Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush established the “over-the-counter” brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, Inc. in 1989 on Long Island, New York. It misled numerous stockholders, which resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of key executives as well as the closure of the company in 1996. (Wikipedia).
The Wolf of Wall Street, a 2013 movie that received five Academy Award nominations, was based on the diaries of Jordan Belfort.
We recently discovered the ORIGINAL cold call script that was utilised by Stratton Oakmont as a training manual for all sales representatives. It’s very amazing. And well worth reading all 76 of them.
There is a Napoleon Hill article on personal success, a Carl May article on winning tactics, and a
selling a Les Brown power piece.
There are sayings regarding tenacity and ABC (Always Be Closing).
Also, a whole part is devoted to cold calling scripts, which include objection handling for just about any situation you can think of.
It includes pitch scripts and dos and don’ts. vocabulary and definitions. a map of time zones. And a “Phone Faux Pas” story from March 1995 of Entrepreneur magazine.
There are a tonne of checklists that were typed and then digitised, along with handwritten notes and scanned copies of publications. Oh, and the use of ALL CAPS is widespread.
It is, in a word, rather awesome.
From this 76-page sales playbook from the 1990s, we extracted six sales recommendations that we will discuss in relation to sales in the 2020s.
Let’s start now.
*Disclaimer: Neither Gong nor the writer of this blog post, nor anybody connected to them, support Stratton Oakmont’s operations. We are merely examining the approach and using information that was provided about 30 years ago but is unexpectedly still applicable today.
TIP #1: MENTION YOUR COMPANY NAME AND FULL NAME
Start speaking as soon as your buyer answers the phone.
Don’t just spout off words, though.
Lead with purpose. including your entire name and the name of your business.
Imported directly from the Stratton Oakmont script:
Hello, Steve. Jonathan Costet is my name. From Gong in San Francisco, I’m calling.
Why we advise using this strategy:
When someone introduces oneself with their complete name and business name, respect is earned. Prominent people don’t use their first name only while introducing themselves. They instead use the same complete name.
In order to keep everything under control, state your full name and business name up front. Particularly during cold calls, whoever asks the questions controls the conversation. The person on the other end of the line will inevitably inquire, “Who is this, and who are you with? ” if you fail to state these details at the beginning of the call. They’re in charge now. You? on the back foot.
Not the best place to begin.
It is preferable to take (and keep) the initiative.
Tip #2: Explain why you are calling.
The sales call script for Stratton Oakmont is a little antiquated.
Very simply sir, with your permission” and “send a complimentary issue”—clearly referring to a physical copy, snail-mailed magazine—are, uh, perhaps not the best ways to go on a cold call.
pdf cold call script
Nonetheless, I want to draw attention to the way they explain their call’s purpose: “present myself and my firm.”
Our facts indicate that this is an effective, winning strategy.
Your success rate increases by 2.1 times when you start your call by explaining why you’re calling:
No matter how compelling the justification, humans still need reasons. So, taking the initiative with this strategy (and specifically, this statement) eases the buyer’s concerns.
USE CLOSED QUESTIONS (TIP #3)
There are two categories of sales questions:
Open-ended: These inquiries are meant to inspire longer, more detailed responses. “Tell me about what keeps you up at night,” they could say.
Closed: These inquiries are meant to be answered quickly. They can be addressed in only one word or a few words. These are frequently yes-or-no queries.
Are you familiar with the name Stratton Oakmont? asks the closed question sample from Stratton Oakmont (screenshot below).
The options are yes or no (or perhaps?).
Notice the closed “if yes” follow-up question.
Closed qualifying questions follow in the Stratton Oakmont sales script:
asking strangers questions
Short (“OTC” OR “Yeah, in Japan” OR “More aggressive”) or yes/no replies are the only options.
A brief word about open-ended questions comes before we focus more on closed questions. In general, these kinds of inquiries are great because they let purchasers make thorough, in-depth responses that give sellers useful information they can utilise later.
Yet, while making cold calls, you have a buyer on the other end of the line who is constantly weighing the pros and disadvantages of continuing to speak with you.
A question along the lines of “Tell me about your priorities this quarter” won’t get you very far.
- USE THE WORD “FAIR”
Talking about…
Have you taken note of the final, succinct closed question in Tip #2? Here it is once more:
pdf cold call script
Okay, so what?
One of the seven words that sell is “fair,” one of the most potent words in the English language.
You know, it’s in our nature as humans to want to be treated fairly and to get what we deserve.
Former hostage negotiator, author, and businessman Chris Voss of the United States calls “fair” “the F-word” and claims it to be the “single most potent word in any negotiation.”
According to Gong statistics, top performers use the word “fair” 1.7 times each deal (all calls that span one contract), compared to everyone else’s 0.2 times.
Tip #5: Be prepared with your objection handling strategy.
The middle of the Stratton Oakmont sales script packet has a whole section devoted to overcoming objections.
I was most struck by this one:
the wolf of wall street pdf script
(in an honest manner) Ha!
Once more, some of the terminology used here is a little old. In a meeting, do individuals truly still return their calls? perhaps the real multitaskers. “… as well as people in my office” Maybe.
Nonetheless, the fundamental premise of the objection (O) and the refutations are true (R). Three major points should be included in the script for handling objections:
