Secrets of
Hypnotic
Selling
Revealed
Increase Your Sales with Little Effort
By Aaron Forland
Copyright
2011 Aaron Forland
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SECRETS OF HYPNOTIC SELLING REVEALED
Copyrighted © 2011 by Aaron Forland, C.Ht. All rights reserved.
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Forland, Aaron.
Secrets of hypnotic selling: increase your sales with little
effort / Aaron Forland.
ISBN978-0-9839083-0-2
This book is dedicated to my beautiful wife, Jodie, and my wonderful daughters, Kaylah and Isabellah, your love makes me the happiest person in the world.
Table of Contents
Section 1: Brief History of Hypnosis
Mysterious Beginning of Hypnosis
Early Emergence of Hypnotism in the Sciences
Popular Hypnosis Takes the Stage
Modern Hypnotic Sales Become a Successful Tool for Top Earners
Are We all Walking Around in an Altered State?
Section 2: Mastering Hypnotic Sales Techniques
Transform Average Sales into Hypnotic Sales: Building Rapport and Trust
Hypnotic Trust: You Had Me at Hello
Build Rapport Before the first “Hello”
Get in Sync with your Client to Build Rapport and Trust
Pace What you See and Hear with Hypnotic Intention
Pace the Future to Get Sales in the Present
Stop Drafting: 7 Methods to Pick up the Pace
Using “Yes” Phrasing to Warm Them Up
“Can Do” Opens the World of Possibilities
The Keys to Picking up the Pace
Putting it all Together – Rapport and Trust
Open Your Clients Mind to Assess Their Needs
The Basics of Assessing Your Client’s Needs
Spark Their Imagination with “Hot Words”
Give Them What They Think They Want
Skip a Beat to Get a Better Assessment
Unfreeze Them and Keep the Conversation Flowing
Surprise Them into a Confession!
Putting it all Together: Needs Assessment
Positive and Negative Hot Words Cut Through the Heat
Keep Them from Zoning out by Using Attention: Focusing Statements
Get Them Begging for more by giving them less!
Become the Omega and Reduce Resistance
Clearly Understand the Benefits of “ly” Words
Hold That Thought – Techniques to “Freeze” Their Thinking
Use Hypnotic Absolutes to Demonstrate Confidence
Reveal your Products “Upper Hand” with SuperWords
Using Trance Words to Make the Hypnotic Connection
Have the GUTS to Go Use This Stuff
Story Selling: More than Pure Entertainment
A Special Story: Using Metaphors to Connect
Which Metaphors are Best to Use?
Hypnotic Ways to Teach Your Customer to Buy
5 Clinical Examples of Hypnotic Questioning Techniques
The 7 Most Powerful Hypnotic Sales Questions
Other Powerful Hypnotic Questions
Powerful Styles of Indirect Questions
Let the Customer be the Salesperson: The Power of Negative Questions
Pierce Their Soul by Reading Their Mind: Intuitive Questions
Get Down to It: Bottom Line Questions
Putting it Together: Hypnotic Questions
Section 4: Hypnotic Script Book
What Makes your Sales Script Book So Powerful?
More Reasons to Create Your Script Book
Get Creative With Your Script Book
Fear Not! Build Your Script Book Successfully
Step Three: Scripts for Each Hypnotic Style
Eliminate Your Own Limiting Thoughts With Self Hypnosis
The 3 Powerful Techniques of Self Hypnosis
The True Value of Self Hypnosis
Why I Created a Book on Hypnotic Selling
If you are motivated and passionate about succeeding in sales, then this book is for you. You may be a seasoned professional or are thinking about pursuing a career in sales. It doesn’t matter. If you picked up this book, then I think I can make a few assumptions about you. You would like to experience, or have experienced, one or more of the following:
1) You want to learn how to become a top, high earning salesperson by using the latest scientific methods that work right now. The same techniques that top professionals in your field are already using but won’t tell you about.
2) You’re frustrated with mediocre, average sales numbers quarter after quarter and are certain that there’s a better way to make a living.
3) You are tired of going to sales seminar after sales seminar only to discover that the old, rehashed information that many of them present just doesn’t work!
I’ve been right where you are!
I have diligently read the top sales books and went to countless sales seminars only to realize that they didn’t help me sell more or make more money. In fact, when I tried the techniques they taught, my sales numbers actually went down.
Some of the information provided actually improved my sales volume for a week or two; however I would mysteriously go back to the same sort of low, mediocre sales numbers that enticed me to read their books in the first place.
It was a great mystery to me…until I discovered the missing piece to the sales puzzle. I discovered the critical piece of selling information that would easily propel me into the upper tier of the sales profession.
That missing piece is Hypnosis.
Within the pages of this book, I’m going to deliver the necessary tools so you can not only complete, but master your own puzzle. You will learn how to produce sales numbers just like the top salespeople in your field are bringing in right now.
So, why should you listen to me? A guy from Ohio?
