---
title: Sales Coach to Zig Ziglar, Trained by Napoleon Hill! Ben Gay, III
description: "Ben Gay, III: personally mentored by Napoleon Hill and was the sales coach for Zig Ziglar. Hear how to be a professional salesperson for life."
image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/_Podcast_Images/ben_gay_3rd_sales_podcast_544.png
---
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Feb 11, 2022
# Sales Coach to Zig Ziglar, Trained by Napoleon Hill! Ben Gay, III
 [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)
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## From $100/week to $40k/mo
***[\[ LISTEN NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS \]](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-whisperer-wes-schaeffer-hosts-the-sales-podcast/id655310847?mt=2)***
Part 1
Part 2
---
## Professional Sales Tips you'll learn today on [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)...
- Most things are applicable to sales and marketing
- Charles Manson, Napoleon Hill, [Zig Ziglar](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hello-goodbye-and-thank-you-mr-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
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJQbtO6L%2BjCWQGDoOcBak2jR4KUaJLtsQqyFZIBDeyO6h0zy1WnpEE65a%2BQ%2FQBb%2BP8BFxXkg3Djc345fwcRpKbepCX6%2BM2DFOw07zim1ee15XWm1Wg4R3Hv2IWhfpRpZMD9DGBCCTC3t9yPpiSVoAdDB8hWpxRsj4dEI7LsIXVnZr664Az4MLWUs8Ns8JXhrw%3D%3D&webInteractiveContentId=190434884110&portalId=443614)
- #1 at Macy's (Davidson's back then)
- 1955 he answered an ad about marketing plans in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Met [Zig Ziglar](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hello-goodbye-and-thank-you-mr-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 and to both learn and develop their sales culture
- 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 for Sales Training for Ben
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/anthony-parinello)
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJroM3h%2BK650nP1CqyLHC%2BLUsSrlfGP1bfnEBxRW6r9wnjJNnOSlF05PHfUcpTqVvT%2Bl%2F1o5VD02OtMinyMSerAy6VraxFs6tbdvBLVy09vpnB9CwFm3GFLN3OOfHs3%2FPXDcm5MroVme9L5QWHP%2FthmOHeoEXgBwzlQSFQx7YFuKKGO9QkV&webInteractiveContentId=184500196010&portalId=443614)
- 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](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/from-prison-cell-to-living-well-mike-pisciotta), 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](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/negotiation-training-andres-lares)
> "Some will. Some won't. Next." ~Jim Rohn
- 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](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/do-feelings-create-actions-or-do-actions-create-feelings)
- Be disciplined
- [Write it down and get it done](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/ben-settle-returns)
- 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](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/conference-speaker)
- 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](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/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."
## [Sales Growth Tools](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/inner-circle) Mentioned In The Sales Podcast
- "Think and Grow Rich" (Best-selling, least-read.)
- "[Don't Let Your Past Hold You Back: The Redemption of a Gangsta](https://amzn.to/3HBMEmT)"
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJ%2B5%2BdSYVUwNdmak0onQgA3hjIQBIoljkvK9mDytGbvTn%2FpryjxFiq1Sqg4gpdDCUyYpvq1oK3m5HER1CUugyBTUeaP77ZpvFE0sBg21ViBXJu%2BDWKe%2B7HclH2t6A2wWty68B6JUJLIaGPchRHhsEsIKO2oCpBKgtZgx8ZDGdT7JG%2FyKGj8&webInteractiveContentId=178194433547&portalId=443614)
[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)
## Related posts
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hello-goodbye-and-thank-you-mr-zig-ziglar)
[custom AI solution development](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/custom-ai-solution-development), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai)
## [Hello, Goodbye and Thank You, Mr. Zig Ziglar](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hello-goodbye-and-thank-you-mr-zig-ziglar)
 [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)
Jun 13, 2025
Zig Ziglar died at age 86 this week. Around 1996 I was introduced to his "See You At The Top" and...
[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/hello-goodbye-and-thank-you-mr-zig-ziglar)
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/do-great-people-meet-or-do-people-meet-to-become-great/-0)
[custom AI solution development](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/custom-ai-solution-development), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai)
## [How To Zig To AI's Zag](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/do-great-people-meet-or-do-people-meet-to-become-great/-0)
 [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)
Jun 13, 2025
Skynet is here.
[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/do-great-people-meet-or-do-people-meet-to-become-great/-0)
[](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sue-b-zimmerman)
[The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast)
## [Sue B Zimmerman: How Businesses Use Instagram To Grow Sales](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sue-b-zimmerman)
 [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer)
Jun 13, 2025
Watch your teenagers to determine where to market your business next
[Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/sue-b-zimmerman)
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