Winning Through Intimidation Quotes

“Every person has the inherent right to "self-proclaim"--to announce, at any time he chooses, that he is on any level he chooses to be on.”
― Robert Ringer, Winning through Intimidation: How to Be the Victor, Not the Victim, in Business and in Life

“One of the most important words when it comes to mental-health maintenance is "next.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Based on firsthand experience, it was apparent to me that the most relevant factor in my ongoing dilemma was my posture, a conclusion that produced the Posture Theory, which states:  It's not what you say or do that counts, but what your posture is when you say or do it.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Cornerstone No. 2 is the Theory of Relevance, which states:  No matter how interesting or how true something may be, the primary factor to take into consideration is how relevant it is to your achieving main your objective.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“What I am referring to is the Theory of Next, which states:  The key to maintaining a positive mental attitude is to recognize that no one deal is that important.  The person with a true positive mental attitude possesses the power to say "Next!" and quickly move on to the next deal when things don't work out.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“As Legalman injected one problem after another into a deal, I would say things like, "That's a very good point (not problem).  I'm glad you brought it up."  I would then proceed to state (not ask) a number of ways that we (not just Legalman) would (not could) handle (not solve) that particular point (again, not problem).  But never did I directly challenge Legalman.  My attitude was that it was assumed by everyone involved that there was going to be a closing, and that the only purpose of our all being present was to work together to "handle" the normal "points" that are inherent in every closing.  Just business as usual.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Legal power is essential in the Jungle, but from a self-esteem standpoint, performance power is a real high.  Nothing beats the feeling, in your heart of hearts, of knowing that you really do deserve to be handsomely rewarded because you provided great value to the party you represented.  I wanted to make it as difficult as possible for a seller to pass the giggle test if he claimed I had not earned my commission.  From now on, it was going to be obvious to both the buyer and seller that the initiation, progress, and conclusion of the sale were due primarily to the efforts of The Tortoise.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Two factors, in particular, were especially significant in this deal.  First, I used my strong posture to persuade the seller to sign a commission agreement based on 5.5 percent of the total selling price rather than the 3 percent figure I normally used.  After my Dayton and Memphis experiences, I took it as an article of faith that every seller worth his salt would, at a minimum, try to at least whittle down my commission—regardless of what figure we had agreed to. That being the case, I thought it would be interesting to see if starting out at a higher commission figure than I hoped to actually receive would produce better results.  When the inevitable commissiondectomy attempt began, I would be able to better afford to have my commission cut.  It was just a matter pacifying the seller's sick mind.  My experience had convinced me that the important thing for him was to believe that he had succeeded in shafting the real estate broker who had committed the dastardly sin of selling his property for him (and probably saving his financial hide in the process), even if his belief was an illusion.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“I was so busy lapping up Mr. Biggshotte's flattery that I committed an infraction on the scoring play.  And that, for an experienced graduate of Screw U., is indefensible”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“This time, as we went over the bridge on the way to the airport, my attorney asked me, "Well, how do you feel now?" I thought about it for a moment, then looked at him and answered, "Intimidating.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“I told the Booze Brothers that I would set up a conference call with Ernest, and that if we all kept calm and worked together, the "points" (that old standby word for "problems") in question could be "handled.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Driving over the bridge separating downtown Kansas City from the old airport, my commission check safely locked away in my briefcase, my attorney looked over at me and asked, "Well, how do you feel?" Without hesitating, I looked at him and replied, "Deserving.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“I again made it clear that there was absolutely no negotiation regarding my 3 percent commission for the sale of the eight properties.  However, "in a show of good faith to try to help pull this deal together," I said that I would consider taking an additional $50,000 cash right now in lieu of any future commission on the units to be completed and purchased at a later date.  In other words, I was going to give the Booze Brothers (and, theoretically, Ernest) the opportunity to save several hundred thousand dollars (my potential commission) down the road by coming up with an additional $50,000 right now. When Ernest and the Booze Brothers came out of the ether, the commission we finally agreed upon as a compromise was $426,901.39—about $50,000 more than the approximately $375,000 commission I had been shooting for.  Let me tell you, that kind of compromise made up for a lot of past Commissiondectomies.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Even though I still had a strong posture, in no small way aided by my having the right legal tools on my side, Ernest and the Booze Brothers were counting on my sanity and logic.  Surely I would not be crazy enough to throw away the opportunity to earn a handsome, six-figure commission; surely I would see the logic in taking a $150,000 commission rather than no commission at all.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Timing is a critical factor in every deal, and I knew that the time was right for my now historic speech:  The Tortoise Briefcase Address.  In a deadpan, matter-of-fact manner, I said, "Boys, there's no sense going around in circles all night.  It looks like we aren't going to be able work this deal out, so let's just write if off to experience.  Hey, it's not the last deal in the world." I then looked at Ernest and said, "Don't worry, I'm working on a lot of other properties.  Sooner or later, I'll come across a deal for you where the mathematics make sense."  I then turned to the Booze Brothers and said, "As to your properties, I've been talking to several other prospective buyers, and I think I can crank up some serious interest in the next couple of weeks."  (You can just imagine how happy Ernest was to hear that.) I then put my papers back in my briefcase, closed it, and snapped the latches shut—very slowly—one latch at a time.  Then I rose, smiled pleasantly, started toward the door, paused, glanced back over my shoulder, and, in the most cavalier manner, said, "Why don't you guys get some sleep.  I'll be in touch with you in the next couple of weeks." I was conscious of my every move and every word as I completed The Tortoise Briefcase Address in a style that rivaled some of the Booze Brothers' greatest performances.  