Richard Bolstad- One of Auckland New Zealands Premier Neuro Linguistic Programming Trainers and Practitioners provides an overview of NLP and some ways it can be used.

NLP Training

Watch this short Sales Video on using NLP in Sales Closing.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1512860/
Understanding that people communicate in different modes makes a big difference to Sales Success.

• Some Sales are made through visual communication, ie pictures, movies, seeing the object
• Other sales are made through Auditory communication, ie speaking, hearing, being told about the object
• Yet other sales will be made by physically handling the product.
• and many sales will be a combination of several of these communication methods.

Determining what mode a prospect naturally prefers, especially in a Sales Situation allows the Salesperson to develop Rapport in the Sales Situation and the likelyhood of a sale is increased.

Sales Training based around this Sales Process, using NLP techniques, tends to result in better Sales Conversion rates, as the Salesperson develops a better Rapport with the Sales Prospect. This is because the Sales Person alters their communication to match the mode preferred by the Sales Prospect, and is better able to communicate the advantages of the product to the Sales Prospect.

The old sales Proverb “People buy from People” has never been more true and is the focus of Sales Training with NLP

NLP Training

Techniques used in NLP are as applicable to Face to Face contact as to telephone sales situations. Sales situations are normally Face to Face or over the phone so therefore NLP techniques can easily be applied to product or service sales.

Why NLP works for Sales People

The Sales process can be simplified to several key areas:

• Build Rapport. There is an adage in sales that “people buy from people”. The concept that the customer buys the sales person before they buy the product or service, is central to most sales training. Hence to Increase Sales, improving Rapport skills is paramount. Skills such as Matching and Mirroring in both Speech and Body Language can very rapidly build Rapport and hence Increase Sales.

• Find out what the customer really wants (not necessarily needs). When we make a purchasing decision, we evaluate the pros and cons based on our core values, even for the smallest of things. The customer may often not be aware what these core values, experiences or beliefs are, or how they use them in decision making. The art to Increase Sales is for the Salesperson to be able to determine what the customer’s important values are and present the product or service in such a way as it meets the core value requirements. The better the fit, the more likely a sale.
• Handle Objections. Objections are an indication that the core requirement and /or the core values have not been satisfied. Often a conflict with a core value will cause an objection to be raised, regardless of a clear need for the product having been demonstrated. To Increase Sales , a good Salesperson needs to understand that objections indicate unresolved issues, and they must get to the bottom of the real issue to understand the real objection and then proceed to present a solution to the real underlying issue .
• Close the Sale. A Sale cannot be closed until the core values are satisfied, therefore entering a “Sales Close” script prior to this point will inevitably bring up new objections.  The Sales Close can be a difficult area for many sales people, as it can be a point for rejection. Fear of rejection can be so powerful that some sales people put off closing in order to protect themselves from it. However, unless the customer has a large desire for the product, they may not buy simply because no one has asked them to. The art to Increase Sales is not to “force a close” but to let a close occur naturally, which it will do once the “want” has been established and the core values have been satisfied. The close may be as simple as “would you like to pay by credit card or cash ?”  Overcoming fear of rejection and asking a simple question can Increase Sales tremendously. Eg Mc Donalds “Would you like Fries with that ?”
• Energy, Focus and Motivation. Going back to “People buy from People”, if your customer sees you are excited and energetic about your product, it provides them confidence in both you and the product, and a certain amount will rub off onto them. Being able to stay motivated, energetic and positive when dealing with customers can sometimes be difficult, especially after recent rejections. To be able to Increase Sales, the Salesperson must be fresh and energetic at all times when dealing with the customer.

An NLP Sales Training course can specifically provide a Salesperson with tools for the situations above:

Techniques to build Rapport in both face to face and telephone situations.

Techniques that work at a deep and unconscious level. In addition, conversation management techniques that allow you to create in the customers imagination, the perception of happily living with the product.

Questioning techniques that quickly give an understanding of your customer and their wants or desires of your product or service.

Language patterns that can be used to counter objections before the customer has a chance to create them, plus language patterns that can be used to deal with objections.

Sales Processes with automatic closes, plus techniques to overcome any Fear of Rejection.

Motivation and Emotion management techniques to help maintain focus, motivation and energy, regardless of surrounding issues.

How to Model the best performers in your field and ingrain those behaviors into your own habits and those around you.

Using NLP Techniques has proven to be very effective in Increasing Performance and Increase Sales by significant margins in both the short and long term.

Increase Sales