The Many And Varied Uses Of NLP
NLP itself is really a collection of tools, which can be put to many different uses. Here are some brief examples of some of those uses.
- Selling
- Rapport skills are an essential skill for anyone involved in sales. It's the skill of being able to put the other person at their ease, to get along with them and to guarantee to "hit it off" with them. It would be difficult to sell without being able to create rapport.
One of things a sales executive must do is uncover the wants and needs of the buyer, the NLP Meta Model of questioning gives the salesman (or saleswoman) a powerful tool for determining what the buyer really wants or needs.
Motivation is a big issue in sales and NLP provides a wealth of skills and techniques for motivating self and others. Unlike a motivational rally, where the emotional high soon fades, the NLP techniques can work to raise the persons energy levels to a permanently higher level. - Management
- Managing people requires a range of skills. Many of the basic beliefs of NLP are useful to managers. Understanding what motivates individuals is the first step to being able to manage the workplace so that it is inherently motivating.
Increasingly management is about change management, helping staff not only cope with change but build on it and benefit from it. NLP comes with a range of tools, techniques and attitudes for change management. - Customer services
- What is the function of Customer Service personnel? It is to identify the immediate and pressing needs of the customer and to then satisfy those needs. The customer is often in a heightened emotional state and probably won't want to take a lot of time.
I've worked in a customer support office where the manager's attitude was "customers are an annoyance and all customers are stupid". Not surprisingly this attitude became ingrained in the department and the companies reputation suffered.
NLP can be used to enable service staff to be much more 'customer orientated' and almost literally see things from the customer's point of view. If Service personnel are equipped with highly effective rapport and questioning skills and can use techniques to determine someone else's needs and perceptions of a problem then they are likely to be more effective, and hence more profitable. - Sports coaching
- Sports coaching is about motivation and peak performance. Many athletes can perform at the best on occasion, the trick is to perform at peak levels whenever it's needed. NLP is about modelling excellence and replicating the skills of excellence, whether the skills are in sales, management or athletics.
Athletes need motivation, determination and the ability to set and to meet goals and objectives. Coaches can help athletes maximise their inner resources and maximise their performance. - Training
- Training is so much more than just "showing someone how to do it" or "explaining it in simple terms". An effective trainer can guide the learner through the learning process and can structure training so that it has the maximum effect.
This application of NLP is covered in much more depth in the section NLP In Training - Personal Development
- NLP has much to offer the field of personal develpment. Many of the tools and techniques of NLP can increase confidence, improve performance, help with creativity to generate new options and new ideas. Many people have used NLP to improve their performance by identifying what limits them, it may be limiting beliefs (for example "I'm no good speaking in front of groups") or it may be unresourceful behaviour (such as getting angry when someone is late instead of being able to motivate them to be on time).
In terms of memory skills, beliefs such as "I'm no good at remembering things" or "I've got a lousy memory" will always short circuit and undermine the use of memory techniques. NLP allows people to build a solid foundation of supportive beliefs and effective strategies - using these memory techniques become far more powerful and effective.