In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray’s character, Phil, must repeatedly face Ned, an obnoxious man attempting to sell him life insurance. Ned is so obtuse (although perhaps deliberately so) that he seems utterly oblivious to the fact that Phil has no wish to talk to him. Arguably, most people are not as dense as Ned is, but some are certainly more skilled than others at reading non-verbal cues.
This skill is valuable in any area of life, but is especially valuable for those involved in sales or marketing. Because one of its main focuses is on communication, training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP, is something that can help marketers increase their level of rapport with their customers. By studying NLP, you can learn “principles that turn you into a more powerful, confident and flexible communicator.”
What Is NLP?
Simply put, Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a discipline that analyzes individuals’ perceptions of the world with the goal of making people more successful. NLP emphasizes both verbal and non-verbal communication: “One of NLP’s key theories is that people think and express themselves in different ways and that the key to effective communication is to understand the ways they do this.”
There is, naturally, a great deal more one could learn about NLP’s theories and strategies; becoming a better communicator is only one facet of this field of study. However, NLP’s focus on communication is fundamental and something of which salespeople should be aware.
NLP’s Relevance To Advertising
NLP is clearly relevant to one-on-one sales interactions, but it also is applicable to other areas of marketing, such as advertising. While it is easier to discern how to sell to a particular person when speaking to him or her individually, advertisers are faced with the more difficult task of targeting a mass of people at once. Consequently, many advertisers have overlooked how NLP might benefit their marketing campaigns.
Jeff Hoffman of HubSpot points out that NLP “claims people react more strongly to language that invokes one of their senses,” and that people fall roughly into the categories of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. Hoffman suggests advertisers should be aware of these categories and try to appeal to all three types of people.
The Relatively New Field Of Neuromarketing
Because of its concern with how people process information subconsciously, NLP (which dates back to the '70s) has much in common with the developing field of neuromarketing.
Neuromarketing is the study of what is going on the human brain when people react to advertising.
In her article “6 Secrets About the Human Brain That Will Make You a Better Marketer,” Ann Handley says that successful marketing campaigns recognize the power of the following:
• evoking a gut reaction
• images
• images of people’s faces
• colors
• names
• people’s desire for belonging
Notably, the above tactics generally appeal to the three types of learners NLP identifies.
Of course, when targeting different groups of people, it is still important to be strategic. The mere presence of images or words in a marketing campaign will not be enough to cause people to want to buy your product. The key is to recognize which images or words will elicit the reaction you’re trying to achieve, depending on the type of customer you’re targeting.
Neuromarketing authority Andy Crestodina points out, “‘There are ‘cognitive biases’ built into all of us…Marketing either works with or against the cognitive biases.’” While he does not name it as such, Crestodina’s point is essentially one of the main premises of NLP—that all people approach the world through their own subjective frameworks and that understanding those frameworks will lead to greater success.
Neuromarketing has had its share of detractors (as has NLP), but it is nevertheless emerging as a legitimate field of study as scientists are conducting scholarly verifiable research. And even though one academic study found that many methods being used to evaluate customers’ decisions are ineffective, the study also demonstrated that neuromarketing did in fact work.
Marketers Should Recognize The Benefits Of NLP
All of us react to situations and make judgments at a subconscious level. Malcolm Gladwell even explored this phenomenon not long ago in his best-seller, Blink. Marketers, whether they are salespeople or advertisers, would do well to increase their skills in non-verbal communication and in perceiving people’s presuppositions.
