Having gained your customer’s trust through pacing and mirroring speech patterns and thoughts, the next step is to learn more about his or her needs, and to help him or her make a wise purchase decision. In this chapter, you will learn how to use special combinations of hypnotic words that will produce more and more sales with less effort. These are the verbal techniques of persuasion employed by both sales superstars and highly skilled psychologists and psychiatrists trained in hypnosis.
How to Select and Express “Hot Words” that Have Special Persuasive Powers
Our language is full of emotion, but some words clearly fire off stronger emotional responses than others. Words that trigger our emotions are known as “hot words.” Words like “pain,” “money” “baby,” “mother,” “loss,” and “gain” have a strong emotional charge. When such words are heard, there is more than passive recognition of the words themselves. There tends to be a deeper emotional reaction as well. Maybe the reaction is in the pit of the stomach, maybe it is just a “tingle”, but the word sends off a number of unconscious messages and feelings, which can be quite effective in sales or any kind of persuasion.
Think about your own reaction to the word “baby” as opposed to words such as “kid,” “child,” “offspring,” or “progeny.” They may all refer to the same little person, but which word has the greatest emotional charge?
Hot words can have a dramatic effect on the emotional state of the listener. Richard Bandler and John Grinder, creators of the field known as “neuro-linguistic programming,” call these words “anchors.” In a real sense, our feelings and emotions are anchored to these words and then our feelings are “fired off” when we hear these words.
Hot words can be positive, such as “love,” “free,” and “new,” or they can be negative, such as “Nazi,” “pain,” or “death.” The name of a loved-one can be a very positive hot word. Just mentioning the name of a loved one can cause someone to smile and feel good. Mentioning the words “freedom,” “America” or “the flag,” to a patriotic American can fire off many positive emotions. Mentioning the words “abortion” or “freedom of choice” to someone who is against abortion can fire off many negative emotions.
By skillfully combining emotionally-laden hot word combinations, a salesperson can guide and control the emotional climate of the sales call. There are words to produce any emotional state you desire in your prospect and customer. If you are not producing the emotional states you want your customer to experience, it’s because you are not using the right combinations of hot words.
An important note: Emotional words tend to have an even greater impact on the listener when spoken with a shift in tone or vocal emphasis which makes them stand out from the rest of the sentence. You can change your vocal emphasis by speaking the words softly or more loudly; slowly or more rapidly. The purpose of such “verbal marking” is to further distinguish the emotional words from all the other words in the sentence.
How do top salespeople and hypnotists know which emotional words to use? They look very closely at their clients and the clients’ surroundings. They ask themselves: What is important and meaningful to this person? They listen equally carefully. They ask themselves: What turns this person on? What turns him off? What are his pet interests and hobbies? What are the significant events in his life?
They skillfully use probing techniques (see Chapter 7) to find where some of these words may be buried. As they unearth meaningful emotional words, they incorporate these hot words into their presentations. Skilled hypnotists can string together dozens of emotional hot words about childhood, achieving one’s potential, relaxing deeply, being free from stress, and having radiant health, into a single hypnotic induction.
Skilled salespeople can string together dozens of hot words about: saving money, decreasing expense, getting a good return on investment, and pride of ownership into one mesmerizing sales presentation.
Hot words can be used in each step of the sales presentation, from the opening remarks through the close. Which opening statement by the life insurance agent makes the best use of hot words:
“Congratulations! I understand that there is a new baby in your home!”
or
“I understand there is a new child in the house.”
The first sentence has much more emotional impact than the second. The word “congratulations” triggers feelings of pride and accomplishment. The word “baby” is more emotionally charged than “child”. But there is more. Think of the emotional difference between referring to “the house” as opposed to “your home,” particularly when the speaker uses a warm tone of voice and a smile when saying “your home.”
The skillful use of such subtle emotional language throughout the sales presentation can mean extra closeness between the sales professional and his or her customer—and it can mean extra sales.
Opportunities to use emotionally charged words are abundant in the sales process. Top salespeople discover these opportunities by being super-sensitive to their clients. Pat Knowles of Kansas City is one of the most successful sellers of tax-favored investments in America. He is a master at using words related to taxation and the Internal Revenue Service to strategically fire off emotions in his customers’ thinking:
“How do you feel every April 15?” Pat inquires.
“Terrible,” the prospect says. “I pay a fortune to the government every April 15.”
“Well, why not join our group of investors? We celebrate every April 15!”
The hot word “April 15” predictably fires off negative feelings in the prospect. Pat then juxtaposes this hot word with the positive emotions fired off by the word “celebrate.” It is a surprising and fresh perspective for the listener. Potential clients invariably ask for more information as to why Pat’s investors can celebrate. This is just one of several hundred emotionally charged sentences which Pat Knowles uses. It is no accident that his personal income from sales exceeds one-half million dollars a year.
By skillfully using emotional language, the sales professional is able to cut through intellectual defenses a customer may have erected. Most people buy emotionally and then later justify their purchase decision with logic. That is why it is so important that you first reach them emotionally. Hot words enable you to do that.
Emotional language helps the customer see a new way of solving his or her problems. The salesperson is now even more likely to be perceived as an insightful individual who understands the customer and his or her needs. This contributes to better communication and deeper trust between salesperson and customer.
Using Attention-Focusing Statements to Grab and Direct Customer Attention
Whether during hypnosis or a sales presentation, there are limits to the client’s attention span. As a consequence, there is a need to give the client a verbal nudge periodically in order to regain attention and concentration. Without such words, the client can drift into an unfocused mental state or become preoccupied, and will miss keys points that are being made. This undermines the entire sales process.
