How do you write a sales script?
Write the call as four to six sections, each with one goal, and script word for word only the three lines where wording matters most: the opener, the hardest question and the ask at the end. The rest is questions built from phrases your buyers have already used.
The six steps, in order:
- Pick one call type and write its single outcome, for example "a second call booked with the person who signs".
- Collect your buyers' words from five recent calls, emails or notes.
- Split the call into four to six sections, each with one thing you must learn or agree.
- Write two questions per section, using the buyers' phrases.
- Write the opener, the hardest question and the close word for word.
- Run it on ten calls with a scorecard, then change one section.
Cold calls follow the same steps; our guide to the permission-based cold call opener covers the first 30 seconds.
Should a sales script be word for word?
Mostly no. Script the structure and a few lines, and leave the replies to the conversation. The best evidence we found comes from outside sales, so treat it as a hint about sales calls.
In a December 2008 Cornell Hospitality Report, Liana Victorino, Rohit Verma and Don G. Wardell, operations management professors, showed 498 US respondents to an online survey (465 after screening) videos of hotel staff using heavy, moderate or relaxed scripting. Respondents could tell when a script was in use. For a standard task (check-in), the level of scripting made no difference to how they rated the service. For a customised one (concierge advice), heavy scripting lowered their ratings, while moderate or relaxed scripting had no effect. The authors later published the work in Production and Operations Management, whose abstract says the predominantly scripted customised encounter got the lowest ratings on average. We'd count a discovery call or demo as a customised encounter.
Sales threads are blunter. We read three r/sales threads about scripts. In a July 2025 thread the poster said leadership made the team read a new script verbatim and nobody had booked a meeting with it; the top reply said "Scripts read verbatim will get very poor reception." Four other replies suggested a call flow, sections or bullet points instead. In a June 2025 thread about one script versus a custom one per account, six of the eight replies favoured keeping a fixed core, from the same opening to a script that stays mostly the same, and one said the reasons should change based on research into the account. In a March 2026 thread about a long script to memorise for in-home sales, at least five of the 38 comments criticised its length, and one called a script a guideline to keep you on track. These are a few people's views.
Here is how we split a script, part by part:
| Part of the call | Write it word for word? | What to write instead |
|---|---|---|
| Opener (first 20 seconds) | Yes | Two sentences: why you're talking and what the call is for. Read it aloud until it sounds like you. |
| Questions about their situation | The first question of each section only | One question in the buyer's phrasing, plus a reminder of what you need to learn |
| Their answers and your follow-ups | No | Nothing. This is the customised part. |
| What your product does | No | Three bullets, each tied to a problem they named |
| The hardest question (cost, budget or who decides) | Yes | One plain question, so you don't soften it on the call |
| Objections | No | One line and one proof point per objection; our guide to handling price objections without discounting has worked answers |
| The ask at the end | Yes | The next step with a day and time |
How do you build a sales script from your buyers' words?
Take the phrases from real buyers and turn them into your questions. Gong's 2017 analysis of 519,000 recorded discovery calls (vendor research on its own users' calls) says it found a direct correlation tied to getting buyers to talk uninterrupted for a long time after a question (the sentence doesn't say with what), and recommends phrasing questions to invite a long answer, such as "Can you walk me through…".
Gather five sources
Recent call recordings or transcripts, your notes, cold email replies, and one lost deal.
Copy exact phrases into a phrase bank
Use five headings: what they were trying to do, what goes wrong, what it costs, why they're looking now, and what worries them about buying. Copy their exact words; don't summarise.
Keep the repeats
A phrase or idea that two or more of the five buyers used goes into the script. One-offs stay in the bank for later.
Turn each repeat into a question
Quote the phrase back and ask for the story behind it.
Read it aloud and cut
Cut any line you wouldn't say to a friend, and any yes-or-no question.
Sales script template: a fill-in worksheet
Copy this once per call type, fill it from your phrase bank, and keep it to one page.
Our starting points by call type; adjust them after ten calls.
| Call type | Single outcome | Sections to script | Word-for-word lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery call | Agree whether the problem is worth solving, and book the next call | Current process, what goes wrong, what it costs, why now, who decides | Opener, cost question, close |
| Demo | The buyer sees their problem solved, and the people who decide are booked in | Recap of their problems, two or three workflows that match, their questions, decision steps | Opener that restates their problem, the question about who else decides, close |
| Follow-up call | A decision, or a dated next step | What changed since the last call, open questions, objections, decision | Opener that names what you promised to bring, the direct "where do we stand?" question, close |
For the questions themselves, start with our list of discovery call questions for founders. Demo scripts break most often when they turn into a tour of every feature. Our guide to running a demo built around the buyer's problem shows the alternative.
What is the 70/30 rule in sales?