As a young entrepreneur, I started my first export business at the age of 16. I started selling professionally at the age of 20, but my sales numbers were simply average. I lived in a one-bedroom apartment, living paycheck to paycheck; It simply wasn’t enough. I was motivated but needed to know the secrets to selling success.
At the age of 22, I started studying hypnosis and persuasion. From somewhere in the darkness a light turned on, and I immediately saw the benefits of using the Art of Hypnosis. I realized that with the ability to speak to a person’s subconscious mind I could tactfully and ethically improve my sales career.
Now things started getting really interesting – and way more exciting!
By the age of 23 I had doubled my sales and was promoted to Assistant Manager. By the age of 24 I was managing a team of 15 salespeople and teaching them the Hypnotic Selling Methods that I explain in this book. Sales volume quadrupled.
By the age of 27 I was running an entire company of 80 employees and producing sales in excess of 10 million dollars in revenue each year. Today I run three separate companies that generate an excess of 30 million dollars in sales each year.
I achieved all of this using the methods of Hypnotic Selling that I will show you in the pages of this book.
In case you’re wondering, I no longer live in that one bedroom apartment. In fact, it took only 3 years to go from a struggling young salesman barely living from check to check to making a six figure income, living in a beautiful home in a beautiful neighborhood.
All this was accomplished in the little town of Dayton, Ohio where the median income is $27,500.
If I can accomplish this type of sales success in Dayton, Ohio using Hypnotic Sales, then you can certainly do well in your corner of the world.
I have been studying hypnosis for 14 years, and I am a Certified Hypnotherapist. I have successfully trained hundreds of salespeople to ethically double their sales and earn more money.
What I discovered was that traditional sales methods just don’t work anymore. They teach you to talk to a person’s conscious mind. However, it was their subconscious mind that held them back from saying “yes” to your sales proposal. That is, their subconscious mind suppressed the things that they really desire and need.
Hypnotic Selling isn’t trickery. In fact you can’t force someone into buying something that they don’t want to buy and expect to be successful long term.
Hypnotic Selling is about talking to the part of a person’s brain that makes the decisions…the subconscious mind.
Step by step, I am going to reveal to you why hypnosis works and then give you practical tools and exercises so you can incorporate these techniques into your sales presentations. I will also teach you how to hypnotize yourself so that you are open and ready for the success that comes when you use Hypnotic Selling.
Look, I was an average salesperson with the desire and the drive to become one of the best and make more money. Once I discovered the missing piece to the puzzle, I saw the potential. I understood that there was really no limit to what I could achieve when I consistently used these new techniques.
So without further delay, let’s move forward and discover how Hypnotic Selling can make you better at what you do…Sell!
Section 1: An Introduction to Hypnosis
The journey of hypnosis has been a long one. Today, you may be most familiar with stage hypnosis where curious audiences of thousands wait to see an unsuspecting man or woman dance like a chicken while in a trance. While this form of entertainment has brought mainstream recognition to the art of hypnosis, the roots of hypnotism and mesmerization travel back to ancient cultures. Throughout the years, hypnosis has evolved and has enjoyed a multitude of uses, benefits, and reputations.
However, some people fear the use of hypnosis.
They call it an evil practice only meant to bring harm upon those that are subjected to it. This small group believes that a hypnotist can make a person do something against their will. They fear the power that a hypnotist can potentially have over their subjects. For this reason, and because of this fear, some believe that using hypnosis in sales is just plain wrong. What good could possibly come from tricking someone into buying a product or service that they don’t need or cannot afford?
The answer to that question is simple…very little.
This is why the use of hypnosis in sales is not intended to trick someone into making a purchase that is not beneficial for them. This is not about a salesperson padding their commissions by fooling their clients. Hypnotic selling is about bypassing a person’s conscious, limiting beliefs so they are allowed to make the decisions that they really want to make.
The self-imposed walls that people erect based upon years of negative programming are made weaker through the proper use of hypnosis. This opens up their potential and awakens their true desires. A person whose potential has been unleashed will in turn be drawn into helping others unleash theirs. Consider it a sort of “pay it forward” system of opportunity.
In this first section we are going to discuss a brief history of hypnosis. You will learn about some of the negative outcomes that have been a result of powerful persuasion. You will understand how hypnosis came to have such a bad reputation in the minds of some people, those that fear the power. You will also learn about the many benefits that are the result of using hypnosis.
We will start our discussion of hypnosis in biblical and ancient times. We will then journey into the fields of medicine and psychotherapy to discover how the benefits of hypnosis are able to encourage patients to overcome fears and reach new plateaus of development and growth. Then we move onto the field of sports. I’ll show you how athletes harness the incredible forces of self hypnosis to enhance sports performance and achieve milestones that may otherwise be impossible.
There is always a shadowy side to any subject matter. When it comes to the use of hypnosis, the resulting benefits that occur far outshine any fears. Traditionally, we most fear what we don’t understand. When you understand that people have used the power of hypnosis to unleash the potential in others as well as themselves, you will be ready to embrace its use in your sales career. When you realize that those who use self hypnosis tend to be more self-reliant and capable of handling most problems, then you will readily seek its power for your own benefit - in sales as well as in your personal life.
