Zig Ziglar - Secrets of Closing the Sale

SECRETS

of

CLOSING

the

RIM

Other books by Zig Ziglar:

See You at the Top

Dear Family

Steps to the Top

Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World

Top Performance

Courtship after Marriage

Ziglar on Sel ing

Over the Top

Something to Smile About

Zig Ziglar's Little Instruction Book

Success for Dummies

Confessions of a Happy Christian

Confessions of a Grieving Christian

Breaking Through to the Next Level

What I Learned on the Way to the Top

Something to Smile About

Something Else to Smile About

Staying Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down World

You Can Reach the Top

Life Lifters

Zig: The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar

SECRETS

of

CLOSING

the

SALE

Updated Edition

Zig Ziglar

To Bil Cranford

Who gave me my start in the world of sel ing and gently but forceful y pushed me to strive for excel ence and reach for new heights. He was my friend, my brother, my mentor, and my golfing buddy. He was a great guy and one more fine man.

Contents

Preface 9

Introduction to the Updated Edition 11

1. The "Household Executive" Saleslady 17

2. Making "King" Customer the Winner 27

3. Credibility: The Key to a Sales Career 39

4. Commonsense Sel ing 48

5. Voice Training to Close Sales 58

6. The Professional Sel s and Delivers 72

Part 2 The Heart of Your Sales Career

7. The Critical Step in Sel ing 83

8. The Big "E" in Sel ing 90

9. The Right Mental Attitude 103

10. Your Attitude toward You 108

11. Your Attitude toward Others 114

12. Your Attitude toward the Sales Profession 119

13. Building Physical "Reserves" in Sel ing 136

14. Building a Mental Reserve in Sel ing 144

15. Ya Gotta Have Love 154

16. Learning and Using Professional Techniques 161

17. Characteristics of the Professional Salesperson 164

18. Here Is a Professional 177

19. Everybody Is a Salesperson and Everything Is Sel ing 192

20. Imagination in Sel ing 213

21. Imagination Sel s and Closes Sales 227

22. Using Word Pictures to Sel 251

23. Picture Sel ing for Bigger, Permanent Sales 261

Part 5 The Nuts and Bolts of Sel ing

24. Objections-The Key to Closing the Sale 269

25. Objections Are Consistent-Objectors Aren't 278

26. The Salesman's Friend 286

27. Using Objections to Close the Sale 295

28. Reasons and Excuses for Buying 307

29. Using Questions to Close the Sale 313

30. For Direct Sales People 320

31. Four Ideas and the Keys to Sales Success 339

32. Sel ing and Courting Run Paral el Paths 350

33. The "Look and Listen" Close 365

34. Listen-Real y Listen 379

35. The Keys in Closing-Conclusion 387

36. The "Narrative" Close 402

Part 7 Technology and the Sales Professional

37. Technology 409

Thank You 419

Notes 422

Index of Closes 423

Over the past fifty years it has been my privilege to be in as many actual sales situations, sel ing goods, products, services, or job opportunities, as virtual y anyone who ever carried the title of salesperson. Additional y, it has been my privilege to share the platform with and learn from some of the greatest speakers and sales trainers our country has produced. Many of those men are gone now, but quite a few stil grace platforms around the country. I go back to the days of Elmer Wheeler, Charlie Cul en, Frank Bettger, Fred Herman, Charles Roth, Dick Gardner, J. Douglas Edwards, and Percy Whiting. The list includes Cavett Robert, Red Motley, Ken McFarland, Dan Bel us, Joe Batten, Charlie Jones, Hal Krause, Mike Frank, Ira Hayes, Heartsil Wilson, Judge Ziglar, Thom Norman, Bil Gove, John Hammond, Larry-Wilson-and the list goes on and on.

Over these fifty years I have been a pack rat. I have taken copious notes from many great trainers. In addition, I have clipped innumerable sales articles from newspapers and magazines, and have learned much by watching salespeople in action. My library includes books and manuals from the greatest writers and trainers of the last fifty years, and I have over a thousand hours of recordings from these and other speakers.

This background presents a rather unique problem. To be completely honest, I sometimes forget the source of my information. To the best of my ability, I have given credit in this book to each individual who has made a contribution via a speech, a personal conference, a book, or an article.

Many times, however, I have no idea who my benefactor is. Additional y, I recognize the possibility that in some instances I wil credit the wrong author or even claim originality because I learned a technique long ago and have used it so many times that I believe the technique or idea was original. In the event this has happened, I ask the author to forgive me. My objective is to be completely fair with everyone.

Your own personality, conviction, and credibility in the application of the principles and procedures in this book wil be the determining factors in your success as a salesperson, but this I promise: The procedures and techniques I describe have worked not only for me but for countless others as wel . Many of them, as I wil repeatedly emphasize throughout the book, need alteration or adaptation to fit your sales situation, so you should constantly ask yourself this question as you read the book: "How can I adapt this information to fit my product to my prospect?"

I urge you to become a student as you dig into Secrets of Closing the Sale. I'm going to be bold enough to suggest that it has taken me a lifetime to accumulate this information and several thousand hours to assemble and put the information into what I believe is its most effective form. With this in mind, I don't believe I overstate my case to point out that you probably are not going to be able to glean al the information in one reading.

Final y, I suggest that as you read this book you're going to realize that it is analogous to the fisherman's lure. Many sales books are written to catch the fisherman-namely, the salesperson-and not to help the fisherman catch the fish-meaning the customer. With that in mind, I emphasize that Secrets of Closing the Sale was written to help you-the fisherman-catch the fish and catch him in such a way that the fish (the customer) realizes he is in good hands-yours.

I firmly believe that if you buy the ideas and concepts covered in this book, as you apply the techniques and procedures, I wil SEE YOU AT THE

TOP-of the sales ladder!

When Secrets of Closing the Sale was published in 1984, I was convinced that it would be around a long time. Twenty years later I stil believe it wil be around a long time. The principles, procedures, and techniques are those that had stood the test of time long before 1984 and are stil standing the test of time. Integrity principles wil always be in vogue. In view of the recent corporate scandals in America, I believe the ethical salesperson of today who builds a reputation on integrity wil find these principles more valuable today than ever before.