The Hindu Business Line : Give your prospects every reason to trust you

Whether or not you sell to make a living here is a book you can zigzag into: Ziglar on Selling, by Zig Ziglar, from Jaico (www.jaicobooks.com) . Because much of what he writes can be relevant to most of us. Such as his thought that the will to win has no power without the will to prepare to win, as the secret of winning. When explaining how to listen with eyes, he quotes an old saying, "Talking is sharing, but listening is caring." And elsewhere he explains the quiet method to handle objections, and it begins with `question.'

To sales people, Ziglar delivers many insights. For instance, he concedes "a fact of life" - that slumps in selling will, and do, occur. "You are going to hit those plateaus where nothing seems to work very well personally or professionally." How to tackle the slumps? Here's his `sure-fire way': "Return to the fundamentals with the proper attitude."

Do you suffer from procrastination? Battle it with a regular schedule, where you make "an appointment with yourself to start every day at exactly the same time," says the author. Logic will not change an emotion, but action will, he advises. Courage, as he defines, is "an action you take not because of the absence of fear but because you know that taking the action is the right (and in most cases the desirable) thing to do."

A chapter titled `The ABCs of Closing Sales' introduces one to AAFTO, short for `always ask for the order.' Ziglar encourages by saying, "The prospect really does want to say yes, particularly if you are pleasant, professional, and at least reasonably friendly." The odds are in the professional salesman's favour, he urges. "So ask for the order, my selling friend. Do it pleasantly and professionally, but ask!" Else, "we miss 100 per cent of the sales we don't ask for."

Get the person right, mandates a different chapter. "In addition to eating properly and exercising regularly, your physical health is determined to a large degree by eliminating (or avoiding) the poisons," writes Ziglar, referring to tobacco and alcohol. "I have never seen a sale made due to smoking, but I have seen several lost." As for alcohol, his observation is that people who have the courage and character to refuse to be `stampeded' into having a beer or a cocktail "gain universal respect from those who also wish they had the discipline, the will, and the courage to say no."

To salespeople, and to others too, health is too important, but it is "one of those things we become enormously concerned about when there's a possibility we're going to lose it," rues the author. "We take it for granted while we have it."

Another fundamental issue that the book tackles is the definition of success. "You are number one when you can honestly look in the mirror at the end of the day and say, `I used my ability today. I gave it my best shot'." For, true success, according to Ziglar, is not necessarily beating someone else. "Real success, enjoyment, and happiness come from using your own ability. Success is not determined by beating the other fellow; real success is measured when you use the ability you have."

In parting his message is about trust. "Give your prospects every reason to trust you... and they will come up with an excuse to buy from you." People don't buy because of what they are told or shown. "People believe those people they trust! Without trust people won't listen, and without trust people won't buy." What you know, and who you know may be important; but what is the most important is `what you are... especially in the world of selling,' declares Ziglar.

Invaluable read.

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com

D. Murali