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Using The Sales Magic Of Ed McMahon

 

Ed McMahon, known to millions of Americans as the television celebrity on The Tonight Show and Star Search, is a sales superstar. We know one when we see one. We’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best salespeople in the country—people earning $500,000 to over $1,000,000 per year—and we believe that Ed McMahon could be their match, or better them in the selling profession. If he wasn’t in the entertainment business full time, we bet Ed would be a sales superstar. His intuitive skill in using hypnotic sales strategies is phenomenal.

His autobiography, Here’s Ed,^* contains a fascinating, detailed account of how Ed McMahon uses his awesome sales powers. The scene is the Atlantic City boardwalk. The time is just after World War II ended.^**

The range and sequencing of Ed’s hypnotic sales techniques is impressive. Few people could resist his charm, his wit, his surprises, his honesty. While the setting was the Atlantic City boardwalk, it could have been anywhere. People are people. The hypnotic persuasion principles Ed used have universal application.

We have here reproduced, with permission, Ed McMahon’s magic words. You will find many principles, techniques, and phrases that you will be able to adapt to your sales. On the left side of each page, you will see Ed’s exact words. On the right, we will take an X-ray look at the hypnotic powers carried in these phrases and sentences. This is the great art of hypnotic selling as performed by one of its greatest practitioners.

