Maximising Sales with Basic NLP

Salesmanship requires a complex array of skills and natural abilities, and in the day to day pressure of writing sales proposals, arranging meetings and closing deals the finer points of the art are often overlooked. It is often these finer points, though, that will help you win that important contract. The ability to read and engage with people is probably the most important skill in a sales professional's toolbox and honing it is always time well invested. The main core of salesmanship is the ability to engage with and persuade people. Although elements such as age, cultural background, language and individual personality can have a large impact on human interaction, there are some central rules that govern our behaviour and which have a profound effect on whether we immediately feel comfortable engaging with each other. By understanding people, you’re in a much better position to push the right buttons to make a deal more likely. The following set of tips will help you to develop a killer toolkit to compliment your sales arsenal. Talking the Talk All sales people are taught to use open-ended questions to keep a conversation going, one of the most basic communication principles. In addition, using the right words and being mindful of your body language will be crucial in developing a rapport with a potential customer. Often more than 55% of your communication is non-verbal, communicated through your body posture. Adopting a non-threatening, open body language is key to making your customer feel comfortable in your presence. If the customer doesn’t feel comfortable then they won’t trust you. If they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. Using the right words will also help you to take shortcuts into a customer’s psyche. Using the same terminology as your customer is using can help to position you as part of a group, one of the pack. Using the right terminology indicates that you understand your customer and are not an outsider. Be Approachable First impressions count. It's an undeniable fact. But why is that? Why do we trust a well presented person more than their more dishevelled competitor? Humans are hard-wired with all manner of predetermined biases, and being less smart may indicate either being less clean or less organised, neither of which is desirable in a sales arena. Be very presentable, dress correctly for the occassion and pay special attention to the small details of your appearance. Wearing your best suit is not enough. Clip those nails, tidy that hair and freshen that breath! It’s very easy to try to adopt a persona that you think a client will like, but be aware that false personas are very easy to spot since they are so very unnatural. There are natural body language pointers that identify if you are lying or being deceptive, and adopting a false persona will start setting off these signals. Be approachable, open, and amenable. Listen to what your customer is telling you, and use that information later on to help communication further. Don’t try to be someone that you’re not, but instead focus on being a very polite version yourself, which will usually be someone that the customer feels they can talk to. Know Thy Product Know your products inside out. Being able to answer any questions on your product will enable you to deal with any negativity or issues head on, and sets a far more professional air. You customers need to buy into you before they can buy into your product. If you don’t know what you’re talking about you cannot build the trust that you need to persuade that customer further along the sales process. Know the Industry When it comes to new clients and customers the one thing that you have in common with them from the very first conversation is that you are both in the same industry. One of you is a supplier, and the other a consumer. Keeping abreast of industry news will always give you something to talk about with a client, and can make for great ice-breaking material. Spend 20 or 30 minutes a day catching up on the latest headlines and ensure that you read through a couple of topics thoroughly. Dealing with a sales person who is knowledgable and as enthusiastic of the industry as they are is a real benefit for many clients. It also enforces your membership to their chosen "circle", and reduces your status as an outsider. Free is Good! At the start of any sales process customers will naturally be guarded and distrusting, it’s natural human behaviour. Having some news articles, web links to useful information or other such resources can really help to demonstrate your willingness to help your customer as a whole, not just in making a sale. The resources should be related to the industry that your customer operates in, but perhaps not relevant to the sale you’re trying to make. Being helpful outside of the sales process demonstrates that you’re not just after the customer’s money, but in developing a good professional relationship. Go That Extra Mile Extra research before ameeting can really help you demonstrate a deeper knowledge or understanding of your client or their organisation, making the customer feel as if you really do value them. This will set you leagues ahead of any competition that doesn't bother. Answer all calls in the timeliest fashion possible and deliver on any and all promises that you make to a customer. This is the best trust building tool that you have. A customer cannot buy from someone they do not trust. Building trust is the foundation to any ongoing relationship, and starting a commercial relationship off with a high degree of trust will maximise ongoing sales later, so going the extra mile will pay off. Old School is Best School When it comes to human interaction face to face or vocal communication is still the absolute best form. This doesn’t mean that there’s no place for email or even social media in the world of sales, but technology should be a method for you to manage and source your customers. When it comes to the final stages use the phone and arrange face to face meetings. Natural Schedules Spend time to understand how your customers structure their day. Are there obvious points during which a phone call from you would be more welcome? Is sending an email at a certain time likely to end in it being deleted or even plain ignored because you’ve sent it at the peak activity time of the day? Understand how your customers schedule their daily activities and plan your day around this. Don’t call customers when they’re likely to be at their busiest, and don’t be prospecting for new leads when your current leads are more willing and able to take a call from you! Neuro Linguistic Programming Studying the basics of NLP, or Neuro Linguistic Programming, can help you to make your own communication with customers far more effective by giving you an insight into the type of person your customer is and how to best structure your words and sentences to make your messages more acceptable to that customer. Study NLP and fully embrace what it offers.