Our findings on the hypnotic powers of top salespeople interested so many people in business and the media that, as a result, we’ve been invited to do interviews on dozens of radio shows and more than a few television shows. During the course of the interview, we are usually asked something like, “Is hypnotic selling a fad? Will it be around next year? Will it stand the test of time?”
We answer by explaining that hypnosis has been used for thousands of years by healers, religious leaders, politicians, and other influential people. Carvings on stone walls in Ancient Egyptian “sleep temples” document the use of hypnosis, as do two thousand-year-old writings from Greece. Hypnosis is not likely to go away. Ignoring it will definitely not make it go away. Hypnosis can be a force for much good, if you know how to use it. Those trained in the use of sales hypnosis can utilize it for what we call “win-win selling.” That’s where the salesperson wins, and the customer wins.
The story we’d like to leave you with dramatically proves the power of sales hypnosis. It illustrates how sales hypnosis can be used over the course of an entire career for sustained sales success. This example shows that sales hypnosis will not be a passing fad, but will continue to make a powerful and lasting contribution to the fields of sales, marketing, and persuasion.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, word of our research studies on top salespeople began to slip out. People from around the United States and several foreign countries contacted us to request additional information. Some of these people mailed us stories of how they had been using hypnotic principles for many years in their own sales work.
Use Sales Hypnosis to Get into the Million-Dollar Round Table
In late May of 1981, we were deluged with phone calls and mail. The Wall Street Journal ran a front page story on May 29 about Seymour Frank, an insurance sales superstar who proudly claimed that much of his success in sales derived from his use of hypnotic communications techniques.
Seymour Frank is not a Johnny-come-lately. He has been able to sustain his success over a 25-plus-year career in insurance sales. In several of those years, he was a member of the Seven Million Dollar Forum, which is an elite group of approximately 200 insurance agents who annually sell over $7 million in policies. In his career, Mr. Frank has sold well over $100 million worth of insurance.
Mr. Frank is a performing hypnotist as well as one of the best insurance sales professionals in the country. The Wall Street Journal quotes him as saying, “Hypnosis is the power of suggestion and so is selling.”
During World War II, Seymour Frank toured throughout the United States and the South Pacific entertaining the troops with a hypnosis revue. After the war, he worked with Milton Berle, who still holds Mr. Frank in high regard. Mr. Frank used hypnosis to eliminate Milton Berle’s mother’s sinus headaches. “He was excellent, terrific,” The Wall Street Journal quotes Mr. Berle as saying.
When he entered the insurance sales field, he enjoyed even greater success. After qualifying for membership in the exclusive Million Dollar Round Table year after year, the organization finally gave up and named him a Life Member of the Million Dollar Round Table in 1963.
The Wall Street Journal Reports on Sales Hypnosis
Some of his clients even know he is a trained Master Hypnotist. Does that interfere with his success? It doesn’t seem to. The Wall Street Journal quotes one of Mr. Frank’s clients, Arthur Abramson, an accountant. Mr. Abramson confronted Frank and said, “I know who you are, and I want to know something: Did you hypnotize me?” Mr. Abramson had just purchased a $100,000 insurance policy, which was a larger policy than he had planned to buy. Abramson said he did feel a little mesmerized by Frank’s voice. The Wall Street Journal quoted Abramson as saying, “It gets you into a state where you’re completely relaxed; your attention is right to him. Whatever objections I had disappeared; everything he said seemed so right.”
The power of Seymour Frank’s presentation comes from the persuasive language he used. Mr. Frank has an extra edge in that he has formally studied hypnosis. From reading this book, you too now have that competitive advantage. You now know the techniques of sales hypnosis.
The Insurance Conference Planner magazine quotes Frank as saying, “I do know, from my experience as both a professional hypnotist and a professional insurance salesman, that the two have much in common—from the opening to the close of their performance. And what combination is more logical? Hypnotism and sales have much in common because they are both forms of persuasive communication. Hypnotism is persuasive communication, and persuasive communication is salesmanship. In addition, hypnotism is the selling of an idea to a subject to get the subject to do what you want him to do. In sales, you have to present an idea that’s satisfactory to the prospect so that he’ll part with his money to buy what you are selling. And, in both instances, the presentation is everything.”
Mr. Frank goes on to say, “The hypnotist and the sales person both introduce their topic. They explain it, make the other party comfortable, and condition and cajole their ‘subject’ to do what they wish. They parry and thrust and, ultimately, when they’re good, they ‘close.’”
Success Secrets from a Sales Hypnosis Superstar
Seymour Frank notes that both hypnosis and salesmanship are based on a competence and self-confidence that generates others’ trust in you. This Lifetime Member of the Million Dollar Round Table also believes that hypnosis and salesmanship both require “careful preparation and a step-by-step progression toward the close.” That’s why we have included chapters in this book on sales scripting. Our corporate clients across America, Canada, and Australia have told us that careful scripting using hypnotic language patterns is the best way in the world to improve sales presentations quickly.
The Insurance Conference Planner magazine reported on some of Seymour Frank’s techniques for using the power of suggestion to increase the persuasiveness of your sales presentations. Here are some tips on sales hypnosis from the master hypnotist and sales superstar:
Your initial goal is to get the appointment. You must put the prospect or subject in a frame of mind ready to accept your suggestion. To the hypnosis subject, offer a way to get eight hours of sleep in just five minutes. To the sales prospect, offer a way to save a lot of money in only twelve minutes.
