Author's Note: This article is an edited excerpt from our brand new book and seminar: Magnetic Selling – the comprehensive guide to question-based consultative selling for financial professionals.

The king of stories is called a "metaphor." Now, I recognize that most people recall that a metaphor is one of those literary tools you had to learn about in high school. And, if that's so, how could it possibly have any value in a selling situation?

If you think of a metaphor as simply a literary tool, you're robbing yourself of some serious power. The real power of a metaphor isn't in it's literary application. The real power is in its hypnotic motivational application. In other words, if you tell a good metaphor, you will be enveloping your prospect in a mental movie designed to cause that person to listen to you, like you, and begin to trust you.