Ed McMahon’s Word Magic

TRANSCRIPT	ANALYSIS
“You are familiar, ladies and gentlemen, with the famous Western Fountain pen . . . a familiar object in the vest pocket of every successful businessman.”	At the time, people were familiar with this pen. By making this statement, Ed got the listener into a “Yes Set” of minor agreement. He paced or matched the listener’s experience. All the listener could do was to nod his head in agreement. This undeniably truthful statement started the building of a climate of agreement. When Ed says that this fountain pen is “. . . a familiar object in the vest pocket of every successful businessman,” he is using a hypnotic absolute in the word “every.”
“You are familiar, too, with the way this pen operates.”	Another undeniably truthful pacing statement, which leads to more minor agreement. The more minor agreements Ed gets, the easier it is for him to get major agreement (the sale) later on.
“Let me show you. You just pull this lever down, insert the point of the pen in a bottle of ink, let the lever go, and you are ready for many uninterrupted hours of writing pleasure.”	Ed predicts what he is going to do, which is pacing the future. Then, when he does it, he creates more minor agreement. The prospect thinks, “He said he was going to do it, and now he did it.” This helps to further build the “Yes Set” of agreement. Ed then uses visual involvement with the prospect. The pen functions like a shiny watch or a pendulum to help focus the client’s attention. Ed next uses hypnotic leading. After pacing the client (telling the client what the client already knows or has seen), Ed leads the client by introducing some new information. In this case, the leading statement is “you are ready for many uninterrupted hours of writing pleasure.” Ed leads the client by telling him that he WILL experience writing pleasure.
“Now you have seen how this pen operates. . .”	This is an undeniably truthful hypnotic pacing statement. The prospect has just seen how the pen operates. Since it is impossible to disagree with, it helps to deepen the “Yes Set.”
“. . . and I am now about to shock you . . .”	This is an Attention-Grabbing Device that breaks the client’s ordinary mind-set. This also makes Ed stand out from ordinary salesmen. Have you ever heard a sales professional say he was going to “shock you”? (A word of warning: this technique should only be rarely used. If overused, it loses its effectiveness).
“. . . by announcing that I am not selling this expensive article for two dollars. Not for one dollar. Not for fifty cents. No. I am giving this pen away, ladies and gentlemen, absolutely free, to every man, woman and child who buys one of these absolutely necessary gold-finish pen points without which it is impossible to use any fountain pen.”	This is a suspense-building technique. Ed then ends the suspense by saying that he is giving the pen away. This fulfills his promise that he would “shock” the prospect. With this promise fulfilled, he has deepened the “Yes Set” of minor agreement. The word “absolutely” in “absolutely free” is a hypnotic “-ly” word. He uses still another hypnotic “-ly” word when he says the pen point is “absolutely necessary.”
“Now, friends, I can hear you saying to yourself, ‘He’s giving us the fountain pen, but he’s making us buy the point in order to get it.’”	Here Ed McMahon skillfully uses hypnotic mind-reading. He says out loud what the prospects are quietly thinking to themselves. This also shows a lot of self confidence, because Ed is pacing an objection and is bringing it out into the open (where he can deal with it).
“This is not true, my friends. But show me a man who does not buy one of these fine, durable gold-finished writing pen points at the miniscule price I am offering them today and I’ll show you a man who doesn’t recognize a good deal when he sees one, a man with no business sense whatsoever, and I know there are no such men in this gathering.”	Ed introduces the hot words “my friends.” As the presentation continues, you will see how he uses these hot words again and again as an anchor to bring up good feelings. Ed now deals with the objection he just raised and he used two more hypnotic absolutes (“no” and “whatsoever”) when he refers to “. . . a man with no business sense whatsoever . . .” He then uses the hypnotic leading conjunction “and” to add the phrase “I know there are no such men in this gathering.”
“You can see, friends, that this pen I am about to give you already has a point in it . . .”	Ed uses the hot word “friends” again to fire off good feelings. Ed draws the prospect’s attention back to the pen. He is pacing an observable when he says, “You can see, friends, that this pen . . .” As they see what Ed is referring to, more minor agreement is created.
“So why should you buy this point I’m offering?”	Ed uses hypnotic mind reading again. He states the question that has been going through the listener’s mind.
“What if you are about to sign an important contract and you drop this pen and bend the point? What if you get hold of some bad ink that clogs the fine point of this pen beyond repair? What if you’re forced to write on rough paper that wads up and wrecks the point? What will you do?”	Ed uses hypnotic mind reading again. He states the question that has been going through the listener’s mind.
“You will not be able to sign the contract. You will not be able to use the pen unless you have with you an extra point such as the one I am offering you now for only fifty cents.”	Ed uses two hypnotic “can do” statements when he states that the prospect will not be able to sign the contract and will not be able to use the pen (in this case, the “can” is a “can’t”). This deepens the need. Ed goes on to fulfill the need with the pen points he is selling.
“Now, friends, who will be the first one to buy one of these extraordinary gold-finished pen points for only fifty cents and get this guaranteed fountain pen absolutely free?”	Ed uses the hot word “friends” again to bring up the good feelings that have become associated with that word throughout his presentation. He uses a long, rhythmic hypnotic sentence structure (rather than using several short, choppy sentences). Ed uses a hypnotic presupposition when he assumes that someone will be the first to buy a gold-finish pen point. He doesn’t even leave the possibility open that no one will buy. He then uses a hypnotic “-ly” word (“absolutely” free) to close the sale! It is no accident that Ed McMahon was so successful in selling pen points in Atlantic City. His presentation was so fascinating and factual you had to pay attention. It was mesmerizing.

Ed McMahon’s Attention Grabbers

Ed then went on to face on of the greatest selling challenges ever. How can you sell empty boxes? Read this transcript and the analysis and you will learn Ed’s secrets.

You will also learn some techniques you can adapt to sell your company’s products or services. If these powerful techniques will sell empty boxes, you can use them to sell almost anything.

