3 sales appointment scripts for SaaS sales reps
The software as a service (SaaS) market is worth more than $145 billion. But with new SaaS companies popping up left and right, only the strongest brands will thrive in this space.
So what sets apart strong SaaS companies from weaker ones?
Sales, sales, and more sales.
But not just any kind of sales. Sales from loyal customers that plan on staying loyal long-term.
But what if you and your sales reps are still learning the ropes? Or worse, what if you and your sales team don't know what you’re doing at all?
Thankfully, we’ve got just the article any blossoming sales team needs.
In this article, we’ll explain why sales scripts are important, how to improve lead generation, and how to make better sales calls. We’ll also share three customizable sales scripts your team can use right away.
Let’s get started.
Why are sales appointment scripts important to success?
Standardizing processes for sales reps falls under business process design, and sales appointment scripts play a pivotal role in the sales process.
It’s easy to fall into the same pattern of check lead + call lead + make your sales pitch + end the call. But the sales process deserves more than that. Your potential customer deserves more than that, too.
Think of your sales process as a trusted sales assistant that gets you through the day.
Your assistant is there to help you improve productivity, stay focused, and land more sales. And the way your assistant does that is by giving you a template for how to speak to leads.
So what’s the key to designing the best sales appointment scripts for SaaS sales reps?
Start by improving your lead generation process.
2 tips for better lead generation
Ask any sales rep why they have a successful appointment setting record and they’ll likely tell you they focused on getting better leads.
Better lead generation is the backbone of successful sales calls.
A poor lead is a waste of everyone’s time. They feel annoyed and frustrated that you interrupted their time. You feel turned down and defeated because they said no. And your boss wonders why your calls are going up, but your numbers are plummeting.
But when you have a lead that cares about what you have to say, you’re no longer cold-calling; you’re warm-calling. You’re no longer pestering someone; you’re exchanging value for value.
Here are two easy tips you can implement right away for better qualified leads.
1. Have a killer LinkedIn strategy
LinkedIn has come a long way since its days as a casual resume-sharing platform. With almost 774.61 million users worldwide, LinkedIn connects relevant recruiters, sales reps, freelancers, and job candidates with one another.
What’s more, LinkedIn’s user base is projected to reach over one billion users by 2025.
Image Source: Statista
In other words, developing a LinkedIn lead generation strategy is a must for better leads in 2022. Feeling stuck about how to do that? Check out this LinkedIn Outreach article from Close.
2. Focus on highlighting benefits your leads care about
When speaking with a potential lead, always focus on highlighting your product’s benefits.
Be careful here, though. Just because you think ‘saving time’ is a benefit doesn’t mean your lead will.
To truly highlight the benefits of your product, you need to make sure your potential lead sees them as benefits, too. And how do you do that? By understanding what means most to them and solving their pain points better than anyone else can.
In other words, get to know your leads before you approach them.
Are they struggling to get their team on the same page? Make sure you have team collaboration benefits you can highlight. Are they struggling to manage sales reports, metrics, and quarterly goals? Make sure you have effective reporting benefits you can talk about.
7 tips for better sales calls
Sales calls make just about every sales rep queasy. While we don’t have the end-all cure to sales queasiness, we do have seven tips you can use to stay focused and confident during sales calls.
1. Know your leads’ most aggressive pain point
We touched on this before, but it’s such a good tip that we want to bring it up again.
Knowing how to solve your leads’ pain points is what sets you apart from other sales reps. We recommend honing in on your leads’ most aggressive pain point to capitalize on this even further.
For instance, slow software and a lack of intuitive features could frustrate a lead. But if their main pain point includes loathing manual data entry, then focus the call on your product’s automation benefits.
To do this without being too “salesy”, try offering a personalized assessment on your website regarding their current workflow. Users can answer questions that not only further poke their pain points, but also provide you more information about their needs.
At the end of the assessment, provide personalized recommendations based on their answers that could help them improve their workflow. This will help build further trust in you before moving to the next step.
Finally, offer to schedule a demo where you can show your lead how to manage automations hands-on.
2. Attend every great sales training you can get your hands on
Taking sales development seriously is key to becoming a better sales rep. These days, there are tons of free sales training programs available through your job, your city, or via online webinars, too.
Since training varies by the facilitator, level of difficulty, and subject matter, it's important to attend programs that give you the most value. When researching sales programs, see if you can find reviews, star ratings, or opinions from other sales reps who have attended the training before.
Sales subjects that never go out of style include:
- Sales scripts, obviously
- Sales process
- Lead generation
- Sales communication
- Business communication
If you’re a sales manager, make sure sales script training plays a pivotal role in employee onboarding and training, too.
3. Ask open-ended questions
Asking the right question helps you get to the “why” behind your lead’s needs, desires, and pain points. As we touched on before, this insight helps you highlight benefits your leads actually care about.
While finding the balance between short and long sales calls can be tricky, you should always encourage your lead to be part of the conversation. Asking open-ended questions is a great way to make your lead an active participant while also getting to know them better.
4. Humanize your call by having a conversation
Scripts are important, but you don’t want your reps to sound like robots when using them. Instead, scripts should always be customizable, flexible, and encourage dialog between the rep and their lead.
5. Mimic your leads’ language
Strong communication is all about connection. And one of the easiest ways to build a connection from the get-go is to mimic your lead’s language.
Is your lead using short, fast, and blunt sentences? Respond to them using the same short, punchy language style.
