Secrets of Closing the Sale

ZIG ZIGLAR

Reviewed by Jack

I have been a salesman all my life. I started with a newspaper route, then ran a record store, and now I’ve been selling books for more than twenty-five years. That said, I have always considered salespeople who talk about “closing” and “techniques” akin to the snake-oil salesmen of old. My approach has been more instinctual, perhaps even more humanistic: if people aren’t interested in what I have to offer, the problem is with my offering, not my presentation or close. But even the greatest natural technicians (and I am not referring to me) can benefit from study and practice, and for that, Zig Ziglar’s book, Secrets of Closing the Sale, is essential reading.

Ziglar tells us that selling and closing are not mysteries to be solved; instead they are as tangible as when his wife up-sold him on a new house. Even a visit to his dentist illuminated this for Ziglar: he noticed that the dentist and his staff used predominantly positive words during that visit—words like restoration instead of filling; reception room instead of waiting room; discomfort or pressure instead of pain; and confirm or verify an appointment instead of remind. Words make a difference, and spin matters—so much so that Ziglar lists the twenty-four words that “sell” (like proven, health, easy, and discovery) and the twenty-four words that “unsell” (like deal, pay, contract, and sign). Just check out any late-night infomercial to see these methods in action.

Despite its name, the book unveils truths and approaches applicable to the entire sales process, with a focus on the close. Certainly the close is the key part of a sale, but in order to close, one must understand aspects like the attitude of selling, dealing with objections, and then the psychology of the closing. Secrets of Closing the Deal breaks the sales process into its component parts and thus is the perfect reference guide for every new salesperson.

Guides to selling are a dime a dozen, but the heart of this book lies in a series of entertaining stories Ziglar tells to demonstrate the many aspects of selling. I found one story particularly amusing. During a rainstorm, he pulled into a gas station and learned that the owner considered rainstorms to be fortuitous. The rain washed nails and other debris onto the road, which led to flat tires—and increased business. The owner had on staff a great tire changer who actually made his customers’ visit pleasant. “‘There’s nothing I can do about the rain falling, but there is a lot I can do about solving people’s problems when that rain does fall,’” the owner explains. Ziglar shows through this story how it pays to know your customers, treat them right, and still take advantage of opportunity.

“The prospect is persuaded more by the depth of your conviction than he is by the height of your logic.”

Throughout the book, Ziglar is your personal sales instructor. He asks you to get a pen and notepad in hand as you begin to read, because he wants readers to treat his book as a manual, almost an academic text. I’ve certainly marked up my copy with notes over the years. Yet this book is anything but an academic read. Each page is loaded with pithy sayings that might be just the nudge you need to take that next step toward improvement. Here are a few examples:

• “The prospect is persuaded more by the depth of your conviction than he is by the height of your logic.”
• “You don’t sell what the product is—you sell what the product does.”
• “Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”
• “Your business is never really good or bad ‘out there.’ Your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.”

Ziglar’s goal is to inspire and instruct us on how to refine our daily sales activity. The overall message in this book encourages you to stick to the basics. We sometimes overthink what is as inherently human as the sales process, and this is the book you need to stay focused on those basics. Sometimes a book’s value is in its ability to get you back on track or to show you a better way to do your daily work. Zig Ziglar’s classic, practical advice from an acknowledged master fits that criteria perfectly. JC

Secrets of Closing the Sale, Fleming H. Revell, Paperback 2006, ISBN 9780800759759

WHERE TO NEXT? Here to swim with a shark Here to swing with a guerrilla marketer Here to see a purple cow | EVEN MORE: How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins; The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer; Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!) by Stephan Schiffman