TRANSCRIPT	ANALYSIS
“That’s right, friends! You there with the pretty young lady in red, you heard me right.”	Ed starts his presentation with the hot word “friends.” He will use this word several times in his presentation to anchor good feelings. By using the attention grabber statement, “You there with . . .” he reaches out and grabs both attention and prospects. Ed doesn’t wait for the prospects to come to him. He then uses flattery power by making reference to “the pretty young lady . . .”
“I’m about to sell ten of these empty boxes.”	Ed creates excitement and arouses interest by making the surprising statement that he will sell ten empty boxes. This is slightly disorienting to the listener, who begins to wonder how this is possible. The need to understand this situation compels the prospect to stop and listen, which is exactly what Ed wants. He has reached his first goal in the sales presentation: to attract the prospect and hold his attention.
“. . . just exactly ten . . . the specially selected ten I have piled up right here on the counter . . .”	Ed here uses the “-ly” hypnotic words “exactly” and “specially.” He is also pacing observables. As the prospect sees there are 10 boxes on the counter, he begins to build a “Yes Set” that what Ed says is true. This also starts to build a climate of agreement.
“I’m about to sell these ten boxes only to ten lucky buyers at only one dollar each.”	Ed uses hypnotic repetition and repeats what he has just said. He also paces the future and shows self-confidence by predicting that he will sell the ten boxes for one dollar each.
“Now, I hear you saying, ‘Who’s going to pay a buck for an empty box?”	Ed uses hypnotic mind reading and voices the inner thoughts of his listeners. He is also pacing an objection by bringing it out in the open.
“That’s a good question.”	Ed uses the power of flattery (“good question”) to compliment his prospects for their thought—which he just mind-read.
“Not your staid, conservative, solid unimaginative man with no romance in his soul.”	Ed uses a hypnotic absolute in saying that only an unimaginative man with “no romance in his soul” wouldn’t buy one of the empty boxes.
“But those of you who know that there’s often more to a thing than meets the eye . . . those of you can become fascinated, intrigued by an idea . . . those of you who wonder why a man would stand up here before you and offer an empty box for a dollar . . .”	Like a skilled hypnotist, Ed uses the power of vague, non-specific words to trigger the power of the human imagination. He doesn’t say what this “thing,” is—he only says there is more to it than meets the eye. He then uses three trance words in succession: “fascinated,” “intrigued” and “wonder.” Ed then uses a hidden action command in saying, “. . . wonder why a man would stand up here before you and offer an empty box for a dollar . . .”
	This subliminal technique gets the listener to wonder about that question. Since Ed is undeniably standing up in front of them and is asking a dollar for an empty box, this statement is also an example of pacing observable things in the environment. If you read Ed’s words again, you will see that he is also seducing and romancing the prospect with flattery statements.
“You will say to yourself, ‘There must be more here than meets the eye.’”	Ed skillfully combines hypnotic mind reading and pacing the future by telling the prospect what he WILL be telling himself later. This is a quick-acting posthypnotic suggestion which the listener immediately acts on by saying to himself, “There must be more here than meets the eye.”
“But there is a limit to the number of these empty boxes that I can sell at the price of just one dollar.”	Ed uses another slightly confusing statement to mildly disorient the listener. The listener wonders, “How can there be a limit on the number of empty boxes he can sell?” or “Why is there a limit on the number of boxes he can sell?” As the listener searches his mind seeking an explanation for this puzzling statement, he must stay to hear the answer. Thus, Ed is guaranteed of the prospect’s continued interest in the boxes.
“Here they are. I will count them for you . . . one, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, nine, and ten! That’s the limit.”	Ed uses an undeniably truthful statement, as he counts the boxes in front of his prospects. This is an example of pacing ob servables in the environment. This also guarantees visual involvement as he counts the boxes one by one. It focuses the viewers’ attention much as does a shiny watch or a pendulum. Throughout all this, his listeners are still wondering, “Why only ten empty boxes?”

In his book, Ed then comments, “At this point, I would pick up one of the boxes, look knowingly inside it, and smile provocatively at the crowd as if I wished they could see what I saw.” This is another highly skillful visual involvement device.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I say . . . I say . . . these boxes are empty. That’s what I say.”

