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:

Personal Selling Skills by Sue Knight
Introducing NLP by Joseph O'Connor and John Seymour
Introducing NLP by Sue Knight
NLP at Work 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