Sandler Training, a sales training company, calls it the 70/30 Rule: when you first make direct contact with someone new, spend about 70 percent of the time listening and asking questions and about 30 percent speaking. It is a trainer's guideline, not a research finding. Gong's data below measures something different: the share of the call the seller spends speaking, questions included. These are vendor studies of calls recorded by Gong's own users, not independent research.
| Study | Calls analysed | What it found |
|---|---|---|
| Gong, talk-to-listen ratio update (published August 2025) | 326,000 sales calls of 10 minutes or more | Sellers talked 60% of the time on average: 57% in won deals, 62% in lost deals. Won deals had 15 to 16 questions per call, lost deals about 20. |
| Same article, on low and high performers | Same data | Low performers talked 54% in won deals and 64% in lost ones; high performers kept roughly the same ratio either way. |
| Gong's 2016 analysis, as the 2025 article reports it | Not stated in the 2025 article | The best ratio was 43% talking to 57% listening |
| Gong, 519,000 discovery calls (July 2017) | 519,000 recorded discovery calls | 11 to 14 questions correlated with the most success; the best calls covered three or four business problems |
Even in won deals, sellers in Gong's 2025 data spoke for more than half the call, yet the article's own takeaway is still to listen more than you talk and to stay consistent in how you run your sales process. A script helps with consistency and with pacing. On a 30-minute discovery call, 12 questions is one every 2.5 minutes (30 ÷ 12 = 2.5), and with three or four problems that's three or four questions per problem (12 ÷ 4 = 3; 12 ÷ 3 = 4). Gong's 2017 discovery study found top sellers spread their questions evenly through the call, while average sellers asked most of theirs at the start, as if working down a list. Put two questions per section in the script instead of twelve in a row.
What not to say in a sales pitch
Leave out a long company overview, long monologues, question after question and claims you can't back up. Gong's own call studies link the first three with lost deals or lower win rates; the fourth is our rule.
- A long company overview. Gong's April 2017 summary of what top performers do (based on hundreds of thousands of recorded sales calls) said two minutes on the "About Us" part seems to be fine, and after that win rates drop sharply. Cap the company slide at two minutes.
- Long monologues. The 2025 Gong article says lost deals often feature long seller monologues. Put a question after every product point in your script.
- Question after question. Lost deals had more questions per call in the 2025 data, about 20 against 15 to 16. Asking more is not the fix.
- Lines you can't back up. Every product claim needs a proof point you could show on the call.
How do you test and revise a sales script?
Score each section after every call, run ten calls on one version, then change the weakest section and run ten more. Judge each section by whether it got what it was for; at small numbers, meetings booked can't tell you which line is wrong.
The scorecard is one row per call: a yes or no for each section's goal, plus the buyer's best phrase from the call. That phrase goes back into your phrase bank, so the script keeps getting closer to how buyers talk. Our five-line note after a sales call captures it in the same ten minutes.
Change one section at a time, keep the old version, and flag unusual calls (a referral, a buyer already sold) on the scorecard.
If you'd rather have someone else run first-round calls, Siela's Call Agent joins Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams calls from a brief written in plain words, asks one question at a time, and afterwards lists every point from the brief with the person's answers in their own words. Those answers can go straight into your phrase bank. It does not make phone calls.
This week: pull five calls, build the phrase bank, fill in one worksheet and use it on your next call.
Frequently asked questions
What is a sales script example?
A one-page call plan. It has an opener of two sentences, four to six sections with one goal and one first question each, a hard question about cost or who decides, three product points tied to the buyer's problems, answers to the two most common objections, and a close that names a day and time for the next step.
What is a good script for a phone call?
One you can say without reading. Start by saying who you are and why you're calling in one sentence, ask for permission to take a minute, ask one open question about the problem you solve, listen, and end by proposing a short call at a specific time. Write those lines word for word and keep everything else as prompts.
How long should a sales script be?
One page for most calls, so you can glance at it while listening. If a discovery script runs past a page, you probably have too many questions: aim for about two per section and four to six sections, and move the extra questions to a backup list you only use if a section stalls.
Should I memorise my sales script?
Memorise three lines: the opener, the hardest question and the close. Learn the rest as goals for each section. In a Cornell study of hotel service, customers could tell when staff used a script, and a script you know as a list of goals lets you follow what the buyer says and still cover every section before the call ends.
What is the best way to make cold calls for sales?
Call people with a reason to hear from you now, open by saying plainly that it's a cold call and asking for 30 seconds, ask one question about the problem, and aim for a short meeting. Make calls in short daily blocks and track how many answered calls get past the opener, so you change the weakest line first.
Sources
- Gong Labs (Dan Morgese): Mastering the talk-to-listen ratio in sales calls (published 21 Aug 2025, updated 4 Mar 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Gong (Chris Orlob): Mastering discovery calls to close deals effectively (519,000 discovery calls) (published 5 Jul 2017, updated 4 Mar 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Gong (Chris Orlob): Mastering winning sales conversations (published 10 Apr 2017, updated 4 Mar 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Cornell Hospitality Report: Service Scripting, A Customer's Perspective of Quality and Performance (Victorino, Verma, Wardell) (published Dec 2008, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Cornell eCommons: Script Usage in Standardized and Customized Service Encounters (Production and Operations Management) (issued 1 Jun 2012, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: Forcing a call script on Sales team (23 Jul 2025, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: Repeatable Script vs. Custom for Each Prospect? (15 Jun 2025, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- r/sales: Is this sales script cringy or am I over-reacting? (11 Mar 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Sandler Training: 3 Types of Questions to Help You Stop Talking and Start Selling (published 4 Aug 2016, updated 25 Sep 2026, checked 5 Nov 2026)