Words such as “now,” “here” and “again,” bring attention and emphasis to the statements that follow them. If interspersed throughout the sales presentation, these words can help you sustain the customer’s interest longer. They can also cause the client to pay more attention to the exact points that the sales professional wishes to emphasize.
Successful hypnotists make frequent use of the word “now.” Once a deep level of trust and rapport has been established through the use of pacing statements and voice-matching, the hypnotist will begin the hypnotic induction:
“You can begin going into hypnosis NOW.”
Throughout the hypnosis session, the hypnotic trance is deepened with focusing statements such as:
“You can go deeper and deeper into hypnosis NOW.”
The word “now” acts as a hidden action command for the client to stay at a deeper level of hypnosis.
The effectiveness of these attention-focusing statements is apparent in the following example from a sales presentation for an oil and gas limited partnership. Which one will command more client attention?
“There are 5 advantages of our program,”
or
“NOW, let’s look HERE at the 5 advantages of our program.”
Clearly the second sentence grabs the client’s attention more powerfully than does the first one.
An Important Note: The impact of these attention-grabbers is even greater if they are pronounced in a sustained voice that is deep and soft. Try to stretch the word out for several seconds. Turn “now,” into “N-N-N-O-O-O-W-W-W”. To the listener, this sounds beautifully resonant and it also grabs his attention.
Listen to the way professional television announcers use attention-grabbers such as “now.” Their challenge is to grab and focus your attention in 30 seconds or less. Advertisers and those who design advertising want their ads to be as effective as possible. That’s why many people in the advertising field are now studying hypnotic techniques and hypnotic language patterns. Both scientific research and hard-earned experience show that conversational hypnosis works in advertising. In our sales training seminars, we have found it great fun, and also very effective, to have the group practice d-r-a-w-i-n-g out words such as n-n-n-o-o-o-w-w-w and h-h-h-e-e-e-r-r-r-e-e-e.
Most of the prospects you call on are already preoccupied. Their attention is focused—but it is focused on something other than what you are selling. They are preoccupied with the problems of the day, with thinking about people and events in their work lives and personal lives. They are talking to themselves about their problems and responsibilities. Unless you have the ability to attract and maintain their attention, you will be unable to counter their existing preoccupations. Attention-focusing statements give you this power. Our research shows that these special words are used with much greater frequency by top salespeople than by less successful salespeople. Join the ranks of the top salespeople and make them a part of your vocabulary.
How to Make the Sale by Taking the Sale Away
One of the reasons average salespeople are not more successful is that they push too hard. No one likes to be forced into something. “Taking the sale away” techniques are effective because they get the customer to sell himself or herself.
“Taking the Sale Away” is best used to advise a prospect that he or she cannot make a purchase that he or she has little interest in making anyway. You have almost nothing to lose and a lot to gain by using this technique in this circumstance. “Taking the Sale Away” works especially well with highly resistant prospects who have a strong interest in resisting the salesperson!
To illustrate “Taking the Sale Away,” let’s first look at an example from clinical hypnosis. How would you try to hypnotize someone who claims, “NO ONE CAN HYPNOTIZE ME!”? Psychologists and psychiatrists are commonly faced with this problem. The solution they have developed is a psychological version of “Taking the Sale Away.”
The therapist has the patient sit in a big soft chair and then starts speaking in a soft, low tone of voice:
“Maybe you are right, maybe you can’t be hypnotized. Maybe you will never know the comfort and pleasure of hypnosis. Maybe you will always deny yourself the benefits of hypnotic relaxation. I don’t know. It’s up to you. Maybe you are too frightened to allow yourself to experience hypnosis. Maybe you are not interested in the improved health hypnosis can bring you, as you begin to relax just a little more, NOW. And you can relax just a little at a time, as you do every night as you begin to go to sleep. . .”
The highly resistant patient wants to push against the hypnotist. When the hypnotist tells him he cannot go into trance, the only way the patient can resist is to go into hypnosis!
To make “Taking the Sales Away” even more effective, you should state the many benefits of the product or service (which the customer will not enjoy unless he makes the purchase). In the hypnosis example above, you will note that many of the healthful and relaxing benefits of hypnosis were emphasized.
Now, let’s examine how a computer sales professional used “Taking the Sale Away:”
| Salesperson: | “I really can’t recommend that minicomputer because I suspect it is more computer than you need. It has more power, faster processing times, and more storage than you need. Plus, it is built to take much more use than you are going to give it. This is really a computer for bigger businesses.” |
| Client: | “Well, I can afford the minicomputer, and I’ve got some growth plans for my business. I think my business needs the features and benefits of this minicomputer.” |
This salesperson comes across as very honest. He is not a product pusher. It seems that the salesperson knows the client and knows what the client needs. The salesperson knows what will make the client happy.
Since the salesperson was not a product pusher, there was nothing for the client to resist. The salesperson was not pushing against the client, so the client did not need to push back. In preventing the salesperson from “taking the sale away,” the customer bought the computer. He sold himself on his need for the machine.
If the sales professional had tried to push the minicomputer from the outset, he might not have succeeded. The seemingly gentle method of “taking the sale away” was actually much more effective than a direct sales approach, just as indirect hypnosis can be much more powerful than direct hypnosis.
