What if the biggest obstacle to increasing sales isn't your sales script?
What if it's the way you're thinking before you ever begin the conversation?
For more than 30 years, communication expert and high-performance sales coach Scott Maly has helped individuals and organizations improve sales performance, customer service, leadership, and communication. His approach combines mindset, communication skills, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), sales strategy, and increasingly, artificial intelligence.
On Episode 41 of the Glovisor Podcast, Joe Abreu sits down with Scott to explore the psychology behind effective communication and the role that NLP can play in building rapport, increasing influence, strengthening relationships, and improving sales performance.
Scott's central message is surprisingly simple: before you can communicate effectively with someone else, you need to understand how you are communicating with yourself.
And that principle reaches far beyond sales.
It applies to entrepreneurs, managers, customer service professionals, real estate agents, employees, leaders, and anyone who wants to communicate more effectively.
What Is NLP and Why Does It Matter in Sales?
NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. In Scott's explanation, it provides a framework for understanding how people think, communicate, and respond to language and behavior.
Scott was introduced to NLP roughly three decades ago after reading Tony Robbins' Unlimited Power while he was beginning his career in sales. He says the ideas changed the way he viewed communication and sales and eventually helped him move into leadership and executive roles.
As he advanced professionally, Scott began seeing that the same communication principles could apply beyond individual sales conversations. They could help leaders communicate a vision, develop teams, improve customer service, and influence people more effectively.
That experience eventually became the foundation for the work he does today.
The Sales Secret Starts Before the Sales Conversation
One of the most important distinctions Scott makes is between internal communication and external communication.
Sales professionals often focus heavily on what they are going to say. They refine scripts, develop presentations, study objection handling, and practice closing techniques.
Scott believes something needs to happen first.
The salesperson needs to get their internal state right.
If someone approaches a prospect while dealing with self-doubt, uncertainty, fear of rejection, or a lack of belief in the value of what they're offering, that internal state can affect the conversation.
Scott describes NLP as a set of tools that can help people work on that internal communication and create a more certain, constructive mental state before engaging with prospects.
Only then does the external communication become the next focus.
That creates a useful distinction:
Your sales script may tell you what to say.
Your mindset influences how you say it.
And the person on the other side of the conversation experiences both.
Why Mindset Can Matter More Than the Script
When Scott enters an organization, he doesn't automatically start rewriting the sales script.
He first tries to identify the actual sales challenge.
Sometimes the problem is strategy.
Sometimes the problem is skill.
But sometimes the biggest obstacle is the team's belief in themselves and in the value of what they're offering.
Sales professionals deal with rejection constantly. Over time, rejection can become personal. A salesperson can begin interpreting a "no" as evidence that they aren't good enough, their product isn't valuable, or they're incapable of succeeding.
That can create a downward spiral.
Scott's approach focuses on helping salespeople recognize and change that internal pattern while simultaneously developing the external skills they need to communicate effectively.
As he puts it during the conversation, success is heavily influenced by the mental side of performance, not just strategy.
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The Fastest Way to Improve a Sales Team May Be to Study Its Best Performers
Scott describes another NLP concept that he uses with sales organizations: modeling.
Instead of assuming that struggling salespeople simply need more motivation or more training, he looks at what the organization's top performers are already doing successfully.
What beliefs do they have?
How do they approach prospects?
How do they communicate?
What behaviors consistently produce results?
What values appear to influence their performance?
The objective is to identify the behaviors and patterns that are already working and then help other members of the team learn them.
Scott says that he can often begin making an impact within a week by assessing the team's top performers and identifying what can be replicated.
For business leaders, this is an important concept.
Your best employee may already be carrying part of the solution to your sales problem.
The opportunity may be to identify what that person does differently—and turn individual excellence into a repeatable organizational process.
Why Rapport Is the Foundation of Persuasion
If there is one NLP technique Scott emphasizes most strongly during the episode, it is rapport.
His philosophy is straightforward: communication becomes much easier when people feel understood.
Rapport doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with someone.
