Most people see the world as they wish it was or they think it should be. So they find themselves upset at the way things are going because ending results are hardly in their favor. They’re confused and constantly at odds with the way things are going. But not a salesman. A salesman sees the world for what it is. He isn’t trying to change people’s behavior; he is trying to understand people’s behavior. And this understanding makes it that much easier to master a hypnotic sales pitch. To be frank, it isn’t hard; you just have to be more conscious than the average person out there.

You don’t have to be a natural-born salesman to be successful, nor do you have to be an expert or mind-reader to formulate a hypnotic sales pitch. Salesmen are not born. Good and even great salesmen are made by simply understanding basic salesmanship, and adding some experience to their jacket. It’s a learned behavior. But you must learn the basics first. It’s called A.I.D.A. Marketing. There are no shortcuts to that.

The basics of salesmanship haven’t changed since the pre-web days, and it never will because it involves social conversation that old school salesmen perfected many years ago. Rather it’s over the phone, in person on a one-on-one basis, a group setting, YouTube video, newsletter, or Skype, the fundamentals are the same both online and offline.

The real secret to selling is to convince people that what you have to offer is of value to them; life changing even. Get them excited enough to take action right away. That’s what separates salesmen from sales boys. It doesn’t matter if your offer is on a small-scale or a very large one, you have to convince your prospect that your product, service, and/or information will make their life so much easier or better. Rather your prospect is in need of a new drill or a healthy lung, your conversation’s goal is to establish that you have the solution to their problem. A hypnotic sales pitch is to establish that you’re the person that he wants to deal with. Add that to your friendly attitude and you will certainly close the deal!

I’m not sure of the identity of the original author of A.I.D.A, but it’s a model that my grandpa introduced me to many years ago.

A=Attention: You must get their attention right out of the gate. Be specific. Narrow it down to a niche. Ex: Title, headline, hook, etc.

I=Interest: You have to build interest immediately enough for them to halt what they’re doing. You want their undivided attention. Your presentation should be short, sizzling, and informative.

D=Desire: After successfully completing the two, a desire surfaces as you tell them more about the benefits and what they have to gain by simply trying your offer.

A=Action: This is when you assertively urge your prospect to take action. Always be closing!

I grew up hearing my grandpa use that term, “Always be closing,” each time he became victorious at whatever undertaking he decided to take on. Rather it was him catching the garbage truck before it turned the corner, or after one of his brief yet important calls that he took in his home office, it didn’t matter, he would always recite that phrase along with the A.I.D.A. acronym. Afterwards a smile would grace his face and it was the perfect time to ask for a lemon cookie. Luckily for me, grandpa hardly ever shut the office door completely, which allowed for lots of eavesdropping and lemon cookies.

I enjoyed spying on grandpa because he told such incredible stories over the phone to people that he called “clients.” I would never forget I couldn’t have been any older than 7 years, when one morning after breakfast I stood at the back-slit of his office door, peeking over the middle hinge just to get a glimpse of him. I watched as he sat comfortably behind his desk, weaving another one of his stories to a client over the telephone. His hypnotic sales pitch was a story about a carpenter that lived in North Dakota. Looking back at it, it was as if he had the attention of a filled room; quite the opposite of holding the attention of only one faceless person over the phone. His posture, knowledge, and friendly mannerism were all admirable. The recipient of grandpa’s story must’ve agreed, as he was happily persuaded to accept grandpa’s offer before the conclusion of their call. From where I stood, I secretly whispered the acronym as the letters rolled off grandpa’s tongue, “A.I.D.A.”

Later that evening while grandpa sat in his favorite lounging chair, reading a fat book that I recognized from his office desk, I nestled beside him and said, “Grandpa, granny said that you help families by selling them insurance.”

He peered over his reading glasses that sat at the tip of his nose and said, “And as always, your granny is right. I am an Insurance Broker.”

I smiled, and with broken English I announced, “I want to be an Insurance Broker too, grandpa! Do they all tell fun stories like you do?”

“Well, the good ones do.” Grandpa placed his fat book on the coffee table, along with his reading glasses. He patted his thigh and motioned for me to claim my favorite sitting spot. With the biggest smile, I sat sidewise on his lap and he begins to tell a story. “Storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. Before writing was invented, people communicated by telling stories. But your story has to be compelling. A leader engages people’s future and captures their hearts through storytelling,” he said and continued, “when the time is right, you will recall this conversation. But for now, all I want you to do is remember these four letters,” and we said it together, “A.I.D.A.”

You see, mastering the art of storytelling is the same as mastering your hypnotic sales pitch. Stories are illustrative, easily memorable and allow any salesman to create stronger emotional bonds with their customers. Why? Because humans LOVE stories! Our brains are actually wired for listening to stories. We all have stories within us; just as we all have an inner salesman that we bring out when we need to be persuasive. In other words, don’t sell, tell great stories!

I say this in all sincerity and all urgency, get the basics down first. It’s not tough at all. It’s not voodoo nor is it magic. It is easy but you’re probably not going to figure it out on your own.