Think of yourself as a problem-solver, not just a salesman. You must understand your prospect’s needs and then attempt to meet them. Once you lose your power of concentration on his needs and think of your own, you won’t be able to solve his problems, and you will lose the sale. The professional hypnotist is trained to focus on solving the client’s problems.
Attitude is everything. Be confident. You must believe in yourself before you can sell others. Believe you are the world’s greatest salesperson and then act like one. Who says that Seymour Frank is the world’s greatest theatrical hypnotist? He does!
Resistance is the initial hurdle which both the hypnotist and the salesman must overcome. When Frank encounters a new subject or a new client for the first time, he reports that their initial reaction is often skepticism, distrust, and even fear. Frank avoids alienating his subject or client by avoiding any type of high pressure. “There is no way you can make people fall into a hypnotic trance by threatening them,” Frank explains. He also observes that it is ineffective to try to use any kind of force to get customers to sign on the dotted line.
Seymour Frank is a great believer in qualifying the prospect, whether he is a hypnotic subject or a potential customer. He notes that the hypnotist can’t hypnotize everyone and that a sales professional should not try to sell everyone. The hypnotist can’t hypnotize an uncooperative subject, and the sales professional should never try to sell if the prospect does not have the need or does not have the money.
A tip that Seymour Frank always gives in seminars is that both the sales professional and the hypnotist need to plan and rehearse their presentations. Even after 25 years as a sales champion, Mr. Frank still rehearses his script. And, after an even greater number of years using hypnosis, he still rehearses the hypnotic inductions he will use. Mr. Frank notes, “Remember, you’ve heard your presentations 735 times. The prospect hears it once.”
Seymour Frank is a master at using rhythm, pace, and cadence in both hypnosis and sales. These are verbal tools to make the subject or prospect feel comfortable and secure. If a salesman says, “Mr. Jones, do you want to buy this program?” he will fail, according to Mr. Frank, because he has “shifted gears too quickly and has broken his pace.” In this book, you have learned that the ultimate pacing technique is to match and mirror the customer’s voice to communicate subliminally, “I am like you are.” Since we trust and like people like ourselves, matching your client’s speech qualities will make your client feel more comfortable with you.
How to Use Salesmanship and Hypnosis to Offer Benefits
Both hypnosis and salesmanship are based upon offering benefits. Successful salesmanship and successful hypnosis both offer peace of mind. The positive motivators are what make hypnosis and selling—sales hypnosis—so successful. Always stress the benefits of what you are offering. While the benefits may be crystal clear to you, don’t assume they are clear to the client. It is your job to make these benefits clear to him or her.
Seymour Frank, one of the top life insurance salesmen in America, is a great believer in asking questions which will elicit a “yes” answer. In this book, we have shared many powerful methods of using the “repeated yes” technique. Mr. Frank reminds salespeople to never disagree with a client. This makes it more likely that the prospect will then disagree with you—and then you might lose the sale.
Mind-reading is a key to success in both salesmanship and hypnosis. And, skilled mind-reading is based on being a good listener. Seymour Frank tells us to stop talking and let the other person speak, “even if his lips barely start to move.” He elaborates by stating that what the client says is “infinitely more important than your thoughts for it will provide you with the key to his problems.” Remember, you get the sale by solving his problems and addressing his needs.
Another useful tip offered by Seymour Frank is to make your presentation simple, direct, and understandable. “Use power phrases, in the right order, with the right gestures and with confidence and a positive attitude to gain trust.”
Giving Suggestions Gives You Power!
Both the sales professional and the hypnotist earn their livelihoods by giving suggestions. While Mr. Frank says you should never disagree with the client, he also notes that you should not be afraid to give suggestions. For example, let’s say that you have to deal with a client who has constant phone interruptions during your sales presentation. What do you do? After building trust and rapport, suggest to your client that his phone calls be held. Or, suggest that you meet outside the office, perhaps at a restaurant. Be gracious at all times. And, show the client the benefit to him in not having these interruptions. Seymour Frank has a powerful script for dealing with such phone call interruptions. He says, “Mr. Jones, it is not fair to you if I make the presentation under these conditions.”
Seymour Frank says, “I believe there is nothing stronger than the power of persuasive communication. Remember, hypnotism is persuasive communication, and persuasive communication is salesmanship. Be a salesman with this knowledge, and the ability to deliver a presentation well and success will be yours.” These are the words of advice from a sales champion who is one of the top 200 life insurance agents in the country (out of over 900,000).
Seymour Frank has been hired by dozens of major corporations to teach sales hypnosis. These progressive corporations recognize that Mr. Frank’s long career of Olympic-caliber sales success is a testament to the power of sales hypnosis. The many corporations for which we have done research and sales training have also discovered that sales hypnosis gives their people an awesome competitive edge.
We wish you the greatest success in using hypnotic pacing techniques, hypnotic trust-building techniques, hypnotic leading techniques, hypnotic story selling techniques, hypnotic sales scripting, and all of the other strategies and tactics of sales hypnosis we have shared with you in this book. Sales hypnosis is different from most other conventional approaches to salesmanship in that it is effective, and it does work. We hope that, by using these techniques, you may become the next Seymour Frank. When it comes time to write the sequel to this book, we’d like to include you and your great sales hypnosis success stories!