Tonya Reiman

Anchoring is an amazing mental tool created by you that takes you back in time to a sensation, emotion, or state of mind, in order to recreate in your present moment the same feelings.

For instance imagine you had a huge argument with your partner over a year ago and he was wearing a green shirt. You have both put it behind you and are totally in love and happy. However, you will experience the feelings of frustration and sorrow you experienced then, in your present time if you saw him in the same shirt today. That shirt, or more specifically the color, is an anchor that has the power to influence your feelings. Now this would be a negative anchor.

Anything that recreates a happy emotion would be a positive one. A song from the past, a story from childhood, summer breeze, gooey chocolate cake are all anchors that may carry associations of happiness and make you respond positively.

Now let's explore how this works in sales. First of all you need to fully exploit the first impression phase to create an instant liking or favorable impression in the client towards you. You have to build on this to create an enduring rapport. Encourage the client to talk while you actively listen. Find out his passions and pet peeves, his hopes and his dreams and whatever he is willing to divulge comfortably. If he gets the impression that you are being too nosy or personal, you've blown it before it could get off the ground. The trick is to get him going on what interests him the most, and encourage him to keep at it, not by verbal but nonverbal communications. If you employ the right signals soon the floodgates will open, and you will have opportunities to create many positive anchors and steer clear of the negative ones.

To create anchors once again you need to resort to discreet body language signals. In the course of the conversation, when the client gets enthusiastic or passionate about something, capture that emotion in a gesture, possibly a wide enthusiastic smile with raised eyebrows. You can use any of your own favorites. It can even be exclamations such as "Wow!" or "You don't say!" When he intends to convey confidentiality lean towards him with a conspiratorial nod. Repeat these gestures whenever the associated emotion is displayed. Now when you want to elicit these responses in your client all you have to do is employ these gestures. Bang in the middle of your pitch when you would like some enthusiasm, exclaim, "Wow, Isn't that amazing!" This should trigger the desired response almost automatically.

This might sound too simplistic or even silly to most people. It is hard to believe that you can bring about emotions as easily as switching channels. But a lot goes into this interaction than meets the eye. It is an exercise in building an emotional bridge between you and your client, and then using it for communicating to each other. A normal sales pitch delivered without anchoring is less effective because it is conducted only on the conscious plane, whereas anchoring takes communication to the level of the unconscious. This is where inexplicable and seemingly impulsive decisions are made. So as a salesperson, if you are able to communicate at this level you have a decided advantage over those who are unaware of this vast untapped potential.

Here's an illustration that might help to clarify. Imagine there's this lady who's in the market for a Mercedes Benz. She is in the showroom, yet not quite decided. The salesperson starts on the spiel reeling out figures, estimates, characteristics, comparisons, the works. She is still undecided. Let's look at another scenario. Same lady, same situation. But the salesperson sits down with her and they get talking. He is attentive and encouraging, employing body language that invites confidence and treating her like she was the only client that mattered that day. No mobiles, no interruptions. In the course of the conversation she reveals how her grandfather had a Merc and how she loved the feeling of going on long rides in that car. It brought back sugar sweet memories. Apparently it wasn't the cost or the looks that mattered, but the tug at the heart strings. Now the salesperson has been given an emotional connection to work with and he uses it successfully. Off they go on a test ride and the deal is struck.

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