Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar, Book Summary and Review

Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar is a great book for professionals just starting out in a sales career. You won't get overwhelmed by the content in the book.

Introduction: Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar

Selling 101This year, there are several skills I want to learn. And there are other skills that I’d like to hone. Sales is one of the skills I’d like to learn. Along with two collaborators, we created the Sales Knowledge Accelerator, a program where professionals can learn to become better sales people using the methodology where you read only the important information in books.

Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar should have been one of the first sales books I read. But that was not the case. Because of that, a lot of the information was already familiar to me.

I must say that I was always confused about the difference between features and benefits. And yes, I’ve heard it said many times to sell the sizzle and not the steak. In Selling 101, Zig Ziglar does an excellent job differentiating both, and I’m very grateful for that since I’ve read at least 12 sales books already.

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Summary of Selling 101

What's the difference between convincing and persuading? In sales, you persuade by asking questions. Asking the right question and listening to the answer is a great relationship builder. This is an important element in the sales process.

Always act with integrity.

“You get into selling because your heart and head won't allow you to do anything else.” 

Lack of commitment is the primary reason the sales profession has such a high turnover rate

Daily Affirmation

“Today I will be a successful sales professional and I will learn something today that will make me even more professional tomorrow.”

A salesperson is a professional persuader, who is in a position to solve problems. In sales, you can make things happen. You have to be able to persuade others, if you expect to convince them to buy.

You need to develop the skills for:

• Learning
• Listening
• Communicating

And becoming:

• Dependable
• Credible

These skills will enable you to build business relationships, a sales career, while making a difference in the world. Always operate with honesty, integrity, and ethics. Rewards are guaranteed when you operate this way.

Communication Specifics 

1. When a customer loses his cool and gets angry, lower your voice and speak slower.
2. The customer uses profanity. Keep your language clean and professional.
3. When the prospects speak so softly, you have to strain to hear what's being said, keep your voice at a level you'll be heard.
4. Prospect speaks so slowly or so fast that if you emulate him, it would be obvious, make some adjustments in the direction of his pattern.
5. Don't conform to speech accents, bad grammar, slang or speech impediments.

Sales credo:

“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” 

Prospecting is an important element of sales success. A prospect is an individual or group capable of making the decision on the product or service a salesperson is selling.

You spend time with suspects. But you invest time with prospects. You should prospect all the time.

How to Prospect

• Display genuine interest in the other person.
• Have genuine interest in and concern for others.

How to Ask Prospects for Referral

Step One: Example

“Mr. Smith, if your best friend walked in, would you introduce him to me? If he says yes, then follow up with. Why not introduce me to your best friend who has a need for this service by giving me his name and a little information about him.”

Step Two: If someone has benefited from your product/service, ask him to introduce you by phone or email. Short note could say,

“John, my friend Bill has something that will benefit you.” 

Step Three: Start by asking for one referral, else the customer may suffer from a mental block. Read the person's information on the card, then ask for another. Follow this process until the customer cannot think of another person.

Step Four:  Ask the person questions to jog their memory.

You know this person, what are her hobbies?

“With whom do you jog, play bridge, work, go to a club, meet in your church. Who are your neighbors?”

I would say the above differently because it sounds wooden. That’s not how people talk.

Step Five: When you get referrals, find out from the person who to call first. Create a priority list. Let the person know how the call went.

Where to Find Prospects

• Billboards
• Storefronts
• Advertising
• Chamber of Commerce
• Better Business Bureau
• Source book: Contacts Influential: Commerce and Industry Directory

Take the road less traveled and do what other sales professionals are not doing. For instance, a birth announcement means the need for baby products and more insurance coverage. An engagement announcement typically means the need for a wedding planner, bridal services, clothing, furniture, insurance, travel services, and hotel or motel accommodations for the upcoming event.

Executive promotion announcements could mean expanded wardrobes, club memberships, investment programs, automobiles and so on. You’re limited by your imagination.

Call Reluctance

Eighty-four percent of all sales people have called reluctance to some degree. 

Regular doses of motivation increases success.

Zig Ziglar Training System: Four Step Formula 

Step One: Need Analysis 

Customer-driven (wants) and need-oriented (need). Selling starts with a needs analysis. The goal is to x-ray the prospect to uncover existing needs. People buy because they need or want something. Probing allows you to discover the needs of the customer. People buy what they want when they want it more than they want the money it costs.

Step Two: Need Awareness

Ask questions. Need awareness is difficult because it forces the salesperson to think. Most salespeople just want to close the sale. You ask questions that cause you and the prospect to understand the needs and wants, but you also have to think.

Step Three: Need Solution 

“You do not invent or create the needs. That’s not selling. You uncover a need or problem that is already there and, in the process, render a solution, a real service.”

