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Straight Line Persuasion: Brutally Honest Select Category
Review
By Lucio Buffalmano / 12 minutes of reading

Straight Line Persuasion is a sales training program by Jordan Belfort, and this is a
review of Straight Line Persuasion to help you decide whether it’s worth buying it or not.
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Contents

Bullet Summary
Summary
Straight Line Script
Real-Life Applications
CONS
PROS
Review
Is Straight Line Persuasion Worth It?
Should You Buy Jordan Belfort Course?
Who Is It Good For?

Bullet Summary
A straight line from meet to sale is the safest way to sell
Never cut off the prospect, but always nudge him back towards your straight line
Some people are born closers. Others will have to learn it

Summary
About The Author: Jordan Belfort became increasingly famous after the movie The Wolf
of Wall Street popularized his life of excesses (and frauds) on Wall Street.

Introduction
Why some people are born closers?
Because they unconsciously master tonality, rapport and control of the sale. Straight
Line Persuasion will break down for you how to do it consciously.
So that you can consciously train to become a master closer.

1. Three Tenets of Straight Line Persuasion

Persuading is helping people to overcome the internal obstacles that prevent them from
taking action.
Jordan Belfort says that the key to selling is to maintain control of the interaction. And
that’s why he coined the term “straight line”, you want to lead the prospect straight to
the sale.

These are the three tenets of Jordan Belfort’s Straight Line Persuasion:

1. Develop rapport quickly

2. Gather intelligence (do they have the money, is the product a good fit, are they
ready to go?)
3. Control the interaction

Controlling the interaction means that, without breaking rapport or pushing, you gently
nudge the prospect back towards the straight line towards the sale

Persuading is empowering people

2. Art of Prospecting
Prospecting means finding people who are interested while at the same time you are
weeding out those who aren’t going to buy without wasting any of your time.

Qualify as quickly as possible while still keeping rapport. And use a script.
Similar to the advice of other sales beasts such as Brian Tracy, Belford recommends
you work backward from the amount of money you want to make yearly until the
amount of reach out you need to do daily.

The three keys here are:

1. Be enthusiastic as hell
2. Sharp as a tack
3. A figure of authority

Dials are the only things you can always control

3. Mastering Tonality
This is where Straight Line Persuasions start hitting its stride.
Belfort begins with my favorite part of the course: reading the script and breaking down
what works and what doesn’t.

He focuses on tonality, here, and as you can imagine it cannot be properly explained in
text.
Belfort says that tonality develops rapport at an unconscious level.
Take for example this script:

Hi, John! This is , calling from Global Capital, in Tampa, Florida. How’s
it going today?

When you raise your voice at “Florida” you show pride of your job and conviction.

Great!
Now, if you recall, you attended a seminar last Friday at the Marriott
Hotel, with one of our top Forex traders, James Arnell. Does that ring
a bell?

Go up at the end of each block, as if you were adding “right?” and agreeing with him.
You will build an unconscious yes ladder.
When you slightly raise your voice at “ring a bell” it communicates you expect them to
remember.

Now if you recall…

Use a tone of mystery at “now if you recall” which you achieve by stressing the “ca”
portion in reCAll and going slightly up as if you were asking them a question. Squint
your eyes so that your body language naturally supports your tonality.
The tone of mystery will nudge them into searching into their minds of their experience.
Genius.

OK great, now the reason for the call today..

Drop your voice here, so it sounds like you’re sharing an insider secret, and it implies
scarcity (read Influence by Cialdini for more on scarcity).

Is that you’re one of the last of the group who hasn’t actually enrolled
yet

Put “one of the last of the group” all together, and you sound sharp like a tack

I’d like to share an idea with you. You got a minute?

Go up at “you got a minute”, to sound what Belfort calls the “reasonable man effect”.

To learn more about tonality, check out:

How powerful men speak

Verbal Dominance: 10 Ways to Speak With Confidence

4. Being a Visionary
People won’t buy into your goals, but they will buy into your vision. This is why Belfort
also mentions it’s important that you find your why.

In this module, Belfort steps back live coaching and demonstration to go into more
theoretical knowledge of sales, human psychology, and body language.

