Gary Swanson

The author's background is extensive. He has sold door to door, been a loan officer in finance companies, a service rep for a bank group and supervised numerous loan portfolios, been an insurance agent, an employment counselor, a state highway technician; learning auto finance. He then turned around and hired and trained a teacher for a newly created finance manager training school. He traveled throughout the eastern and Midwest states assisting banks and automobile dealers in financing of cars and RVs. One factor in his success is that he has never been afraid to change jobs. His overall philosophy has always been to learn everything about where he was at and if it became boring, to move on. For example, after moving to the west coast, he secured a job with an Oregon insurance company and became department manager in a short time. Then an ad from Toyota Motor Company caught his eye and he interviewed for the position, and upon returning from vacation, he found out that out of 1,000 applicants, he had been chosen as the Toyota sales training manager for the northwest. Upon tendering his resignation, the insurance company raised the ante so high that he stayed with them. Six months later, he was wooed away by Volkswagen of America, and became merchandising manager for five states. Years later, just when he was in line for assistant vice president, he was enticed by an auto dealer to get into the retail sales end. His first position was general manager, which he freely admits was "over his head" at the time. Then by accident, he ran into a gentleman that had been in the audience during a presentation he made to a Seattle dealer group. This was the "game changer." The man offered him a job as a closer. When he replied that he had never even sold a car, the man said, "I'm not looking for a salesman, I want a closer and you have what I want!" What followed was six months of the most intensive training imaginable. He was taught every word and every gesture to use, along with the psychology that explained why it worked. He learned so much, that six months later he bought a "failing," multi-line dealership. The recession of the early 80's polished off that venture, but over the next 26 years he learned from the best and became a master closer; a position he enjoyed more than any other. He worked for many of the largest dealers in the United States; the true mega dealers. He has personally closed over 18,000 sales of cars, trucks and RVs. Swanson stated that "Zig Ziglar had a super-positive effect on my life, and I feel honored to share a page with him." He went on to say, "The worlds greatest salesman has passed away, and I am deeply saddened that his leaving made so little impact on our news media. I am proud to have Zig Ziglar's books, and especially the one he personally sent to me."