How to write an effective script for following up on leads
Do you want to see a script that generated a 98% response rate, an explanation of why it worked so well, and learn how you too can write scripts that convert better than any you have seen before?
My name is Patrick Kilhoffer and I have written over 1,500 scripts over my career, that have been used in millions of phone calls for many different industries for both B2C and B2B companies and have generated response rates as high as 98%. It's not magic or some sort of phone hypnosis technique, it's following a simple four-point conversation framework that is proven to work time and time again, in every industry. If you follow this proven process, you will likely see your results improve.
The ten second introduction - who are you?
What I have consistently seen is you have "10 seconds to earn yourself 30 seconds, and you have 30 seconds to earn a conversation".
This isn't complicated, it's as simple as your name, the name of your company, and an optional identifier or reminder. It should be delivered clearly, confidently and professionally, in a friendly tone. You aren't asking a question, you are making a statement.
For example:
(Identifier) Hi, my name is Patrick Kilhoffer with Laser Marketing, the (their industry) lead company.
(Reminder) Hi, my name is Patrick Kilhoffer with Laser Marketing, you filled out a form on my website looking for leads.
Both of these are true and depending on who I am calling I might use either one of them, as long as they are accurate for the person I'm calling.
A roofing company might say "This is Bob Smith from ABC roofing, your local roofing company here in (your city, county, etc)" or
"This is Bob Smith from ABA roofing, your local roofer following up on your request for a quote on your roof."
The important thing is to communicate in 10 seconds or less why they should continue the conversation.
At this point, your tone of voice is as important as the words you are using.
“Speak to them as a person you already know, not as a name on a list.”
If you are having trouble at this step in the call, you might be “sounding like a telemarketer.”
Most importantly, slow down, speak clearly, and project authority and confidence.
I always say: “Dial fast, talk slow.”
Get from call to call as quickly as possible, but when you are in the call with the prospect, give them the time they deserve.
The Benefit Statement and/or Credibility statement.
This is where you give them the reason to keep talking to you, these are example of benefit statements, the statements can be this short or several sentences long.
(Credibility statement) I've been working with (their industry) companies to increase their sales since 1997.
(Benefit Statement) I sell leads that my (their industry) clients say are the most profitable they have ever had.
(Combined Benefit and credibility statements) I've been selling (their industry) leads since 1997 that are consistently producing an ROI of 10 to 100 times the investment.
A home improvement company might say something like: "We get our supplies from a national buying network, so we can offer our clients the lowest possible prices." or "We have been in business for over 30 years, and we have a perfect A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau." The important part is to give people what I call "permission to believe" that you are a valuable person to talk to, and they should continue the conversation. Give them the best possible reason to do business with you, so if they say No at this point, you know there wasn't anything else you could have said.
It's very important that what you say is accurate. You don't want them responding to something that isn't 100% accurate because they won't actually be responding to you or your company, they will be unhappy later and you don't want an unhappy prospect or customer.
If you aren't succeeding at this point, try different benefit and credibility statements. It doesn't have to be completely unique, but it should set you above a generic company in your industry.
Qualification questions/body of the call.
This is where you verify the person is a valid prospect but can also where you can give the person permission to believe that your company is a good fit for them. This will usually be more conversational, with both parties sharing information, answering questions, etc.
In my case I might ask, "Are you more interested in increasing your current sales or having a backup plan in case your sales drop?"
A roofing company might ask, "Can you see spots where shingles are missing, or the roof is sagging, or is it just that roof is getting old and it might have already started leaking?"
Sometimes you don't want to qualify them at all, other than being a homeowner. For example, if you are selling replacement windows for their home you may want to set the appointment quickly before they start asking questions about pricing than can lead to you losing the opportunity before you even meet with them.
If there is a situation that is required for you to make a sale, now is when you would ask. For example, if only 20% of your prospects have good credit and you need them to have good credit in order to qualify for financing, it might be a good idea to qualify them for having good credit before you drive three hours to an appointment.
When I had a client that was asking us to locate qualified oil and gas investors, the prospect needed to be willing and able to write a check for $73,000.
During the call we would ask them, "After you look at all of the information, speak with an officer of the corporation, go over everything with your accountant, your spouse, your personal attorney and your best friend and everyone agrees that this is a good idea, are you in the position to be able to write a check for $73,000?"
90% of the people would say No. The 10% that said Yes had a 30% chance of becoming an investor.
By asking that one question we increased the close rate from 3% to 30%. By asking the question in a conversational and non-invasive way, we didn't scare off or offend the valid potential investors.