What if the prospect had agreed with the salesperson? What if the prospect had said, “I agree with you, this is too much computer for my business”? The sales professional would still win. He could use a probing sequence to find out exactly what kind of computer the client thought he needed. With the trust he had just built, he would have a very good chance of selling that computer to the client. So, no matter what happens after you use “Taking the Sale Away,” you are likely to make a sale.
We believe it is extremely important to be truthful in all your sales work. Never say that a product will not meet a customer’s needs—unless you sincerely believe what you are saying. Do not use these powerful language patterns just to pull a reversal to get a customer to buy. Our research shows that the only way to sustain high-level sales success over many years is to be truthful with your customers. There are an unlimited number of truthful statements you can use to get sales, and thus there is never any need or justification to use any form of deceit.
Missing Words: Most salespeople concentrate on what to say. Top salespeople understand that it is just as important to know what not to say.
If you know how to paint word pictures, the words you leave out will be automatically “filled in” by customers. The “Missing Words” technique is engineered to trigger the customer to effortlessly use his or her imagination to “fill in the gaps.”
“Missing Words” are also designed to prevent the boredom which can result when a salesperson “tells you too much.” One of the most successful car salesmen in the world says, “I’ve seen many salesmen sell a car. The customer is all excited and ready to buy. But then, sometimes, the salesman talks them out of the deal. He talks too much, and the prospect changes his mind. The salesman ends up taking the car back.”
Salespeople who know how to use “missing words” never say too much. The hypnotic pattern of “Missing Words” allows them to leave out unnecessary details. Here is how it is used in hypnosis. Once you are in hypnosis, the hypnotist might take you to another time and place by saying:
“You are walking along a beach and you can hear the surf roll in as you relax a little more deeply and you can smell the salt in the air and you can see sea-gulls flying around. Off in the distance, you see a stranger and you walk towards the stranger, feeling excited about who this person might be. As you get closer, you can see how the stranger is dressed and you recognize the stranger. This person has a very special message for you. This person has an answer to a question you have been thinking about. And, as you stand next to this person, you hear the answer.”
Notice that the hypnotist did not specify what the beach would look like or where it was. The hypnotist did not specify what time of year it was or what time of day it was. The hypnotist did not specify whether the stranger was male or female. The hypnotist did not specify what the message was. Your subconscious mind effortlessly and instantaneously fills in this missing information. As you read the above passage, you might have seen a specific beach and a specific stranger. In hypnosis, the imagery is much, much more vivid and powerful.
The specific beach you would see, the specific stranger that approaches you, and the specific message he/she delivers would not be random. Rather, it would be based upon your own experiences, expectations, and needs. You might see a beach at Maui, because your honeymoon was on that beach. Or, you might see a beach in Florida, because you once lived in that Florida coastal community. It might be early morning or it might be sunset. Your subconscious mind would effortlessly fill in your favorite time of day to walk along the beach. The stranger might be your last boss, because you have been thinking about him recently. Or, it might be your father or your mother, because you have been thinking about one of them recently. You would not see a random generic non-person.
The message the stranger gives you would not be random either. You might hear him or her say, “You are going to make it,” because that is exactly what you need to hear him say. Or, you might hear the stranger say, “Take life a little easier,” because that is what you need to hear.
In a real sense, “Missing Words” allow the hypnosis client to tailor-make the hypnosis to best-fit to his or her own needs. There is no way that even the most skilled hypnotist in the world could come up with anything more meaningful than what the patient’s own subconscious mind will come up with! This is why highly trained hypnotists don’t even try to specify all the details in hypnotic visualization. Instead, they use “Missing Words” to trigger the client’s imagination. As a result, the hypnotic vision becomes far more vivid, desirable, persuasive and real.
Exactly the same process can be put to work in sales. You don’t have to give the prospect all the details. To try to do so will actually lessen your effectiveness, and it might bore the prospect! Another benefit of using “Missing Words” is that you will have much more selling energy, as you won’t have to try to think of “everything” to say on each sales call.
Let’s examine two brief sales presentations, one with detailed information and the other using “Missing Words.” A word about the prospect and product: The prospect is an individual who is not technically oriented, but is interested in buying a home computer to write letters and do simple word processing. Which presentation do you think might be more effective with this individual:
“This computer, which runs on MS DOS, has serial and parallel ports, a Winchester hard disk and a 9600 baud modem, seems like something that would fit your needs.”
or
“I think you’ll be really happy with this computer because it will help you write wonderful letters and reports and it will check the spelling too!”
In the first statement, the salesperson is showing off his technical knowledge—and is wasting energy with his long-winded technical statements. The prospect is probably thinking, “What is this person talking about? I don’t even understand the words he is using, let alone what those gizmos are supposed to do.”
In the second sales presentation, which uses “Missing Words,” the prospect is communicated with on a more humanistic and respectful level. The prospect can fill in whatever details he needs—or ask for additional information. In the second example, the client is being addressed using his own words, which is much more effective than talking to him in a highly detailed technical language.
When a sales pro uses “Missing Words,” the customer actually conducts an automatic mental search to fill in the missing information. Because the information the customer provides comes from his or her own personal experience, from his or her “view of the world”, it will be maximally relevant. . . .a perfect fit. And, “Missing Words” give the listener the experience that he and the salesperson are on exactly the same wavelength. That’s a good feeling.
