Why Your Sales Script Keeps Getting Worse — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I sell lawn fertilization weed control
2. 0:03to Indianapolis homeowners.
3. 0:06>> Dude, how did you win the affiliate
4. 0:07contest?
5. 0:08>> I texted
6. 0:09>> got all the homeowners? You were like,
7. 0:11"Let's go. Buy some books, baby."
8. 0:13>> No, I didn't text any clients. It was
9. 0:14all just friends.
10. 0:15>> Dude, I appreciate it, man. Thanks for
11. 0:17promoting it.
12. 0:18>> Um
13. 0:19if we do uh we'll probably end between
14. 0:211.5 and 2 million this year.
15. 0:23>> Okay.
16. 0:23>> Um I'd like to
17. 0:25be at five before I decide what I want
18. 0:27to do after that.
19. 0:28>> sell B2B to like who do you sell to lawn
20. 0:30care or what?
21. 0:30>> Primarily homeowners, 90 90% are
22. 0:32residential. Um we have a few affiliate
23. 0:35situations.
24. 0:36>> E-commerce or like in-person local?
25. 0:39>> It's all local. We fertilize lawns.
26. 0:41>> Got it. You do that, too. My bad. I I
27. 0:43thought you were just selling the
28. 0:44fertilizer, not the services. Okay,
29. 0:45understood.
30. 0:46>> So
31. 0:48we're primarily dealing with homeowners.
32. 0:50Um
33. 0:51I feel like what's our main constraint
34. 0:52is just I mean, sales and marketing. We
35. 0:54have a good product, good service. We
36. 0:57don't have
37. 0:57>> What's revenue retention?
38. 0:59>> We uh
39. 1:01the way I track it, we retain about 75%.
40. 1:06Um we have a service in the fall that's
41. 1:09kind of a one-off service, and so
42. 1:11those people churn at a higher rate, and
43. 1:14I don't have those numbers separated.
44. 1:15>> Okay.
45. 1:16Um
46. 1:18Okay, so you
47. 1:21>> Um can you handle more customers
48. 1:25now?
49. 1:26>> Yeah. Yeah, I um
50. 1:29I've been here like three times in the
51. 1:30last 3 months, so I feel like I kind of
52. 1:32know what I need to do. I just got to do
53. 1:33it.
54. 1:34Uh but big part of what I'm trying to
55. 1:37work on over the winter, our big sales
56. 1:39season is spring, and so developing a
57. 1:42more standardized sales motion. We have
58. 1:43one rep who has a ton of experience in
59. 1:46the industry, but he doesn't follow
60. 1:48anything. He just sells. We give him the
61. 1:50leads, and he closes.
62. 1:52Decent percentage, 40 45%, but we don't
63. 1:55to know what's good about what he does.
64. 1:58And so, I need to develop sales script
65. 2:00and stuff like that. I don't necessarily
66. 2:01know where to start when it comes to
67. 2:03building a system, especially cuz this
68. 2:04guy is not super
69. 2:06good with change.
70. 2:10>> So, that's all right. You have an
71. 2:11all-star salesperson. The best sales
72. 2:12people are basically terrible everything
73. 2:14but selling.
74. 2:16>> Hello. There we go. Um so, that's okay
75. 2:19and normal to be expected. The best way
76. 2:21to do it is to observe it the same way
77. 2:23that I was describing earlier, I think
78. 2:25it's to Anders, um about how to teach.
79. 2:28And so, you would literally just look at
80. 2:30him as though you were an autist and
81. 2:32say, "What does this person do?" And
82. 2:34just literally observe them like you
83. 2:36were a court reporter, so you can't put
84. 2:37any emotion or any judgment on it. It's
85. 2:39just what are the things this person
86. 2:40does and what are the things they say.
