Kiss My NLP
I hear so much about NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) in sales and networking and marketing and everywhere else. It’s become so popular in the last few years, even though the concept has been around forever.
There are people that naturally mirror others. I’m one of those people. Stick me in front of someone from Canada and within ten minutes I won’t be rocking out a fake accent, but my speech pattern will shift and I’ll start mirroring the inflection. 100%, but you’ll hear an aboot instead of about, for sure.
People who are way into NLP will go so far as to pick out words and phrases and mirror them. They’ll mirror hand gestures too, all in the name of being the person that the other person wants to talk to. This is a whole other bag of worms from a little inflection hijacking. You will absolutely have more of a chance of bagging the sale if you do this (without the other person noticing) – but to continue the relationship with every customer you now have to be someone other than you. You have to be a version of your customer.
How on earth can you provide an effective service while thinking the whole time about being like the other person?
I’ve also seen people practice this, and it’s creepy! It sounds like an 8 year old trying to cuss. That weird half-second pause before the cuss word comes out. It doesn’t sound natural. It’s the same thing when people try to sound like the person they’re talking to. If you don’t normally say “Dude!” and your prospect does, you’re going to sound silly saying it. It won’t sound natural. Plus, if you set yourself up and get the client, every time you talk you’re going to have to say the same phrases and keep up the charade or your client will wonder why you seemed so cool to begin with but you’ve changed.
Using NLP at a networking event can get you what you want, but it is a short-term strategy with a high risk for backfiring later. Use at your own risk.
Image Source: gmarcelo
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POSTED IN: General Networking, Networking Etiquette
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