Ed uses hypnotic repetition by saying, “I say . . . I say . . . That’s what I say.” He also makes the intriguing statement that the boxes he is selling are empty. His prospects continue to wonder how and why he can sell empty boxes. They have to stick around to hear the answer

TRANSCRIPT	ANALYSIS
“But I wonder if there are ten ladies and gentlemen among you out there who believe that I would actually presume to sell you an empty box.”	Ed uses the hypnotic trance word “wonder.” He then uses the hypnotic “-ly” word “actually.”
“So this is what I’m going to do.”	Ed now paces the future and tells the people what he is going to do.
‘As each of you steps forward to buy one of these little jewelry boxes . . .”	Ed now leads the prospects with the hypnotic leading statement “As each of you steps forward to buy one of these . . .” This also functions as an assumptive close: Ed assumes they WILL buy.
“. . . I’m going to put one—the one you buy—on top of your dollar. When I have ten dollars covered by ten boxes, I’m going to ask each of you to step up here, open the box you bought and find out if I told you the truth when I said the box was empty.”	Ed continues to use future pacing to predict and describe what he will do. Since he knows what he is going to do, this is guaranteed to create a “Yes Set” of agreement in his listener.
“Remember, I say these boxes are empty. Do you or don’t you believe me?”	Ed uses the power of hypnotic repetition in saying, “Remember, I say these boxes are empty.” He then challenges and provokes the listeners to take action by asking, “Do you or don’t you believe me?”

Ed would, in almost no time at all, have ten boxes on top of ten one dollar bills.

Ed’s Secrets of Group Selling

“Now then, folks, I want each of you to step up here, open your box, and show everyone here exactly what you bought.”

Ed uses hypnotic leading to tell his customers what to do next. Ed started by predicting his own future behavior, and now he is predicting the future behavior of his customers.

“You bought an empty box, exactly as I told you you would. Very well, ladies and gentlemen, what does that prove? It proves that I am an absolutely honest man.”

Ed confirms what he has been saying all along: that he is indeed selling empty boxes. This confirmation deepens the “Yes Set” of minor agreement. Ed then capitalizes on this minor agreement by saying it “proves that I am an absolutely honest man.” Notice the use of the hypnotic “-ly” word “absolutely.” While Ed could have simply stated that he is an honest man, it is much more powerful to prove it!

