Madoff's 6 Powerful Sales Persuaders

In the wreckage that was Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, a lot of people and charities that have fallen victim to what looks like the largest investment scam in history.

That said; there are lessons to be learned here for any business owner and sales professional. Let's take a broad brush look at the techniques Mr. Madoff used to get people into his web of lies and deceit. Here are:

Madoff's 6 Powerful Sales Persuaders

1. Celebrity--Madoff actually served as one of the Chairman of NASDAQ. He was a well known investor recognized throughout the Wall Street community. He was a board member of several high profile organizations and charities. Mr. Madoff parlayed that celebrity to become the undisputed expert in his field. The result--no cold calling from representatives of his firm. To get an idea of how bullet proof celebrity can be; one guy, Harry Markopolos, complained to the government in 1999 and 2005 it was a Ponzi scheme and was ignored!


2. Targeted the Rich--They had the money he needed to keep his Ponzi scheme running. In a good economy money flows from this class of customer. In a bad economy the rich feel any economic downturn last and least. The key for all of us--target people with money: The affluent and successful business owners.


3. Communication--Madoff Investment Securities LLC never missed a statement date, always kept their marks/investors informed and let the world know what they were up to. But, his communications with federal and state governments were cloudy and vague. In the former everything they did was a smoke screen but, still managed to build trust and confidence. All the news was always positive too. Lesson--communicate well, often and keep it positive.


4. Take Away Selling--Madoff Investment Securities LLC actually turned people away from being investors. Lucky them, but imagine being rich and then being told you're not rich enough for us. Take away selling goes right to the most volatile spot in human nature--the desire to be part of the group. Excluding people created the desire for more people to want to get in on the action. Does it work? Take a look again at the list of who's who out all their money.


5. Membership--This goes hand and hand with the take away. Nothing is so motivating as to become a member in a group with so many prestigious members. Add enough hoops and conditions to keep it exclusive and people moved heaven and earth to be involved. The firm even had people who acted as scouts and gatekeepers to ensure the line to get in was always full. The other affect was to have someone on the inside that could bring you in.


6. Affinity--Mr. Madoff is a Jew, many of his clients are Jewish and the charities he served and duped are Jewish. That's an affinity group--his instant common ground to quickly establish rapport. Other Jews were Mr. Madoff's target market. He was one of them, understood them and parlayed that position for his targeted sales efforts. All affinity groups share a lot of the same traits, are a great resource for referrals and allow you to exploit the benefits of membership and a shared identity.

The power to sell is the most important skill to your business. Like all power it must be used wisely. For the business owner or sales professional, the power is best used to stop or prospects pain on enrich their lives.

How you use that power is completely up to you. Choose well and prosper.

Tim Hayes is principal of Timothy Hayes Copywriting/Consulting. His practice provides marketing communications, direct response programs and consulting for B2B and B2C organizations. With over 23 years face to face selling and marketing experience you get an unfair advantage in all your marketing communications. Tim offers direct response marketing consulting through his Half and Full Day with Tim program. To get full details on the complete services for Timothy Hayes Copywriting/Consulting visit http://www.thayescopywriting.com. Tim can be reached by email at tim@thayescopywriting.com

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