It means entering their communication world and demonstrating that you're paying attention to how they communicate.
Scott describes several ways to do that, including identifying common interests, paying attention to someone's rate of speech, observing body language, and noticing the specific words a person uses.
The goal isn't to manipulate someone.
It is to communicate in a way that feels natural and familiar to the person you're speaking with.
The Simple NLP Technique You Can Try Today
One of Scott's most practical recommendations is to pay attention to the words other people use—and then naturally incorporate those same words into your response.
He refers to this as "parrot phrasing."
Imagine a client repeatedly describes a project using a particular phrase.
Instead of replacing their language with your own terminology, use their terminology when responding.
Scott gave the example of an architectural firm whose client described wanting a "very brightly lit, magnificent conference room." Rather than paraphrasing that description into completely different language, the team could use the client's own terminology in its proposal.
According to Scott, that kind of language matching can create an immediate sense that the person has been heard and understood.
The technique is remarkably simple.
Listen for the words that matter to the other person.
Remember them.
Use them naturally.
You are showing the person that you weren't simply waiting for your turn to talk.
You were listening.
Match Their Pace, Not Just Their Words
Scott also recommends paying attention to someone's rate of speech.
If someone speaks slowly and deliberately, responding at a dramatically faster pace can create unnecessary friction.
If someone naturally speaks quickly, a faster conversational rhythm may feel more natural.
The point isn't to imitate someone in an obvious or exaggerated way.
It's to become more aware of the rhythm of the conversation and adjust your communication accordingly.
The same principle can apply to body language.
Scott shared a story about a former boss with whom he initially struggled to connect. He noticed that the boss frequently leaned back and placed his hands behind his head while talking.
Scott eventually mirrored the posture.
The relationship changed, and the two eventually became close friends, with the former boss becoming a mentor.
Whether you're talking with a prospect, employee, customer, partner, or manager, awareness of these subtle communication signals can make conversations feel more connected.
Ethical Persuasion Is Different From Manipulation
The word "persuasion" can make some people uncomfortable.
But Scott makes an important distinction.
The techniques he discusses are intended to improve communication and influence, but he repeatedly connects effective persuasion with trust, integrity, and positive intention.
Matching someone's language or communication style isn't enough if the underlying relationship lacks trust.
A salesperson can have perfect technique and still lose credibility if the person on the other side doesn't believe they are acting with integrity.
That is why Scott's philosophy isn't simply about becoming more persuasive.
It's about becoming more effective at communicating while maintaining a win-win mindset.
The strongest sales conversation isn't necessarily the one where someone is pressured into saying yes.
It's the conversation where both sides understand the value, communicate honestly, and believe the relationship can create a positive outcome.
Everyone Is in Sales
One of the most interesting observations in the episode comes from Joe Abreu: everyone is selling something.
You don't have to carry the title "salesperson" to be involved in persuasion.
An entrepreneur sells an idea.
A business owner sells the value of a product or service.
A manager sells a vision to a team.
An employee sells their capabilities during a job interview.
A leader sells people on a direction.
Even personal relationships involve communication, influence, and persuasion.
Scott agrees that NLP and communication skills aren't limited to traditional salespeople. He points out that persuasion affects careers, relationships, leadership, and everyday interactions.
That makes communication a foundational business skill rather than a specialized sales skill.
AI Is Changing Sales Coaching
Scott's work has also evolved with technology.
After becoming certified as an AI business coach, he began exploring how artificial intelligence could complement the sales and communication principles he had developed over decades.
That led to his partnership with Nadia, who specializes in AI and technology.
Together, they developed Sales Genius, a tool designed to combine sales coaching concepts with newer AI technology.
Scott's motivation was straightforward: he wished he had access to these tools when he was beginning his own sales career.
AI can potentially provide sales professionals with faster access to information, coaching, and communication support while reducing some of the time and frustration involved in learning through trial and error.
But the technology doesn't replace the human side of communication.
The principles of trust, listening, rapport, and integrity remain central.
Who Can Benefit From NLP Sales Training?