In the Beginning…There Was Hypnosis
Perhaps the first recorded instance of hypnosis is found in the pages of the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis. No matter your religious beliefs, the story of Adam and Eve and their encounter with Satan in the form of a Serpent illustrates many examples of powerful and effective hypnotic persuasion.
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The Serpent deceived me, and I ate.” - Genesis 3:1-6, 11-13
In this story, the Serpent appealed to Eve through a hypnotic thought process. The Serpent pointed out to her all of the reasons she should eat the forbidden fruit. From the moment she came to life, the idea of avoiding fruit from the tree of knowledge was ingrained into her. Before meeting the Serpent, she did not consciously consider going against the instruction that was given to her by God and by Adam to avoid the fruit. However, upon hearing the Serpent talk of all the wonderful benefits of the fruit, Eve clearly thinks about the arguments being presented.
She considers: The fruit of the tree is good for food; the fruit of the tree is pleasant to behold; eating the fruit will make me wise; the fruit will make me like God. Since she was already curious about the fruit, she chooses to eat it after hearing the powerful suggestions of the Serpent.
Adam’s decision to go against the instructions of God in regard to the fruit was not based on thought. Instead, his decision was patterned after another hypnotic process. Someone he knew and trusted already did what he was being asked to do. Surely, if Eve was already eating the fruit, then it must be okay for him to also eat of the fruit.
When confronted by God about why they made the choice to disobey him, we get an answer that children and husbands have repeated for centuries: “The devil made me do it” and “My wife made me do it!”
And to think that we believe we have evolved so far beyond our ancient ancestors!
In clinical terms this is what psychologists call external attribution. It’s deployed to escape the consequences of bad behavior. We may simply see these Biblical excuses as man’s (and woman’s) first recorded example of “passing the buck”. But this story is also a good example of the power of hypnotic persuasion.
The Serpent put Eve in the future and painted a picture of how good her life would be if she would move past her conscious barriers and enjoy the fruit offered to her. It was just hanging there on the lowest branches, begging to be eaten. Eve considered the Serpent’s suggestion and then chose to agree with that future picture
The Temples and Courts of Ancient Cultures
The mystery of hypnosis continues with the magical stories of good and evil in ancient times
The ancient cultures of Greece and Egypt recognized the power of hypnosis for healing. We know this because sleep temples were discovered by archeologists. The wall paintings illustrated the use of trances to cure ailments. These sleep temples were much like our modern day hospitals but without the use of modern medicine. Many ailments were treated by placing patients in a trance-like state, reciting chants, and analyzing dreams to decide on a treatment. It’s believed that the treatments may have included meditation, fasting, baths, and sacrifices to the gods.
The first recorded hypnotic “performances” were held in the Egyptian court of King Khufu over 5000 years ago. Although there is very little written about this King, he was believed to be both ruthless and powerful. Is it any wonder that the King who would oversee construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest temple and pyramid in Egypt and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, would be familiar with the power of hypnosis?
There are recorded stories of magicians in his court that could bring the dead back to life simply by harnessing the power of hypnosis. There is controversy on whether or not this actually happened or if it was simply a show.
The power of a trance is also recorded in many shikar books. These books narrate stories of hunting excursions where the prey is mesmerized by the oncoming threat of a predator. The fear of the oncoming threat literally paralyzes the prey. They are rendered helpless, unable to run from the oncoming threat and save their own life.
These hunting accounts are probably the earliest examples of how the rational brain can be manipulated by the power of hypnosis. The focus of the prey was altered and, rather than react to their fears by running, the prey stood fast to see and experience the possibilities. Sure, death was the most likely possibility in the hunting scenario. However, in sales, that’s not what we are aiming for!
Is Hypnosis Evil?
So does this mean that hypnosis is only used by sketchy characters with the intent to harm their subjects?
With early examples such as these:
• The fall of Adam and Eve after the powerful, mesmerizing tales weaved by Satan
• Unfamiliar ailments mysteriously cured through trances within the walls of a sleep temple
• Hypnotic performances given in the courts of a ruthless King to raise the dead
• Poor, helpless animals being killed as the result of a hypnotic trance
It’s no wonder that hypnosis is sometimes seen as dark, mysterious, and dangerous to those that do not thoroughly understand its many benefits.
The positive power and benefits of hypnosis are what we seek when discussing the Hypnotic Selling techniques used by top salespeople. You will see that there are far more examples of positive applications of this powerful tool.
It’s these benefits of hypnosis that move us forward at this point. Let’s talk first about hypnosis in the respected field of science.
The Early Emergence Hypnotism in the Sciences
There are numerous traditions for calming and centering the mind through hypnosis that result in enhanced mental and physical health. It is believed by many in the field that through hypnosis and meditation, a person can improve their health and even cure ailments. By attracting positive energy and positive thoughts, a person may be able to invite better health into their life.
