After watching the Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, which was very entertaining I decided to pick up this book. Jordan is a born salesman so there is a lot to learn from a master of his craft. The only thing I didn't like about the book was there were too many lists for different things (very "salesy" of course).
About the Author
Jordon is an American entrepreneur, motivational speaker, author, a former stockbroker and convicted felon. He started out studying biology at university with plans on becoming a dentist but after being told by the Dean it was not a path to financial success he dropped out on the first day. He went on to found the financial firm Stratton Oakmont which was an over-the-counter brokerage house. Belfort gained notoriety in the 2013 movie the Wolf of Wall Street which detailed the rise and fall of his career as a Wall Street trader. In 1999 he pled guilty to securities fraud and money laundering in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. He spent 22 months in federal prison before his early release.
The Premise of the Book
It focuses on the art of sales, and how to influence prospects (individuals or organisations that fits a seller's criteria to be a potential customer) to make buying decisions.
The Book in a Nutshell
The Three Tens
There are three elements involved in every sale (3 10s) that must line up in any prospect's mind before closing the sale. Logically and emotionally, on a certainty scale from 1-10 your prospect must:
Trust our product will fulfil their needs for a great price
Trust and connect with us as an expert in our field
Trust and connect with our company
The Straight Line System ("SLS")
The premise that every sale is the same regardless of the particulars underpins the SLS, which aims to conduct the negotiation to close the agreement in an assertive way - just as a straight line connects two points through the shortest possible distance. Therefore, the goal of a sales representative is to lead the prospect through the straight line until closure (this is the only goal). Any objection that causes the sales representative to deviate from this goal should be seen as an opportunity to increase the prospect's degree of certainty about the sale; to bring them back onto the line on the route to closure.
State Mastery
Essentially our ability to close sales will depend on your ability to maintain an emotional state that blocks out any difficult emotions or thoughts.
Key Ideas
The First Four Seconds
A buyer will take 4 seconds to read and judge us so make our first impression count!
2. The Start of the Sale
Only once the prospect makes their first objection does the sale begin. Then we can start to develop creative solutions to their problems.
3. Emotion/Logic
Primarily people buy on emotion and use logic to justify their decisions after. Make a solid logical case first, then emotional so that we overcome the prospect's apprehension which opens them up to make an emotional decision.
4. Communication Types
10% of communication is done orally but the other 90% is through tonality and body language.
5. Charisma is the foundation of rapport
It has 3 parts:
Effective use of tonality
Targeted use of body language
Don't say stupid s*it
6. The Five Core Elements of the SLS
The prospect must love the product
The prospect must trust and connect with us
The prospect must trust and connect with our company
The action threshold (needs to be lowered) - The prospect must be at a level of certainty to feel comfortable making a decision to take action
The pain threshold (needs to be raised) - The prospect's emotional pain, regarding a problem they have, must be increased to move them towards making a decision that will alleviate their pain
7. 4 Foundations to Successful State Management
Certainty
Clarity
Confidence
Courage
My Favourite Quotes
“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it”
“You need to see things as they are, not worse than they are, than see them better than they are and make them that way”
“If you give people a good enough ‘why’, they will always figure out the how”
"Successful people are 100% convinced that they are masters of their own destiny, they’re not creatures of circumstance, they create circumstance, if the circumstances around them suck they change them”
“Act as if! Act as if you’re a wealthy man, rich already, and then you’ll surely become rich. Act as if you have unmatched confidence and then people will surely have confidence in you. Act as if you have unmatched experience and then people will follow your advice. And act as if you are already a tremendous success, and as sure as I stand here today – you will become successful”
“If you want to be rich, never give up. People tend to give up. If you have persistence, you will come out ahead of most people. More importantly, you will learn. When you do something, you might fail. But that’s not because you’re a failure. It’s because you have not learnt enough. Do it differently each time. One day, you will do it right. Failure is your friend”
Actionable Takeaways
To Make A Successful First Impression (W/I 4 Seconds)
There are 3 key ingredients:
We need to be "sharp as a tack"
Enthusiastic as hell ("bottled enthusiasm")
Be an expert in our field (know your stuff)
2. Managing a Positive State
This is a 5 step process using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP):
Choose a state
Choose our focus
Choose our physiology
Intensify our state
Set our anchor as follows - when you are about to reach peak state:
Link to smell (something distinct)
Ball our hands up into fists and dig your fingernails into our palms
Shout "YES" in a powerful and controlled manner
Repeat a-c 10 seconds later
3. Identify Buyer Archetypes when Prospecting
Buyers in heat - Their minds are already made up to take action
Buyers in power - Lack the pain which causes them to lack the same level of urgency as buyers in heat
Lookie Loos - No intention to buy so weed these out
Mistakes - Not interested because they have been dragged there
4. The 10 Rules of Straight Line Prospecting
We're a sifter, not an alchemist
Always ask for permission to ask questions
Always use a script
Go from less to more invasive questions
Exercise the correct tonality
Exercise correct body language in response to the prospect
Always follow a logical path
Make mental notes - initially, we don't want to resolve the pain we want to amplify it before providing a solution
Always end with a powerful transition
Stay on the straight line don't get spiralling off to Pluto
Impact Statement
“No matter what happened to you in your past, you are not your past, you are the resources and the capabilities you glean from it. And that is the basis for all change”
Comments