Some good wisdom I enjoyed:

Dress for success

No goaties / pinkie rings
Stand directly in front when talking to a woman
Stand at an angle when speaking to a man

For more on body language read:

How powerful men move

Alpha male body language

10 Ways to Be More Dominant

5. Inner Game of Sales

In this module, Belfort delves into the personal mindsets and beliefs that make a
successful salesperson -or successful person, period-.
He talks for example about the importance of mastering your emotional states, facing
your fears, and setting lofty goals.

6. The Straight Line System

Here Jordan Belfort goes back into the actual selling process.
He explains the three tenets of closing, such as the elements that need to line up in the
moment of time when your prospect is ready to buy:

1. They love your product

2. They trust and connect with you
3. Trust your company

How to Ask
The more personal the questions are, the more you should make them sound off
handed and informal. For example:

Out of curiosity, what are you trading right now?

If he talks a lot don’t interrupt but don’t go off tangent with chit chat and unrelated topic.
Empathize, make a comment and then go back to the straight line.
You’re a busy professional: respect his time and your time.

7. The Art of Qualifying

Straight Line Persuasion goes back here into my favorite part: going through the
straight line scripts with live coaching.
Here are a few examples:

How much money do you have in the stock market, just a ball park?

Whenever you ask someone about money, always always go into a disarming tone.
Imagine you were putting your hands up in front of you with open palms, as if to say “no
pressure…. Just a ballpark”.
This part was possibly the best in the course.

Are you looking for that right now or do you have to raise the money

Another gem on par with the above one.

The volunteer got the tonality completely wrong and at first blush I totally miss it. Then
Jordan Belfort delivers the same line and explains the difference.
Since this is a highly probing question, you have to deliver it matter of factly, with an
inflection that says “we know how it is, no big deal! Just tell me, maybe I can help you”.

Just for suitability purposes, how would you say your current financial
situation is right now?

With this one you communicate rapport and that your questions are “just for suitability
purpose”. Otherwise, you two could have a friendly chat with a beer.

8. The Presentation
In this section, Jordan Belfort goes into the actual presentation of your offer.
He explains the perfect tonalities to communicate:

Scarcity
Certainty
Disarming

The parts I liked the most:

How to box people in (use with integrity)

Create urgency in the last part of the script
Use a soft close, such as “sounds fair enough?”
How to emotionally drive the prospect towards a state of certainty
Handling rejections with looping

Presentation is key, so make sure to check out:

Speaking Pro by Roger Love

Speaking Pro by Roger Love: Review & Notes

9. Power of Language
Straight Line Persuasion delves here into the nitty-gritty of language and word choice.
Here are some gems:

Virtually

Virtually gives you free rein to make as many bold claims as you want without
committing 100% or lying.

Huge upside with little downside

People are naturally inclined to look for worst-case scenarios. This sentence addresses
their fears while also allowing them to dream at the same time.

Incredibly easy to get started

People are lazy: they don’t want to do the legwork after agreeing. Remove the fear of
big-time commitment.
If they’re afraid of consequences, say it’s incredibly easy to modify or change the terms.

It’s a long-term relationship

It assumes you’re closing soon, reassures them and builds rapport.

Please don’t misconstrue my enthusiasm for pressure

In case you feel you’ve been coming off too strong.

Save the Best for Last

Get progressively more convincing as you get closer to the close:

If you only do half as well as my clients..

All I ask is that you give me on shot..
Believe me you won’t be sorry

10. Becoming a Person of Influence

Jordan Belfort says you must respect if your customer cannot afford the product or if the
product is not good for him.
But you should not accept a stall.
If he doesn’t like the product but you feel it’s perfect for him, loop back until you
convince him with logic. If the stall is emotional, educate him on your company and your
company building rapport.

Finally, Belfort restates again the importance of building relationships based on honesty
and trust.

Straight Line Script

You could get the Straight Line Script, but unless you learn to deliver it well, it’s just
words on a paper. The advantage of Jordan Belfort course is to learn the delivery from
him.

Here’s a sneak peek preview of Straight Line Persuasion:

Real Wolf of Wall Street Training

Share

Watch on

Real-Life Applications
Tonality is everything on the phone
On the phone, tonality absorbs body language as well and becomes 90%+ of your
communication.

Move as you speak

Gesticulate, change your body language and your facial expressions as you speak and
you will sound more natural.

Put yourself in the right state

Put yourself in a confident and enthusiastic state before calls.