87. 2:42And then, their voice goes up here, they
88. 2:44pause here. And the more quantified you
89. 2:46can make that, the more you can drill it
90. 2:47and train it. And the big thing with
91. 2:49sales training that I think
92. 2:51the vast majority of businesses
93. 2:52underestimate is just how much training
94. 2:54is required to make a truly world-class
95. 2:56team. I think 90 So, everybody who has
96. 2:58the sales handbook can kind of get You
97. 3:00guys have my schedule for how we onboard
98. 3:02and how we train. And I think for many
99. 3:03people that's a big belief breaker. It's
100. 3:05hard for people to comprehend exactly
101. 3:07how much we train at acquisition.com.
102. 3:08It's a shitload. Um and so, to give
103. 3:10context on that, our sales team trains
104. 3:13every single day.
105. 3:14Every day. And they all role play every
106. 3:16single day. And every week, they have a
107. 3:18one-on-one with game tape with their
108. 3:19manager of what they specifically need
109. 3:21to work on. And
110. 3:23like that muscle, and like do you know
111. 3:26how to train like do you know how to
112. 3:27train a salesperson?
113. 3:29>> Um I would say no.
114. 3:31>> Okay. So, you train sales people through
115. 3:34like role playing until your eyes bleed.
116. 3:36Cuz fundamentally, it's the fastest
117. 3:38feedback loop that you can give someone
118. 3:39in terms of training anything. So, they
119. 3:41say something and so, the way that we
120. 3:42train is number one is you have to
121. 3:44memorize a script. And so, the way you
122. 3:46memorize a script is you put the script
123. 3:47in front of someone, they print out a
124. 3:48second script, and then they read the
125. 3:50script out loud, and then they black out
126. 3:52one of the words, and they read it
127. 3:53again, and they block out another word,
128. 3:54and they read it again. And by the time
129. 3:56you blocked out every single word,
130. 3:57you've said the script for as many times
131. 3:58as there are words in the script, and
132. 4:00you tend to [ __ ] know it. And so,
133. 4:02then you're staring at an entirely
134. 4:03blacked-out page saying the entire
135. 4:04script. That's how you memorize a
136. 4:06script. Once you can breathe the script,
137. 4:08which is what we call it, once you can
138. 4:10breathe the script, then we practice the
139. 4:12role-playing component, um which is us
140. 4:15going back and forth. And so, when
141. 4:16you're reading the script with someone,
142. 4:17we have a hand-up with heads nodding,
143. 4:20and the first time someone's going to go
144. 4:21through a script, we're going to say,
145. 4:22"Hey, just to be clear, we're going to
146. 4:23interrupt you probably like 50 or 60
147. 4:24times by the time you get to the end of
148. 4:25it. That's okay. The worst way that do
149. 4:28people do role-playing is that someone
150. 4:30they go through a whole role-play or
151. 4:31someone just says the script. That's the
152. 4:33worst way. The second worst way is that
153. 4:34you go through it and we quote
154. 4:35role-play, and at the end, the guy says,
155. 4:37"All right, so, you know, at the
156. 4:39beginning, you could have done this a
157. 4:40little bit different, and, you know,
158. 4:41kind of said this a little bit bad at
159. 4:43the end, and you probably should have
160. 4:44offered it like this." No one's going to
161. 4:45remember that. It doesn't matter. It's
162. 4:47way too late. The reason that
163. 4:48superstition happens is because you
164. 4:50change something, and then you
165. 4:51immediately get feedback. And so, once
166. 4:53someone does it, we call it locking it
167. 4:54in. So, it's like they mess something
168. 4:56up, we say, "Hey, stop. Try it like
169. 4:58this. Do it again." They do it. If they
170. 5:00get it right, we say, "Great. Lock it
171. 5:02in." That means do it again. Do it
172. 5:03again. Do it again. Keep going. And so,
173. 5:05that's how we drill the script so that
174. 5:07every person delivers the script the
175. 5:08same way. The vast majority of sales
176. 5:10teams have a script. It's loose. No one
177. 5:13really pays attention to it. And the way
178. 5:15that they recruit sales people is that
179. 5:16they just hire a bunch, see who sticks,
180. 5:18and then let the rest go.
181. 5:20Exceptional sales orgs, which I consider
182. 5:22us to be, can take anyone to be a
183. 5:25savage.