Profiting from “-ly” Hypnotic Words
“-ly” hypnotic words can be recognized by their “ly” endings. These include “obviously,” “apparently,” “certainly,” and “clearly.” Let’s look at how these “-ly words” are used in hypnosis:
“You obviously know how to relax, and it is clearly your right and privilege to enjoy relaxation. Apparently, you have been having some stress in your life, and now it is time to let all of that go. Certainly, you know how to day-dream and how to go to sleep at night. Hypnosis is as easy as that and obviously it takes no effort . . . at all . . . and now you can gently let your eyes begin to close . . . as you softly drift off . . . ”
The patient begins to drift off into a pleasant hypnotic state as his mind fills in the blanks in the hypnotist’s beautifully mysterious delivery. “-ly words” are a specialized form of “Missing Words.” What is missing? The reference points. Let’s look more carefully at the example above. “Obviously” is an “-ly word” that leaves out what makes it obvious. In “clearly,” the missing information is “clear” compared to what? The customer also fills in the details on “apparent” compared to what? “Certain” compared to what? The customer’s mind will automatically fill in these details. There is no need for you to provide all of these details.
Look carefully at this sales presentation made by Larry Halpern, a star salesperson in the insurance industry:
“Obviously, I wouldn’t be telling you this if it wasn’t important. Clearly, the cash buildup in this policy cannot match what you could earn in a money-market fund. But—just as obviously, insurance can do things for you and your family that no money market fund could ever do.”
Notice that Larry never clarifies what makes these statements “obvious” or “clear.” But, the customer feels what is being said is important and he pays more attention. The client supplies the missing, or deleted, information from his or her own experiences, from his or her own “view of the world.” The information the customer supplied to himself fit perfectly. Larry made the sale. We know, because he sold the insurance policy to one of the authors of this book!
Using “Frozen Words” to Motivate Your Customers to Buy
If used properly, some words can actually “freeze” a customer’s thinking.
In using “Frozen Words,” you can take processes (such as thinking or emotions) and turn them into fixed events (such as “decisions”):
| Customer: | My thinking is that I am not ready to buy that equipment today. |
| Salesperson: | What is your thought as to when you will be ready to make a decision to buy? |
Now, notice what the sales pro has done here. The customer is in the process of thinking about buying the product. Such thinking can go on for a long time. The salesperson moves the customer from thinking about the purchase to the final thought to buy it. The customer’s “thinking” is being frozen into a decision. Knowing how to use “Frozen Words” can save a great deal of time and energy in selling.
Hypnotists will sometimes “freeze” words so that patients can own feelings of comfort and self-confidence. For many people, including salespeople, self-confidence is a fleeting thing. It is here one moment and gone the next. The hypnotist can freeze self-confidence by turning it from a constantly changing feeling into a concrete thing:
| Patient: | “I was feeling nervous and insecure.” |
| Therapist: | “What would enable you to have lots and lots of self-confidence?” |
When the patient talks about feelings (which are constantly changing), the therapist freezes this as a quantity (lots and lots) of a thing (self-confidence). The thing (self-confidence) is something the patient can possess and own. It is much more permanent and lasting than fleeting feelings.
How to Unfreeze a Customer’s Decision Not to Buy
We’ve seen an example of how hypnotists and salespeople can freeze the words and actions of customers. However, what if the customer is already using “Frozen Words” which the salesperson doesn’t like? Skilled salespeople “unfreeze” the words. Let’s look at an example of how this is done.
| Customer: | “The decision I have made prevents me from engaging in any further negotiations.” |
In this case, the prospect, a medical doctor, took a process (decision-making), and turned it into a fixed hard thing: a decision! The salesperson, a top X-ray sales professional working for Toshiba Medical Systems, unfroze the decision by immediately turning it back into a process:
| Sales pro: | “What were the most important factors you considered while you were deciding?” |
When the doctor talked about these factors, he unfroze his thinking. The sales pro took a hard, fixed thing, “a decision,” and turned it back into a fluid process of “deciding.” A decision is hard to change. “Deciding” is an on-going process. By changing “a decision” to “deciding,” the X-ray salesman un-froze the client’s thinking.
The physician prospect went on to give the salesman the information needed to get the doctor to reconsider his decision. The doctor talked about what went into his “deciding,” and what his buying criteria are. The salesperson learned that the doctor was not totally convinced he had made the right decision. After the Toshiba salesman learned the doctor’s buying criteria, he then showed the doctor how Toshiba could far exceed the doctor’s standards and criteria. By doing this, the salesperson capitalized on the doctor’s process of “deciding.” Once he got “THE DECISION” out of the way, the doctor was able to consider new information. He got the sale.
We identified dozens of ways he and other top salespeople at Toshiba were able to “unfreeze” words, and actually un-hypnotize doctors who seemingly had already made their minds up. We then organized these and other persuasive messages into sales scripts. These “how to unfreeze decisions” scripts were taught to Toshiba’s new X-ray and CT scanner salespeople. The result was that in a matter of weeks, new salespeople were at a level of effectiveness that had previously taken months to attain. The new salespeople had mastered the words and strategies of the most successful salespeople.
Selecting Vague Verbs for a More Powerful Presentation
Hypnotists use “Vague Verbs” when they talk about actions people can take. Let’s say you are in a hypnotic trance and that you are seeing two people approaching one another. Rather than specifying that the people “ran quickly” towards each other or that they “slowly walked” towards each other, the hypnotist uses vague verbs and says:
“The two people approached one another, and they got closer and closer to one another and . . .”
The hypnotist leaves all the details up to your imagination. If you want to see them running towards one another, that’s what you will see. If you want to see them crawling towards one another, you’ll see that. You will see what is most meaningful to you.