TRANSCRIPT	ANALYSIS
“So you must believe me when I tell you that the very greatest item I have ever been authorized to offer here on the boardwalk of Atlantic City is this handy Morris Metric Slicer which . . .”	Ed uses a hypnotic “must do” statement when he says that “. . . you must believe me when I tell you that . . .” He then uses a hypnotic superlative when he refers to the next item he will sell as “very greatest.”
“. . . I have here in my hand.”	Ed is pacing observables in the environment by stating the obvious: that he does have the slicer in his hands. This adds another “yes” to the “Yes Set.” As he holds the slicer in his hand, he focuses the listener’s attention in the same way a hypnotist focuses attention with a shiny watch or pendulum.
“Forget the two dollars these great little gadgets were made to sell for.”	Ed triggers the power of human curiosity when he asks the listener to “Forget the two dollars these great little gadgets were made to sell for.” The listener wonders, “Why should I forget it?” He or she has to stick around to hear the answer.
“I’m cutting the price in half. Just look at the way it slices these cucumbers, ladies and gentlemen.”	Ed uses a clever physical metaphor when he says he is “. . . cutting the price in half . . .” He is selling something that cuts and he is cutting the price of it in half. As he slices the cucumber, he is using the slicer as an attention focusing device. This adds visual involvement to his sales presentation.
“Is that great or is that sensational?”	Ed here skillfully uses two superlatives (“great” and “sensational”) in a forced choice format. No matter which superlative the listener chooses, Ed wins.
“With a machine like this, you can slice anything so thin, you could get a job with a tobacco company slicing calling cards into cigarette papers.”	Ed here uses the power of story selling. He creates a wonderful hypnotic word picture of cutting calling cards so thin they could be used as cigarette papers.
“And I’m about to give this little machine more use and abuse in the next two minutes than you would give it in an entire lifetime.”	Ed paces the future by telling his prospects what he will do next. Since he knows what he will do next, this is guaranteed to create a “Yes Set” of agreement when he does what he says he was going to do. Ed also triggers the power of absolute words when he says he will give the machine more use and abuse than anyone else would give it in an “entire lifetime.”
“It’s guaranteed not to rip, rust, bust, split in the back or smell bad in warm weather.”	Ed knows that the word “guaranteed” is one of the most persuasive in the English language. He also triggers some good feelings by making the humorous statement that it is guaranteed not to “smell bad in warm weather.”
“Just a minute, what was that I heard? Did someone say cabbage? Thank you. Perfect stranger. Get a load of how this remarkable little machine handles your cabbage problems.”	Whether or not someone would say “cabbage,” Ed would mention cabbage. He knew someone in the crowd was thinking about the difficulty of cutting up cabbage. He used hypnotic mind reading to bring their thought out into the open.
	This is also an example of pacing objections, as Ed is bringing up the objection (“your cabbage problems”) early in his presentation on the slicer.
	In describing cabbage as a “problem,” Ed is drawing attention to a need. The listener is compelled to watch how Ed solves this “problem.”
“For coleslaw, hot slaw, sauerkraut, or anything that may constitute your cabbage pleasure. Could I hear it for this coleslaw, ladies and gentlemen.”	Ed now does a demonstration of making coleslaw which guarantees the visual involvement of his prospects. He transforms the “cabbage problem” into “cabbage pleasure” with the Morris Metric Slicer.
	Ed then asks to “hear it” for the coleslaw—not for himself. It is much easier to ask the crowd to applaud the slicer, or the man operating the slicer. The crowd yells its approval. Ed knows that while the crowd thinks they are applauding the coleslaw, they are really complimenting him and the slicer.
“But wait a minute, that’s not all!”	Ed builds suspense by stating “that’s not all.” The prospects have to stay a minute longer to see what is going to come up next.
“Did you ever see a lady slice a tomato? She takes a poor defenseless tomato and plunges at it with a butcher knife. And the poor little tomato dies of a hemorrhage before it ever reaches the table.”	Ed uses the power of story selling and paints a humorous picture of someone trying to cut up a tomato with a butcher knife. The humor and the word picture trigger good feelings in the listener. They like Ed. They want to hear more.
	Ed uses a variation of the “talking products” technique and imbues his tomato with human-like qualities. He calls the tomato “defenseless” and then says it “dies of a hemorrhage.” If he wanted to, he could have taken this a step further and could even have had the tomato yell out, or say something to the prospects.
“Now watch as I show you how this wonderful little invention handles your tomato problem.”	Ed predicts his own behavior when he tells people what he is going to do. This is hypnotic pacing of the future. He also hypnotically repeats the vegetable “problem” theme, this time applying it to the tomato.
“Look at those slices, ladies and gentlemen. Each one is so thin, it’s no wonder stingy people adore this little machine.”	Ed uses visual focusing of the audience’s attention to keep their minds from straying. He adds humor and good feelings by saying that “stingy people adore this little machine.” He also included the trance word “wonder.”
“Why I sold one of these to a lady in Bayonne, New Jersey, and it made one tomato last her all summer long.”	Ed repeats his use of Sales Humor. People are laughing so much now they can’t help but like Ed (and his product).
“Look at those slices!”	Visual Focusing of audience’s attention.
“And . . . wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen, that’s not all!”	Suspense-building statement. This holds the audience’s attention for another minute.
“Today and for today only I’m including with each and every sale of this remarkable slicing machine a rotisserie cutter invented by the famous dean of the Parisian School of Potato Surgery. It was he himself who taught me how to use it.”	With the use of the hypnotic “-ly” word “only,” Ed triggers scarcity thinking. He also layers on more sales humor by referring to the “famous dean of the Parisian School of Potato Surgery.”
“Any child can learn.”	Ed here uses the hypnotic absolute word “any,” in making a psychological reassurance statement.
“Look at this!”	Attention-focusing statement.

At this point, Ed McMahon spins a potato on the rotisserie cutter in such a way as to produce a springlike spiral of potato that he’d pull out and let snap back.