184. 5:27It's just a question of how much effort
185. 5:28we're willing to put into somebody. As
186. 5:30long as you know how to train the skill
187. 5:32of sales, which ski- sales is so
188. 5:33trainable as a skill,
189. 5:35um that's the feedback loop that has to
190. 5:37get created. So, the first step for you
191. 5:38is we have to observe the salesman, and
192. 5:40then we have to document the words they
193. 5:41say and what they do.
194. 5:44Once we have that, that becomes the
195. 5:45basis for the memorization, and then the
196. 5:47role-playing becomes making sure they
197. 5:48execute that. And I always want
198. 5:50adherence above everything. So, we are
199. 5:52like the New England Patriots in terms
200. 5:54of how we run the sales team, which is
201. 5:55the process is above everyone. No one's
202. 5:56better than the process. And the way we
203. 5:58position that is like thousands of sales
204. 6:00calls, thousands of hours have gone into
205. 6:02like men died and gave their lives to
206. 6:04give us this script. You were not better
207. 6:06than the script. And so, you say the
208. 6:08script because you know these words
209. 6:09close people, period.
210. 6:11And that's the approach that we have,
211. 6:12and that's the deference that we give to
212. 6:14the process. And so, if you have a star
213. 6:16salesperson, one of the difficult parts
214. 6:17is that that person tends to be a
215. 6:18cowboy.
216. 6:19Right? Does whatever he wants as long as
217. 6:21he closes deals. That is a cultural
218. 6:22issue. It will be a cancer
219. 6:24long term if he's a prima donna.
220. 6:26And so,
221. 6:28most of the time, I would rather have a
222. 6:29team of all eights closing on a 10 out
223. 6:32of 10 process, and that team will always
224. 6:34outperform a team that has one star and
225. 6:35no process.
226. 6:38Okay.
227. 6:38>> Um so, from a logistical perspective,
228. 6:42making the script,
229. 6:44do I do that with him if he's not like
230. 6:48following a script?
231. 6:49>> He is following a script. He just
232. 6:51doesn't know what it is.
233. 6:51>> Okay. So, we I should work with him
234. 6:54together.
235. 6:54>> There are certain types of words that he
236. 6:55says in a specific order to get people
237. 6:57to buy.
238. 6:58>> Mhm.
239. 6:58>> If you observe 10 of his conversations,
240. 7:00you'll get 80% of them. And then, what
241. 7:02most sales people who are like him do is
242. 7:04they add too many words.
243. 7:06>> Yeah.
244. 7:07>> And so, people get cute. And so, they'll
245. 7:09add stuff. And so, most of the times
246. 7:10when you create a script, you want to
247. 7:12eliminate as many words as humanly
248. 7:13possible. And so, if we go into an
249. 7:15organization to fix the sales process,
250. 7:16typically we'll cut the script in half
251. 7:18or more because there's so much extra
252. 7:19stuff. It's the sneezing, it's the I got
253. 7:21to touch the plate in all four places
254. 7:23before I hit the ball. There's tons of
255. 7:24superstition that's woven into the
256. 7:25script because they don't know and it
257. 7:26worked one time, so they keep doing it,
258. 7:28and the script just gets longer and
259. 7:29longer and longer, not more effective.
260. 7:32>> Yeah.
261. 7:34Um
262. 7:36So, um we I mean, we only sell the
263. 7:40majority of our services in call it
264. 7:42March, April, May.
265. 7:43>> Can I just walk you Do you have the
266. 7:44sales uh handbook?
267. 7:45>> I Is it the ACQ closer one? Yeah, I have
268. 7:49that. I
269. 7:50read through it. Yeah.
270. 7:51>> Okay.
271. 7:53Yeah.
272. 7:54>> Model that each There's model that
273. 7:56script.
274. 7:57>> Yeah.
275. 7:58>> Like there's an intro, there's a disco,
276. 7:59there's recaps, there's offer, there's
277. 8:02the rest of pieces there. Like just
278. 8:03model the script.
279. 8:04>> Yeah, I've been doing that for our
280. 8:05Christmas lights for what was what we're
281. 8:07selling right now.
