Secrets of Closing the Sale

Zig Ziglar's book is engaging, fun and filled with stories. Either he is a great story teller or he just have a life filled with experience. In his book, he is always able to cite from his experience to backup the points that he wants to bring across to us. He has introduced many new ideas. Most other books that I have read is filled with common sense but this is not.

I owe Zig Ziglar. Big time. This book increased my ability to demonstrate and sell our service dramatically after one read. Zig tells you and then sells you on the fact that you've gotta read his book three times: once with quick notes in the margins, a second time with thorough notes and a third time with a steno pad so you can make your own "Secrets of Closing the Sale."

I've purchased three copies of this book. Two for myself, one to give out to my staff. I started out thinking about sales in the same way most people do - sleazy scumbags out to make a fast buck. I started out wanting to make more money. I ended up learning that "You can have anything in the world you want if you'll just help enough other people get what they want."

Ziglar teaches you, from the beginning, that there's no room for success in a salesman's career if he's taking the fast route, making the quick sale and then locking the door behind him.

Ziglar teaches you that if you want to make a living in the profession of selling you have to truly believe in your product. You have to be so convinced that your product is the right product to fit your prospects needs that you can't possibly believe or understand how they wouldn't want it.

Yeah. Ziglar teaches the closes. There are hundreds of scenarios and stories that demonstrate various closing techniques. Most of them are great (a few are cheesy).

But what makes this book so good is that it constantly drives it home - a good salesman is an honest salesman. A good salesman has his customer's best interest in mine. A good salesman has a solution to a need of his customer. When you help the customer, they will help you (with money).

When I finished this book I felt I needed to learn how to prospect and find new clients for the business I manage so I could show them why they needed us. I started reading books on cold calls and searching the internet for more information. And I started to notice a major trend...

Anyone who knows anything about sales has studied Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale. You'll see the concepts, ideas and phrases from this book echoed throughout all sales-oriented literature. You're going to see direct quotes. I guarantee it.

If you're only going to ever read one sales book this is the book to read. It's going to teach you how to close the sale, sure, but more importantly it's going to teach you that being a salesman is about helping others. It's going to teach you to be true. And you will profit because of it.

Afterthought: This book will also benefit those who don't directly "sell" to clients but are involved in the overall process of presenting an organization. It's important to "have everyone on the same page" and "playing for the team" when it comes to building a successful business or brand. So if at all possible get a few extra copies of this book and hand it to the individuals who aren't even involved in sales!

Good book ... can anyone really argue with 600,000 copies in print? Make that 600,001 then. Well, he's very much a recognizable commodity having his picture on the front cover of the book, sharing space with his name - Zig Ziglar and of course the title - Secrets of Closing the SALE. Now, if you're like me, you went out and bought this book because of the title - Secrets of Closing the SALE - right? Well, this wouldn't be the first book I've bought that threw a spanner in the works here. On page 43, Zig plainly states: "I'm not going to be teaching you how to close ... what I would like to do is improve your percentage of closes ..." Well, that could have been the end right there, but for the fact I've read books with that bent before - sort of like a bait and switch tactic. However, the saving grace is that his insights in all phases of the sales process are helpful. For instance, several books by other authors I have read have highlighted the importance that if you are DESPERATE to make a sale, the Prospect will sense it and you are very likely to lose that sale. Zig does a great job explaining this phenomena as "Transference of Feeling" of which your prospect is sensitive to and will read you as being "Trustworthy" or "Suspicious". But then he goes one better saying you can have the odds on your side by - owning the product you're selling thereby having the internal sincerity when convincing and persuading your prospect. Hmmmm, he's done this before ....You can hope to come across as trusting, but you only get trusted when your prospect becomes your customer. Until that happens you need to appear sincere and likeable - all of which is very well explained in great detail by Zig in this book. Anyone with his depth and years of experience, stories etc ... can be forgiven for wandering - and he does. Additionally, this book - as well as some others I have read - does a poor job on internet / mobile technologies. This segment is usually relegated to the end of these books as a mainly inadequate afterthought.

Zig is fantastic; his story illustrates that anyone can improve themselves and he gives you the steps to take. Don't be fooled that some steps are obvious, simple, and therefore can be skipped. They may be simple but likely not easy or everyone would do them. Like the Nike commercials have made famous, "Just do it."

Zig introduces countless sales approaches and conveys them through relatable anecdotes from his career.

His knowledge, wit, and candor makes the book interesting to read the first time through while still remaining a valuable reference resource for the future.

I first read this book when starting my career in sales more than 30 years ago, at the time I was able to triple my closing percentage during my reading of this book. Zigs teaching has helped me to become not only a top producing salesman for many years but also an accomplished sales trainer despite being told prior to reading his book that "I would never make it in sales" in fact my dealer tried to fire me three times in my first year! Now as a sales trainer I have insisted that every trainee read this book. This particular copy I purchased for my son who is now working for me as a sales representative.

A must for anyone wanting to hone their selling skills. Zig does a great job of teaching you while you don't know your being taught. His stories and analogies is a great method for learning what to do and when to do it.