In 2024, the challenge isn't just to capture attention—it's to sustain engagement, build trust, and ultimately convert prospects into loyal customers. Traditional sales techniques often emphasize the "what" of the pitch, which includes product features, specifications, and cost-benefit analyses. While these elements are undeniably important, they overlook a subtler yet equally critical aspect: the "how" of the communication. This is where neurolinguistic insights can make a transformative impact. We are focused on the entire environment around us, meaning we use all five senses in the interaction: 83% sight, 11% hearing, 3% smell, 2% touch and 1% taste. To prioritise tone over everything is willing naïveté.
"It's not what you say, but how you say it," As the popular phrase goes, and one school of thought regarding sales methodologies would have us believe that tone is everything. But tone is only a small part of the picture. Even in 2024, where virtual sales rooms dominate, nonverbal communication and the corresponding practices of neurolinguistic programming are just as important as ever.
A successful pitch depends on your ability to build strong frames, or perspectives. Everyone uses frames, whether they realize it or not, and every social encounter brings frames together, but maintaining one's frame and influencing that of the other became a major tenet of Oren Kloff’s book “Pitch Anything”, in which he argues for subduing the croc brain, before building trust to close the deal. He writes that, “Only one frame will dominate after the exchange, and the other frames will be subordinate to the winner.”
First elucidated in Richard Bandler and John Grinder's 1975 book The Structure of Magic I, Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to communication, personal development and psychotherapy considered pseudoscientific. With some studies promoting and some repudiating the claims, NLP remains in the public consciousness, with The Spectator describing the practice in a recent article as a “hodgepodge of strange hacks and corny aphorisms supposed to change an individual’s thoughts and behaviors.” Despite the controversies around efficacy, NLP has garnered support from a diverse group, amongst them Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Russell Brand, and Jimmy Carr.
In this article, we will condense some of the understandings from NLP so that you can continue to subdue the croc brain and dominate the sales process.
1. Body Language in Virtual Sales Rooms
In sales, nonverbal communication such as maintaining eye contact and adopting an open posture is vital, as it establishes trust with prospects. Nonverbal communication makes up a huge amount of the contextual information we take for granted in a conversation. Experts estimate that ignoring nonverbal communication altogether would cause the listener to miss up to 60% of their communication.
By establishing a welcoming and open body language in a call, you allow the prospect to ease into the conversation, and in turn, optimise your chances at connecting well with them.
2. Active Listening
Prospects are always anticipating their reception. We are bred to be attentive to the affect of those around us because it’s the most accurate predictor of our safety as a child. When we grow up, this instinct remains, and is translated into an impulse to determine the feelings of those around us. As this process is always happening with those around you, make sure to be attentive to what your prospect is saying and reflect it back with compelling, sensory language that can simultaneously captivate and comfort them.
The NLP methodology involves injecting statements into the conversation to redirect it and programme the responses. In order to do this, you have to have a good sense of the conversation, understand where your prospect is coming from, and adapt your responses to remain in keeping with those thoughts and sentiments. Active listening is how all of that starts.
3. Mirroring Your Prospect
One way to effectively build trust and rapport with a prospect is to subtly match and reflect their body language, mannerisms, and words. This process, known as mirroring, has been known to put prospects at ease and generate positive responses. The key here is not being too overt with this process. Immediately repeating your prospect's words to them verbatim or very obviously and precisely adjusting your body language to reflect theirs immediately after it changes, it'll probably come off as strange.
In cold emails or follow-up communications, mirroring the language and tone of your prospect can make the messages more relatable and engaging. If a prospect uses specific jargon or phrases in their industry, incorporating similar terms in your emails can make your outreach feel more personalized and relevant. As jargon also functions as a sort of differentiating discourse marker, allowing experts to communicate smoothly but barring non-experts. Mirroring jargon with prospects also positions oneself as a peer, which is important for setting frame!
4. Embedded commands
Embedded commands are key to NLP and are composed of subtle linguistic patterns that inject suggestions or commands within a normal conversation. By embedding commands within your speech, you can influence the customer's subconscious mind and guide their thoughts and actions.
In your email campaigns, you can leverage embedded commands to encourage desired actions. For a SaaS product, instead of saying, "Click here to schedule a demo," you could say, "As you explore how [SaaS Product] can transform your workflow, see what our demo can reveal." This subtly nudges the prospect to take the next step without appearing pushy.
5. Reframing
The “frame” is the perspective of you or the prospect, so reframing involves shifting the perspective or meaning of a situation to create a more positive or beneficial interpretation.
First elucidated by Aaron T. Beck in the 1960s, cognitive therapy’s study of depressed patients who observed the effects of their thoughts and then consciously shifted them was know by Beck as “cognitive restructuring”, and it’s this that came to be known as reframing, a technique effective in treatment of depression and other predicaments.
Reframing can help you handle objections and turn potential obstacles into selling opportunities. When a customer presents an objection or expresses a concern, reframe it by highlighting the positive aspects or offering a different perspective. For instance, if they say, "Your software seems expensive," respond with, "I understand your concern. However, when you consider the reduction in operational inefficiency and the resulting cost savings, our solution offers significant long-term value." This shifts the focus from immediate cost to overall value and ROI, making the objections work in your favor.
While these NLP and psychotherapy insights may not be foolproof magic, they offer valuable techniques that can be strategically applied to your sales process.
All of the insights involve mastering one’s physical reaction to prospects, thereby allowing participation from prospects if they so desire! Understanding and utilizing body language in virtual meetings, practicing active listening during discovery calls, using mirroring in email outreach, embedding commands in call-to-actions, and reframing objections in conversations are practical ways to enhance engagement and close more deals. Incorporating these techniques systematically can improve your overall sales effectiveness and foster stronger, trust-based relationships with your prospects.
Super Benji automatically mirrors the language of the prospect using neurolinguistic insights. Book a call here.
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