Talk Tracks – Do They Still Work in Sales?
Talk tracks – they’re regularly taught in sales training programs and are used plentifully by Sales Professionals in all sorts of industries.
But do talk tracks work?
And if not, what should you be doing instead?
In this article, you’ll learn whether to use talk tracks when speaking with your potential clients, and a framework we recommend you use to effectively close more sales.
Talk Tracks – Do They Still Work In Sales?
As mentioned, talk tracks are readily taught in many sales training programs and taught by many ‘Sales Training Guru’s’ as a methodology that works.
But do talk tracks work?
Our response is that you should never use exact sales objections scripts, or talk tracks using exact language.
What do we mean by the word exact?
We mean verbatim.
Asking a question or repeating something that sounds rehearsed.
We have two issues with using talk tracks, or exact sales objections scripts.
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#1 – It Sounds Rehearsed
The first issue we have with using talk tracks, is that it sounds rehearsed to your potential clients.
If your potential client has a genuine sales objection or area of concern, and you reply back to their objection with something that sounds like you’ve used 100 times before – it’ll sound in genuine, and you may lose the sale.
When your potential client gets the feeling that you’re not genuinely listening to their area of concern, and simply replying back with someone you’ve read, remembered and rehearsed – it will break rapport.
It’s important when speaking with your potential clients, that your conversation is natural and doesn’t appear to be a display of acting.
Unfortunately using exact sales scripts like a lot of the types taught out there, will do exactly this – hurting your legitimacy of being someone they can genuinely trust and get expert advice from.
#2 – You’re Not Being Present
The second issue with using talk tracks in a rehearsed format, is that it robs you of the opportunity of being completely present with your potential client.
When you’ve presented, it’s likely there will be some areas of concern and sales objections prior to them making a buying decision.
That’s OK – and completely normal.
What we’ve found however, is that Sales Professionals who use talk tracks tend to think about what they’re going to reply with, rather than being 100% present and intently listening to what their potential client is telling them.
All of a sudden, the conversation is one of listening to respond, rather than actually listening to solve their issues and areas of concern.
Sales is about problem solving, finding pain, and then prescribing a solution to their issues.
If you’re purely listening to respond rather than thinking through finding a solution with them, you’ll miss the opportunity of closing more sales.
Hence – we’re not a big fan of using exact talk tracks.
What’s The Alternative To Using Talk Tracks?
Instead of using talk tracks, we recommend you follow a structure or format.
This is a distinct difference in using talk tracks and using a sales objection format or structure.
Talk tracks are focused on using exact words to handle objections.
This means no matter the type of person you’re speaking with, they teach to use the same words and rebuttals.
The reason this doesn’t work, is because everyone is slightly different.
No talk tracks are going to work for every person, because every potential client will speak different, and you don’t want to break rapport.
A sales objection structure however, is a framework to use that’ll handle objections for you by using a system and process, rather than exact talk tracks.
By using a structure or framework, you’ll still have a road map to guide you when handling sales objections – however you won’t be relying on using exact language talk tracks.
Instead – you’ll use a system you’ll remember consistently.
The Framework For Handling Sales Objections, Instead Of Using Talk Tracks
We don’t recommend using talk tracks, and instead recommend you use a five-step sales objection handling framework.
Below is a brief overview of the framework.
Furthermore, we’ve linked an article below which goes into greater detail about each of the steps, so you can handle objections more effectively.
#1 – Listen Carefully
The first step is to listen very carefully.
Do not assume what the sales objection is, and instead listen presently and intently as to what their actual area of concern is.
The issue with people who use exact scripts, is that they listen to respond.
Instead of listening to respond, listen to completely understand where their area of concern is coming from.
#2 – Repeat It Back To Them
Secondly, repeat is back to them to clarify what their area of concern in.
Once you repeat it back, ask them to expand.
#3 – Validate The Objection
Many Sales Professionals who use talk tracks don’t validate objections, because it goes against what they’ve been taught.
Instead – we recommend that you validate their area of concern, because it shows that you’re being empathetic, and it reinforces that they can be completely open with you.
Trust is the most important thing in sales, so we don’t want to break rapport by attacking their viewpoint or sales objection.
#4 – Re-Frame
Once you’ve completely understood their area of concern, simply re-frame how they can look at the objection differently.
If they’re concerned about price – what can you do to accommodate, or perhaps you haven’t shown enough value in how your product or service is an excellent return on their investment?
Do they need to speak with their partner?
Ensure when qualifying, that their partner is available up front, so you can handle this objection before it even comes up.
#5 – Confirmation
Once you re-frame, you need to confirm and get agreement that they’re happy with your response.
By doing so, you use a tie down sales technique, which allows you to get buy in and agreement from them, rather than assume that you’re both on the same page.
To learn how to use each of these steps in more detail, read the article linked below.
Further reading: Overcoming Objections In Sales – A Step By Step Guide
Final Thoughts On Talk Tracks
Although talk tracks are taught widely, we recommend using a framework instead.
A framework is easier to remember, and flexible enough to change the wording depending on the type of potential client you’re dealing with.
It’s easier to remember, and you won’t sound like a rehearsed actor.
What’s your thoughts on talk tracks? If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
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