I recently published an article that claimed that “marketing scripts” can be written to answer customer questions in an informative, concise, and friendly way. I received several responses from people telling me that they hated the idea of using “scripts” to deliver information.
When I was concerned about why they had a scripting problem, the universal answer was that they “didn’t want to sound like a robotic-sounding telemarketer reading a ‘canned’ spiel.”
We have all heard “robots” trying to impress or sell and their rigid, poorly practiced (or not practiced) monologues have the opposite effect, turning off the listener. The people who responded to my article are right.
I offer this counterpoint in response:
When you turn on the television to watch a drama or comedy show, do you feel like those actors are reading a script? No, they sound like they are speaking naturally, however we all know that they are not just making it up or “improvising”. They started with a script. That script was written by a group of writers. They then memorized their lines, and once they learned the script, they practiced their lines over and over again until it sounded like normal speech. They then practiced it with the other actors in the scene, and then they performed it in front of their director, who probably tweaked it several times to get it right, finally sounding like they were speaking in a way appropriate to their scene. Those actors are certainly not talking normally, it just sounds like that.
It’s the same way that a customer-friendly company provides information over the phone, in an office or showroom, or at a trade show. There is a script created to respond, inform, extol the virtues and, ultimately, close the sale. That script is refined and practiced until it is delivered naturally. It sounds like natural speech, but it is the practiced answer to a question.
A practiced and written response delivered in a friendly manner will better inform clients and strengthen their knowledge and relationship. So start cataloging questions or queries and develop short scripts as the basis for standardized answers. Practice them, think “Lights! Camera! Action!” and you will sound natural. Think of making the sale like winning an Oscar (“I’d like to thank my writer, my director, my acting coach, and my supporting actors”).