I’m not saying to stop leveraging scripts for better conversations!
Scripts are critical and valuable for inside sales success. They provide structure, help salespeople get started, and ensure important messages don’t get missed.
The problem starts when leaders coach the script instead of the skill.
Inside sales leaders often respond to poor conversations by rewriting scripts. They tweak a word here, add a sentence there, and hope the next call will be better.
The issue is the moment a conversation goes off script (and they ALL do), salesperson confidence disappears.
Salespeople who rely on memorization struggle when prospects respond in unexpected ways. They become focused on remembering what comes next instead of listening to what’s being said.
Great sales conversations aren’t created by perfect scripts.
They’re created by salespeople who understand the principles behind the conversation.
Coach the Principles Behind Great Openings
Instead of coaching exact wording, coach the thinking behind the words.
Ask questions like:
- How did you establish relevance?
- Were you able to create curiosity?
- Did you feel and sound confident?
- What earned you the right to ask the next question?
- Did the prospect stay engaged?
Those questions force salespeople to think and thinking creates growth.
When reps understand why something works, they can adapt naturally when the conversation changes direction.
That’s when coaching starts creating capability!
A Coaching Exercise for Leaders
This week, listen to five recorded prospecting calls.
For each opening, evaluate:
- Relevance (1-5)
- Curiosity (1-5)
- Confidence (1-5)
Then ask the salesperson: “What would make this opening more valuable to the prospect?”
Then listen, you’ll often discover that the rep already knows where improvement is needed. When reps participate in identifying opportunities for improvement, ownership increases and change happens faster.
The Goal Isn’t Script Compliance
Many leaders unknowingly measure success by how closely a salesperson follows the script.
A better questions are: Did the conversation move forward? Did the prospect engage? Did the rep create enough value and curiosity to earn the next question?
Because that’s what matters.
Your goal as a leader is to develop salespeople who can think, adapt, and communicate confidently in real conversations.
And real conversations never follow a script. The best opening statements are simply the beginning of conversations worth having.
Your coaching should help salespeople learn how to create those conversations consistently.