When "The Script Isn't Working" Is the Wrong Diagnosis
A rep on a team I coach told her manager the sales script wasn't working. Her manager brought it to me, frustrated. "Something's got to change. It's just not working for her."
I asked one question back. How many other reps are using this same script? All of them, was the answer. And some of them are closing almost every call they take.
So it's not the script.
The Michael Jordan Problem
Here's the comparison I gave her manager. If you teach someone to shoot a jump shot exactly like Michael Jordan, they don't suddenly make half their shots. If you teach someone to swing a bat exactly like Babe Ruth, they don't suddenly hit sixty home runs. The form isn't the thing. The thousand hours of practice behind the form is the thing.
Same deal in sales. A rep who's struggling with a proven script usually isn't bad at the script. She just hasn't put in the reps yet. Confidence, timing, tone: all of that comes from repetition, not from memorizing the right words.
Two Kinds of People When Something Isn't Working
When a proven process stops working for someone, there are only two kinds of reactions.
One kind asks, "What do I need to do differently?" The other kind asks, "What's wrong with the system?"
The first kind gets better, because they're looking at the one variable they can actually control. The second kind stays stuck, convinced the tool is broken, and keeps looking for a new script instead of putting in the work on the one they already have.
Don't Argue the Objection. Ask About It.
This same principle shows up in objection handling. A team I work with was worried their reps didn't feel confident handling the same five objections, over and over, on every call.
The fix wasn't a better rebuttal. It was teaching reps to ask one more question and let the prospect talk themselves out of the objection. "Tell me more about that" beats any scripted comeback, because it turns the objection into a conversation instead of a wall.
Give People What They Need, Not What They Say They Want
The same idea applies above the individual rep level, too. I worked with a team whose enterprise client kept sending contradictory feedback, session after session, no matter how much the team adapted.
Turns out the client's own leadership hadn't bought into the plan, so everyone on their side felt entitled to relitigate it. Adapting further wasn't the fix. Holding the line on the plan that was already working was.
The Takeaway
If something you've been taught isn't working yet, ask yourself which question you're asking. "What do I need to do differently?" or "What's wrong with this?" Only one of those gets you better.