I will always remember the distance—I was approximately three feet from the door—when Ernest and the Booze Brothers yelled out, in unison, "Wait!"  That was the most telltale word anyone had ever spoken to me.  That one word confirmed that I had been right all along—that this was the right buyer and the right seller in the right place at the right time. What Ernest had meant by that one word was that there was no way, after all the effort he had put into this deal, that he was going to miss the opportunity to propel his company into a significant real estate investment trust just because some real estate broker happened to be crazy. As for the Booze Brothers, the word wait was their way of saying that there was no way, after all the work they had done, that they were going to miss the opportunity to pocket more than $2 million profit just because some real estate broker was too stupid to understand the consequences of his actions.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“On the second day, notwithstanding my strong posture, the Booze Brothers began to hint that there might be a need to perform the usual commissiondectomy.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“If the secret to not bluffing was to have staying power, and if wealth was the backbone of such power, I recognized that I would have to find a substitute for wealth—at least until I reached a point where I possessed significant financial resources.  Common sense told me that the only logical substitute for money was determination.  The nice thing about determination is that it's just as available to you and me as it is to a billionaire.  I simply drew an imaginary line in my gray matter and said to myself, "This is where the intimidation stops.  Beyond this line, all bluffs get called.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“My attitude was unyielding, solidly backed by the wisdom of the Bluff Theory, which states:  The secret to bluffing is to not bluff.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Remember, the Theory of Intimidation states that the results a person achieves are inversely proportionate to the degree to which he is intimidated.  By developing techniques to dramatically improve my posture, I positioned myself for accomplishing my ultimate objective—getting paid.  In the final analysis, what I really did was separate myself from the rest of the pack by learning how to cope with intimidating people and thereby increasing my chances of actually receiving what I earned. Specifically, as a closing drew near, I took three important steps to maintain my strong posture: I kept my finger on the pulse of the deal twenty-four hours a day so I could pinpoint the time and place of the closing. I continued to nurture my relationship with the buyer in the hopes that, at a minimum, I would have his moral support. I showed up at the closing with my attorney, and counted on the Universal Attorney-to-Attorney Respect Rule as my insurance policy if all else failed.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“If you're over twenty-one, you are certainly aware that one of the most commonly used intimidation ploys is to make a person feel guilty for concentrating too much on his own well-being.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“I carried a second card in my wallet that contained yet another literary masterpiece, to wit: Closing deals is so much trash,
If you, my friend, don't get no cash.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Since the general population will never understand that an attorney is nothing more than a college graduate with a fancy certificate on his wall that grants him a monopolistic right to practice intimidation on civilians, you're at a decided advantage if you are among the minority of players who possess such an understanding”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Even though an agent has no direct control over this factor, he does, of course, have indirect control by virtue of his having the power to choose which deals he works on.  Which gets back to the strategy of working hard to find makeable deals rather than working on a lot of unmakeable deals in the hopes that one will accidentally close.  In reality, the degree of financial desperation on the part of the seller is the single most important factor in determining how makeable a deal is.  The more financial problems the seller has, the more success you'll have in keeping Legalman off the playing field.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“The fact is that Legalman's financial survival depends upon his ability to kill deals, and the creatures who spawn those deals are more often than not salesmen, businessmen, and entrepreneurs.  Where Legalman is concerned, we're talking about a literal life-or-death matter here.  After all, if every deal closed smoothly, he could become an endangered species.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Legalman would immediately begin to implement the "he-we-I" evolution strategy.  At the outset, he would talk in terms of he (the seller) in discussing the property and the closing.  Then, in a relatively short period of time, the word he would subtly evolve into we (i.e., the seller and Legalman).  At that point, the seller was no longer in full control of his destiny.  Nay, it was now he and Legalman who were making the decisions.  Finally—you guessed it—Legalman, in a galling display of arrogance, would magically transform we into I (as in Legalman).  Some things in life are inevitable, and Legalman's "he-we-I" evolution strategy is one of those inevitabilities.  From that point on, it was entirely Legalman's deal.  The buyer and seller had been reduced to nothing more than bothersome but necessary bystanders to Legalman's closing.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“I call this second phenomenon the Better-Deal Theory, which states: Before a person closes a deal, it's human nature for him to worry that there may be a better deal down the road.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“My objective at these buyer-seller meetings was to display so much knowledge about the property and the closing of the deal that even the seller would be embarrassed to challenge my right to a commission.  (If you're chuckling and shaking your head from side to side over that last comment, you're starting to get it, because my objective proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking.  Sellers always challenge agents' commissions.)”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“That's because time brings into play the Fiddle Theory, which states:  The longer you fiddle around with a deal, the greater the odds that it will never close.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“Regardless of what business you're in, when it comes to sales or deal-making, it's critical that you to build a detailed record of your involvement—not just to use as a last resort in court, but as a constant reminder to all the principals involved that you are/were instrumental in making the deal happen.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation

“During the second call, I explained that since we were both (meaning the buyer and me) busy people, I thought it would save a lot of time if he could answer a few quick questions over the phone.  That way, I explained, I could avoid sending him properties that did not fall within his guidelines.”
― Robert J. Ringer, Winning Through Intimidation