How to Use Humor to Close the Sale

“When company comes to dinner, spread it out. When they go home, let it snap back together again. One potato could last you a lifetime.”	Ed uses a hypnotic story image and some intoxicating sales humor when he explains how “one potato could last you a lifetime.” At this point, the audience is laughing so much and feeling so good they’d buy almost anything from Ed!
“And in addition to the slicer and the machine for performing miracles with a potato, I’m adding the juice-o-matic . . . here it is folks . . . all for one dollar.”	Ed uses the leading conjunction “and” to connect up his previous statements to still another product, the juice-o-matic. He injects a little more sales humor with his reference to “the machine for performing miracles with a potato.”
“Plunge this handy little juice-o-matic into an orange, a grapefruit, or a watermelon like this.”	Ed uses Visual Involvement and Attention-Focusing.
“Take it with you on your way to work and drink the juice right out of the fruit on your way downtown.”	Ed uses the power of hypnotic story telling combined with hidden action commands. He paints a picture and in the picture tells the people what they will do: “drink the juice right out of the fruit on your way downtown.” This also sells the audience on another benefit of the juice-o-matic.
“We don’t supply the vodka.”	Ed uses still more sales humor to anchor the good feelings.
“Stick this into a lemon and you have juice for a salad, a little lemon for your Tom Collins, and some for Mary and Jane Collins, too. There’s enough for the whole Collins family.”	Ed continues using sales humor and paints another hypnotic word picture. Ed has us laughing so much, we have forgotten many of our day-to-day problems.
“And wait till you try it on a grapefruit. Take this number two grapefruit. With this juice-o-matic, you get enough juice to float the USS North Dakota.”	More sales humor with his reference to getting enough juice out of a grapefruit that you could “float the USS North Dakota.” At this point, I like Ed so much, I’d like him to be my son-in-law!
“Who’ll be the first to raise her hand and say ‘I’ll be the first to give you a dollar for those three marvelous kitchen innovations?’”	Ed uses a hidden action command and a presupposition that someone WILL say, “I’ll be the first to give you a dollar for those three marvelous kitchen innovations.” Through the use of hypnotic suggestion, Ed even tells them exactly what to say.
“Lady over there? Thank you very much, my dear. And there’s a man who wants two. He’s obviously leading a double life, the sly old fox. Good luck to you, sir. And thank you all for your enthusiasm.”	Ed uses sales humor to the very close when he suggests that the man who orders two is “obviously leading a double life, the sly old fox.” Notice the use of the hypnotic “-ly” word “obviously.”
“You have made this sale a success for both of us.”	Ed displays win-win thinking and gives the audience the credit: “You have made this sale a success for both of us.”
“And to those of you who didn’t buy, I hope you won’t regret the mistake too much in the future when you might want to become a little cutup.”	You can’t help but like Ed. He uses humor up until the last second. Here he uses a play on words: “cutup” (which is what his product does).

Using Salesmanship as Your Passport to Financial Freedom

As the crowd dispersed, Ed would start his presentation again. He always began with the empty boxes to show his truthfulnesss. No one ever complained because Ed was completely honest in telling the audience exactly what he was going to sell them. Ed made 400% profit on everything he sold, plus the dollar on the empty box, which was almost pure profit.

It was a wonderful summer job and Ed earned enough to register at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., to study drama. The rest is history and Ed McMahon has become an international celebrity. Sales and Ed’s intuitive understanding of hypnotic language techniques made it all possible.

As we stated earlier, while the setting was the Atlantic City boardwalk, it could have been anywhere. You can customize these and the many other powerful techniques you learned in this book to sell more of your products and services with less effort. The hypnotic persuasion principles Ed used have been used by thousands of others. The number of applications these principles have is limited only by your imagination.

We invite you to use sales hypnosis to help yourself, to help your clients and customers, and to help your company. You now have the tools of success that Ed McMahon and other powerful communicators have possessed for many years. If you use them wisely and enjoy them, the tools of sales hypnosis will bring you riches.