One thing about his sales system I didn't enjoy was his constant referring to his bad old days, and how important ethics was...and in the book he refers to not using pressure in selling. But the course is almost entirely about using techniques that force the sale.

But ethics and how selling works are two different things. It's just as easy (and just as hard) to sell a great offer than a shady one.

But if you ignore his past, and just look at what he teaches, it's about the best system out there on selling, especially selling over the phone.And his understanding of human nature, and what causes people to buy from you...is profound.

Madoff didn't cold call.

He asked his warm contacts about leads and used his position in society to get them to trust him.

There is no debate. He didn't pay it back.

Ryan; It's impossible to get someone to buy without it being their choice. But his sales system is all about one call closing. And in his business it was cold calling wealthy people and getting them to invest big in stocks, all in one call.

He teaches how to do it well and professionally...but to some it's the very definition of a hard sell.

But you can take pieces of what he teaches and apply it to any approach, and product, any temperament.

Well, Ryan, I'm almost through my first round with this "Straight Line System" and here's what I've gathered from it so far, in relation to your comment (query?) ...

He preaches ethical persuasion, but his own ethics still seem a bit questionable?

On the other hand, his sales teachings (mindset and techniques) are quite impressive.


But like most skills, the techniques in this course are neither good nor evil.

It really comes down to individual intent, and what you decide to use them for.

Are your personal intentions to guide people, and help them make good buying decisions, that will truly improve their lives...

Or, are your intentions just to manipulate people, and make a fast buck, without regard to the other person's best interest?
(of course, I'm not talking about you personally, Ryan. I've read many of your posts, and believe you to be the epitome of ethics, and good intention. I'm just speaking in general terms.)



All the best,
SAR

First, I never made the connection of styles with "The Mooch" and Belfort, but now that you've pointed it out, yeah.

It isn't that greed trumps annoying voice. It's that sales skills trump an annoying voice. To me, Belfort sounds like a New York gangster that sells stolen guns. His voice, mannerisms, and way of thinking are repellent to me.



I'm glad you brought this up. It's more than just the tone of voice...it's the cadence, amplitude, timing, certainty in the voice, "caring" in the voice...and more.

And I don't think you can really get that without seeing it in a video. The good news is that there are lots of Belfort sales training videos on Youtube, and they show the way he does it.

And this is really advanced selling. I've mentioned this before, the reason hypnosis works is that the subject believes the hypnotist's suggestion of reality. And for that belief to transfer, the hypnotist has to sound certain...absolutely certain. It's this transference of certainty that drives hypnosis. And Belfort teaches the same thing..how to transfer certainty to the prospect. And it's done mostly through how you speak (and body language and facial expressions in person), even more than what you say.

Watch a great actor...a slight change in expression can carry loads of meaning. A shift in posture, a raised eyebrow, leaning forward slightly, lowering your voice slightly...can make a big difference. And it's that kind of thing Belfort is talking about.

And it works powerfully. Belfort talks about tonality, because he sells over the phone.

First, it is JORDAN not Jordon. When someone spells my name wrong, Gordan, they get automatic demerits in my mind, so let's give the guy a correct spelling.

I have the book in my hand. I also have a couple of Claude's books on my Fire open.

Belfart's book (spelling on purpose, to show disrespect for the stinky man) didn't offer anything new, in my opinion, those familiar have seen his straight line before. For me, spend your money on Claude, not Jordan.

Selling seems so contrived and manipulative. So let me tell you about a guy, who doesn't have a book, and his wildly successful sales system, OK?

We called him Toothpick Pete. A consumer electronics superstar.

He would come to work, find a spot near the TVs or VCR's and lean back and close his eyes, you almost had to wake him up.

His pitch was like this: You looking at TV's?
PROSPECT: Yes.
PETE: Then buy this one.

Left most customers mystified. Why this one?

Because, Pete would say, it is the one I bought for my mother.

If pressed, Pete would say, Look around. See all those young guys in their 20's, most won't last a year, and they want to make a fast buck, you'll never see them again. I've been doing this for a decade, it is my career. I know what I'm talking about and most of my business comes from repeat customers. Buy this one or go get one of those kids to wait on you, they'll sell. you anything.

That was his long pitch. And for the time I worked with him, he was the top salesman in 3 different chains of consumer electronics.

Now Belfort somewhat covers this, but as he says in his introduction, he can sell anything to anybody.

What Pete did, and I think many of the "straight liners" do, is not just act the authority, but BE THE AUTHORITY.

Pete would cut to the chase, Buy it because told you to.

What else did you need to know?

That is about as straight a line as it gets. Of the 3 10's, Pete had certainty before he ever engaged. It is a very powerful strategy which gets results.

If I walked in Claude's store and asked him which one he would buy for his mother, I'd walk out with whatever brand he told me.

Don't we all work toward being THE authority (or one of them) in our own lines of expertise?

GordonJ

Not really. Those just shows that you are willing to put a little more forethought in to your sucking-up.

Steve;

Another way to do it is to ask a question that implies a compliment..like "May I ask where you get your suits?" Or when you find out that they have a hobby, or something you are genuinely interested in...ask their opinion. Personally, I never fake this. I never want to pretend I'm interested in something when I'm not...it derails the conversation.

Another way is to give an opinion that you already know they will agree with, like "I think it's important that we shop locally, don't you?". But don't say it right after they said that they thought we should shop locally.

And never guess. I've had customers say "We like to shop locally" when they buy from me, and I don't think of it as a compliment at all...although I say that agree with them.

I'll be honest with you guys, I don't do much of that anymore. Asking questions in a friendly way...actually listening to what they say.....builds rapport for me.