282. 8:08>> Is it working?
283. 8:09>> Um well, we're just starting, so
284. 8:12I can't tell you that.
285. 8:13>> hasn't really come yet. Yeah, yeah.
286. 8:15Okay.
287. 8:15>> Um the last question, when it comes to
288. 8:18uh the training stuff, you know, you
289. 8:19said you do it every day.
290. 8:21If that's something that I can stand
291. 8:23here and say is my biggest constraint
292. 8:24and I need to do it every day, I should
293. 8:25just do it. But if I also say that it's
294. 8:28not in my capacity,
295. 8:30is that something that if I
296. 8:33>> you from it being
297. 8:35done?
298. 8:36>> Yeah. Is there If I were to have another
299. 8:38rep, could I just have the two of those
300. 8:40guys do it every day together, or do I
301. 8:42need to be in there every day if I'm not
302. 8:43even necessarily a sales guy?
303. 8:45Like I'm not even good at necessarily
304. 8:46sales.
305. 8:47>> you not being a sales guy doesn't
306. 8:48necessarily mean that you wouldn't be
307. 8:49able to document the sales process well.
308. 8:51>> Sure.
309. 8:52>> In some ways it might actually make you
310. 8:53better.
311. 8:54>> Okay.
312. 8:55>> So I would just not like let that like
313. 8:56cloud your judgment around it too much.
314. 8:58>> So I should still try and be there in
315. 8:59every meeting then.
316. 9:00>> understanding like there's core elements
317. 9:02of a business, like understanding how
318. 9:04revenue comes in, like how are leads
319. 9:06generated, how are they converted, and
320. 9:07how do we deliver are the core elements
321. 9:08of every business. And so like I believe
322. 9:10the owner should know how to do all
323. 9:11these things.
324. 9:13>> Okay.
325. 9:13>> Because there will get to a point where
326. 9:14like play it out. The sales guy So where
327. 9:18is where is where is my pest control?
328. 9:20There you are. See, like he'll just go
329. 9:22and just start his own thing, and then
330. 9:24you'll be screwed.
331. 9:25>> Yeah.
332. 9:26>> [snorts]
333. 9:26>> Yeah.
334. 9:27>> So talk about key man risk. It's like
335. 9:29how do we make sure that this business
336. 9:30can, you know, sustain and thrive? Make
337. 9:32sure you know the sales process.
338. 9:33>> Yeah, I I was spending all my time
339. 9:35marketing trying to acquire as many
340. 9:37leads as possible and my fear is that
341. 9:39once we overcome what he's capable of
342. 9:41doing that the next guy won't be able to
343. 9:43replicate it essentially.
344. 9:48>> [laughter]
345. 9:59>> Mhm.
346. 10:06Cool. So just develop a standardized
347. 10:09sales motion.
348. 10:12Yeah.
349. 10:13Thanks.
350. 10:20>> [applause]
351. 10:23>> If you were the best salesperson in your
352. 10:25company, then your company will be
353. 10:27always capped by you. And this is what
354. 10:30the two-day workshop is for. Now to be
355. 10:31clear before I get into what it is, this
356. 10:33is for million-dollar plus businesses
357. 10:35that are trying to scale their sales
358. 10:37team where you are still probably vast
359. 10:39majority of the magic. Either you're
360. 10:40literally taking calls or you are a big
361. 10:42percentage of the revenue or you have to
362. 10:44be constantly on the sales team in order
363. 10:46to get this to work. If you're in any of
364. 10:47those settings, then this is absolutely
365. 10:49for you. And so if you are tired of your
366. 10:51sales relying on you and want a sales
367. 10:53system that scales beyond you, then
368. 10:55apply. That's the deal. And so if it is
369. 10:57a fit, we look forward to seeing you out
370. 10:58here and it's a great time. We'll talk
371. 11:00about sales stuff. Like how could you
372. 11:01have a better time? Don't take my word
373. 11:02for it. Here's what other people are
374. 11:03saying about our workshops. They're
375. 11:05premo and uh yeah, can't wait to see you
376. 11:07out there.