Neuro Linguistic Programming: Can this help us in sales?
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Neuro Linguistic Programming (also known as NLP) was created in the 1970’s. The idea behind it was to understand human communication beyond just the words being used, with obvious implications to sales. Over the last 30 years most researchers have come to the conclusion that it is a highly subjective semi-science that should be used with caution, if at all.
NLP was initially used in psychology and counseling. It wasn’t long until sales practitioners of one sort or another started applying NLP theories to sales training. Am I the only one that has noticed that every new type of pop-psychology is ultimately applied to sales? My most displeasurable example of this was the distortion of the data about the importance of body language in communication (The Myth of Body Language in Communication). I still hear sales trainers refer to that and it makes my skin crawl.
The meta-model of NLP says that when one human being communicates with another they go through the following steps: the speaker first has a thought, it’s coded into words, the words are spoken, the hearer receives those words, the hearer decodes those words and then interprets the thoughts. The concept is actually fairly interesting to consider because, after all of those steps, the potential for misinterpretation in human communication can be better understood. Clearly we can see how this could apply to interactions with our customers.
As appealing as the theory sounds, it is generally accepted that NLP has not withstood the test of time (especially in the area of sales training). It has not been adequately supported by legitimate research and smacks of “new age” thinking, which has more of a spiritual or philosophical appeal.
My feeling is that NLP sales training is unproven and if it were advertised on TV you’d find it at 3:00 in the morning on an infomercial.
Stick with the sales basics that are proven over time. There are no magic pills in sales.
© 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer
Tags: language, listening, sales-training, speaking
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May 15th, 2008 at 9:16 am
NLP is one of many “highly subjective semi-science” perspectives on Sales. My sense is that they come from those who, at least in part, don’t fully grasp the legitimacy of Sales in business - i.e. their general view is that Sales People are those who are adept at getting you to fork over your money for something you don’t want or need.
With that said, I think it’s important to consider why such theories endure. My view is that this is because they are “SEMI-science”. In other words, they’re not devoid of substance. So my recommendation is to not swallow them whole but to chew the fruit, spit out the seeds and add what substance you can to your skill-set, as a Sales Professional.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Gary,
Well said in so many ways. I really like your point about people not seeing sales as a legitimate pursuit. As sales increasingly moves toward a “partnership” orientation I think some of that thinking will cease or at least diminish. Thanks for your comments.