Making Sales With NLP – Article 5

I consider myself to be a good communicator and always questioned why there aren’t any courses taught in high school on the importance and power of proper communication skills. I was in the office of my spiritual leader many years ago and we were talking about this very subject. He pulled out a book on NLP which stands for Neuro-linguistic programming. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "a model of interpersonal communication chiefly concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behavior and the subjective experiences underlying them".  After reading the book I wanted to learn more, so I contacted one of the NLP trainers and asked if there was any possibility that she might train me in this powerful communications tool. She agreed, and I flew out of town for four, six-hour training sessions.

I was so excited about my new information that I spoke with my son’s 10th grade English teacher and asked if I could lecture on this subject in his class. Little did I know that he wanted me to teach all his classes for the day. My program started by my holding up a Sony Walkman and asking the class what this strange object in my hand was? They laughed and told me exactly what it was and how it worked. I asked lots of silly questions like what if it got it wet? or if I left it in the sun? They knew all the answers. I asked how they knew so much and was told that it came with an instruction manual. Ah Ha! They fed right into my hand. So I replied, since you are all so smart can someone please tell me where the on and off switch for your brain is located? They all looked at me as if I were crazy. I then said can you please tell me where I can find an instruction manual on how the brain works. Again, they looked at me as if I were nuts!

The essence of NLP is how the brain processes information based on belief systems and sorting patterns. I use it as a powerful method of communicating and for the purpose of this article, how you can use NLP to sell more successfully in your business if you learn and apply some of its techniques.

Let’s focus on one of the sorting patterns called “Positive Versus Negative,” I will use an example to define this. If I am a realtor showing a home and as I am going through my presentation I notice that the wife has a negative comment on everything I am presenting. I show here the beautiful entrance and she replies “the hallway is too narrow”, in the kitchen she comments “the cabinets are too small”, in the master bedroom “the closets are tiny”. All the while, the husband is saying, “honey look at the pretty view as we enter this home”, and “the kitchen is so large for cooking” and “we can see the beautiful golf course from our master bedroom window”.

We are clearly working with a positive husband and a negative wife. So knowing how NLP identifies sorting patterns, you can quickly change your presentation and change the negative wife’s thinking without her even knowing it. In the kid’s room, you say “the closets are a little small in this room, but there is a hallway closet right outside the door for extra toys, but this beautiful room is large enough to hold twin beds”. The wife now smiles in agreement. In the next bedroom which happens to be small, you say “even though this room is on the small side, it would make a perfect workout room”. Again you now have the negative wife agreeing with you. By changing a person’s behavior you change the outcome.

NLP teaches you to identify sorting patterns and use them for better communications. In the business world, this results in making more sales. We are all born with our own sorting patterns and they are very difficult to change. Remember, sorting patterns have nothing to do with being right or wrong, they just are the way a person processes information. Most people are not even aware of these patterns since they have lived their who life with them. I am sure you can apply this sorting pattern to every phase of your business. Teach your sales people how to identify “negative” people and reverse this pattern to a positive result. It truly works, just try it and see for yourself.

My next article is titled “Always Protect Your Brand”. Until next time.