“Vague Verbs” indicate action, but they do not limit the kind or type of action. They are patently ambiguous and, as a result, they give the prospect the freedom to come up with exactly the specifics he or she most needs. For example, study this sentence used by one sales superstar in describing a sale:
“After buying the tax shelter, the man went home, and he went to sleep.”
No information is given as to how the man bought the tax shelter, how he went home, or how he went to sleep. Upon hearing this sentence, a prospect would not be certain whether the man bought the tax shelter in haste or slowly; whether he walked, ran or drove home; or whether he went to sleep quickly and easily or with great difficulty.
Here is another sales sentence used by the sales superstar Pat Knowles. After saying it, he pauses and looks directly into the prospect’s eyes:
“The man drove to work. He used to hate to drive to work. He hated spending all that money on gasoline. He especially hated it when the price of gas went up. But, now that he owns one of our oil and gas producing properties, he enjoys his drive to work. In fact, he is happy every time oil prices increase. It means he is making more money. Would you like to be happy every time energy prices increase?”
Pat Knowles used “Vague Verbs” throughout his presentation to give his prospect room to imagine other details. How many “Vague Verbs” can you find in this example? Knowles does not say how the man drove to work. Was it quickly or slowly, or in-between? What kind of car did he drive to work in? He used to hate to drive to work? Why did he hate to drive to work?
Knowles fills in just enough detail to complete the picture and to increase the arousal of the prospect. Then, he is silent. He lets the prospect tell him exactly how he feels about energy prices. He lets the prospect tell him about the taxes he pays. Knowles uses this information to craft a solution to the prospect’s tax problems. If there is no tax problem, Knowles goes on to another millionaire. If there is a tax problem, Knowles solves it. That is “sales magic,” and it is hard to resist.
In our work with AT & T Information Systems, we have found that some of their top salespeople use reassurance statements such as:
“This PABX telephone system will fit in perfectly in your operation.”
They make use of many Vague Verbs such as “fit in.” What does it mean to have the system “fit in”? Will it fit in terms of size, function, price, expandability, color, or some other factor?
Did you notice the hypnotic “-ly word”? In what ways will the system “perfectly” fit in? The customer must search through his or her own perspectives to supply this information. The process of doing this mental search makes the sales presentation more personally meaningful. If you deny your customers the opportunity to personally customize your vague speech, you will put limits on their imaginations, and you will put limits on how much you can sell. They will always supply details that are more meaningful than any details you can supply.
You can rest assured that your customer will do a good job of filling in the “missing” information. If he has questions, he will ask them—and you should answer them like a true expert. If she wants more information, she will ask for it. You can then give the customer exactly the information he or she is most interested in. Everyone wins. Everyone gets what he or she wants. Everyone saves time. Communication and excitement are facilitated. You get the sale.
Secrets of Comparative Hypnotic Words
Comparative words effortlessly get the customer to make comparisons. You can recognize these words, whether used by a sales pro or a hypnotist, by their “-er” endings: faster, slower, fancier, lighter, and stronger are examples. Comparative phrases can also be preceded by the words “more” or “less,” as in “costs less money,” or “makes more units per hour.” The words encourage the listener to make an instantaneous and easy comparison. Here’s an example from a real clinical hypnosis session:
“It is better to be relaxed than to be tense, and it is more comfortable to take a nap than to fight it, and it is nicer to float away into the clouds than to worry, and it is quicker to close your eyes than to wait for them to close, and it is easier to go into hypnosis than you ever imagined.”
Notice that the induction begins with an undeniably truthful pacing statement: “It is better to be relaxed than tense.” This starts to establish a yes-set of agreement. The next statement, “It is more comfortable to take a nap than to fight it,” is also very hard to disagree with and so continues to build a climate of agreement. We next get into “picking up the pace” by using the leading statement, “ . . . and it is nicer to float away into the clouds than to worry . . .” The comparative hypnotic words, which are highlighted in the above-example, combined with pacing and picking up the pace, build a climate of agreement, build trust, and move the listener into a more relaxed and free-floating state of mind. Comparative hypnotic words are building blocks of conversational hypnosis.
Jim Sweeney is one of the greatest multi-level marketing salesmen in the world. He was the top salesman for Cambridge Diet Foods and later for Genesis. Now, he is the President of his own company, Total Living Concepts. Jim became a multi-millionaire in less than two years through his ability to recruit and sell people on the idea of joining his multi-level marketing organization. When giving an exciting recruitment speech to an auditorium of people, Jim hypnotically repeats comparatives:
“Cambridge is getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger and bigger and better and better and better and better, and why don’t you join NOW???”
Bigger than what? Better than what? People fill in the answers for themselves. What they come up with is more interesting than anything Jim could say. The proof of the effectiveness of Jim’s presentations is that he has brought over 7,000 people in his organization! Notice that Jim also makes excellent use of hypnotic repetition and of the attention-focusing word “now” which he stretches out for added effect.
Demonstrating Confidence through Hypnotic Absolutes
Words such as “always,” “never,” or “nothing” imply that certain conditions are universal and unchanging. They show self-confidence and confidence in the product. Absolute Words imply finality. Use Absolute Words only when their use is justified.
Ericksonian hypnotists make skillful use of Absolute Words in inducing and deepening conversational hypnosis:
“It is always better to drop down into a comfortable trance than to resist it.”
