Scripts and Roleplaying Are Dull and Dumb

We've heard it a million times in sales.

Stick to the script and you'll do great.

It's a fallacy that lives on and on in the minds of sales managers, CEOs and top executives. Why?

Because the script was written by someone the script works for.

Someone sat down and wrote the words they would say, in the order they would say them, using the personality, timing and delivery that work for them. Then they handed those words to someone else and expected the same result.

But no salesperson can replicate what's happening inside another salesperson's mind.

Trying to do it can create more problems than it solves.

The Conversation Doesn't Know Your Script

Sales is a conversation, and conversations move.

The customer asks something you weren't expecting. Their facial expression changes. They lean back. Their energy drops. Something you said gets their attention and suddenly they're interested in an entirely different part of the product.

None of that is written into the script.

The customer's words might be telling you one thing while their body language is screaming something completely different. Meanwhile, the script says you're supposed to move on to point number seven.

So what do you do?

A natural salesperson follows the customer.

A scripted salesperson tries to remember what comes next.

That's friction.

Now part of your brain is trying to listen to the person sitting across from you while another part is searching for the next sentence you're supposed to say.

You aren't completely present anymore.

You're performing.

Stop Celebrating a 20 Percent Close Rate

Sales organizations love talking about close rates.

Ten percent. Twenty percent. Thirty percent.

We talk about the number we won.

Maybe we should spend a little more time talking about the number we lost.

A 20 percent close rate also means 80 percent didn't buy.

That doesn't mean a script caused every lost sale. Of course it didn't. Price matters. Competition matters. Timing matters. Need matters. Sometimes the customer simply isn't buying.

But if we're losing most of the opportunities anyway, why are we so convinced that forcing every salesperson through the same conversation is the answer?

Maybe the salesperson doesn't need more words to remember.

Maybe they need to become better at understanding the person in front of them.

Give Them a Map, Not Turn by Turn Directions

There's nothing wrong with having a process.

In fact, you should have one.

Know the important questions. Know the product. Know the common objections. Know the information that has to be covered. Know where the conversation ultimately needs to go.

Give the salesperson a map with the important destinations.

Just don't tell them exactly how they have to drive there.

Every salesperson's mind works differently. Some salespeople are terrible at what they do. Some are good. Some are great. And some are excellent.

The great ones usually develop a rhythm that feels natural to them.

When you force that person to remember exactly how someone else sells, you're introducing friction that doesn't need to exist.

And Then There's Roleplaying

Quite honestly, I think traditional sales roleplaying is one of the dumbest things we've normalized in sales training.

Why?

Because it isn't real life, and it never will be.

You're sitting across from your sales manager pretending they're a customer. You know they're not a customer. They know they're not a customer.

And instead of naturally working through a conversation, you're thinking about whether you're saying the things your manager wants to hear.

Did I ask the right question?

Did I use the right phrase?

Did I follow the process?

Did I handle that objection the way they taught me?

That's not selling.

That's trying to pass a test.

Stop Rehearsing the Conversation That Isn't Going to Happen

I especially dislike roleplaying before a big opportunity.

You have a salesperson preparing for an important meeting, so everyone decides they should rehearse exactly how the conversation might go.

There's one problem.

The actual customer wasn't invited to the rehearsal.

The real conversation takes an unexpected turn, but now the salesperson has this imaginary version of the meeting stuck in their head. They're trying to get the real conversation back to the one they practiced.

That's the opposite of being present.

Instead of preparing someone to follow a conversation, we've prepared them to follow a performance.

Prepare the Mind, Not the Performance

Before a big sales conversation, I'd rather prepare the salesperson for possibilities.

What friction could come up?

What objections might they hear?

What does this customer probably care about?

Where could the deal get stuck?

What do we know, and what do we still need to learn?

Let the salesperson work through those things in their own mind.

Then give them energy.

Remind them why they're good at what they do. Make sure they understand the objective. Make sure they know the product and the important points that can't be missed.

Then let them breathe.

Trust them to have the conversation.

Because when the unexpected happens, and it will, I don't want a salesperson thinking, What am I supposed to say next?

I want them listening.

I want them watching.

I want them thinking.

I want them responding to the person sitting in front of them.

Teach People How to Sell, Not What to Say

Scripts can be useful when someone is learning. They can provide structure when a salesperson has no idea where to begin. They can help establish important questions, compliance language or key points that can't be missed.

But the script should eventually become the guardrail, not the road.

The goal should be to understand the process well enough that you no longer have to think about the process.

That's when selling starts feeling natural.

That's when you're free to notice the pause before the customer answers. The change in their voice. The question behind the question. The objection they haven't actually said yet.

You can't put every one of those moments into a script.

And you shouldn't try.

Give salespeople the destination. Teach them the important landmarks. Prepare them for the obstacles. Then let them find their own way there.

Because customers aren't reading from your script.

Your salespeople shouldn't have to either.

Stanley Barsch
Founder, Motion Wins