At this point in the conversation, it can be an opened ended freewheeling conversation or tightly controlled, depending on your industry.
f there are technical qualifications, like they need to have a certain income or a certain number of employees, it's not a bad idea to ask a related follow-up question, for example "How many employees do you have there?" and based on their answer and the personality of the person you are speaking with you might follow-up with, "Wow, so do you have a company cafeteria, or do you have fifty cars all trying to leave for lunch at the same time?" OR "Fifty employees, that sounds like a lot of responsibility?"
The point is to make it more of a conversation and less of an interrogation whenever possible.
If it's appropriate to compliment them, it never hurts. For example, "You built a company from scratch and have fifty employees, that's impressive, congratulations on that."
If you aren't succeeding at this point, the list or the leads may be the issue.
If people are talking with you but no one you are talking to has a roof that needs replaced or has enough employees to be a valid prospect, that's not your fault, that's the list.
When to qualify aggressively:
When NOT to qualify aggressively:
How to qualify financially without sounding like you have "commission breath".
Finally, the call to action.
This is when you and the prospect agree on the next step, whether that is you sending them information and having a scheduled follow up call, or meeting with them for a face-to-face appointment or some other action step.
Whatever the next step is, if you want a higher quality outcome, ask the prospect for the information, even if you already have it. Ask them for their email address if you are sending them information, ask them for their physical address if you are setting an appointment. If you are setting a face-to-face appointment, ask them if there is anything tricky about getting there, not because you don't have auto navigation but because you want them visualizing you coming to their location.
If they ask why you don't already have that information, you can feel free to share it and say that you were just asking to verify it.
Don't rush through this part, if they are going to have "buyer's remorse" about what they agreed to, now is when you want it to happen, not after you end the call.
Why scripts fail. Hint; it isn't aways the script.
"Sounding like a telemarketer"
A poorly designed script
Remember, a great script delivered to someone who isn't a prospect will and should fail. Sales isn't about talking someone into buying something, it's about locating, educating and enabling people who will benefit from the service you provide.
Ineffective lists or leads.
The Script Opening that Got a 98% response rate with C-level executives, and why it worked.
"This is (Caller's name) with (ad agency), the reason for the call is we increased Kroger's sales by 17% during the promotion period, and I was calling to see if you would like to know how we did that for them and what we could do for you."
Why it worked - We were calling the VP of marketing for chains of grocery stores. They all knew who Kroger was and that a 17% increase in sales for a grocery store is huge. They were all the correct decision maker, it's their job to make sales at their chain of grocery stores go up, and we were offering to share how their competitor did it and how they could do it too.
The list was perfectly targeted; the offer was very relevant and very valuable, and the credibility was high because it had already been demonstrated. Frankly it was such a perfect campaign that I almost called back the 13 people who said they weren't interested to ask them what they were thinking!
It's important to note that it took almost four hours on the phone with the client to pry this success story out of them. When I asked why people should do business with them, they kept saying things like, "We have great relationships with our clients" or "We are a full-service agency." If we had used those benefit statements in the script, the response rate would likely have fallen from 98% to 5%, not because those things are bad but because they are generic and don't inspire confidence.
The best script in the world won't help you if you don't have good leads. Check out these proven leads:
Roofing leads - Homeowners actively looking for roofing estimates.
Window leads - Homeowners requesting replacement window quotes.
Bathroom remodeling leads - Homeowners who want to remodel and upgrade their bathrooms.
Siding leads - Homeowners who want to replace the exterior of their home.
Medicare leads - CMS compliant leads of consumers who want quotes for Medicare.
If you want to learn how you can get efficient leads for your home improvement, insurance or other type of business, call me at 618-386-5889 or fill out the form below.
My name is Patrick Kilhoffer and I have written over 1,500 scripts over my career, that have been used in millions of phone calls for many different industries for both B2C and B2B companies and have generated response rates as high as 98%. It's not magic or some sort of phone hypnosis technique, it's following a simple four-point conversation framework that is proven to work time and time again, in every industry. If you follow this proven process, you will likely see your results improve.
The ten second introduction - who are you?
What I have consistently seen is you have "10 seconds to earn yourself 30 seconds, and you have 30 seconds to earn a conversation".
This isn't complicated, it's as simple as your name, the name of your company, and an optional identifier or reminder. It should be delivered clearly, confidently and professionally, in a friendly tone. You aren't asking a question, you are making a statement.
For example:
(Identifier) Hi, my name is Patrick Kilhoffer with Laser Marketing, the (their industry) lead company.
(Reminder) Hi, my name is Patrick Kilhoffer with Laser Marketing, you filled out a form on my website looking for leads.
