Mention the word “script” and most business owners cringe. They picture a pushy call-center voice reading lines no human would say. So they wing every conversation instead, and get wildly different results from one call to the next.
The truth: every top performer uses a script. It just doesn’t sound like one, because it’s built around questions, not lines.
Why winging it costs you
When you improvise, you forget to ask the important questions, you pitch too early, and you never find out why you won or lost. A script gives you a map. You can always leave the road, but you always know where you are.
The five parts of a script that works
1. The opener
Permission, purpose and a question. “Thanks for making time. I’d love to learn about where things are and where you want them to go, and if I think I can help, I’ll show you how. Fair?”
2. Discovery questions
This is 70% of the call. Ask about their situation, their goal, what’s in the way, what it’s costing them, and what they’ve tried before. Then keep asking “tell me more about that.”
3. The summary
Repeat their situation back to them in their own words. Wait for them to say “exactly.” Now they feel understood, and they’ll listen to anything you say next.
4. The recommendation
Only present what connects to what they told you. “Because you said X, the first thing we’d do is Y.”
5. The ask
Clear and direct, then silence. “Would you like to move forward?”
How to make it sound like you
- Write how you talk. Read it out loud. If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, rewrite it.
- Memorize the questions, not the sentences. The order matters more than the exact words.
- Practice until you forget it. After 20 or 30 calls, the script lives in your head and your delivery sounds natural.
- Record and review. Listen to one call a week. You’ll hear exactly where it breaks.
Want the complete version?
Not sure the sales conversation is really where you lose customers? Take the free Mirrorline Audit first. It shows which of the eight levels of your business is holding the rest back, in two minutes.
If sales is the problem, The Obsidian Technique includes the full discovery script, openers for every channel, and answers to the ten most common objections. For teams, our sales coaching builds a script around your business and trains your people to run it.