Source
r/AskReddit•
candyashes

How do you make a script not sound like your are reading from a script and instead, like a conversation with a friend? I volunteer for a charity and have to phone people next week to canvas for donations and they say that some people are better at it than others...

Well I got to try it out last week and they said that I sounded too professional and for some reason people don't respond to that and then they don't donate. We get a script about a page long and after about each paragraph we ask for a lower donation of money. They told me that it works best of you mostly follow the script, read it like you are having a conversation with a friend, and are able to adlib a bit when people talk to you (ie: " No, I don't want to donate at all!" or "I've already donated lots to other charities" etc).

Any advice?

Posted Aug 16, 2011, 4:39 AM UTC

07
[deleted]•

Don't follow the script verbatim. Put your own personal spin on it. Once you've made it your own, it will feel more natural.

Source: call center rep for 10 years.

2
candyashesOP•

thanks. I also have trouble with responding to what people say to me for some reason. What are you supposed to day when someone retorts "well I just had to replace my roof, I'm not donating any more and anyway those kids in africa are always starving..."

2
[deleted]•

I've never done sales, charity or the like. My experience is strictly with incoming calls, but it's a matter of thinking on your feet and trying to be the person the customer needs you to be...if that makes any sense at all.

1
Darchitect•

Pause, say somethings faster, some slower, throw in some um's and uh's. Also if you can, change some of the words and sentence structure to be more conversational.

2
candyashesOP•

hmm I will try that, thanks

1
marvelwall•

practice reading it aloud, and as the others have said, don't read it verbatim; add your personality to it. throw in a word here, take a word you wouldn't normally use out, and don't read real fast. take some 2-4 second pauses for response, or to make it seem like you're thinking. one thing that always helped me was to add "and" in between two different paragraphs, or subjects and drag it out, such as: "I'm calling for/from so-so, aaaaand, we just wanted to say to you that we've not heard from you in a while. aaaaand, we were calling to let you know about a sale we have going in... etc." also, just try to relax. keep it professional, but casual at the same time.. hah. my experience is from a job at a clothing store I worked at.. made more than 1,500 phone calls to customers.. >_>

2
candyashesOP•

wow thats a lot of customer calls!!

1