Movie Gems – The Wolf Of Wall Street and its precious Business Lessons

Stockbrokers and business-to-business marketers aren’t really that different, if you take a look at it. Both sell something, whether it’s a unit of stock or a product or service, the goal is to talk to people and convince them to invest.

Martin Scorsese’s most recent masterpiece, The Wolf of Wall Street, tells the story of a real-life stockbroker named Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). From his early twenties, Belfort capitalized on his people skills, natural sales dexterity and passion for money to build his own business empire.

Although he accumulated his wealth through illegal means, one cannot deny that a thing or two can be learned from his “misadventures”:

Know how to tell a story

In the film, Belfort doesn’t just sell stocks to people; he targets their weaknesses and makes the most of them by painting a picture of possibilities. He works hard to know the ins and outs of a particular industry and uses this to send his message out to his future clients. Business marketers can emulate this by being observant of everything around them and channel this knowledge to project an effective marketing message whether physically or online.

Seek opportunities

Marketers should also be able to see an opportunity when it presents itself, even if that circumstance is not always favorable to the eye. After Wall Street had crashed, Belfort ended up in a small-time brokerage firm, but that didn’t stop him from going after his ambitions. He actually saw this as an opportunity to make a name for himself.

Be persistent

There’s a thin line that separates persistence from pushing it too far. Belfort was able to control how much he can get into the minds of his clients when he speaks on the phone. Forcing them to commit would make them feel invaded, but not trying enough would be a lost opportunity. What is your threshold for persistently going after a prospect to commit to your business?

Have passion to achieve your goal

After being indicted and serving prison, Belfort became a global international speaker. His natural motivational skills are renowned in the business world, and up to this day he still speaks in front of thousands of people about business passion.

The long-term fate of a business depends on marketers, because they bring in clients that keep the business alive. If marketers don’t have the passion to keep going at opportunities, businesses will end up short-lived and unfulfilled.