Have you ever considered how Olympic gold
medal winners achieve such a high level of performance? People like Steve
Redgrave, Jason Queally and Ian Thorpe are three such performers who have just
won gold medals in the Sydney Olympics. They will have used some NLP techniques
for certain, whether consciously or otherwise.
So what is it they do and
how can you model these peak performers, taking the skills they use to greatly
enhance your performance in sales? In this article I will show you how.
What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)?
It is a set of
tools and techniques to improve awareness of our own beliefs, behaviours, and
how we can perform and communicate at optimum levels. NLP is also used in
boardrooms throughout the world to achieve the most amazing results in
business. If you master NLP and apply it to all aspects of your life, you will
simply behave differently, with very positive results.
Just think of
someone in business whom you really admire. What is it about that person that
makes them special? Is it their honesty, their openness, or do they always
appear calm under pressure? In NLP terms, this is called alignment, being
congruent and operating from a total trust in yourself because the essence of
NLP is awareness of all your senses, both physical and emotional.
There
are many self-help books, techniques, or even expensive holidays run by gurus
who make wild claims to solve all a sales person's problems, to make you rich
overnight and promise you the earth. In practice many of these fall short of
producing workable and practical methods for everyday working life.
One
of the five keys to NLP is to communicate effectively whilst building strong,
long-term relationships. Therefore selling successfully will be a natural
consequence of this process. The result will truly be relationship selling,
achieving a win-win result for all parties. This is where NLP is different, and
I will show you how it can easily transform your selling skills by making you
an excellent communicator.
Let me give you a taste of what NLP can do
for you. The jargon used may sound strange, to say the least: like modalities,
sub-modalities and totes. By themselves, the words don't matter, what matters
is the content and this very powerful life-skill can have an enormous impact on
the degree of your success in sales and in all aspects of your life. When you
get it, if you get it, it is like unlocking a door into another world. It's a
technique a bit like those three-dimensional pictures which were popular a few
years ago. They took me ages to master, but once I could see the image in one,
then very soon I could see them all.
I will now explain five concepts
that can quickly add performance to your selling.
We operate both
emotionally and physically in sync…
One NLP belief is that we
operate both emotionally and physically in sync as everything we do physically
has an emotional response and vice versa. For example if you are about to give
a presentation to a group of customers you may feel nervous, perspire, feel
sick - which all comes from worrying about doing something which is
frightening. So how can the same be true in a positive way? You are about to
visit a customer who you like and with whom you have a good relationship. The
feeling you may have is very positive, up-beat and confident, so this feeling
will almost certainly produce a relaxed physical response with all the benefits
a relaxed state can bring. So body and mind really are staggeringly
synchronised. Just think how this could be used to improve your business
relationships.
Belief-behaviour link…
The
belief-behaviour link associated with the last situation simply states that if
you believe something to be true, then you are likely to behave in a way that
fulfils your belief. For example, if you believe that your customer is fed up
with your company because he has had so many calls from representatives in the
past, then you will behave in a way which fulfils your belief, by behaving
nervously, unsure of yourself, or negatively. However, if you change your
belief to a positive one such as: your customer is happy with the support your
company have provided to him through regular visits. Now your behaviour is
bound to change as well to a more positive and confident approach. If you catch
yourself doubting your new belief, just ask the question: what evidence do I
really have to support the old belief?
Improved listening
skills…
To take this to the next step you will need to really
understand your customer and one way to do this is to listen very actively. So
why is it that we only truly listen to people who we are interested in? The
consequence of being interested seems to be improved listening ability.
The fact that I have the attention span of an amoeba when selling to or
meeting with less fascinating colleagues has bothered me for some time and just
telling myself to listen never worked. So I have now changed my approach! I
don't try to listen, but if I am genuinely curious, drop my prejudices about
this person and the content being discussed, then the natural consequence of
this higher level of interest is a greater ability to listen.
Putting yourself in your customer's shoes…
Another
skill which is recommended is called perceptual positioning: quite simply this
means putting yourself in the customer's shoes and considering why they may
think and behave in the way they do. By asking yourself what constraints and
problems they may be experiencing, you too understand their view of the
situation.
Achieving goals…
Now think of a goal you
have and consider that you have already achieved it. In selling terms it could
be landing that big contract. Now tell somebody who you know how you actually
achieved it! It is important to talk in the present tense, as if you have
already realised your goal and explain to your listener exactly how you feel
now that you have achieved it. Explain what you see around you in your new
successful state and what others are now saying about you, how successful you
are, and so on.
Then explain, and maybe write down, exactly what it is
that you did to reach your goal. All you have to do now is to do what you have
described and you will achieve your goal!
This really is only a small
part of what NLP can do for you and all your relationships in business and in
all walks of your life. There are five things you can now do as a consequence
of reading this article:
- Set clear, workable objectives
- Change negative thoughts into positive, useful beliefs
- Truly consider your customer's views
- Actively listen with interest
- Achieve your goals
Further reading:
NLP
at Work by Sue Knight
Introducing
NLP by Joseph O'Connor and John Seymour
Introducing
NLP by Sue Knight
Principles
of NLP by Joseph O'Connor and Ian McDermott
About the author
Maria has
over 19 years experience in the world of commerce from management to training
and development with a strong background in field based and telesales. She is
an NLP business practitioner, which complements her academic business
qualifications attained at Warwick University. This rare combination gives her
a solid knowledge of business practice whilst communicating at the highest
levels. Her experience is varied and having worked in demanding industries such
as pharmaceutical, logistics and waste, she understands the difficulties and
pressures that people face in their working lives.
To date Maria's
corporate career has included work with multi-national organisations in the UK,
Europe and South Africa. With previous responsibility for large sales
structures, she has the credibility required to train not only the people at
the sharp end but also business strategy for senior management. Her specialised
areas of work include: sales, customer service and management and she has
recently worked with companies such as: Exel Logistics, IDIS World Medicines,
Crown Agents, Aria Group, Sita Waste Management, Wastelink and Global
Crossing.
People who work with Maria appreciate her fresh approach to
the development of people as she is passionate about customer focus within
business and believes strongly in long term business relationships.
The
results of Maria's training have a direct impact on the bottom line and this is
achieved through her integrated training programmes, which involve coaching
with management to ensure that techniques learned in the classroom are not only
maintained but also developed. Maria's track record in helping business to
succeed through people is outstanding.
Running her own business requires
her to practice the skills and not just train them which means she can relate
to real client situations as well as providing theory. Maria runs sales and
management development programmes and her skills include:
- Selling skills at all levels
- Negotiation skills
- Management skills at all levels
- Recruitment & selection
- Appraisal skills
- Time management
- Presentation skills
- Customer service practice
- Team building
- Assertiveness
- Powerful communication skills