CONS
Self-Help less valuable for me
Straight Line Persuasion dips into the self-help literature with mindsets, beliefs, and
internal locus of control.
That stuff is fundamental, and any comprehensive sales seminar should deal with it. But
for a guy who has read hundreds of books on the topic, it wasn’t the most useful part.
Still some good parts there though, and I loved this quote:

There is no embarrassment in struggling – the embarrassment is in

quitting

PROS
A real, proven closer
Jordan Belfort has proven his sales skills and the validity of his Straight Line Persuasion
on the field.

Efficient system
Moving on a straight line is the most efficient way of selling.
The slower you go, the more room for mistakes and second thoughts you have. That’s
true for most things in life, and certainly is true for sales.
Of course, finding out what exactly “safe” means will make all the difference between
too pushy and Jedi sales master, and finding that sweet spot is part of the beauty of the
art of sales.

Live coaching
Loved the part where The Wolf has people read his script and then breaks down what
they do well and at they do wrong. I wished he had even more of that.

Deep wisdom
The way Belfort analyzes the interaction between tonality, rapport and human
psychology tells me he’s a guy who really understands human psychology.

Review
Let’s be frank:

Jordan Belford has had a reputation as a top-tier manipulator.

However, that’s in his past (?).

As a driven man, he saw a shortcut to riches, and went for it.

Is he now changed?
It’s not up to me to judge.

When it comes to the product and the quality of his training, I was surprised to find out
that the famed Wolf is much more than high-pressure sales.
He understands influencing and human psychology not just unconsciously, but in a way
that he can consciously articulate.

I’ve been working in sales for many years and read and researched a lot on psychology.
I have worked with a few people whom everyone considered rockstars, and they all had
a bit of that Jordan Belfort high-energy vibe.
However, the real challenge and where the true advanced level is, is in striking that
balance between high-energy and empathic listening, in knowing when to sell hard and
speak passionately, and when to shut up and let the prospect talk.

And I think that Belfort is very good at walking that fine line between the two different
skillsets.

When it comes to selling I rate Belfort higher than Grant Cardone or Gary Vaynerchuck,
both of whom fall short in the listening and empathizing compartments.

Why I picked It
Before starting the course I wanted to better explore “high-pressure sales” tactics and
approaches.

I have been in sales many years and sometimes I have had the feeling that some
people scoffing at “pushy” salesmen and promoting “consultative selling” may instead
be afraid of rejection and of coming across as pushy assholes.
Some others instead reject it not because it doesn’t work, but because they don’t like it.

Instead, to be the best salesperson you can be, you should probably try different
approaches, and maybe even cross that pushy line a few times to understand the limits.

With Jordan Belfort, I wanted to go to a guy who had a proven track record for being
great at high-pressure sales.
However, Straight Line Persuasion isn’t about high-pressure tactics at all.

In many ways, that’s a good thing…

Is Straight Line Persuasion Worth It?

At the original selling price of $2000 it was not worth it, in my opinion.

Now it’s down to $498, which means that the higher price tag either wasn’t selling much,
or was getting a high refund rate.

And if at $2000, I considered it too pricey, at $498, it depends more on your own current
level (keep on reading).

Should You Buy Jordan Belfort Course?

For most people the brutally honest answer is that you can find better products.

To go a bit more granular:

If you’re selling clothes at Primark with next to zero commissions and have no dreams
to move ahead in life, this is for sure not for you.

On the other hand, if you are eager and motivated to advance in life and to learn as
much as you can when it comes to selling, and if you have income to spare, then you
can learn a thing or two about voice tonality.

But don’t expect a complete system: there is no overarching structure to guide you from
first contact, to sale.

Who Is It Good For?

I feel this course is best for intermediate and advanced salespeople.

True beginners can use the mindsets and self-help part of the course.

More advanced guys know that stuff already and the main added value for them will be
voice tonality.
$2.000 for voice tonality was steep, but at $498 it may be worth it for you.

About The Author

Lucio Buffalmano

The author holds a master's degree from La Sapienza, department of

communication and sociological research, and is a member of the
American Psychology Association (APA). He studies psychology,
persuasion, strategies, and anything related to people and power
dynamics. Lucio's approach combines science, first-hand experience &
critical analysis. He believes that you can only teach effectively when
the three go together. You can use his life's work to gain status,
promotions, confidence, and mates by joining Power University.

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