Both of these are true and depending on who I am calling I might use either one of them, as long as they are accurate for the person I'm calling.
A roofing company might say "This is Bob Smith from ABC roofing, your local roofing company here in (your city, county, etc)" or
"This is Bob Smith from ABA roofing, your local roofer following up on your request for a quote on your roof."
The important thing is to communicate in 10 seconds or less why they should continue the conversation.
At this point, your tone of voice is as important as the words you are using.
“Speak to them as a person you already know, not as a name on a list.”
If you are having trouble at this step in the call, you might be “sounding like a telemarketer.”
- Try standing up and walking around while you talk. It puts more energy into your voice.
- “Smiling and Dialing” is a cliché for a reason; it works. People can hear the smile in your voice.
- Remain confident at all times. You aren't talking them into something; you are determining if they need your help.
Most importantly, slow down, speak clearly, and project authority and confidence.
I always say: “Dial fast, talk slow.”
Get from call to call as quickly as possible, but when you are in the call with the prospect, give them the time they deserve.
The Benefit Statement and/or Credibility statement.
This is where you give them the reason to keep talking to you, these are example of benefit statements, the statements can be this short or several sentences long.
(Credibility statement) I've been working with (their industry) companies to increase their sales since 1997.
(Benefit Statement) I sell leads that my (their industry) clients say are the most profitable they have ever had.
(Combined Benefit and credibility statements) I've been selling (their industry) leads since 1997 that are consistently producing an ROI of 10 to 100 times the investment.
A home improvement company might say something like: "We get our supplies from a national buying network, so we can offer our clients the lowest possible prices." or "We have been in business for over 30 years, and we have a perfect A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau." The important part is to give people what I call "permission to believe" that you are a valuable person to talk to, and they should continue the conversation. Give them the best possible reason to do business with you, so if they say No at this point, you know there wasn't anything else you could have said.
It's very important that what you say is accurate. You don't want them responding to something that isn't 100% accurate because they won't actually be responding to you or your company, they will be unhappy later and you don't want an unhappy prospect or customer.
If you aren't succeeding at this point, try different benefit and credibility statements. It doesn't have to be completely unique, but it should set you above a generic company in your industry.
Qualification questions/body of the call.
This is where you verify the person is a valid prospect but can also where you can give the person permission to believe that your company is a good fit for them. This will usually be more conversational, with both parties sharing information, answering questions, etc.
In my case I might ask, "Are you more interested in increasing your current sales or having a backup plan in case your sales drop?"
A roofing company might ask, "Can you see spots where shingles are missing, or the roof is sagging, or is it just that roof is getting old and it might have already started leaking?"
Sometimes you don't want to qualify them at all, other than being a homeowner. For example, if you are selling replacement windows for their home you may want to set the appointment quickly before they start asking questions about pricing than can lead to you losing the opportunity before you even meet with them.
If there is a situation that is required for you to make a sale, now is when you would ask. For example, if only 20% of your prospects have good credit and you need them to have good credit in order to qualify for financing, it might be a good idea to qualify them for having good credit before you drive three hours to an appointment.
When I had a client that was asking us to locate qualified oil and gas investors, the prospect needed to be willing and able to write a check for $73,000.
During the call we would ask them, "After you look at all of the information, speak with an officer of the corporation, go over everything with your accountant, your spouse, your personal attorney and your best friend and everyone agrees that this is a good idea, are you in the position to be able to write a check for $73,000?"
90% of the people would say No. The 10% that said Yes had a 30% chance of becoming an investor.
By asking that one question we increased the close rate from 3% to 30%. By asking the question in a conversational and non-invasive way, we didn't scare off or offend the valid potential investors.
At this point in the conversation, it can be an opened ended freewheeling conversation or tightly controlled, depending on your industry.
f there are technical qualifications, like they need to have a certain income or a certain number of employees, it's not a bad idea to ask a related follow-up question, for example "How many employees do you have there?" and based on their answer and the personality of the person you are speaking with you might follow-up with, "Wow, so do you have a company cafeteria, or do you have fifty cars all trying to leave for lunch at the same time?" OR "Fifty employees, that sounds like a lot of responsibility?"
The point is to make it more of a conversation and less of an interrogation whenever possible.
If it's appropriate to compliment them, it never hurts. For example, "You built a company from scratch and have fifty employees, that's impressive, congratulations on that."
If you aren't succeeding at this point, the list or the leads may be the issue.
- If people are having full conversations with you, but no one is qualified.
- If people are cutting you off and saying this isn't something that they would ever use.
- If people are saying it sounds great, but it doesn't sound like something can afford.
