4 Key “Wolf of Wall Street” Sales Strategies

Summary:

• Prioritize training and coaching to transform your team into top performers, emphasizing the mastery of sales techniques.
• Make a strong and positive first impression within the first few seconds to gain trust and interest from prospects.
• Focus on demonstrating the unique value of your product over competing solely on price, ensuring your offering meets the specific needs of your customers.
• Leverage authentic urgency to motivate action, highlighting the benefits of immediate action and the costs of delay.
• While distancing from the unethical aspects, these strategies from "The Wolf of Wall Street" can enhance sales effectiveness.

Ever since The Wolf of Wall Street debuted in movie theaters in 2013, Jordan Belfort has become a name synonymous with sales. And his association with sales is a double-edged sword.

There's no denying that Belfort is a controversial and dishonest figure. However, there's also no denying that his leadership techniques, ability to motivate sales teams, and generate tons of deals worked.

The important thing to take away from the movie is not the attitude of dishonesty Belfort carried with him. Instead, we'll focus on the positives that he brought to his sales reps and company.

To that end, here are 4 key "Wolf of Wall Street" sales strategies that you should internalize and share with your sales team to optimize performance.

1. Train for Success

While you can certainly look for great sales talent, you can also create it.

Jordan Belfort showed us this by taking uneducated and seemingly unqualified people, and turning them into selling machines – all through proper, comprehensive training.

He had his system of straight-line-persuasion, and made sure his sales team understood it.

By focusing on training and effective sales coaching, Jordan helped his team crush their sales goals. He had his team members role play on live customer calls while the rest of the team listened, and also gave them effective cold call scripts and elevator pitches to use.

Training is a huge element for your sales team’s success. Give your team the training and resources it needs to succeed.

2. Earn Their Trust in the First 4 Seconds

Jordan Belfort teaches that your prospects will pass judgment on you within as little as four seconds.

That just goes to show how important your opening pitch really is. The surest way to find your "in" is to laser in on your prospects hot-button issue, and show that you're a credible solution.

It also shows the importance of being able to endear prospects to you, by creating a winning first impression.

That is, being seen as honest, likable, and sharp. Do that and a huge part of the battle has already been won.

3. Demonstrate Value

What is the value of your product?

Why does your product provide greater value than other solutions?

Competing on price is almost always a mistake. Your control, your edge always comes from your ability to demonstrate value.

That comes from showing your prospect how your product or service aligns with their needs. In order to do that, you have to know your customer, ask the right questions, and position your product as a solution to what pains them.

It also comes from being someone they want to listen to, and work with... which is why establishing a good first impression is so vital.

4. Create Urgency

Urgency fosters action. That's why it's so powerful in sales.

People don’t like the idea of missing out on something, so helping  to understand the value of acting now... or the cost of waiting till later... is a critical sales skill that can't be understated.

When Jordan was selling penny stocks, he’d constantly stress the sense of urgency. He’d say things like, “This is last one left,” and “I have another buyer waiting!”

While you don’t want to be screaming out these “fire-sale” types of pitches often, you do want to create authentic urgency.

Have your sales team ask themselves, “How can I help this prospect address their deeper needs that they’ve been putting off to the side or prioritizing too low? How can I help them avoid the pain of continuing to ignore these needs? What is the real cost of them not doing this today?"

These will help your sales team create more authentic urgency.

Putting a Positive Spin on The Wolf of Wall Street Sales Strategies

If you've seen the movie, then you know just how potent some of The Wolf of Wall Street's sales strategies were. The scene when he asks his friend to sell him a pen is one that sticks out most notably to us—it's a raw demonstration of the power behind supply and demand.

What's difficult is separating the controversial character of Jordan Belfort from the actually relevant, positive, and helpful sales strategies set forth in the movie. But if you're able to pull the two apart, the chances are high that you'll be able to learn potent new tactics to drive your team's success.

If you have any other specific scenes from the movie, or other Wolf of Wall Street sales strategies you love, share them with us on LinkedIn.