“There is never any reason to deny yourself the pleasure of exploring your dreams in hypnosis.”
People who sit in this special hypnosis chair always find they drop down . . . deeply . . . into a restful hypnotic sleep.”
Top salespeople know that the best time to use Absolutes is after they have built a good level of trust with their prospects. Don’t open your presentations with Absolute Words. First concentrate on pacing and building trust and rapport. One you have done that, and once you have uncovered the client’s true needs, propose your solutions, products and services. When your client has indicated which products or services he or she is most interested in, validate those choices by using absolute words:
“You have made an excellent selection. People are always happy with that model.”
“That’s a fine choice. You will never regret making this decision.”
If you do not use Absolutes, you can induce doubt in the prospect’s mind. The prospect will wonder about other products and the options they might offer. Which of these sentences is more persuasive to you:
“You won’t find many systems that can do what this one can,”
or
“There is nothing out there that can perform like this system.”
Top salespeople not only use Absolutes, they also listen for Absolutes that customers use. When a customer uses Absolute Words, the highly skilled sales professional responds with comments that bring the customer’s Absolute back down to Earth. Top salespeople take the “absolute power” away from Absolute Words customers use, if these words might interfere with the sale. The following example illustrates how this is accomplished.
The One-Step Method to Successfully Handle Customer Absolutes
Andre is one of the top sellers of Sharp photocopy machines in the country. Occasionally, some of the prospects he calls upon use Absolute Words and say, “I would never buy a Japanese product!” What would you say if you were faced with such an absolute statement?
Andre arches an eyebrow, smiles slightly, looks directly at the prospect, and in an exaggerated one-word question says “Never???”
Andre then asks a series of simple questions to un-do the power of the absolute statement.
Andre knows how to take the absolute power out of Absolute Words. It doesn’t take long before the prospect sees that his “absolute position” (“I won’t buy foreign products”) is not so absolute at all. To be fair, the prospect takes an unbiased look at what Sharp offers in photocopiers. Andre has undone the power of the absolute word and is one step closer to making the sale. It is no accident that he has risen to the top in his sales field.
As a skill-building exercise, write down five Absolute Statements that prospects use on you. They may be along the lines of:
“I will never buy from your company.”
“I will never pay the list price for anything!”
“I always get a discount.”
“I never buy a new model.”
After you have identified the Absolute Statements your prospects sometimes use to stymie you, write down your script for un-doing these Absolutes. Practice un-doing these Absolutes now, before the pressure is on. Craft out your very best responses and then practice those responses. The next time a prospect tries to use these Absolute Statements on you, you will have a wonderful persuasive response ready to use.
Remember that one of the very best ways of un-doing Absolute Statements is to simply repeat back the absolute word to the prospect. If the prospect says, “I always get three estimates before I buy anything,” you can look directly at the prospect and say, “Always?” Stretch out the word “always,” and raise your voice tone at the end to turn it into a question. Don’t be surprised if the prospect has a response like, “Well, not always, but almost always.” When the prospect says that, ask, “When was the last time you bought something without getting 3 estimates?”
You are now well on your way to making that sale. Find out why the prospect did not get three estimates on that previous purchase. Then, replay those circumstances as much as you can. If reassurances were given in the previous sale—give those reassurances if you can. If someone else encouraged him to make the decision to buy without 3 estimates, see if you can talk with that other person.
An excellent way of challenging Absolute Statements is to look for exceptions to the absolute. If your prospect says, “I always sleep on it before making my mind up,” ask, “Have you ever made a decision to buy without sleeping on it?” Your prospect will almost certainly answer “yes.” Find out how he did that and then replay the same logic or the same circumstances, if possible. This will increase the odds that he’ll be able to make a decision today—without sleeping on it.
Whenever you hear an absolute such as “never,” or “always” or “nothing,” look for the exception by asking, “Has there ever been a time when . . . .you made an exception to that rule?” If you have done a good job of building trust, your prospect will admit there have been times when he has made an exception. When you know how and why he made the exception, you will know how to get him to make the exception again today.
How to Use Superwords Like a Sales Superstar
Superwords or superlatives can be recognized by their “-est” endings, such as in “fastest” or “strongest,” and by phrases that include the words “most” or “least.”
When used by the master salesperson or hypnotist, these Superwords leave out the information that specifies why or how a product or service or process is the fastest or strongest. The customer goes on a mental search through his own belief system, and fills in the “missing” information based on his needs.
In this example from a session with a top medical hypnotist, we have placed the Superwords in bold type:
“The easiest way for you to drop deeply into hypnosis is also the simplest: sit deeply in the chair, and imagine that your body is melting, like warm butter melting in a frying pan. All of your deepest tensions are melting away, melting, melting away. That is the fastest way for you to go down, down, down, into the best hypnosis you have ever experienced.”
To the patient, this induction fits perfectly with what he is experiencing. This is no surprise because the patient fills in all the missing parts.
In sales, Superwords are equally powerful, but they must not be overused. Never say something you sell is the fastest, the cheapest, or the most reliable—unless it really is. If your product or service is the best in some area, make the most of it. Don’t assume your prospect knows all the ways your product is the best. Remember, your prospect cannot read your mind! Make the superiority of your product or service clear with Superwords. Master salesmanship is no place for false modesty.
How to Send Compelling Messages through Hidden Commands
An important part of the persuasion process is the use of friendly commands hidden in sentences. This does not mean that the customer is forced to do anything. The command is presented on a more subtle basis, and it is not perceived as a command. Instead, the customer hears it as a powerful subconscious suggestion. The hidden command may be further emphasized by a shift in the tone of the speaker’s voice.