Does your lead speak in a slow, mellow tone? Respond to them using a slow, warm tone, too.
6. Invite them to attend a free demo instead of a sales appointment
This one may seem obvious, but we’re including it for anyone that needs a reminder.
Asking leads to attend a “sales appointment” or a “sales presentation” can come across as intimidating, sleazy, or even boring.
Instead, ask leads to attend a free demo or use another description like “meeting.” A free demo or meeting not only sounds less intimidating, but it also comes across as more valuable.
7. Use sales dialers
Manual sales calling is out, and sales dialers are in.
Close comes with a built-in sales dialer that makes it easy to call your leads, always have full context about every lead automatically populated when the call is made, and can track and even record all your sales calls. With natively built-in call coaching features, sales managers can use it to train their reps as well.
How to write a sales appointment script
Before we share those scripts we promised, we thought we’d give you a few pointers on writing your own script — in case you ever need to in the future.
Here’s an easy and quick way to write a sales appointment script:
1. Start by explaining who you are and how you know the lead.
“Hey Sara, this is Tom. We met on Instagram yesterday.”
2. Thank them for their time and recap why you’re calling them.
“Thanks for giving me your contact details. I just wanted to touch base regarding our conversation about calendar management software.”
3. Ask them an open-ended question about their main pain point.
“You mentioned your current calendar tool isn’t syncing properly. What other concerns do you have about the tool?”
4. Validate their frustration, show empathy, and provide a solution to their main pain point and other voiced concerns.
“I’m sorry you feel frustrated and fed up, I’ve been there too, and it’s hard. Luckily, with our tool, you can sync your calendars with ease and (insert other customer concerns the tool solves here).”
“I’m free this afternoon, this Wednesday, and next Monday for a free and short product demo. Would any of those days be a comfortable fit for you?”
5. Include a few answers to common objections.
What are you going to say if your lead says no? Be prepared with a few answers to common objections around time, company loyalty, and uncertainty.
If the lead is still iffy on your brand, send them a brief video outlining who founded your SaaS company and a little bit about who they are. If appropriate, you can also send them a product demo video.
3 sales appointment scripts for SaaS sales reps
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here: Let’s take a look at three scripts you can use for productive sales calls.
Script 1: Dealing with a happy prospect
“Hey Mary, it’s Bill from FontanQ. We spoke on LinkedIn yesterday. How are you?”
“I’m happy to hear that, Mary. I just wanted to touch base about our chat yesterday. You were telling me you were having trouble reaching your Work OS’s support team after hours. Are there any other frustrations you’re running into?”
“I’m sorry about that. I understand how frustrating that can be. Luckily, our Work OS is rated 4.78 stars, and our support team is available 24/7. Are you free tomorrow morning or Tuesday afternoon so I can show you how our support options work?”
“Great, I have you scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. via a video call on Zoom. I just messaged you the link for the call.”
Script 2: Dealing with a time objection
“Hi Mike, it’s Teresa with ScheduleTool.io. We spoke this morning via email. Is this a good time to chat?”
“Great. I remember you mentioned you were having a hard time creating detailed timelines with your current scheduling tool. What other problems are you running into?”
“Thanks for sharing, and I’m sorry you keep running into issues. As a former project manager, I understand how important it is to have a strong scheduling tool. Actually, that’s why we created ScheudleTool.io. We’re pros at creating detailed timelines and (insert feature benefits that solve customer’s additional problems). Are you free this evening or tomorrow afternoon so I can show you how we do that?”
“I’m sorry to hear those two dates won’t work for you. Tell you what, let me know when you’re free, and we’ll make it happen on your time.”
“That works. We’ve got you scheduled for next Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Can I answer any other questions for you before our next chat?”
“Yes, we do have Gantt Chart features and Waterfall features as well. Any other questions I can answer before the demo?”
“Perfect, Mike. I just emailed you a confirmation link for our upcoming meeting. Can you confirm that you received it?”
“Thanks, Mike. Just click on the meeting link next Wednesday a few minutes before the video call, and we’ll get you taken care of.”
Script 3: Dealing with a rude prospect
“Good morning Sherry, this is Tina with EmailSystems. We spoke on LinkedIn yesterday afternoon about email marketing solutions.”
“Oops, I didn’t mean to step on your toes, Tina. I only contact people when they have a problem I can easily solve. I remember you mentioned your email marketing tool didn’t have customizable templates or accurate reporting features. Our tool has both of those features and it’s actually half price this month.”
“That’s okay; I know managing phone calls can be stressful, no need to apologize. I know your time is precious, Sherry, so I promise to only take 15 minutes of your time. Would you be free for a quick 15-minute demo tomorrow morning so I can show you how our two features work?”
Wrapping things up
And that’s a wrap, folks. Sales calls and sales appointment scripts don’t have to be scary.
Keep the focus on who you are, how you know the prospect, and how you can solve their problems. Always aim to exchange value for value, and you’re looking at a win-win. If you would like to see more examples, you can check those sales pitch examples.
Ezra Sandzer-Bell works at Appointlet as product marketing manager and customer advocate. He has helped thousands of customers improve their online scheduling workflow. Outside of work, he is a music theory instructor and founder of a music software company.
After the sales appointment, comes the follow-up. If your follow-up game is weak your whole sales team suffers. Grab our free resource, The Follow-Up Formula, to ace this vital step:
