GIRARD, Joe 1928-

PERSONAL: Born Joseph Girardi, November 1, 1928, in Detroit, MI; son of Antony (an automobile assembly worker) and Grace (Stabile) Girardi; married June Krantz, June 2, 1951; children: Joe, Grace. Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Office—P.O. Box 358, Eastpointe, MI 48021.

CAREER: Entrepreneur and author. Building contractor in Detroit, MI, 1949-63; Merollis Chevrolet, East Detroit, MI, new car and truck salesman, 1963-78; professional motivational speaker, 1978—. Military service: U.S. Army, 1947.

AWARDS, HONORS: Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, 1975; named Super Salesman of the Century by Forbes magazine, 1977; made Guinness Book of World Records twelve times for achieving top annual vehicle sales in the world; named to Automotive Hall of Fame, 2001.

WRITINGS:

(With Stanley H. Brown) How to Sell Anything to Anybody, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1977.

(With Robert Casemore) How to Sell Yourself, introduction by Norman Vincent Peale, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1980.

(With Robert L. Shook) How to Close Every Sale, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1989.

(With Robert Casemore) Mastering Your Way to the Top: Secrets for Success from the World's Greatest Salesman and America's Leading Business People, Warner Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Also author of sales technique film series and sales training program.

ADAPTATIONS: Girard's books have been adapted as audiobooks and videocassettes.

SIDELIGHTS: In 1966 investigators from the Guinness Book of World Records undertook an eight-month study to officially determine if Joe Girard, salesman at Merollis Chevrolet of East Detroit, Michigan, was indeed the world's greatest salesperson. After consulting sales figures from corporations around the world, checking retail sales generated by salespeople involved with big-ticket items such as automobiles, boats, or houses, Guinness declared Girard the "world's greatest" at the job of selling. His record-breaking total of 1,425 cars and trucks sold retail in 1973 alone has never been equaled. So impressive was Girard's career record for vehicle sales—13,001 total—that he was the first salesman ever named to the Automotive Hall of Fame. Girard has also become a best-selling author and motivational speaker who imparts his success tips to corporate groups and individuals who want to excel.

Born and raised in Detroit, Girard first began working in construction as a home builder. He moved into new car sales in 1963 and within three years had established himself as a top salesman. For twelve consecutive years he sold more cars on a one-on-one basis than any other person in the world. During his peak years he mailed an estimated 13,000 greeting cards per month to customers and hired his own staff out of pocket to prep vehicles and help recruit new buyers.

By 1977, according to a Forbes report, Girard was "spending only sixty percent of his working time selling cars." The rest of his time was devoted to promoting training programs aimed at helping others achieve greater levels of success in their lives. In an effort to reach an even wider audience, Girard soon published his first book, How to Sell Anything to Anybody. After the book's publication, he left his sales position in order to devote his full attention to telling others about his book and about his ideas on selling.

In How to Sell Anything to Anybody, as a Business Week reviewer noted, Girard develops two separate but interrelated stories. "The first is a series of thoughtful suggestions on the art of selling," explained the reviewer. "The second, more engaging story, is that of Joe Girard."

Girard's selling tips include the ways salespeople can organize their time and business, how they can appear honest and down-to-earth to their clients, and, most important in the Girard credo, how they can develop a positive mental attitude. Other Girard hints include having distinctive business cards printed, sending former customers birthday and holiday greetings, and getting the customer to feel "obliged" to the salesperson. One way Girard used to carry out this last hint was to keep several different brands of cigarettes in his desk. When he saw a customer patting his pockets looking for a cigarette, Girard would offer his client a smoke and let him keep the entire pack. Sometimes, he would even offer "the shirt off his back" to satisfy a customer and used to keep a spare shirt in his office just in case someone took him up on his offer.

A major portion of How to Sell Anything to Anybody is devoted to the story of Girard's life, a story that, according to Vicky Billington in the Detroit News, "has a definite rags-to-riches theme." Girard gives a capsulized autobiography in the introduction of the book and also explains why he decided to become an author. He says: "For the first thirty-five years of my life I was the world's biggest loser. I got thrown out of about forty different jobs. I lasted only ninety-seven days in the U.S. Army. I couldn't even make it as a crook…. How I got from there to here is what this book is about."

In his second book, How to Sell Yourself, the super salesman details what a Publishers Weekly reviewer called Girard's "strategy of personal salesmanship. " According to Girard, the first step in selling ourselves to others is selling ourselves to ourselves. Girard reveals how individuals can take stock of their strengths and weaknesses and take charge of their lives. Norman Vincent Peale—author of the best selling self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking—contributed the introduction to How to Sell Yourself, calling the book "one of the best books in [the motivational] field. In my opinion, it will become a classic in the success literature of our time…. Girard can help you. I know, for he has helped me."

In 2001 Girard was elected to the Automotive Hall of Fame, located in Dearborn, Michigan. The honor placed him alongside such automotive pioneers as Henry Ford, Charles Kettering, and Harvey Firestone. As David Rouse observed in a Booklist review of Mastering Your Way to the Top: Secrets from the World's Greatest Salesman and America's Leading Business People, Girard has achieved success because he is able to communicate so well with other people. The critic concluded of Girard: "He makes it all sound so easy and straightforward."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Girard, Joe, How to Sell Anything to Anybody, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1978.

Girard, Joe, How to Sell Yourself, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1980.

periodicals

Adcrafter, November 4, 1977.

Automotive News, March 12, 2001, "Automotive Hall of Fame Honors Five," p. 14.

Booklist, March 15, 1995, David Rouse, review of Mastering Your Way to the Top: Secrets for Success from the World's Greatest Salesman and America's Leading Business People, p. 1293.

Business Week, May 1, 1978.

Detroit News, January 19, 1978; August 7, 2001, Maureen McDonald, "World-Record Salesman Earns Spot in Automotive Hall of Fame," p. 2.

Forbes, November 1, 1977.

Newsweek, July 2, 1973.

Publishers Weekly, December 10, 1979; August 14, 1981; January 16, 1995, review of Mastering Your Way to the Top, p. 450.

West Coast Review of Books, March, 1978.

online

Joe Girard Web site, http://www.joegirard.com (November 8, 2003).*