Known as sammohan in India, the practice of hypnosis is defined as the power of attraction. This power is inborn in every human being. It’s believed that by instilling deep concentration through a person’s words or stories that everyone can learn to attract and hold the attention of the listener. In that state of deep concentration, the “teller” can slip in subtle suggestions where the listener will be more open to consider. This same power of attraction is used in self-hypnosis, a necessary component in meditation and yoga.
However, hypnosis is not just a discipline used by those wearing flowing gowns or living at Tibetan altitudes. It has evolved into a legitimate scientific discipline thanks to the efforts and discoveries of Franz Anton Mesmer, a German healer during the 18th century.
Although Mesmer mistakenly attributed the success of cures through the laying on of hands as “animal magnetism”, where he believed energy was transferred or passed through a conduit such as a magnet, curiosity for this emerging healing process grew. As he continued to study the phenomena of healing through powerful suggestions and trance-like states his popularity grew, as did his critics. He left Vienna in 1778 to escape harassment.
Dr. Jean Martin Charcot, a French neurologist known primarily for treating mentally ill patients, took up the study of hypnosis in the 1800’s. He kept diaries of successes experienced with his patients. Three stages of a hypnotic trance emerged from his studies: lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism. These are loosely translated as light, medium and heavy hypnotic states.
It was the heavy hypnotic state that was to become the most useful to the medical community at that time. With the lack of anesthetics such as ether or chloroform, necessary surgery had been a painful event. Patients were ineffectively numbed by large amounts of whiskey or the suggestion of “biting a bullet”. I’m sure many would have preferred the actual use of the bullet rather than the pain of having their legs amputated while they were awake!
Then, in 1821 the world witnessed the first surgery performed on a patient that was put into a deep hypnotic trance. This altered state allowed the patient to overcome and manage the pain of the surgery. The success of this method was remarkable. It even resulted in increased survival rates for those hypnotized prior to undergoing certain surgeries. Rather than allowing their conscious mind to convince their body of the impending pain of surgery or the certain death that would follow, hypnosis allowed them to overcome these limiting thoughts and experience much better outcomes.
While Dr. Charcot was giving a lecture on hypnosis a young Sigmund Freud sat in the audience. The lecture intrigued Freud so much that he later used hypnosis to treat his patients. However, his study and emphasis on dreams took the forefront, which pushed the medical validity of hypnosis to the back burner. Even with all the success that hypnosis gained within the medical community, the science and art of mesmerization soon passed on to mostly the world of stage magicians.
So, hypnotism in the medical community remained in the shadows. Without an influential leader and as a result of other medical advances, especially the invention of local anesthesia in the 1940’s, the practical medical applications of hypnosis became less evident.
However, mesmerization did not die. In fact, it was to be introduced to a much larger audience in the world of entertainment.
Battle of Hypnosis: For Fun or For Real?
In any profession you will discover two sorts of people: Those who are good at what they do and act with a great degree of integrity and those who do a poor job and even commit fraud. It is no different in the world of hypnosis.
The minority group, those who are ineffective or deceitful, can cast a negative image for an entire profession. However, it doesn’t mean that the entire field is bad. That’s like saying that one bad doctor means all medicine is bad.
There are con artists who have stripped people of their money or willpower by using powerful persuasion tactics, hypnosis if you will, to convince others to do their bidding. Historically there are examples of this found on stage, in politics, and in religious settings. However, these well-publicized events are only one side of the hypnotic coin.
As you flip that coin over, you’ll get a much better and more genuine understanding of what hypnosis really is.
There has been an ongoing debate between those who perform hypnosis on stage and those who use hypnosis professionally, such as in psychotherapy. The latter group is concerned that the entertainment sizzle and sensationalism projected by stage hypnotists weakens the validity of the practice of hypnosis. Those that use hypnosis in a therapeutic setting fear that stage shows lead most people to believe that hypnosis is exploitative, manipulative, and worse of all, phony. The public, they fear, will come to see hypnosis as magic rather than a legitimate tool used for therapy and self-improvement.
The stage hypnotists, some who actually started by using hypnosis in their therapy practices, argue that bringing it to an entertainment venue makes it more accessible to a wider audience. In fact, they argue a person who sees a show with legitimate and successful results may be more open to trying hypnosis in therapy.
When a legitimate hypnotist performs, they may also offer private consultations for those who are interested in exploring its therapeutic benefits. However, fake stage hypnotists, only out to profit from its popularity, can put a dark cloud over the benefits of hypnosis.
The 1952 Hypnotism Act in the United Kingdom is evidence of the public’s fear of being taken for a ride. The intent of this Act was to regulate stage hypnotists after this public controversy heated up. The greatest fear at that time was that a hypnotist could force, or con, someone into doing something harmful.
However studies have been conducted as recently as 1994 and it has been determined that there is no significant risk to those that have participated in hypnotic stage performances. The myth that a person can be forced to do something they don’t want to do when placed in a hypnotic trance is simply not true.
