66 Years of Sales Excellence and Still Going Strong, Ben Gay, III

Feb 11, 2022

Wes Schaeffer

The Sales Podcast Professional Development Marketing Automation Digital Marketing Entrepreneur

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Part 1

Part 2

Professional Sales Tips you'll learn today on The Sales Podcast...

Most things are applicable to sales and marketing
Charles Manson, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, and astronauts
Been in commission sales since he was 14
Sold Krispy Kreme and won a contest and a bicycle
Started mowing lawns...but didn't mow the lawns since it was so hot in Atlanta in the summer
Told the customers to name their price for what they thought it was worth
Grew up near Bobby Jones's home course
Got to listen to the CEOs of Coca-Cola and other Fortune 500 executives
His "comfort zone" was everyone was successful and golfed at East Lake Golf Club
Most got their start in sales, and they realized they were always in sales

Join the Inner Circle and grow your sales, guaranteed.

A hard 'no' beats a soft, sweet 'maybe.'"

#1 at Macy's (Davidson's back then)
1955 he answered an ad about marketing plans in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Met Zig Ziglar on his first interview
Went from $100/week to $40,000 a month
Zig won a Rolls Royce and Ben won the "mystery prize" and became CEO of Holiday Magic Cosmetics (William Pen Patrick) at the age of 25
He went on a 25-city tour with Bill Patrick to introduce him
Bill Patrick hired Napoleon Hill to be Ben's mentor when Hill was 84 and Ben was 25
"Call me Nappy!"
Rodney Dangerfield tied
$50,000 is what Bill Patrick paid Napoleon Hill in 1966 to train Ben

Napoleon Hill had a horrible family life
W. Clement Stone
Earl Nightingale, "If you want to keep a secret, publish a book, put a copy in every library, and nobody will ever learn it!"
Pace Seminars and comfort zones
W. Lamontt Bowens, out of prison, law school, helping juveniles
Ben Gay had a stable family, while Lamontt did not
You need to reset your comfort zone
Hang out with people who are where you want to be
Sell from a position of strength
Jim Rohn used to say, "Some will. Some won't. Next"
His goal is $2,800 a day, which is how you get to $1 million a year
It's "I am rich now. I am healthy now."
Get one good suit and keep it clean
There are no shortcuts
He must always fight the urge to be lazy and fight procrastination
He wants to stay in bed until noon
Three ideas from Napoleon Hill
- Integrity in all things
- Focus
- Take action
Be disciplined
Write it down and get it done
Always have pads handy (Napoleon Hill advice)
He had 71 fresh ideas/reminders after a 3-day weekend
Not all looked great come Monday, but those that made the cut were done that week
Selling hasn't changed
- "Can I trust you?"
- Sell a good product, at a competitive price, to the right people
- Script chunks to be disciplined in sales and to win in sales
The sheepdogs have gotten faster, i.e., the sales/marketing/technology tools have gotten faster
He has given over 5,000 paid talks to over 2.5 million people
Become a person of class, quality, and substance
You must always sell yourself first
Has written 24 books (at least)
He uses one close...sales infiltration...sells himself..his magic close is, "Wes, based on what we've discussed, here's what I suggest we do...Fair enough?"
Handle any objections, rinse, wash, repeat.
Jimmy Rucker, Part 2, sales infiltration
Judge Ziglar
One-on-one is still important in sales
- Prospects still want to know "WIIFM"?
We sort our emails with our fingers over the delete button
You must get your prospect's attention
Most sales are made, lost, or heavily influenced in the first few seconds
Speed of capturing attention is important
You can speak to 20,000+ a day with technology today
Don't judge a book by the cover
Went to buy his first Cadillac but he walked in wearing casual clothes and was judged by the sales reps as not worthy when he was 23 years old
He bought or leased over 300 luxury cars they lost out on
Has bought over 600 luxury cars to give away over the years
Become a dynamic listener
Bought 48 Lincoln Continentals at once over a phone call
Become a "sales infiltrator"
His father-in-law, Gigi's father, had a salesman who was his #1 salesman, Jim, who would offer the kids Cokes (with their parent's permission) and get them calmed down and drive the prospects around but Jim would sit down, put his cowboy boots up on the desktop and say, "Now that we've passed the pleasantries of the day, tell me: do you have any money?"
He didn't spend any time looking for the "four corners"
Get permission to ask questions and you can ask anything you want
10.5 million copies sold (as of 25 years ago) of "The Closers: Part 1"
Stop going to battle
Form a team: One has the money, the other has the knowledge/information
Take away the "think it over"
"Maybes" will kill you
A hard "no" beats a soft, sweet "maybe"
You can build rapport quickly
He was in discussions with David Sandler to partner and they got along but David died
"Fair enough?"
You must smoke out the real problem
How prospects have changed, and it's a time-saver: the prospect is well-informed
Be likable, trustworthy, knowledgeable
Work your system
You must take full and complete responsibility
Otherwise, you can explain away anything
He learned this from Lee Trevino who was struck by lightning twice
He used to have an "executive package" when he was selling his training material
Small hinges swing big doors
Listen for the grunt
Put an exclamation point and make the "bad news" "good news"
He has always stayed in the game
J. Douglas Edwards (Tom Hopkins)
Check their fingernails and heels of their shoes and have a meal with them and see how they treat the waitstaff
Bobby Jones golf story
Hire Eagle Scouts and military academy graduates
Fame/success by association
Look for interesting people
His English teacher took a liking to him and make him a speaker and a writer
Holiday Magic Cosmetics (largest MLM in the world at the time)
Bill Dempsey recruited him
Ben was winning the weekly awards and would share what he was doing
Was speaking to auditoriums of people and was beating Zig Ziglar in sales
"I will pay more to effectively communicate than any other talent."