Zig Ziglar - Ziglar on Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional

You___________________________________were Born to Win.
But to win please remember that The Will to Win Is
Nothing Without the Will to Prepare.

ZIGLAR
ON SELLING

OTHER BOOKS BY
ZIG ZIGLAR

Confessions of a Grieving Christian
Courtship After Marriage
Over the Top
Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World
See You at the Top
Top Performance
Zig: The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglars Secrets of Closing the Sale

ZIGLAR
ON SELLING

Z IG Z IGLAR

Copyright 1991 by The Zig Ziglar Corporation
Repackaged edition 2003

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ziglar, Zig.
Ziglar on selling: the ultimate handbook for the complete sales
professional / Zig Ziglar.
p. cm.
Includes biographical references.
ISBN 10: 0-7852-6332-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 13: 978-0-7852-6332-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 10: 0-7852-8893-7 (tradepaper)
ISBN 13: 978-0-7852-8893-0 (tradepaper)
1. Selling. 2. Sales management. I. Title.
HF5438.25.Z545 1991
658.85dc20 91-19535

CIP

Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedicated to
all enthusiastic and honorable sales professionals
who sell goods, products, or services
that benefit others

CONTENTS

A crowd of people spent most of a night trying to rescue a black bear caught fifty to sixty feet up a pine tree in Keithville, Louisiana, so they could move it to a wildlife area. Sheriffs deputies, game wardens, and wildlife biologists were in a crowd that gathered for nearly eight hours. A veterinarian fired tranquilizer darts at the critter to get it down. A net was strung to catch the bear when the drugs took hold and it fell from the treetop. It wasnt until the volunteers chopped the tree down that they discovered they were rescuing a dart-riddled garbage bag.

Far too many salespeople have what they think is a bear up the tree when in reality it is nothing but a bunch of garbage. You can hear them say things like:

Competition is just too tough in this part of the country for this product... Were in the middle of a recession... Everybody is only interested in pricenothing elsejust whos got the best deal?... People are just not buying domestic (foreign) products anymore... It wouldnt do any good to make the sale; credits so tight the finance company would turn us down... The economy is just dead in this town... With the rate of unemployment what it is, I dont know how they expect me to make quota!

The question is, How do you deal with all of these situations, succeed in your chosen profession, maintain your sanity, avoid ulcers and heart attacks, continue in a good relationship with your mate and children, meet your financial obligations, prepare for those golden years, and still have a moment you can call your own? Fortunately, the book you hold in your hands endeavors to answer each of these questions by sharing information, inspiration, laughter, tears, and direction that will allow you to make the choices necessary to have a balanced life that leads to personal and professional success.

CHAMPIONSHIP FUNDAMENTALS AND
TIMELESS TRUTHS

The Green Bay Packers won the first two world championships of professional football by outscoring their opponents in Super Bowls I and II. The Packers were coached by the great fundamentalist Vince Lombardi. When Lombardis team would fail to play well (which wasnt often), he would begin practice the following week with the same basic comments: Gentlemen, we performed below the standards we have set for ourselves as a championship football team. This week we are going to return to the fundamentals. Lifting the football he had been holding in his hands to a position above his head so that everyone in the room could see it clearly, Lombardi would intone in that deep, raspy voice he kept hoarse from shouting, Fellows, this is a football. And without fail, team prankster Max McGee would call from the back of the room, Not so fast, Coach, not so fast.

Fundamental truths remain constant. Lombardi taught some of the same fundamentals to his Green Bay Packers that Jimmy Johnson taught to the Dallas Cowboys in helping them become the team of the decade in the 1990s. The most successful football team and the most successful sales professionals are spending time today learning and relearning basic fundamentals.

THE SELLING BASICS

Selling is more than a profession; it is a way of life. And the sales professional of today is concerned about being fundamentally sound. In addition to fundamentals, any resource tool claiming to be The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional must be prepared to address those areas outside the actual time spent in face-to-face (or voice-to-voice) selling. This book is designed to do just that.

We have included not only selling techniques and procedures that will add to your income but also ideas and principles that will add to your intangible income (quality of life). How we can stay abreast of the ever-changing technology that aids selling; how to deal with the rigors and temptations of the roadfrom leaving our families (withdrawal) and returning to them after extended absences (decompression) to spending our nonselling time in a productive manner; how to deal with the physical demands of this great profession: fast-food restaurants and lack of time for workouts lead to stress and waist (pun intended); how to work with the financial arm of the company in such a way that we complement and yet do not duplicate our efforts. These areas, as well as many other concerns, are included.

GREEN AND GROWING VS.
RIPE AND ROTTING

Looking back over my career as a salesman, sales manager, and sales trainer, I have no doubt in my mind that the most successful sales professionals continue to have the attitude of the beginner. The selling pro who gets to and stays at the top of the profession is an experienced rookie. By that I mean when we approach sales as an ongoing learning experience, we are continually learning the little things that make the big difference in our careers as sales professionals. (Theres no profit on the sale we almost make!)

Selling is
more than a
profession; it
is a way of
life.

In Ziglar on Selling, I have made the effort to take my fundamental selling experiences that began in the 1940s and show how the fundamentals may remain constant, but you and I may not! The two of us (you and I) must continue on our pilgrimage by learning, living, and looking: learning from the past without living there; living in the present by seizing each vital moment of every single day; and looking to the future with hope, optimism, and education.

The great performers in all professions spend countless hours working on the fundamentals. From Patsy Cline to Faith Hill, Enrico Caruso to Andrea Bocelli, Mary Pickford to Julia Roberts, Jack Dempsey to Evander Holyfield, Sammy Baugh to Emmitt Smith, the daily regimes of four to six hours of practice prior to performance seem incredible and in some ways excessive to most of us. Yet, they have been and are world champions in their professions!