Scott's answer is broader than simply "salespeople."
Entrepreneurs are obvious candidates because they are constantly selling, especially during the early stages of building a business.
Independent professionals can also benefit.
Real estate professionals, managers, customer service teams, business owners, and anyone responsible for communicating value can use stronger communication skills.
Scott particularly emphasizes people who want to improve their ability to persuade and influence ethically.
For an entrepreneur, that can mean becoming more comfortable selling your own services.
For a manager, it can mean communicating a vision more effectively.
For a customer service professional, it can mean understanding what a customer actually needs.
For a salesperson, it can mean creating more productive conversations.
The underlying skill is the same: communicate in a way that helps another person feel understood.
Communication Training Should Be Customized
Scott doesn't believe every person needs the same training.
When someone approaches him, he first looks at where that person or organization currently is.
Does the person need individual coaching?
Would group coaching be more appropriate?
Does the organization need its sales team assessed?
Is the challenge actually a customer service problem?
Or is there a broader revenue or people challenge?
His approach is therefore customized rather than based on one universal script.
For organizations, Scott says he can assess existing sales or customer service teams and identify opportunities for improvement. He also describes previous work with a Fortune 500 company that achieved J.D. Power recognition for seven consecutive years following training, along with sales improvements through upselling.
A Sales Success Story That Started With Confidence
Scott also shared the story of a client named Susan, an experienced marketing professional who had been in the field for more than 40 years but struggled with sales.
Her problem wasn't a lack of professional experience.
She told Scott that her mind would sometimes go blank during sales situations and asked whether he could guide her through the process.
They began working together, and Scott described the experience as a strong coaching partnership.
The story illustrates an important point: sales ability isn't necessarily determined by how long you've been in business.
Someone can have decades of industry knowledge and still struggle with the communication demands of selling.
Conversely, communication skills can be learned and developed at different stages of a career.
The Bigger Lesson: Communication Is a Lifelong Skill
At the end of the conversation, Joe asked Scott to share one message listeners should remember.
Scott's answer wasn't a sales technique.
It was a commitment to continuous improvement.
Communication isn't something you master once and then forget about. It is an ongoing skill that affects virtually every part of life.
As technology continues to change the way businesses communicate and sell, the human fundamentals remain.
People still want to be understood.
People still respond to trust.
People still notice whether someone is genuinely listening.
And people still recognize when communication is being driven by positive intention versus manipulation.
Scott's recommendation is to keep studying communication, keep practicing, and continually look for ways to become more effective at expressing ideas and connecting with other people.
The Glovisor Takeaway
The most important sales lesson from Scott Maly may have very little to do with closing.
It begins much earlier.
Before you can influence someone else, you need to understand your own communication.
Before you can persuade someone, you need to listen.
Before you can build rapport, you need to pay attention.
And before communication techniques become truly effective, they need to be grounded in trust and integrity.
For entrepreneurs and business leaders, that changes the way we should think about sales.
Sales isn't simply a script.
It isn't a trick.
And it isn't limited to the sales department.
Every conversation is an opportunity to understand another person, communicate value, and build a relationship.
The better you become at doing that, the more effective you can become—not only in sales, but in leadership, customer service, business development, and everyday life.
The technology will continue to evolve.
AI will continue to change how sales professionals prepare and communicate.
But the fundamental human skill remains the same:
Communicate better.
Listen better.
Understand people better.
And continue improving.
About Scott Maly
Scott Maly is a communication expert, NLP trainer, and high-performance sales coach with approximately 30 years of experience helping individuals and organizations improve sales, customer service, leadership, and business performance. His work combines communication training, NLP concepts, sales coaching, and emerging AI tools.
Scott's work and training resources are available through Natural Persuasion, along with information about Sales Genius and his newsletter.
Listen to Episode 41 of the Glovisor Podcast
Watch the full conversation with Joe Abreu and Scott Maly to hear Scott explain NLP, mindset, rapport building, ethical persuasion, AI-powered sales coaching, and the communication techniques you can begin applying immediately.