Sales Mastery through NLP Techniques

 This article sets out to demonstrate some key principles in sales and how we can improve on them through the use of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). You don’t need to know anything about Neuro-Linguistics to be able to follow this article but if you are interested in finding out more I invite you to explore the NLP Techniques section of  the website. For the sake of brevity I restrict this article to just how the subjects relates to good sales technique.

Having integrated NLP into many different sales models, companies and individuals I have found startling increases in conversions, buyer satisfaction and retention very easily. Several planned cased studies include the use of hypnotic language in written form increasing sales by over 400%, interview techniques (selling yourself) getting people jobs that were far removed from the perceived experience, and massive increases in sales through NLP motivation techniques.

Defining Good NLP Sales Technique

My opinion on selling is that it is simply the process used to:

1. take a person with a potential need (prospect) to recognising their need
2. attach value to the product or service you offer to their needs
3. removing obstructions allow them a clear thought process
4. encouraging them to make a decision (closing the sale)
5. settling their mind to prevent buyer’s remorse

Behind all of this is are a few things that need to be in place for the process to work well.

• A product or service
• The belief of the sales person in themselves
• A prospect with a need that outweighs the price
• Belief in the product / service by the sales person

There is the opportunity to make sales without these things in place but if you are interested in good, clean and ethical selling then all these things need to be in place.

In my world people would come to me knowing they have a need. I show them my services which they instantly recognise as a solution and then they shower me with money. Then I wake up and realise there are some pitfalls that don’t allow this to happen simply… at least not every time. But using some straightforward NLP techniques can drive you closer to this dream situation.

So here are a few of the common problems in sales.

Beliefs of the Sales Person

The process of selling is all about a relationship between seller, product and buyer. The beliefs of the sales person can have a dramatic effect on every part of the process. Imagine the implications of a sales person that has any of these beliefs:

• I can’t sell
• Selling is bad / worthless
• The prospect can’t afford it
• The product / service is rubbish

This is just a small sample of a whole range of beliefs that will certainly blow out the process and dent any results you might have achieved.

A range of NLP techniques including belief changes, self esteem patterns and reframing the importance of sales, the product, and the sales person would help these circumstances.

Excitement about the Product

I have worked with many small businesses and there is a common trait in most of them. They are usually excited, motivated and interested in their business. They usually know their product / service inside out and can talk at great depth about it.

Normally, and in most situations this is a huge benefit. But I have notice that in the sales process this can often be a real hindrance.

Consider this for a moment; you don’t need to understand electricity to be able to watch programmes on a TV. In fact for most people having someone explaining the detailed mechanics a TV is unlikely to induce you to buy it. What will work is someone explaining, in your language how this new TV would meet your needs.

Complex, technical products or intangible services are particularly prone to this issue Watching sales people talking in jargon that seems like another language whilst the eyes of their prospects glaze over is something I have seen more times than I would like. This can often happen with people that have a deep interest in their products / services, but it can also happen when the sales person has little faith in either themselves or the product.

A good NLP training course will give you a whole bunch of tools and techniques that will allow you to focus on the customer, match their language and understand their needs.

A Sales Process

Let us imagine that you have the belief in yourself and your product and that you have brushed up your communication skills to the point that you can almost mind read your prospects and know exactly where they are coming from. There is still one area where you can easily lose the sale. This is all about the sales process. If you don’t get the sequence right you may not make the sale. A simple example to illustrate the point if I asked you for the money before you recognised your need for the product then you are not going to buy. If this is not the case please give me a call because I have some Excess Navel Fluff Removers that are going very cheap at the moment.

NLP, Modelling Excellence

NLP was born out of the desire to deconstruct the process of success and then being able to train others to be able to do the same. As such one of the biggest contributions NLP makes to the world of sales is being able to model great sales processes and integrate the best elements for any context.

Selling a commodity, impulse buy on the internet would be different to selling a multimillion pound project to a government and therefore elements of the sales process would change. The advantage of good NLP Training Course is that you learn the mindset, methodology and tools to be able to construct the sales process for any given context.

Posted: 11|19|07 at 12:58 pm. Filed under: NLP Business, Sales and NLP. New here? Follow this entry via RSS 2.0. Comment | Trackback

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