Thanks Steve,

My staff member that dishes out the compliments does actually do what you say.

They justify their compliment by giving a valid reason.

In my previous post all of the salespeople I was talking about were female and in most cases they are selling to females.

Maybe that is why I feel very uneasy about the compliments and why Claude and F and others feel uneasy about it.

Most of the compliments are things like "I like your earrings they really go well with XXXXX"

"Where did you get them?"

It kills me everytime I hear them use it but the success rate and increase in average dollar sale speaks for itself.

The comments are not insincere and the person genuinely is interested in whatever they have payed a compliment to but for someone else it just wouldn't work.

I recently attended this salesperson's wedding and was blown away by the huge turnout and the comments that everyone made.

There is a crazy skill in developing a true social network where someone understands the entire network, knows their name, relationships, family details etc etc.

This person has all of that data saved for hundreds and hundreds of people.

A bit Rainman if you ask me but seriously loved by both customers and the huge group of people they influence.

They can instantly remember customer's kids names and the schools they go to. The clothes they were wearing, their favourite colours and so on.

The reason they can remember these these things is they are actively listening and they know the power of really getting to know people. BTW - they don't use Facebook and have never.

I think women are just so much better at relationships and the ones that can sell too could run rings around most other people.

I've heard Claude talk about a convention he went to one year when he was having outstanding results yet he didn't win the top sales award. It was a woman who outsold him by a significant amount.

Claude might share that story here or reference it, if he's previously posted the story somewhere.

Best regards,

Ozi

He addressed that in the book. They would ask one or two qualifying questions and move on. It was much more a matter of sorting than selling. Very easy to get them off the phone.

The purpose of the methodology he teaches is to make it more likely that the person will stay engaged once they are qualified and show an interest.

Although I didn't remember any specific numbers, I'm sure they had to make dozens or even hundreds of cold calls before they found one that "clicked". I seem to remember that these guys would make maybe 300 calls a day. At the outrageous commissions they paid, just one sale a day would make you wealthy.

I worked with a telemarketer cold caller once that did the opposite approach, try to engage and sell everyone. He was expert at creating rapport and keeping them on the line. But very few actually bought. Eventually I figured out that it would have been much faster to just let the unqualified/disinterested ones go on about their day.

What Belfort teaches makes selling easier. And most really great salespeople are doing what he teaches anyway. Belfort just explains what they are doing that is different from most.

My guess is that most of what he did and teaches came from his early days as a legitimate broker...and the training he received there. I don't think his insights on "tonality" would come intuitively.

And this isn't directed at you.

I suspect that most of the posts deriding the book are coming from people who haven't read it. ...or even have seen his Straight Line Selling Course.

I'm pretty confident that anyone here is intelligent enough to get something of value out of the book, if they are in the selling profession.

And of course you are correct! He preyed upon those who would listen.

I didn't read his book. I have read the court documents, which were much more informative than the book. They tell us what he was really doing...how he was doing it...and to whom.

Just the facts.

You'll learn much more about Belfort's actual "sales techniques" from his victim's statements, than you will from this thread, his books or video's.

Someone in this thread mentioned "exaggeration" as a way to describe what Belfort did. I'd invite that same person to show us where, in the charges that were filed concerning Belford's activities, the word "exaggeration" was mentioned or even appears.

Ron
https://www.longislandpress.com/2014...ims-speak-out/

"The former Wall Street charlatan--partly fueled by an insatiable drug habit, he professes in the book; mostly fueled by greed and reckless criminality, counter prosecutors--tricked then bilked countless victims out of millions, according to court documents, interviews with attorneys on the case, short-changed investors and his own book. In other words, the shyster not only lied, cheated and robbed unsuspecting people, but destroyed their lives.

Louis E. Dequine, Jr., a former Golden Gloves boxing champion, got burned by Stratton Oakmont, according to his Northport-based attorney Timothy Dennin, and suffered a stroke years later under extraordinary stress. Both he and his wife have since died.'

What about leading lambs to slaughter? Just wondering, is all.

I want to address that.

Tough guys don't take advantage of others and destroy their lives.

And you can be a tough guy, aggressive, ambitious, even greedy...without ruining other people's lives.

And even if he's not to blame for being a wolf among sheep, the sheep have a right to exist...and they made the laws. And the laws are to discover the wolves and separate them from the sheep.

The problem with being a wolf among sheep is that you eventually run out of sheep that aren't aware that you're a wolf. And sheep eventually fight back...that's what laws are for.

One of the best sales points I can think of for his sales methods is that his voice is annoying. One of the most annoying voices I've heard in a man

But his voice inflection, use of language, and timing more than make up for it. The material is that good.

I can see that. In fact, until I watched the Straight Line Selling DVDs I had no idea such a thing existed. I was doing most of it, but it was unconscious.....

If I was sincerely interested in what they were saying, the tonality just came out naturally.
And I conditioned myself to be interested..in the moment.

This kind of training reminds me of the first time I read How To Master The Art Of Selling by Tom Hopkins...way back in 1981.

Sure, I had been doing some of what was in the book, but the fact that it was explained....so that I understood why it was working, and gave scripts to make my selling far more effecting.....

I felt like I had discovered fire.

I got a little of that feeling when I watched the Belfort DVDS.

His checkered past has nothing to do with his drug addiction. It has everything to do with the fact that he sold overpriced stocks that were near worthless, and robbed thousands of families of their investment. The very personification of a con man.

He learned his lesson after he was caught and put in prison. His sales methods are certainly valid and incredibly effective. But as a man?

I've read this book and seen most everything Belfort put out. His training is outstanding. But that never makes me forget who he is....or what he did.