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Madoff's "How To Sell" Business Book!!!

January 17th, 2009 @ 5:30 am

8 Comments

Categories: Humor, Personalities, Sales Skills, Sales Tips, Watercooler

Tags: Madoff, Sales Professional, Sales Strategy, Sales Force Management, Sales, Geoffrey James

  • Note to readers: a few weeks ago, I posted what I thought was a business book proposal from Bernie Madoff.  Turns out that he was envisioning a shortish book along the lines of “The One Minute Manager.” My friend in the publishing industry passed along the final manuscript which, alas, will not now be published.  Fortunately, I’ve gotten permission to post the entire book.  Enjoy!

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HOW TO SELL SECURITIES

Five success secrets from high pressure world of financial sales
that you can apply in your own career

by
Bernard L. Madoff

Wily Books
2009
All Rights Reserved

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Click here to read Chapter 1 »

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  •  
    1

    victorseo

    01/18/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    Publishing this on bnet is a classic example
    of poor taste and poor judgment of the media

  •  
    2

    Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

    01/18/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    I'm sorry if my sense of moral outrage at Madoff's perversion of the art of sales doesn't fit within your notion of good taste.


    Unless, of course, you are:


    1. A financial counselor who didn't do due diligence on Madoff's business.
    2. A pastor who encourages believers to automatically trust other co-religionists.
    3. A government regulator who intends to work in the industry he "regulates."
    4. A judge who lets swindlers stash money through "gifts."
    5. Waldo.



    If any above are true, feel free to remain offended as long as you like.

  •  
    3

    mariozone

    01/18/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    Please take this down. It is not in line with the
    professional info available on this site. In fact, you may
    alienate some of your Christian, wealthy, and Republican
    readers.

  •  
    4

    Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

    01/18/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    Quote from mariozone: you may
    alienate some of your Christian, wealthy, and Republican readers


    How so? I don't see anything that's particularly offensive to any of those three groups.



    Look, it was stupid for money managers to take Madoff at face value. And it's a documented fact that swindlers target religious groups. The financial industry went unregulated largely because of right-wing republican "starve the beast" ideology, and it's a scandal that Madoff is out on bail while sending million dollar gifts to his family. I'm hardly the first person to point any of this out.



    What's more, Madoff's misuse of sales techniques is one of the reasons he was so successful, so there's a pedagogical purpose to understanding how he did it. Branding yourself, building relationships, encouraging a favorable regulatory environment, and having leverage with your clients are all perfectly sound business strategies. Madoff may have misused them, but they're valid nonetheless.

  •  
    5

    RyeG

    01/19/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    "Publishing this on bnet is a classic example
    of poor taste" - Hardly. It's a valid criticsm and exposition of the deeper issues involved.

    It's also a rehashing and repackaging of earlier content, which is either smart or lazy. Or maybe both wink However, it is a Stat Holiday so you take what you get.

    "and poor judgment of the media"- Debatable. And when I say debatable I don't mean by you or myself (which would be as interesting as watching grass grow), I mean debatable by people with credentials and relevant experience relating content to context. I could have this conversation with say Rick Broadhead (google him pepeople)and we may learn something. Being overtly hostile and smug in your criticism while adding nothing of interest or insight, makes you a sum loss in the time suck of life.

    -Rye

  •  
    6

    chrismalungu

    01/21/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    I was jus Upset for having wasted time reading rubbish.

  •  
    7

    Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

    01/21/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    Quote from chrismalungu: I was jus Upset for having wasted time reading rubbish.

    I apologize profusely for holding you down, pulling your eyelids up, and forcing you to read it. I gotta stop doin' that. My bad.

  •  
    8

    naddia

    01/21/09 | Report as spam

    RE: Madoff's

    I can't find anything wrong with publishing this. It just
    shows someone's views on sales, deplorable or not.

    You can take your position, that you don't like them or
    agree with them doesn't mean the material should be
    hidden. Take it for what it is, bear in mind who wrote it
    and use it as negative example if you will.

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  • Blogger Thumbnail Geoffrey James Geoffrey James has sold and written hundreds of features, articles and columns for national publications including Wired, Men's Health, Business 2.0, SellingPower, Brand World, Computer Gaming World, CIO, The New York Times and (of course) BNET. He is the author of seven books, including Business Wisdom of the Electronic Elite (translated into seven languages and selected by four book clubs), and The Tao of Programming (widely quoted on the Web as a "canonical book of... more »

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