You can sell anything. Everything is negotiable. RIP Ziggy. Zig Ziglar, an American original that harks back to the old Yankee salesman, something out of Constance Rourke’s Americana treasury and Herman Melville and that old American archetype “the untrustworthy narrator.” Ziggy’s angle was to take the charlatan and the snake oil salesman, the Elmer Gantry’s and reinvent them, get them born again in sackcloth and ash, and have them on the road hustling goods and services with the best American know-how.
Gave the Willy Loman’s a boot in the arse, stop being the victim and feeling sorry for yourself and start making real honest and magnificent sales commissions. Of course, the salesman on the beat is almost a dead dog, the cost and the number of independents dying and digital based sales and commissions putting Ziglar’s techniques strictly in the purview of the car and large appliance sales person today. But Ziggy was one of those partially demented geniuses that only seem to flower and prosper within the context of America, that imbue the song and dance man with the aura of “holy.” All that’s missing is laying on of hands. A mass of contradictions, but engaging and endearing…
—It was on the job that Ziglar developed a curiosity about human nature — What made a man tick? Why did some succeed where others failed? — that ultimately led to a thriving career in motivational speaking.
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Ziglar’s speaking career came later in life, something that no doubt added to his appeal to many Americans who felt that after a certain age there was nothing to do but give up. Ziglar’s first book, “See You at the Top,” was published in 1975 when he was 49.
He would go on to rub elbows with U.S. presidents and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, according to the Associated Press. —LA Times. Image:http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/digital-art-masterpieces-ray
(see link at end)…For many it’s hard to believe he’s gone. Legendary motivational speaker and business consultant Zig Ziglar died yesterday, after a 40-year speaking career that saw him travel more than five million miles, consult for Fortune 500 companies and consort with American presidents and other world leaders.
What he has left behind — books and recorded speeches, audio and video lecture series and hundreds of can-do maxims as well as children committed to upholding the principles by which he lived his life — all but ensures that people will be following the “Ziglar Way” for a long time to come.Read More:http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/225115
ADDENDUM:
(see link at end)…Cohen was a guest on the Dr. Phil television show in January 2004 and, using a hidden camera and an earpiece radio, helped a woman negotiate a lower price at a jewelry store in a mall. Through the earpiece, he told her to ask the owner about a picture of children at the store, “Are these your children, they are so attractive.” The storeowner said they were her grandchildren, not her children. Cohen told the woman to say, “You are too young to have grandchildren.”
The back and forth helped the woman develop a relationship with the owner. And so it went. By the end, not only did she save more than $200, the owners offered her a job at the store.
The pow
…Cohen said it helps for people to realize the power they have — particularly in this economy. Consumers have money — and can decide to buy something at another store or buy something different. “Money talks and money walks,” Cohen said. “The only thing it doesn’t say is when and if it is coming back. Every seller knows this and they feel the pressure when a prospective buyer walks into their establishment.”
One key, Cohen said, is to not fall in love with a particular item. “Fall in like with it,” he said. A person has to be able to walk away in order to negotiate a lower price.
Hill went back and forth between two rival jewelry stores trying to get the best deal he could on wedding rings. He was friendly and got to know the people. “I told them what I liked about their store and asked what they could do for me,” he said.
He told the one how he could get the ring at a lower price at the other. “A lot of people will match prices,” he said, “but I don’t think that is good enough. I told them, ‘Matching? What is the point of that?’”
Eventually, after whittling it down about 50 percent, one store offered a price the other couldn’t approach.
The losing jeweler did, however, offer Hill a job.
…Here is what Cohen says when he negotiates with a salesperson: “I’m interested in buying this item, I would like to get it. But what you are asking for it is more than I intended to spend. This is all I’ve got. (Cohen then tells the salesperson the amount he wants to spend). Help me.”
But what if they say no?
“I know when they say ‘no’ that ‘no’ means you probably are talking with the wrong person,” Cohen said. “You have a person who is frightened and afraid to make a decision. The word ‘no’ is an opening, bargaining position.”
Sometimes after going back and forth on a price, a salesperson (especially if they are on a commission) will offer their card and tell the customer to call if there is a change of mind. “Never take their card,” Cohen said. “Give them YOUR card and say ‘If anything changes, give me a call.’”
Cohen said that at the end of the month or quarter, if the salesperson is not making his or her quota, he or she will remember your card and give you a call.
…Cohen also says time is negotiable. For example, if a store had a seven-day sale. “You believe if you came in the eighth day they will tell you to forget it, it is too late?” he said with a laugh.Read More:http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765561239/Secrets-of-negotiating-everything-to-save-money.html?pg=all
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