Buyer’s remorse. What is it? And how can proper NLP Training help you prevent it?
First let’s address what it is.
It’s pretty simple, really. Buyer’s remorse is when someone purchases your product or service, only to regret making that decision, and they end up asking for a refund of some kind, or worse, even posting a negative review somewhere. Just one negative review can be highly damaging to your business, so it’s pretty important to learn how to prevent it, and NLP can help you do just that- with Integrity.
I often receive calls from Sales People asking about my NLP Training Courses so that they can learn how to “Close” more sales, and when I do, I usually ask them “Would you rather “Close” a sale or “Open” a long term relationship that can lead to many other sales, both from that same client, and from potential referrals he/she sends your way in the future?
Of course their answer, most of the time at least, is that they want to “Open” long term relationships. And frankly, for the few that just want me to teach them how to close sales and don’t care about truly serving the person they are selling to with integrity and ethics, I tell them two things…
First, I tell them that the odds of them becoming top producing salesmen are extremely limited unless they start looking out for the client first. And second, I tell them that they should call someone else for training because I only choose to train those that are looking to help people with the NLP, Life Coaching, & Hypnosis technologies that I teach.
That said, for those that are serious about building long term relationships with those they sell to, I teach them a few very simple steps. Questions to ask their clients, mostly.
Follow these steps/questions as guidelines for yourself, if you don’t already in some variation, and I promise you, your sales will increase, while at the same time, your odds of a client experiencing buyer’s remorse will dramatically decrease.
OK, first there are 5 steps to what is called The NLP Sales Process and I’ll briefly list those. This isn’t a detailed article on all of the steps of the NLP Sales Process, it’s mainly focused on the final step.
Step 1: Establish Rapport. **Side note, Rapport is a lot more than just the “Matching & Mirroring”, and “Pacing & Leading” that is taught at most NLP & Hypnosis Training Courses. Although that is certainly part of it, creating excellent rapport consists of much more.
Step 2: Ask questions about your client- and show genuine interest. Remember, the best sales people are those that are genuinely interested in better understanding and helping their clients. Not those that are just focused on “closing the deal”.
Step 3: Discover and or uncover the *Wants* and *Needs* of your client. And remember, people will very often choose to buy things they *Want* over what they *Need*, but it’s important to understand both so that you can help your clients make the buying decision that is right for them.
For example, if they really *Want* to buy a new car, but it’s obvious to you that they really don’t *Need* a new car, and that they really do *Need* to pay for their kids braces, then you can…
A. Prevent buyer’s remorse by using your Rapport Skills to ethically influence them in a direction that’s better for them (maybe showing them a great used car) than the impulse buy they are looking to do with you,
And B. You’ll be building a long term relationship with this person that scores you some referral karma.
Step 3.5: Yes, I’m actually sneaking in an extra step here, A very important extra step, that is missing from “The 5 Step NLP Process”.
Ask your client, in a conversational manner, that applies to the product/service that you offer;
1: Can you remember a time you made a decision to buy something?
2: What did you buy?
3: How did you make the decision to buy it?
4: What made you feel certain you were making the right decision?
Now, you might want to study those 4 questions and master the art of asking them in a conversational manner that applies to your product/service, because those questions are going to not only help you close more sales and build greater long term relationships, but of course, they are also going to help you dramatically reduce the odds of buyer’s remorse from your clients.
Step 4: Link the wants, needs, and decision making strategy of your client with the product and or service. Simply point out how your product/service over delivers on their wants and needs (It’s always good by the way to under promise- while still promising a lot- and over deliver) and do it in a way that feeds back their criteria for feeling certain they are making the correct decision.
Step 5: “Close The Sale”- While Continuing To Open The Long Term Relationship…
If you’ve done everything that a great, and ethical sales person should do, including building excellent rapport while pacing your client (including “trial closes” etc.), associating their wants and needs with your product/service, while fulfilling their criteria for their specific “Buying Strategy”, doing trial closes, making certain you’ve answered all of their questions, etc., then frankly, most of the time, closing the sale- while continuing to open a long term relationship- should be as easy as asking for the credit card.
If you find that you’re having challenges in the “close” and you have to use “rebuttals” often, then I promise you, you’re missing at least some of the steps above.
And finally, we’ll go ahead and add a “Step 6”, as a way of Over Delivering, because that’s exactly what Step 6 is all about…
Step 6: Over Deliver! Make certain that you give your client at least one thing that they weren’t expecting. There’s one brilliant marketer who’s product I purchased, and as a special gift, he included 2 bags of microwave popcorn. That might sound a little silly, but it’s not only a simple way of over delivering, it’s also a way to be remembered!
If you promised shipping would take 7 days, send it 2 day. Whatever the case may be, just be certain to always Under Promise- While Still Promising A Lot- And Over Deliver!
And finally… Remember, the larger the sale, the more valuable the extra gift should be that you give them.
That, my friends is how you will dramatically and ethically increase sales, while decreasing buyer’s remorse!