Wolves Aren't Kept on Leashes

Wolves are not kept on leashes: False objections and excuses are daily fare for sellers. The Wolf of Wall Street devised an effective method to tackle them. Read all about it here.

“I still have to think about it.” “Just send some additional information by email and then I'll get back to you.” “It's not convenient now because we have other priorities, call me back in April.”

Every seller recognizes the reactions above when the prospect is asked for the deal or another follow-up step. If you take the reactions above very literally, it seems like the prospect still has “interest” and wants to come back to it at a later time. If, on the other hand, we are honest with ourselves, then we know that we are being kept on a leash with these “false” objections.

In this article I describe how you can respond appropriately to a false objection, significantly increasing the chance of a concrete follow-up step.

The Wolf Method

The prospect is not too busy and does not need “extra thinking time”. He does not trust you and your solution well enough yet! The hard truth is that we have not yet sufficiently shown the added value of our solution to the prospect.

Jordan Belfort - the Wolf of Wall Street - describes in his book 'The Way of the Wolf' (2017) a new kind of method how you can best handle these standard objections. I apply this method daily in practice and I can only say that it works well. Not that through this method the prospects are suddenly always convinced of the idea or solution you sell. But by using the method you will from now on always hear the sincere objection why a prospect does not yet want to take concrete follow-up steps.

The key: distraction

If we hear a false objection, we know that a prospect is warding us off for a certain reason. But how do you respond to someone who does not literally say what he/she means? Jordan Belfort found a socially intelligent way to parry a standard objection: DISTRACTION.

Effective two-stage rocket

The principle of distraction that Jordan applies consists of two parts:

The working of this two-stage rocket is eerily effective. It has been shown from scientific research that people cannot use two brain functions at a high level at the same time. In other words, it is extremely difficult for people to rationally consider a next important consideration after an emotional stimulus.

Stage 1

If the prospect comes with an objection, Jordan initially yields completely with the opinions and values the prospect claims to have. Instead of going against the prospect, Jordan shows empathy towards the prospect and even gives them a compliment. This is a brilliant move because scientific research has shown that in most cases humans automatically give a positive response to a compliment. This takes the prospect out of resistance mode so you can ask them a follow-up question.

Stage 2

After this positive stimulus, Jordan immediately asks a question to go into the false objection that the prospect gave earlier. What is very important here is that no sales pressure is given in this question. Jordan asks the question in a “money aside” tone.

Example: “It's not convenient now because we have other priorities, call me back in April.”

Conclusion

You can prepare yourself well for an objection. Instead of being kept on a leash, you can respond to the actual need of the prospect through Jordan's method, and thus get a step closer to the deal!