brand-led: A founder or leader writes a script to represent the brand well.
Built by average reps: A group of average sales reps pool ideas and create a script they think will work.
Copy-pasted framework: SPIN, BANT, CLOSE, etc. I love these frameworks, but they can't be applied blindly.
Copy-pasted from AI: AI is useful for a lot of things. Writing a sales script from scratch isn't one of them (yet).
If you're just trying to check a box, any of the above might do. But if you're trying to build a world-class sales team, they won't! And a poor script can actually hurt sales, making your reps sound robotic and less motivated to sell. If that's the kind of script you're picturing, then no, your team probably shouldn't use one.
So what actually works?
A data-driven sales script.
Are you recording every call your sales team makes? If not, start now. That's precious data. It's the evidence you have into what's actually working with your specific customers and offering.
In the past, teams would go through calls manually and pull out what seemed to be working. Today, AI can automate that process. It extracts features of the call: structure, tone, pacing, length, etc, and correlates them with conversions and other key milestones. From there, you can see exactly what your top reps are doing differently from the average rep, and turn that into a script.
To be clear: I don't mean a rigid, word-for-word script your reps have to stick to. Think bullet points. A narrative thread the call should follow. A story. Your reps keep their own personality, but they all follow the same story that's been empirically proven to convert.
AI makes it possible to build your own personalized, evidence-based script.
Refining the script
Once you have that baseline script, you can layer in tweaks. Maybe your top reps are slightly off-brand in tone. Maybe you're a fan of a specific framework like SPIN and want to throw in a few elements. That's fine. Start with the raw, empirical script, then tweak it. Just make sure you test different versions over time and keep adjusting. You don't want your own biases to hurt conversions.
So, should your sales team use a script?
Picture handing your team a script personalized for them, built entirely on what's proven to work. What sales rep in their right mind, someone who wants to win, would refuse that? It's gold.
If that's the kind of script you're building, then yes: your sales team should absolutely be using one. And you'll see your conversion rate explode because of it.
Want help building a data-driven sales script for your team? [Get in touch] →