Here are some examples of the use of hidden commands in conversational hypnosis. The hidden action command is highlighted in bold:
“It is very relaxing to, Tom, close your eyes.”
“It is simple to, Mary, begin breathing deeply.”
Notice that the name of the patient is placed near the middle of the sentence, and directly before the hidden action command. The sentence does not have as much emotional impact if the name is placed elsewhere in the sentence. Compare the following two sentences:
“It is very relaxing to, Tom, close your eyes.”
and
“Tom, it is very relaxing to close your eyes.”
While these two sentences have the same intellectual or semantic meaning, they hit the listener on different psychological levels. The second sentence sounds like an ordinary sentence, whereas the first sentence, containing the hidden action command, is much more compelling.
When strings of hidden action command sentences are used in conversational hypnosis, a patient can drift into the hypnotic state without any effort or awareness he is doing so.
Hidden action commands work in a similar way in sales. They are “invisible” yet compelling. While the conscious mind does not recognize them, they work on the subconscious mind. In these examples from the field of computer sales, the hidden commands have been placed in capital letters:
“Just think how much easier all of your work will be if you, MR. JONES, BUY THIS COMPUTER.”
“You’ll be amazed how much more work you’ll get done when you PUT THIS COMPUTER ON YOUR DESK.”
“You will see that your employees will be far more productive if YOU, MR. JONES, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PACKAGE.”
Notice that you can turn an ordinary suggestion into a hidden action command by either placing the customer’s name directly before the hidden command, or by inserting the word “you” before the hidden action command. You can also place both the word “you” and the customer’s name directly before the hidden action command, as shown above.
When properly used, no one ever objects to hidden commands. Prospects and customers hear them only on a subconscious level, rather than a conscious level. The overall effect is that they feel motivated or compelled to take action, and to make the purchase, without feeling pushed. Try using some hidden action commands later today. You can construct hidden commands by inserting the word “you” or your customer’s name in the middle of a sentence, directly before a suggested action. Your experience will quickly prove to you that this type of sentence encourages customers to make purchase decisions.
Another fine way of using a hidden action command is to tell a story in which one of the characters in the story gives the hidden action command. If you think back over your sales experiences, you can probably remember a number of sales in which customers made statements which you can now repeat as hidden action commands. Here is an example. Let’s say you are selling homes and you want your client to make an offer on a brand new listing. Rather than directly telling or ordering the client to make an offer, you can use a hidden action command in story form by saying:
“A couple of months ago, I was showing a beautiful home to a young couple. They had been looking at homes for months, but couldn’t find anything they liked that was in their price range. When we finally found a home they really wanted, they delayed in placing an offer. The next day, it was sold. We had to keep looking for 3 more weeks until we found another wonderful home that they could afford. This time, the wife looked at me and said, ‘Let’s make an offer today.’ They made an offer that very day and got the house of their dreams.”
As you say the hidden action command, “Let’s make an offer today,” look directly into your client’s eyes. Say the words slowly and with resonance in your voice. It is safe to give extra emphasis to this command because you are not saying it. The character in the story is saying it! However, your client will hear the hidden action command loud and clear on a subconscious level. He might later even think it is his own idea to make an offer on the house today.
Action commands that are hidden in stories are one of the most subtle and powerful ways of influencing prospects. You can have a character in a story say things and make suggestions which might be very difficult or impossible for you to suggest directly. Also, you can have different characters in a story give different hidden action commands. The best stories are the ones that are truthful and based on your own experiences. Think back over your many sales experiences and remember the words of customers that you can now use in hidden action commands to get more sales today. The number of hidden action commands you use and the range of hidden action commands you use is limited only by your memory and your imagination.
Trance Words: Some words seem to have a special power to induce a trancelike state of focused attention and relaxation in a listener. These include such words as “wonder,” “puzzle,” “understand,” “curious,” “amaze,” and “awaken.” When these Trance Words are pronounced in a deeper, more resonant voice, they acquire extra power. An example from hypnosis:
“As you drop into hypnosis, you may begin to wonder how you can better understand the curious sensation of comfort and relaxation you are experiencing more and more.”
And, an example from sales:
“When you use this software program, you will be amazed and enchanted at its power and speed.”
As a skill-building exercise, write down ten mesmerizing sales sentences you can use which contain the trance words “wonder,” “puzzle,” “understand,” “curious,” “amaze,” and “awaken.” Start by putting only one trance word in each sentence. Later, practice working two trance words into each sentence. Here are some examples to get you started:
“You may wonder how we can offer such a sophisticated piece of electronics equipment for so little money.”
“It is a puzzle how some of our competitors can stay in business.”
“It feels great to be able to fully understand how this works . . .”
“He was curious about why so many of his business associates had purchased our system . . .”
“She was amazed at all the new options we offered . . .”
“This new system awakened a new level of productivity in his people.”
“They were totally enchanted with this product.”
“They were entranced with this new system.”
“I think you will be hypnotized by this new car—it is so beautiful!”
As the last three examples show, you can use words directly taken from the world of hypnosis, such as “enchanted,” “entranced” and “hypnotized.” Upon hearing these words, prospects and customers will begin to experience, on a subconscious level, some aspects of the mesmerization. They may not know why, but they will find your sales presentations fascinating. Few salespeople know how to use these trance words. Use them to add extra sparkle and magnetism to your presentations.