Hypnotic Benefits in the Field of Science
Even while hypnosis took center stage for fun, serious studies of hypnotism continued in the halls of Ivy League Universities. Clark Leonard Hull picked up the study of hypnotism at Yale University in the 1930’s
Acceptance of the legitimate use of hypnosis in the sciences continued to grow:
• 1955 – The British Medical Association recognized the therapeutic use of hypnosis
• 1958 – The American Medical Association approved a report on the medical use of hypnosis
• 1960 – The American Psychological Association endorsed hypnosis as a branch of psychology
• Milton Erickson (1901-1980) developed many tips and techniques using hypnosis in psychology. Ericksonian Hypnosis greatly influenced many modern schools of hypnosis.
By definition, hypnosis puts a person into a state of altered consciousness. At this level, they experience a feeling of well being, have a higher threshold for pain, are able to easily recall past events, and are open to the acceptance of new ideas which are not in conflict with their personal values.
The body may be relaxed while in a trance; however, the mind remains sharp. This is an important distinction.
Hypnosis used in a clinical setting, referred to as clinical hypnotherapy, works best when the patient believes that they can change. They have hope. By the very fact that they are seeking counsel with a therapist is evidence that they realize whatever problem or fear they are facing does indeed have a solution. They want to improve.
The positive side of the hypnosis shows is that it can help change a person’s behaviors. The very behaviors that are holding them back emotionally, mentally, or physically. Being released from limiting behaviors gives that person a new attitude – one of empowerment. In addition, they can feel more independent and more capable of solving their problems. As clinical therapist Dr. Nalwa commented, “If you can think yourself sick, you can think yourself well too.”
Saying it another way, if you can think yourself into a box, which limits the possibilities of your life, then you can think yourself out of that box as well. There have been bestselling books on this same subject including Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” and Dr. Wayne W. Dryer’s “You’ll See it When you Believe It”.
Hypnotic Benefits in the Field of Sports
Hypnosis has been used in sports to enhance performance and manage pain. When a basketball player suddenly seems to have the ability to make every single shot then you may hear the phrase “in the zone”. It is in this zone that they bring themselves to a level of concentration and focus that allows them to only see success in every shot they make. Using hypnosis in sports can bring that athlete to believe in him/herself at a greater level. This gives them the confidence to enhance workouts and increase actual sports performance when it really counts – on game day. Unbeknown to many athletes and fans alike, sports legends such as Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Phil Jackson, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky and countless others, have utilized the power of visualization throughout their career.
And the whole world witnessed a great display of the power of hypnosis at the 1996 Olympic Games. In a tight competition in Atlanta, GA, the women’s American gymnastic team seemed to be close to letting gold slip through their fingers as the youngest member of the team, Dominique Moceanu fell on both her vaults the last day of the event. The US team had only a slim lead over the Russian team and Kerri Strug was their only hope to snatch the victory. However, she fell too and suffered an injury to her ankle. While others may have sat out, she prepared herself mentally and got “into the zone”.
The world watched as this little dynamo ran full speed down the stretch, on an injured ankle, jumped the vault and stuck her landing perfectly before crumpling to the floor in pain.
Hypnotic Benefits Throughout Life
When a person is able to walk across burning coals at a retreat, you have seen the power of hypnosis.
When a person can successfully lose weight, or quit smoking after powerful persuasion, conversational hypnosis may be at work.
When a dentistry patient can overcome the pain of oral surgery without anesthesia, hypnosis was used.
When you are able to successfully persuade a client to overcome their conscious limitations and encourage them to get what they really want, then you could be the hypnotic conduit used to give them the life they want to enjoy. No fraud necessary!
Those who can unleash their own potential through hypnosis will be drawn to helping others release theirs as well. Think of it as paying it forward. You use self hypnosis to release the possibilities in yourself, enabling you to rise to the top of your sales career. You then use hypnosis in your sales career to help your clients reach their greatest potential as well. If that potential can be reached using your product or service, then you create a win-win situation.
HypnoticSelling: Secret Tool of Top Earners
It has been said that all successful communication is hypnosis.
In the right hands, persuasion can allow people to be safer, healthier, happier, more skillful, better educated, more committed, more involved and more curious. Just imagine…through ordinary conversation you can allow other people to alter a limiting belief, change a negative emotion, or act differently.
How much richer could a person’s life become if they were able to shed all their limiting baggage? How would you feel if you knew that through your skillful sales techniques you could encourage your clients to make better decisions? You can allow them to make decisions that would improve their lives.
Hypnosis is a skill that can be learned. You don’t change the “facts”, you simply change how people prize or value things. You teach them to move beyond their conscious barriers so that they can explore the diamond mine buried in their subconscious.
The unconscious mind learned early on to fear what is unknown. It’s a survival mechanism. However in our modern times, we are not fighting off attacks from large-toothed predators. In some cases, the brain’s reaction to say “no” to a new or unfamiliar request may actually be holding a person back from something they need or desire; that is, what holds a person back from something that would be beneficial to their growth and life.
