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Zig Ziglar's vote for best salesperson

Zig Ziglar's vote for best salesperson

Shane McLendon
August 26, 2024

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🏆Zig’s vote for best salesperson

A glorious Monday to you and yours. Today’s quick thought should help you relax a little and keep your marketing simple. After all, Mt. Rushmore Marketer Zig Ziglar said dogs are the best salespeople in history.

Then, brace your brain for what’s happening in Monday’s Marketing News.

Man’s Best Friend’s Simple Selling Technique

Show me a guy who doesn’t like dogs and I’ll show you a sociopath.

Dogs don’t need fancy tricks to make their owners love them, either.

Their main technique for selling themselves is…

Being there.

Period.

My Black Lab is never far from my side. He even lies outside the bathroom when I shower. He’d love to shower with me but that would be weird. And illegal, except in Portland.

He also gets more treats than he should. And more meat scraps from the dinner table than his cohort - the barky Beagle. She acts a fool begging, but the Lab simply waits patiently where I can see his mesmerizing golden eyes. Gets me every time.

The Beagle gets her fair share, but her antics don’t help her cause. Just being there is all it takes.

Another example…

Beer Salesman

When I used to help my buddy at his beer store, I’d pick at the beer salesmen, telling them, “You guys could just let the store owner text you his order. The beer companies will probably phase y’all’s job out soon anyway.”

Surprisingly, they found no humor in that and obviously kept showing up.

And while true that there was no real need for these guys to show up to take the beer order, they were there—week in, week out, without fail. Being there put a human face with the faceless beer company they worked for.

Plus, on the few occasions my buddy would ask them for a favor, like NFL tickets or promotional items, they were there—Johnny on the spot.

Those Falcons’ tickets came from Russ, not ACME Beer Distributors. That Corona patio umbrella came from Mark, not Premium Spirits.

Back to Man’s best friend…

Consistent Connection

I’ve seen people, no lie, more broken up over their dog dying than a relative. Not that these dog owners are psychos. It’s that their dog…

Met them at the door every day for 14 years
Stood guard over their toddler for the first three years of her life
Nuzzled a wet nose under their arm for all eight seasons of Game of Thrones
Slept at their feet every night in the only two homes they ever knew

All that to say. Relax. Just be there for your customers and future customers. Show up again and again with the patience and relentlessness of my loyal Lab below.

3 more examples of being there with mad consistency:

Bands playing hundreds of tour dates in one year (The Beach Boys played 7045 shows, apparently!)
Pro wrestlers like Ric Flair on the road for over 300 days a year
Sports talk legend Jim Rome didn’t want to take any days off back in the day for fear the fill-in would do a better job than him