If people are talking with you but no one you are talking to has a roof that needs replaced or has enough employees to be a valid prospect, that's not your fault, that's the list.
When to qualify aggressively:
- When you have a large amount of potential sales and a limited amount of salespeople.
- When only a small percentage of the list can qualify for your services, either in terms of who will actually benefit or have the ability to afford it.
- When the sales process itself consumes a large amount of resources.
When NOT to qualify aggressively:
- When the number of opportunities is limited and you need every possible sale.
- When the list is perfectly matched to your offer and everyone is a valid prospect.
- When the sales process is largely automated or requires little resources to execute.
How to qualify financially without sounding like you have "commission breath".
- Find an alternative identifier for budget, such as number of employees or square footage of the home.
- Be folksy - "If you, your boss, your spouse, your best friend and your dog all agree this is a good idea, can you write a check for $10,000?"
- Have they done it or something similar before?
Finally, the call to action.
This is when you and the prospect agree on the next step, whether that is you sending them information and having a scheduled follow up call, or meeting with them for a face-to-face appointment or some other action step.
Whatever the next step is, if you want a higher quality outcome, ask the prospect for the information, even if you already have it. Ask them for their email address if you are sending them information, ask them for their physical address if you are setting an appointment. If you are setting a face-to-face appointment, ask them if there is anything tricky about getting there, not because you don't have auto navigation but because you want them visualizing you coming to their location.
If they ask why you don't already have that information, you can feel free to share it and say that you were just asking to verify it.
Don't rush through this part, if they are going to have "buyer's remorse" about what they agreed to, now is when you want it to happen, not after you end the call.
Why scripts fail. Hint; it isn't aways the script.
"Sounding like a telemarketer"
- Sounding like you are reading off the screen instead of having a conversation.
- Talking too fast, as if the goal is to get through the script before they hang up.
- Lack of confidence and energy in your voice, "if YOU don't believe you, THEY won't believe you."
A poorly designed script
- failing to establish relevance, not giving them "permission to believe" they should continue the conversation.
- interrogating prospects instead of having a two-way conversation.
- Trying to make the sale before the prospect has the information needed to make a decision.
Remember, a great script delivered to someone who isn't a prospect will and should fail. Sales isn't about talking someone into buying something, it's about locating, educating and enabling people who will benefit from the service you provide.
Ineffective lists or leads.
- ineffective targeting
- unqualified prospects
- prospects that are "beaten to death", or a list that doesn't have any "meat left on the bones".
The Script Opening that Got a 98% response rate with C-level executives, and why it worked.
"This is (Caller's name) with (ad agency), the reason for the call is we increased Kroger's sales by 17% during the promotion period, and I was calling to see if you would like to know how we did that for them and what we could do for you."
Why it worked - We were calling the VP of marketing for chains of grocery stores. They all knew who Kroger was and that a 17% increase in sales for a grocery store is huge. They were all the correct decision maker, it's their job to make sales at their chain of grocery stores go up, and we were offering to share how their competitor did it and how they could do it too.
The list was perfectly targeted; the offer was very relevant and very valuable, and the credibility was high because it had already been demonstrated. Frankly it was such a perfect campaign that I almost called back the 13 people who said they weren't interested to ask them what they were thinking!
It's important to note that it took almost four hours on the phone with the client to pry this success story out of them. When I asked why people should do business with them, they kept saying things like, "We have great relationships with our clients" or "We are a full-service agency." If we had used those benefit statements in the script, the response rate would likely have fallen from 98% to 5%, not because those things are bad but because they are generic and don't inspire confidence.
The best script in the world won't help you if you don't have good leads. Check out these proven leads:
Roofing leads - Homeowners actively looking for roofing estimates.
Window leads - Homeowners requesting replacement window quotes.
Bathroom remodeling leads - Homeowners who want to remodel and upgrade their bathrooms.
Siding leads - Homeowners who want to replace the exterior of their home.
Medicare leads - CMS compliant leads of consumers who want quotes for Medicare.
If you want to learn how you can get efficient leads for your home improvement, insurance or other type of business, call me at 618-386-5889 or fill out the form below.
Laser Marketing | Spend Less | Sell More.
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Solar Installation leads Roofing Leads Windows Leads Mortgage leads Burial Leads Final Expense Leads Medicare Leads Mortgage Protection Leads Medicare Leads Payday loan leads Selling Preneed Funeral arrangements
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
Solar Installation leads Roofing Leads Windows Leads Mortgage leads Burial Leads Final Expense Leads Medicare Leads Mortgage Protection Leads Medicare Leads Payday loan leads Selling Preneed Funeral arrangements