Companies like Columbia House and Xerox understand this unconscious trigger to resist the unfamiliar. They have combated this by allowing their future clients to become familiar with their products. They meet the client where they are, reluctant to commit to a new product, and offer them a hypnotic way to open themselves up to it. When a person is not familiar with a product, and not convinced that it is something that they want or need, they will most likely say “no”.
But, once given the product with no obligation to keep it, they will be able to use and “own” that product, becoming familiar with how it will benefit their life. Since the majority of people will do far more to avoid losing something that they already have than they will do to get something that they don’t have, these companies are able to get a “yes” response when asking clients if they want to continue to use the product. The success of this type of hypnotic selling is evident in growth of programs like Columbia House’s CD club, Book of the Month clubs, magazine subscriptions and Xerox photocopy sales programs.
Another way that hypnotic selling helps people is to allow them to overcome their emotions. Most people believe they should trust their feelings; however, feelings are simply a gauge of the unconscious minds past experiences and genetic programming.
For example, if someone was once caught in a rip tide at the beach, they may never want to swim in the ocean again. Subconsciously, they may believe that the ocean is bad and no pleasure can be found body surfing, snorkeling, or doing any other water-related activity. How accurate is that feeling or belief? Is it possible that with a different experience, or different approach, their feelings about water-related activities can change? Absolutely!
I know of a family that had ten children. After one of the children drowned, none of the others were allowed to go near the water or learn to swim. Even into their adult lives, all but two remained deathly afraid of water. In their parents loving attempts to keep their kids safe, they programmed them to fear water. Rather than teach them to swim and survive, they were taught to fear and were arguably put into danger of suffering the fate of drowning themselves.
Feelings are not an adequate representation of a person’s quality of life. They do not accurately measure what is good or bad, or predict long-term happiness or sadness. When a person trusts only their feelings, they risk remaining in a state of status quo. This means no growth, no change, and for many ultimately no quality or joy in life.
When you persuade someone to reach beyond their limiting feelings and take new action or direction, you allow them to rise above their feelings of fear and their self-imposed limitations. You bring them to a level of thought which allows them to take control of their life.
For example, let’s look at the limiting beliefs that may be involved in the decision to join a gym. Some people may be reluctant to pay the monthly dues or allow themselves even an hour a day to maintain their health. Perhaps they have been programmed since youth that spending extra time on their health was not a priority. Or worse, taking time for yourself was considered a sign of selfishness. Maybe they feel that spending money on their own needs is not as important as something else in the family budget.
Imagine how much power you can give this individual if you were to use hypnotic selling to free them from these limiting thoughts and feelings. A person who takes time to care for himself or herself could experience more enjoyment and energy each day. It may add healthful years to their life. In turn, this can make them happier and allow them to be more enthusiastic as a parent, spouse, or friend. By overcoming their feelings about the unimportance of caring for their health, they will become a better person for the very family that they care for.
Hypnotic selling in this case would allow you to paint them a picture of a healthy future and help them to envision themselves in that picture. You allow them to experience the power and benefits of health.
University researchers and Linguists have studied top sales people and influential leaders and have concluded that they all use some form of conversational hypnosis. This secret tool gives those at the top of their game the edge, allowing them to command attention, build trust, garner respect and gain the confidence of others. By mastering the skill of hypnosis they become powerful persuaders who create unforgettable impressions that lead to successful closings – closings in sales, political arguments, and social situations.
Since this has been observed to be a common denominator for successful sales people and leaders, the question becomes whether or not there is a way to propel the average salesperson to the status of extraordinary salesperson. If there really is a secret tool that can be harnessed and used to put you at the top of your game, then why don’t you know about it?
Or worse, if you know about it then why aren’t you using it?
For many the thought of hypnosis brings an image of a Barnum and Bailey Circus sideshow or Vegas entertainment act. Certainly this cannot be something effectively used in the respectable occupations of selling medical devices or office equipment, or used in a closing legal argument or a political campaign position. Or can it?
Hypnotic Sales in Action
Unfortunately, some sales trades have a stigma and, whether or not it is really used, are likely to expect gimmicks or trickery. Think of the used car salesman, as an example. There have been a number of movies produced that depict a sleazy guy in a polyester suit who sets out to swindle some poor old lady out of her life’s savings by selling her a car that should be sent to the junk yard. However, those “realities” are usually confined to the big screen and are rarely based on facts. Still, the feeling that you will be taken advantage of when buying a used car persists.
However, the person who wants to purchase a previously owned but reliable vehicle would welcome the skills of an ethical, hypnotic salesman. This salesperson could effectively bring the buyer from where they are (in need of a car) to where they want to be (purchasing a reliable, used car), guiding them along their decision path so that they will have no buyer’s remorse about their good purchase.
