Title Secrets of Closing the Sale
Author Zig Ziglar
Year Published 1985
Kind of Book Sales
How strongly I recommend it 8/10
My Impressions Some of the language and stories in this book are dated, but the techniques and principles are great. The book is also too long in my opinion, but even reading the first half is worth it.
Date Read July 2019
Practical Takeaways
Move through the book quickly on your first read, just trying to get the overall view of the book
Mark the book. Wear it out
Ask yourself if you would sell the product you are selling to your friends and family
Talk about the product you're selling as if the prospect already owns it (eg. "Your…")//Endowment Effect
Be a little hard of hearing when the prospect says he's not interested
Expect a sale on every interview
Ask, don't tell when selling
Break the purchase down into small units (eg. Isn't it worth a $1 a day for a year?)
Learn as much as your can about your prospect and capitalize on that information
If you cannot meet the prospects need exactly, do not assume they are so adamant they would not even consider anything else
Think of sales as something you do for the customer, not to them
Look for your prospects weakness and seek to strengthen it with your product
Persuade the prospect to take action for their benefit
Don't wait for 'the perfect time' to do it. Just do it
Never give the prospect a choice between something and nothing. Let him choose between something and something else
Make the prospect like, trust, and respect you
Be consistent in all areas of your life (not one kind of person and another kind of salesman)
Close early, close often, Close late
Don't close before you have established value to the prospect
Offer the prospect new information after receiving a no
Go for the first close as soon as you have established value or aroused desire, but before you give all the information.
Don't oversell
Don't lie or mislead by omission when selling
Be nice to everyone
Assume that everyone you approach is a good prospect with a real problem in which you can solve
Make the beginning and end of your pitch good
Ask yourself "If I were selling to me would I be persuaded to take action?"
Practice emphasizing different words in your pitch to see which one generates the best response (eg. I did not say he stole the money. I did not say he stole the money. . I did not say he stole the money. Etc.)
Record your sales pitch in front of a live prospect and watch yourself
Repeat their statement as a question (eg. The price is ridiculous?)
Ask prospects who decline the sale offer, "would you mind is I ask what the reason is?"
Concern yourself with the cost not the price ie. how much it will cost long term vs. short term. (eg. 1 Good pair of shoes=2yrs $100 vs. 3 shitty pairs of shoes=2yrs $120)
Deliver what you sell
Choose a job where you get to meet cool people
Learn how to use the right words and body language to persuade people to take action
Don't sell a product you don't enthusiastically believe in
Buy the product you are selling
Own what you sell
Use the product you sell
Believe you can make the sale
Believe in what you are selling to the point where you are willing to sacrifice if necessary to own it
Feel that the customers are losers when they don't buy
Be able to see things from the buyers perspective
Don't confuse your situation with the other persons
Always ask the question when you call someone "Did I catch you at a busy time?"
Get the prospect smiling and laughing ASAP
Bring out all the objections as early as possible
Turn "Can't afford it" into "Can't afford not to"
Let the customer know that they will make their money back (10xs) by taking the course or buying the product you're selling
Change your input, to change your thinking, to change your behavior
Build a healthy self-image
Remember to close! Ie. Ask the question
Own the fact that you are selling (don't try to hide behind the fact that you are selling)
Take a good public speaking course
Ask yourself if you are procrastinating to avoid rejection?
Don't let planning become an escape to avoid rejection
Accept yourself with all your own faults and shortcomings
Be nice
Observe the personal qualities and characteristics of the top-performing men and women in the sales and business world
Think in terms of maintaining customers and adding new ones
Be proud you sell
Deliver what you sell to your partner while courting
Select a company or product to sell that you believe in 100%
Make the prospect understand that it will cost them more to do nothing about the problem than to do something about it (eg. You'll make 10x by taking this seminar. "You can't afford not to buy it")
Show your prospect the figures of how much money they will be saving by buying your product/service
Prove to the prospect that they are burning money by not buying your product
Never ask someone directly if they were telling the truth
Break down the price into a unit that seems preposterously affordable. (eg. 3 cents a day for the next 10 years)
Convince the prospect to take action today, not tomorrow
Keep records on all of your customers to know what they bought, when, and how they paid for it
Let them take it home and fall in love it first (puppy dog close)
Let the product sell itself
Never attack the prospects past purchasing decisions (if anything blame the sales person for deceiving them when selling to them)
Make sure your compliment is sincere
Make sure your compliment is accurate
Send your customers holiday or birthday cards
Stay green and growing
When selling a program tell the prospect: If you think education is expensive, just look at the cost of ignorance
Abandon sales techniques that prove to be ineffective
Study human nature
Create an atmosphere of excitement and optimism when selling
Understand that school is never out
Expect to make the sale
Be thick skinned enough to not be offended by what the prospect has to say
Use emotion and logic to persuade
Respond don't react
Collect testimonials
Put recent testimonials on your site
Feed your mind with good, clean, pure, positive input
Listen to a motivational speaker every morning
Don't have a drink with the prospect
Have a booster (quarterly or biannually) week where you spend all your time and energy on work, followed by a vacation or rest period
Manage your time, don't squander it
Walk
Eat nutritious well-balanced meals
Get a reasonable amount of sleep
Be in good physical condition no matter what profession you're in
Know your product inside and out
Big Ideas
People buy when they want the thing more than they want the money it costs
Selling requires transferring your feelings onto the prospect
Our divorce rate would drop dramatically if men and women delivered in marriage what they sold while courting
Logic makes people think, but it is emotion that makes them act. Pg164
5 Reason people don't buy
No need
No money
No hurry
No desire
No trust
Most people won't change their mind if you ask them the same question they already so no to
But
People will answer 'yes' to a question they've said 'no' to in the past if it is phrased differently
The prospect pays attention to the beginning and ending of the sales pitch (not much to the middle) (peak end rule)
Most people do not like to make decisions.
The major reason a prospect doesn't buy is lack of trust in the salesman/company
Surprising Facts
When you ask someone to…
Hold up three fingers with your writing hand 96% will hold up all but thumb and little finger
Think of a flower 50% will think of a rose
Think of a piece of furniture 33% will think of a chair
Think of a color 60% will think of red
Think of a number between 1 and 10 %25 will pick 7
Unknown Terms
Price: one time thing.
Cost: how much the item costs you in the long run