You present your products. Stop asking questions and present solutions to the needs. People don’t buy products. They buy the product of a product, which are called benefits or need solutions. That means they buy what the product does for them. Lead with a need. Relate to the prospect in terms of need, not in terms of the product.

Tell the prospect what the product can do and why it will do it for them.

Step Four: Need Satisfaction 

Always ask for the order.

Need Analysis: Ask Questions

Emotion makes the prospect take action now, and logic enables them to justify the purchase later.

Example Combining Logic and Emotion 

“Can you see where our product would save you money?” 

The strongest emotion we face is fear.

“Fear of loss is greater than desire for gain.” 

“Can you see where this could be beneficial to your career?” 

3 Questions That Tie Emotion to Logic 

Your primary benefit (what your product or service does for others) is:

Your “customized” three questions are:

1. Can you see __________?
2. Are you interested in __________?
3. When do you think __________ would be the best time?

Proper Questioning Process

Open-door questions: Allows the person answering the question to go wherever she’d like. Example: “What’s the most important aspect of your role?

Closed-door questions: Keep the person in a certain area for clarification. Example: “How does the revenue in your division compare to the revenue in other divisions in the company?”

Yes/No questions: Demands a direct response. Example: “Do you agree this will save you time?”

Conducting the Interview: The POGO Formula 

Person: The P in POGO stands for person. Anything that expresses a sincere interest in a prospect is valuable. Create questions related to the person.

Organization: The first O in POGO stands for organization. As conversation about the person comes to an end, talk about your organization. Twenty-five percent of the conversation should be about your organization, 75 percent about the prospect.

Goals: The G in POGO stands for goals. Gather information about personal and professional goals.

Obstacles: The second O in POGO stands for obstacles that stand in the way of goal achievement.

Use the POGO formula to prepare. When the prospect asks questions that suggest he’s ready to buy, move into Need Awareness.

Need Awareness 

When you've discovered the client’s needs, probe some more.

1. Want to make sure you have a true need and not a symptom.
2. Make sure the prospect understands there's a need.

Training for Need Awareness 

1. Product knowledge
2. Industry knowledge
3. Pricing knowledge
4. Application, knowledge
5. Competition knowledge

Sell to Prospect’s Need

There are two vital questions:

1. What do you sell? “I sell life changing tools that empower people to overcome negative patterns of the past and make progress in the present while having hope in the future.”
2. What do your prospects buy? “People purchase tools that give them value over the past, progress in the present, and hope in the future.”

Feature, Function, Benefit

Feature: Part of the product or service or what the product or service is. Example: A ballpoint pen has a clip. This is a feature.

Function: The act that a particular part of the product or service performs. A product or service may have several functions. Example: The clip of the ballpoint pen’s functions is to hold the pen to your pocket.

Benefit: The advantage in using the feature and functions. What the feature and function do for the prospect/client. Example: The clip of the ballpoint pen saves you money and frustrations because you don't lose or misplace your pen.

When providing a solution to your prospect’s need (solving a problem), always lead with the need. Clearly spell out the benefits.

Closing Sales: Need Satisfaction

The prospect wants to say yes. If you’ve successfully completed Need Analysis, Need Awareness, Need Solution, it’s time to move on to Need Satisfaction. You have to ask for the sale.

How to Move from ‘No’ to ‘Know’

If the customer says ‘No’ ask questions to understand and identify the objection. Prospects will not tell you the true objection. And some may not even know what the objection is. The prospect is operating at a ‘feeling’ level so the salesperson has to test the objection.

There are two tests:

1. ‘Suppose’ Test. Example: “Ms. Prospect, just suppose that condition didn’t exist. Would you then invest in my product or service?”
2. ‘Isolate and Validate’ Test. Example: Ask, “Is there any other reason that would prevent you from taking advantage of my offer today?” When you get a ‘No,’ it’s time to Validate. “So, Mr. Prospect, you’re telling me that if _____ and _____ were not issues, you would buy today?”

When you’ve dealt with all the objections you can close the sale by asking, “Am I right in believing that you want to start enjoying the benefits as quickly as possible?” Now it’s time to write up the order.

Unhappy Customers

Persist pleasantly and professionally. Summarize what caused the problems, you're asking the prospect to make an investment.

Key Principles to Deal with Unhappy Customers

1. Hear them out.
2. Be patient.
3. Be tactful.
4. Empathize.
5. Acknowledge their importance.
6. Articulate your response slowly, quietly and carefully.
7. Never grant them permission to control you.

Conclusion: Selling 101

To excel at sales, you need to be able to manage your time effectively. The most successful sales professionals delegate many of the non-sales activities.

The most accomplished people use books as problem solving tools. They carve out the time in their schedule to find solutions in the pages of a book. Let me help you to solve your own problems. Additionally, this program helps you to learn valuable career skills. Click the link MoreReads Individual Leadership Development Program to buy.

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