Zig Ziglar, the Alabama-born motivational speaker and sales guru, was a man who seldom minced his words. Here are ten of his top sales lessons that his legacy has left the world.
1. Sell to people’s
emotions
According to Ziglar, “People don’t buy for logical
reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” Once you understand why people buy
certain products, your sales pitch becomes less about targeting customer logic
and more about tapping into their emotional penchant for certain products.
Ziglar was never a man to shirk the goal that defines
your business. After all, “a goal properly set is halfway reached.” To Ziglar,
you need to start with the basics. What do you want to achieve by selling your
product? What is your end goal? Setting achievable goals and knowing how to reach
them provides the building blocks that aid your sales process.
“If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” Don’t let
go of your dream and the goals you set for yourself – stay on track and focused,
even when sales have decreased.
"If you learn from defeat, you haven't really
lost." With every failed sale, there is an opportunity to learn from the
experience. Ziglar was adaptable; adopt a different approach and your shot at
sealing the deal the next time round is made all the more easier.
According to Ziglar, sealing the deal on a sale has
five basic obstacles: No need, no money, no hurry, no desire, and no trust.
Make sure that your product, and your sales skills, will convince the customer
that at this moment in time, your product has sufficient value to warrant their
immediate purchase, or, at least, their consideration.
Statistics suggest that when customers complain,
business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining
customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.
"Stop selling. Start helping." Avoid selling
for the sake of selling – customers don’t always need that product and
shouldn’t feel coerced into buying it. Tend to their direct, personal needs;
perhaps
there’s something else they may find of value?
“There is no traffic jam on the extra mile.” Going
that extra step further will set you apart from the crowd, giving you few
competitors when it comes to selling your product to potential customers.
Ziglar was an unmitigated advocate of transferable enthusiasm.
“Selling is the transference of feelings. If I can get my prospect to feel
about my product or service the way I feel about my product or service, he will
not only want it … he will demand it.”
Being passionate about your product is essential – a customer cannot be
expected to buy a product if you are not willing to do the very same thing
yourself.
“Many times the prospect will buy not because of their
belief in the product, goods or service, but because of the belief of the
salesperson.”
2. Identify
your goals
3. Hold onto what
you want to achieve
4. Learn from
failed sales
5. Identify your
obstacles
6. Embrace customer
criticism
7. Change your own
attitude towards selling
8. Go the extra
mile
9. Transfer your
enthusiasm to your customer
10. Sell yourself; not only your product
Zig
Ziglar changed the way salespeople conducted sales interactions and planned
their sales strategies – he taught them to move away from selling with logic
and to move towards a sales strategy based on helping others, listening to
customers, and selling to people’s emotions. How can you do the same for your
own sales strategy?
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