Land of the Lost

“If a prospect told a JTF broker flat out that he was not interested, the broker would use a technique called “the slap and hug” to essentially belittle the prospect before building him back up through kindness or feigned concern. Brokers also used reverse technique, “the hug and slap” at times.”

I have an entire chapter in my book Backstage Wall Street in which I publish the entire “Straight Line” pitchbook, closes and rebuttals, for the first time ever. It is the very same script that had been in use, in various forms, since the late 1960’s at Lehman Brothers on Madison Avenue and in the legendary Water Street office.

This morning there’s been an archeological discovery made by Buzzfeed – this exact same cold-calling pitchbook is somehow still in use, somewhere deep in the jungles of Lower Manhattan, by a tribe of retail stockbrokers that time forgot:

Junior brokers cold-call prospects for up to 14 hours a day, working from a memorized script that they rehearse by screaming pitches across the room to each other before the opening bell, a former employee of the firm told Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed obtained both that script, used by brokers of every level at the 200-employee firm, as well as another script known internally as the “Golden Pitchbook,” which is given only to a privileged few senior brokers at the firm. Considered a performance reward for top brokers, the “Golden Pitchbook” is handed down from their mentors at the firm who have also received the elusive tome, the source said.

The funny part is that as you click over and read this pitch, someone, somwhere in the country, is actually being subjected to it by phone. Literally, it’s still happening now as though it’s still 1993.

Check out the story:

Exclusive: Secrets From The Sexist Pitchbook Of One Of Wall Street’s More Notorious Firms (Buzzfeed)