Hypnotic selling is not about getting a customer to buy a junk product that they don’t need by swinging a gold watch in front of their eyes, putting them in a trance, and sending them off to sleep. It is about effectively communicating with your clients to help them lower their conscious barriers, overcome their ingrained resistance, and open them up to the possibilities and benefits that your quality product will bring to them.
Another reason why the hypnotic key to top success in sales is not more widely used is that many top sales people, those earning a six figure income each year, cannot explain how they do what they do. They are successful year after year, but don’t understand which part of their sales presentations result in the phenomenal success that they experience.
The good news is that even though these top salespeople don’t know what causes their success, researchers that have studied them do. The skill of hypnotic selling can be learned much in the same way that a person learns to cook, bowl, or play the piano.
What scientific researchers discovered after recording and travelling with top salespeople is that there is a structure to sales hypnosis. There is a communication system that is nearly identical to the structure used by hypnotists. It is within this form of communication where the key to unlocking your clients buying side is found.
And, you can have this key and use it to unlock your selling potential and experience success.
This is a powerful form of communication that is ethical and even humanistic. By using powerful, conversational hypnosis, you have the ability to empower a greater number of people. You can be the reason that they reach for what they truly need and desire.
As we have discussed, the most widespread use of hypnosis today is in psychotherapy and counseling. Patients that have been able to lose weight, stop smoking, or reduce stress as a result of hypnosis have documented positive responses. Milton Erickson has documented much of the work in this area in the 20th century. His methods, which were initially seen as ineffective, have now been widely recognized, accepted, and incorporated in the psychology community.
We have also seen successful hypnosis in the management of pain in the field of dentistry and on the sports field. This same concept of pain management has been successful with cancer patients. That’s not to say that hypnosis cures cancer. It has simply been used to redirect the patient’s attention away from the pain of treatment. Often this type of hypnosis is referred to as deep hypnosis where the subject may not remember what occurred during hypnosis – which is very helpful when undergoing surgery without anesthesia.
But the type of hypnosis that you will learn about and use in sales is the type that most people experience every day. There is really no one true definition of hypnosis that everybody agrees upon; however, most agree that there are key components to the process of hypnosis that occur naturally every day. Top salespeople recognize these components, which lead to greater states of suggestibility.
Have you ever caught yourself staring out the window, daydreaming about a vacation that you want to take, or remembering a certain event? You probably felt very relaxed and unconcerned about what was going on around you, even if only for a few minutes. This is light hypnosis and anybody who can concentrate on something for a few minutes can reach this altered state of awareness.
At this level of light hypnosis you can program your mind, attain higher levels of success and better focus your energy. Slipping off for even a few minutes can allow your conscious mind to shut off and your unconscious mind to step in. Many people have a trance-like place they go to “problem-solve”. Sometimes that means a walk around the park, folding laundry, going for a run, or simply taking a shower. As if by magic the answer to a question that eluded you consciously suddenly seems perfectly clear.
There is a second, medium level of hypnosis that many people enter into and out of each day. In this state you may become unaware of noises around you, or possibly have an unfocused or glazed look on your face. Maybe you are pushing a cart through the grocery store, or reading a book in the park, and are completely unaware of the noise of children playing around you. You could feel very relaxed or even have a complete unawareness of your body. If you have ever driven along a familiar route (for example from work to home) and arrived at your destination without really being aware of the lights you stopped at or any of the turns you made, you could have been in a medium level state of hypnosis.
In both of these levels of hypnosis, the hypnotized person is far more open to any influence by message or image. You can learn to not induce these desirable states of consciousness in both you and your customers and you can use these opportunities to introduce positive suggestions.
You will not be able to make suggestions that cause others to do something that they are unwilling to do or cause them to buy something they don’t want to buy. Being in a hypnotic state does not remove the person’s ability to use reason. In fact, your customers can be both highly rational and in a hypnotic state at the same time.
However, if someone does have a need or desire to own your product, hypnosis will give you the extra edge in making that sale. Your hypnotic message will be able to bypass the customer’s defenses, which usually come out as “no”, and turn their answers into “yes” and turn you into a sales superstar.
You can also effectively use these levels of hypnosis on yourself to overcome your conscious barriers to success. The same tools and strategies used to become a top salesperson in the sense of dollars earned can also be used to reprogram your own brain and allow this success. We will teach you how to take hold of powerful suggestions and benefit from this effective tool in the chapters dealing with self-hypnosis.
Research shows that appealing only to the logic of your potential clients will not get you a lot of sales. Why?
Because pure logic isn’t motivation enough to get people to buy.
Emotions are a much stronger form of motivation. People don’t buy because they need to; they buy because they want to. By learning hypnotic selling you can bypass their logic, their conscious, and appeal to their emotions and inner psyche.
As you go through the information and techniques discussed in the following pages, you will run across sections to practice what you are reading about. You want to be a top salesperson, and you will find great value in doing these exercises. Take the time to do the exercises as you go along. It will allow you to apply the lessons to your particular product or service and get you started on your way to sales success.