Using the Element of Surprise to Open a Closed Mind
Putting words together in such a way as to mildly surprise the customer is a very effective persuasion tool. It is especially effective in breaking the habitual mind sets.
All of our thoughts and actions, including the decision to buy something, are the products of our frames of mind. And, underlying these mind sets are some strong mental habits. As a result, the ability to alter a person’s habitual mind set can mean the difference between making or losing the sale.
A clinical example illustrates the power of surprise in breaking habitual mind sets. Most overweight people are constantly “reminded” by family and friends to lose weight. Unfortunately, these helpful reminders and hints often have the opposite effect. They increase the individual’s stress level, and the person ends up eating more to comfort himself and temporarily lower the stress.
When going to a therapist, the overweight person might expect to be again “reminded” of how terrible it is to be overweight, and how important it is to lose weight. However, an overweight patient who went to see the eminent Dr. Erickson would have his or her expectations confounded upon hearing Erickson say, “Before we can begin treatment, I want you to gain 20 or 30 more pounds. That way I’ll know that you truly do have some control over your weight.” This approach can literally surprise the person out of the mind set that has been preventing the weight loss all along.
Sales champions have several approaches that apply a surprise technique to unfreeze a client’s habitual mind set. The result is that the customer becomes more receptive to the information presented after the surprise. For example, one highly successful door-to-door salesman we know takes two steps backward whenever a prospective client opens the door. This technique is totally surprising to the would-be client, and the reaction is to open the door wider, and even step outside in order to hear what is being said!
A top computer salesman we worked with a few years ago has a very interesting surprise technique. When approached by prospective clients he tells them that he absolutely will not sell them a computer. In fact, that is the first statement out of his mouth!
This is totally surprising to the customer. Most customers enter the store with a combination of computer phobia and a fear of spending too much money. His surprising opening statement gets them to relax, and sometimes even to smile. Many will ask, “Why won’t you sell me a computer?”
His answer is “I’m not sure that you need one.” With that, the customers typically try to convince him that they do. A conversation is going! He learns about all their needs and wants. He also concentrates on building trust and rapport. When he makes a recommendation for a specific computer or printer, it is likely to be right on target. And since he avoided resistance from the very start of his presentation, he has built a climate of agreement. His refreshing and somewhat surprising way of opening the sale contributes greatly to his closing so many sales.
How to Let Your Product Talk and Sell Itself
Hypnotists frequently make use of metaphors, parables, and stories to influence clients and imbed hidden messages. Sometimes they will even have an inanimate object in the story “talk” to the patient. The hypnotist may have a rock, a tree, or a hill “say” something to the patient:
“And now, as you go deeper and deeper into hypnosis, you will find yourself walking down a trail in a mountain meadow. Up ahead, you can see a tall redwood tree. As you approach this tree, you can hear it talking to you . . .”
Master salespeople also know ways of literally making their products talk. “Talking Products” is a special technique that is a form of hypnotic surprise. You can also use it to imbed commands.
An example of the Talking Products Technique is given by John Ackerele, a top salesman for Jonathan Forbes Realtors in Northridge, California. John sometimes makes houses talk by telling his client, “This house told me that it has been looking for a loving family for a long time.” Clients usually smile and warm up upon hearing this statement. And they start to “see” the house as a family home. The fact that a house obviously cannot “speak” or “look” is what gives this sentence its surprise value and its pizzazz.
This type of imagery (a “talking house”) will often touch people in a way that ordinary sales presentations can’t. A talking product seems friendly and unthreatening. The image is so mesmerizing that it is easier for the client to recall.
In addition to making your products talk, you can give them other human qualities. If your prospect fears the technology employed in your product, you can warm him or her to the product by giving it some human characteristics. Which of the following sentences do you find more compelling:
“This computer system is easy to use,”
or
“This computer system will hold your hand as you are learning how to use it.”
In addition to giving your product human abilities, you can even give it emotions. You can make it “happy,” “sad,” “perplexed,” “angry,” “lonely,” or you can have it experience any other emotion that will help you get the sale.
Use the “Talking Products” technique creatively. If you sound like every other average salesperson, how can you expect to sell more than the average salesman? “Talking Products” is a fresh, new, unique way of making presentations and of selling. Adding just a few “Talking Products” sentences to your presentation will add sparkle to your speech and will create a lasting positive impression.
Word Power Revisited
You have just learned some of the most powerful word patterns in the English language. We hope you have found this excursion through the land of hypnotic language interesting and enjoyable. You have met hot words, attention-focusing statements, “-ly” hypnosis words, vague verbs, trance words and many of the other powerful verbal tools of top salespeople. The more you practice using these tools, the more skillful and successful you will become in your business and personal life. This is a great opportunity and we hope you’ll make the most of it!
You are now ready to learn how to use sales stories and metaphors—perhaps the most powerful hypnotic techniques of all. Stories, metaphors and parables have been used for thousands of years by religious leaders and politicians to influence entire nations and to change human history. While stories and metaphors have been used for many years by top salespeople, this important skill has never been covered in conventional sales training books or tapes. Why?
In the past, it was assumed that the ability to tell stories was innate or intuitive. The assumption was, “Some people have it, but most people don’t.” This assumption discouraged attempts to teach the powerful art of story-selling.
With new tools provided by the science of psycholinguistics (the science of language), many more people can now master the art and science of story-selling. You will learn how to develop this wonderful power in the following chapter.