My Pops sent me an old book he came across at a book sale and I think the title is going to stick with you… Timid Salesmen have Skinny Kids, by Judge Ziglar (yes, the younger brother of Mr. Zig Ziglar). Judge Ziglar broke the world record in 1964 for selling more than $104k in cookware. By 1978, he had made more than 40,000 sales calls. Just thinking about Judge’s plight makes me feel pretty damn fortunate. We get to sell stuff that’s a hell of a lot more interesting (no offense to cookware fanatics) and we don’t have to spend 80-90% of our time on the road to reach our revenue goals! It’s been awhile since I’ve used the Ben Franklin close – so I laughed my butt off when it happened to be on the first page I opened.
It sounds like this, “Mr. and Mrs. Prospect, one of the wisest men who ever lived was a man by the name of Ben Franklin. When ole Ben was confronted with a decision to be made, he wanted to make sure he made the right decision so he would take a piece of paper and draw a line right down the center…on one side he would write all the reasons for and on the other, the reasons against” Then you pile on the "pros" and clam up on the "cons". Have any of you ever used this one? I have and I’ll tell you it worked most of the time! There are no less than 20 such closing “techniques” in this book. Interesting history, but that was then, this is now. There is room for these techniques in commodity sales circles (retail)...but these things can absolutely kill you in a solution or relationship sale. Let me share the "Ziglar Dozen" – the top 12 things Judge thought we should all remember. Though this book is a bit crusty (copyright 1978), I think we’d all be more successful in our personal and professional lives if we keep at least 10 of these things in the forefront of our minds… ALWAYS REMEMBER… 1) The power of prayer 2) The success of perseverance 3) The pleasure of working 4) The value of time 5) The influence of example 6) The power of kindness 7) The obligation of duty 8) The virtue of patience 9) The worth of character 10) The wisdom of economy 11) The improvement of talent 12) The presence of God What are you reading now by the way?
Do you Grok it?
ShareThis