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Education
StreetSmartsSM
Sales as a healing profession
By John Tucker • My warriors, who won't take 'No' for an answer.
1st Capital Loans LLC Who won't hang up the phone till their client
buys. Or f***ing dies!" ? Jordan Belfort, The Wolf
T here's a certain stigma about us sales profes- of Wall Street
sionals: we, collectively, have a bad reputation
for high pressure sales tactics, lying, and uneth- • "Because only one thing counts in this life! Get
ical practices that prioritize our sales numbers, them to sign on the line which is dotted!" ? Blake,
quotas and commissions, while neglecting to address our Glengarry Glen Ross
clients' needs, care and cures.
• "A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be
This has created a ton of backlash with more and more closing." ? Blake, Glengarry Glen Ross
prospective clients banning access to salespeople across
the board. It has also led to increasing regulations based Could there be a better way to achieve sales quotas and
on complaints from prospects who have been harmed in make great commissions? Can we thrive as MLSs without
some fashion by bad practices. employing high-pressure sales tactics, unethical practices
and other ineffective means of building client trust? Do
Bad role models we have better role models out there?
To make this worse, too many sales professionals idolize Enter The Doctor
characters from finance-related feature films who
promulgate the same level of high-pressure and unethical As sales professionals, we have to pick new role models.
sales practices. They even repeat some of the quotes and We have to leave behind some of the characters from such
mantras from the famous characters. For example: movies as Wall Street (1987), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992),
Boiler Room (2000), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and other
• "F*** the clients. Your only responsibility is to put similar films, and adapt a new hero to model our behavior
meat on the table." ? Mark Hanna, The Wolf of Wall after. My recommendation for our new hero is The Doctor.
Street Consider the following:
• "[T[he name of the game, moving the money from • It was the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates
the client's pocket to your pocket." ? Mark Hanna, who wrote in the Hippocratic Oath, "I will follow
The Wolf of Wall Street that system of regimen which, according to my
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