A credit repair business requires a different sales technique than selling most other types of goods and services. Your prospective clients are often embarrassed or afraid to discuss their credit issues. Convincing them that your credit repair services can help them achieve their goals requires a softer, more engaging technique that begins the process of building trust.
Passion and conviction will always win out over using the perfect words or following a sales script to a T. When creating a script or training your sales representatives to communicate with prospects, building in opportunities to share their passion and energy is key.
*Note: This script is not intended for sales over a telephone. Sales conducted over the telephone must follow State and Federal telemarketing laws. For more information on the Federal Telemarketing Sales Rule (The "TSR"), visit https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-telemarketing-sales-rule.
Context is Key
First, it helps a great deal to think about sales as an extension of your marketing pipeline. Before each sales meeting, your sales reps should know how the prospect entered the pipeline. This will create context for their conversation. If a prospect was referred by an affiliate car dealership, for example, it would be a very different conversation than someone who entered the pipeline by filling out a form on your website. Knowing this information is a crucial first step in starting the conversation on the right foot, so for that reason, it’s very important to keep detailed sales notes when you’re working with leads and prospects in your Credit Repair Cloud.
The Stage Technique
Typical sales scripts follow the “Sales Straight Line”: The Opening followed by The Presentation and completed with The Close. While this technique does have its benefits, a more flexible script that focuses on specific stages and goals can help sales reps to remain agile and present a much greater opportunity to engage with prospects on a human level that will build trust.
We recommend creating a sales script around stages like those below to optimize engagement and trust:
1. Start by building rapport
Present yourself as an authority, but focus on engaging with the prospect. Ask questions and show that you care about them. Make sure they know you are not just here to make a fast buck. Find common ground. Use context to get the conversation started.
2. Ask them their goal
The context for how they found out about your services can help here. Start with “I see you were on our website, what brought you there?” or “You responded to an ad we posted online, what made you want to increase your credit?” Finding out their goal will guide the rest of your conversation.
3. Find out and emphasize their problem or pain point
Why haven’t they been able to reach the goal you discussed previously? This is where the sale is made. If someone has an acute enough need for something, they are going to take action.
4. Identify the key decision makers and time frames
This will help you to decide if a prospect simply isn’t ready for your services yet or if you need to speak to someone else in the household instead. It is crucial that you do not move forward with the presentation until the prospect is ready.
5. Budget
By learning and understanding the prospect’s budget you will know whether they are a fit for the program before moving forward. Be very clear and upfront about the potential costs, there is no purpose to giving a presentation to someone who cannot afford your services.
6. Soft Close
Very clearly lay out your offering before moving forward with the presentation. Say something like: “If I can help you at a cost of XXX dollars per month, would you take action today?” By getting an agreement to this beforehand, your presentation will go much more smoothly.
7. Presentation
Describe your services and your credit repair software. Describe the portal where they can see all the work being done. This should be the least important part of your script, as you should already have positioned yourself as an advisor and begun building trust.
8. Close
End your script by repeating the benefits of your services and explaining how they can specifically help to achieve the goals the prospect described at the beginning of your conversation. Mention the price but don’t emphasize it. Instead, focus on how you can help.
More Tips
If you move through the script and the prospect decides he or she is not interested in your services, you likely have not adequately made them trust you, your company, or your product. Ask questions to find out which of these things you need to expound on. Have a cheat-sheet at the ready with the benefits of each of these things, including your reasons behind getting involved in credit repair. Sharing your passion will help them to see that you are there to help. If the objection is with the need, re-emphasize the pain points you discussed at the beginning of your conversation.
Conversations are Real
You may have noticed that this script includes a lot of thinking on your feet. This is by design. This technique is less a script and more an outline of a conversation. People should realize that you truly care about the pain they are feeling and really want to help them overcome it. That is a feeling that simply can’t come from reading a canned response. Remember why you initially wanted to start a credit repair company and prospective clients will trust you to help them reach their goals.
What's that next step? Check out our ultimate guide on starting a credit repair business.
