Repackaging of Zig. - Review - audio-visual review

Training & Development, Feb, 2000 by Trish Lambrecht

The Art of Selling CD-ROM, 1999, Skills Online; 800.371. 7085, www.skillsonline.com. Purchase US$189.95 (single-user license), $1,295 (library license). Other material: none.

This multimedia program could be described as Zig Ziglar meets technology-sort of.

The Art of Selling is a repackaging of some classic Ziglar concepts. For example, when I was teaching a college sales class last year, I viewed a 1960s Ziglar film. Amazingly enough, in the closing of this 1999 CD, he uses the same copier example that he did in the '60s film. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning.

The CD is easy to install, and you realize quickly that the setting is a conference center with seven lecture halls. I spent some time wandering around and discovered a lot of glitz and glamour that serve little purpose. Personally, I was unimpressed with being able to move virtually around the conference center and uninterested in reading "brochures" about the people responsible for the CD.

Upon entering the conference center, you're greeted by a receptionist. Then, you can enter any one of the lectures: the keynote address, the psychology of selling, prospecting, product, process, objections, and closing. I began with the keynote address. Zig gives a brief talk in his characteristic voice, espousing some of his basic sales philosophy, including that selling is a transference of feeling, and you can have everything you want if you help others get what they want.

At the end of each session, there's a link to a workbook page. The exercises are no more than fill-in-the-blanks, and there's no online feedback or real interaction.

The lectures, presented by a variety of people, offer content that's valuable but not new. As in so many programs, these use acronyms-for example, T.R.U.S.T., which stands for think, relate, uncover the needs, sell the solution, and take action. As hackneyed as acronyms can be, they tend to work. In addition, the speakers occasionally present a concept and then an example. That's helpful.

At the end, Ziglar introduces the copier example from his earlier film. It wasn't the first time in the program that I noticed an almost verbatim use of previous material, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, one could make the argument that it demonstrates that the material has stood the test of time. However, it did make me wonder, Why a CD?

The content of this multimedia program is pertinent, and the variety and competence of the presenters are good. However, from the user's standpoint, the CD is no different from watching a video and filling in a workbook. Frankly, as multimedia, I found it boring. I couldn't decide whether it was because I was disappointed in the use of technology or whether the material, presented as it was, would be more effective as a video shown on a bigger screen. The value for a single-user license seems reasonable, but a revised version with more interaction would be a huge improvement.