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The Essential Lessons of the Late Zig Ziglar

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The Essential Lessons of the Late Zig Ziglar

One of the great sales teachers of our time – Zig Ziglar – passed away last week at the ripe, rich age of 86.

We’ll miss him, but we’ll remember his lessons for a long, long time.

Despite his dozens of books, Zig was not the most erudite of teachers. Part of the Dale Carnegie tradition, he didn’t fill his books with charts and Zenn diagrams. Or break down the psychological underpinnings of the various customer types to help you out-maneuver customers on the way a sale.

Zig made it his business to fix you. Quite correctly. His only mission was to make your attitude the best it could possibly be.

For me, here was the first key takeaway from Zig’s obituary in the New York Times.

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He told a story about a woman in Alabama who he said was bitter about her job and angry with her co-workers. He advised her to write down whatever positives she could thing of — the solid paycheck, the benefits, the vacation time — and then stare into the mirror and say how much she loved her job. Six weeks later, he ran into her again.

“I’m doing wonderfully well,” she told him with a bright smile, adding, “You cannot believe how much those people down there have changed.”

And here was the second:

“Our whole philosophy’s built around the concept that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” he said [in an interview]. “That works in your personal life, your physical life. It works in corporate America. It works in government. It works everywhere.”

One of a kind. Last of an era. Goodbye, Zig Ziglar.

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He Doubled His Sales Goals with Wilkerson

John Matthews, owner of John Michael Matthews Fine Jewelry in Vero Beach, Florida, is a planner. As an IJO member jeweler, he knew he needed an exit strategy if he ever wanted to g the kind of retirement he deserved. He asked around and the answers all seemed to point to one solution: Wilkerson. He talked to Rick Hayes, Wilkerson president, and took his time before making a final decision. He’d heard Wilkerson knew their way around a going out of business sale. But, he says, “he didn’t realize how good it was going to be.” Sales goals were “ambitious,” but even Matthews was pleasantly surprised. “It looks like we’re going to double that.”

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David Squires

The Essential Lessons of the Late Zig Ziglar

Published

on

The Essential Lessons of the Late Zig Ziglar

One of the great sales teachers of our time – Zig Ziglar – passed away last week at the ripe, rich age of 86.

We’ll miss him, but we’ll remember his lessons for a long, long time.

Despite his dozens of books, Zig was not the most erudite of teachers. Part of the Dale Carnegie tradition, he didn’t fill his books with charts and Zenn diagrams. Or break down the psychological underpinnings of the various customer types to help you out-maneuver customers on the way a sale.

Zig made it his business to fix you. Quite correctly. His only mission was to make your attitude the best it could possibly be.

Advertisement

For me, here was the first key takeaway from Zig’s obituary in the New York Times.


He told a story about a woman in Alabama who he said was bitter about her job and angry with her co-workers. He advised her to write down whatever positives she could thing of — the solid paycheck, the benefits, the vacation time — and then stare into the mirror and say how much she loved her job. Six weeks later, he ran into her again.

“I’m doing wonderfully well,” she told him with a bright smile, adding, “You cannot believe how much those people down there have changed.”

And here was the second:

“Our whole philosophy’s built around the concept that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” he said [in an interview]. “That works in your personal life, your physical life. It works in corporate America. It works in government. It works everywhere.”

Advertisement

One of a kind. Last of an era. Goodbye, Zig Ziglar.

/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * */
var disqus_shortname = ‘instoremag’; // required: replace example with your forum shortname

/* * * DON’T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */
(function() {
var dsq = document.createElement(‘script’); dsq.type = ‘text/javascript’; dsq.async = true;
dsq.src = ‘http://’ + disqus_shortname + ‘.disqus.com/embed.js’;
(document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(‘body’)[0]).appendChild(dsq);
})();

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Advertisement

Advertisement

SPONSORED VIDEO

He Doubled His Sales Goals with Wilkerson

John Matthews, owner of John Michael Matthews Fine Jewelry in Vero Beach, Florida, is a planner. As an IJO member jeweler, he knew he needed an exit strategy if he ever wanted to g the kind of retirement he deserved. He asked around and the answers all seemed to point to one solution: Wilkerson. He talked to Rick Hayes, Wilkerson president, and took his time before making a final decision. He’d heard Wilkerson knew their way around a going out of business sale. But, he says, “he didn’t realize how good it was going to be.” Sales goals were “ambitious,” but even Matthews was pleasantly surprised. “It looks like we’re going to double that.”

Promoted Headlines

Most Popular