Last week, the Bowery Capital team hosted Nick Romito, the Cofounder and CEO at VTS, for a discussion on “Perfecting the Sales Script“. VTS’ asset management and leasing platform has over 3 billion square feet under management and gives commercial landlords and brokerage firms access to real-time portfolio analytics. In this episode of the podcast, Nick breaks down how he and the team at VTS work together to structure and improve the sales script over time. We discuss the key elements of the sales script, the process for implementing a new script into the sales force, knowing when and how to adjust the script over time, and much more. We’ve summarized below 4 simple tips to improve the sales script that every sales manager should know.
4 tips to improve the sales script:
(1) The foundation of the sales script is critical, but the delivery needs to be organic. Nick and the management team at VTS are very focused on the content and flow of the sales script. They are frequently editing it as new product features are rolled out and they make an effort to ensure they are always pitching ahead of the competition. To further ensure the success of their script, they are constantly A/B testing scripts across the sales force. However, despite articulating and enforcing this script across the sales force, Nick was clear that they want their reps to apply the flow and foundation, while still maintaining their own, organic language. Ultimately, if the sales rep wouldn’t normally say a phrase or word in the script, the sales manager should not make them say it. As soon as the sales rep is uncomfortable with their pitch, the prospective customer can feel it, and it drives down conversion rates. The sales manager should instead work with each individual sales person to craft their script in a way that they will feel the most comfortable and therefore be the most successful.
(2) Understand the problem, with passion. At VTS, they emphasize the value of their sales reps deeply understanding the industry. In fact, they hire for people who are passionate about driving change and improvement in commercial real estate, because passion shows when you’re on a sales call. Every sales person at VTS knows so much about commercial real estate that they could work in the industry (if they haven’t already). This deep understanding really becomes a differentiator on the phone with prospective customers. As Nick says, it is understanding and solving that last 10% of the problem in your sales call, that shows the potential customer you understand and empathize with what they’re going through. It is also that last 10% that ultimately leads to more conversions. Once they have proven their understanding of the problem, the sales rep can clearly lay out why the relevant VTS product features will change their day to day life.
(3) Prospect segmentation is key. At VTS, their experience in the industry allows them to understand their customers at a very granular level. This in turn allows them to segment their potential customer base, by their biggest pain points. For example, the biggest pain point for an asset manager might be different from a landlord. By understanding the problem by segment, it allows the sales rep to address the things that that particular role cares about the most. One particularly interesting document Nick built at VTS is what he calls the “customer-base bible”. You can think of it as a detailed book of buyer personas. The management at VTS distributes this “customer-base bible” to the sales force so that they can understand exactly what each potential customer does within the commercial real estate ecosystem, their most relatable pain points to address, and the more relevant features of the VTS product to include in their pitch.
(4) Addressing competition in your sales script. Simply put, Nick says: don’t actively address them. To date, VTS has noticed a very positive response from potential customers by not actively addressing competition. They instead choose to use that valued time on the phone to talk about the customers problem and VTS’ solution and product features. However, when competition is specifically asked about on a call, they will address them to the extent necessary, but the ultimate goal is always to bring it back to the VTS solution. That being said, the sales reps should be very well versed in the differences between the two products and be able to speak to each one accordingly. It is also important to remember that these differences are changing all the time as both companies add and change product features, so it should be an on-going effort of the sales management team to communicate these differences.
If you enjoyed reading these 4 tips to improve the sales script, listen to the full episode with Nick here and subscribe on iTunes to get a new episode of the Bowery Capital Startup Sales Podcast every week.