The techniques that you will learn through conversational hypnosis are powerful. This could be the most powerful selling book that you will ever pick up. By mastering hypnotic selling your sales presentations, through the use of words, phrases, tones of voice and intonation, will be more powerful than any brochure, PowerPoint presentation, graph, or fancy packaging.
So get ready and be prepared to succeed by using these powerful hypnotic selling techniques!
Section 2: Mastering Hypnotic Selling Techniques
Throughout this book you will find a ton of ideas and strategies to use in your selling career. It can be overwhelming no matter what stage of your career you are in. Just know that you don’t have to master everything in one sitting. It will take time and practice, but the results will be worth the little bit of effort.
I’ve included some exercises to do after some of the sections. I highly recommend that you take the time to do them while the material is fresh in your mind. It’s designed to help you put together your Script Book, which we will talk about in the 3rd Section.
The more you know about the Hypnotic Selling Techniques that you are about to learn, the better prepared you will be to excel in your career no matter what you’re selling and no matter what the state of the economy.
Transform Average Sales into Hypnotic Sales: Building Rapport and Trust
Your customer doesn’t care about you – they care about themselves! Many salespeople spend time trying to make the customer like them. This is important because people tend to buy things from people they like or people that remind them of themselves. It’s called building rapport; however, often times the average salesperson does it backwards. Rather than trying to learn about the customer and their wants, needs, and desires; the salesperson tells the customer about their own wants, needs, and desires. But the customer is more concerned about himself or herself then they will ever be about you.
That’s not rude; it’s just the way it is. So how can a salesperson express their desire to help the customer and get that customer to like them if they don’t spend time talking and telling about themselves and their interests and desires?
Most salespeople are social and share some common traits. They love to meet new people; have a genuine interest in getting to know people; enjoy helping people solve their problems; and get satisfaction by making other people’s lives better, happier and easier. If they can sell their product to the person in order to accomplish that goal, well, then the result is a win-win situation that keeps food on the table and a roof over the salesperson’s head.
People tend to buy from people they like. The challenge in sales is to get a prospective client to like you in a very short amount of time. That old familiar saying is true: you rarely have a second chance to make a good first impression. In fact, studies have shown that you may have as little as four seconds to make that first impression. The first thirty seconds of meeting someone could very well be the most important. So how can you make it count? By developing hypnotic trust.
Before going into a sales meeting or a sales presentation, prepare yourself for a successful outcome. Building hypnotic trust begins before you even meet. Top salespeople intuitively know how to trigger this level of trust. Let me explain.
Hypnotic Trust: You Had Me at Hello
Have you ever met someone that you felt comfortable with, almost instantly? That person was a complete stranger yet something about them, the way they talked, smiled, or walked, caused you to like or trust them without any real justification. It was just a gut feeling, a subconscious intuitive response.
That is hypnotic trust. Chances are that something about that person’s appearance, mannerisms, scent or speech triggered a memory in your subconscious mind about someone else in your life that you trusted or liked in the past. Once established, trust is the most powerful shortcut to making a sale. With hypnotic trust it is like Renee’ Zellwegger’s character in the movie Jerry McGuire when she said, “You had me at hello.”
So how can you be assured to romance your client in much the same way?
We have seen that trust can be given to another person by no effort on our own, by simply reminding someone of a trusted person in their life. But what if you don’t have the benefit of being similar to someone or something in your prospect’s history? How do you build trust quickly if you don’t have the good fortune of this type of recognition?
Given enough time, almost anyone that is honest and reliable can build rapport and earn the trust of their clients. However, you rarely have the luxury of time in sales. You need to have a way to build a level of hypnotic trust in the least amount of time possible.
Build Rapport Before the First “Hello”
I said earlier that you can begin to build rapport and trust with your client even before your first meeting. How could this be possible? Non-verbal communication and physical appearance account for 50-80% of the impact of communication.
Remember, people tend to like people that are similar to themselves; and they tend to buy from people they like. I’m not suggesting that you put on an act and try to be something that you are not. That is dishonest and you will eventually be found out. By using misleading tactics you can jeopardize any trust that you may have built, damaging the relationship and wasting precious time for both you and your client.
What I am suggesting is to find out a little bit about your client, or potential client. If you are going into a sales presentation for a company do a little homework to find out about that company and its culture. If they tend to be casual in their dress, you should be dressed just one step above them – casual yet professional. If they are wearing sandals and you arrive in a three-piece suit their first impression of you may be that you are a little stuffy. However, if you arrive in khakis and a collared shirt, their impression may be a little more favorable.
Likewise, if you are selling farm equipment and are stepping over cow dung in your $500 leather Gucci heels the farmer may not believe that you know the first thing about their equipment needs. After all there are not too many chicken coops on Madison Avenue. It won’t matter to them at first glance if you grew up on a farm yourself and just enjoy the finer luxuries of life. You will have to overcome this negative first impression to get on to the subject of how you and your product can solve their needs.