Reading Notes for:

Pitch Anything

By Oren Klaff

An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

When you are making a pitch to someone, the Person who controls the Frame controls the pitch.  So you better have many frames to use.

Prizing Frame:  Frame yourself as high value to your target.  The very first thing that you need to do when you are on somebody else’s turf.   Who is chasing whom???   If you are trying to get their attention or respect, they have the power.  If they are trying to get your respect or attention, then you own the frame.

  • Whether you get the deal at the end, depends how well you set your frames from the start.
  • You can’t brow beat someone into a good sale.

Prizing is the sum of the actions you take to make them feel that they are the commodity, and you are the prize.  Successful prizing results in the target chasing you, and wanting to be part of your deal.

  • Restores calm and poise to the social interaction.   Reduces your feeling of needing to perform to get a reward.
    • This is NOT a dog and pony show.   I am not performing.   The money has to earn you.

The pitch has to start in the croc brain, which wants to ignore you.   But if you are novel enough you will capture the crocs attention.   So you will either invoke novelty and desire or fear/boredom.  If you instill curiosity and desire, the croc brain will see you as something that it wants to chase.

3 fundamental basics:

  1. We chase what moves away from us,
  2. we want what we cannot have,
  3. We place higher value on things that are difficult to get.   Works on almost all social interactions.

Framing money as the prize is a common error.   Money is the commodity to get things done.

Avoiding big mistakes:   Make the buyer qualify himself back to you.   Don’t let them determine who is going to hear it.   Trial closes are crude and ineffective – it’s better to step back and control the underlying prize frame.  Maybe invoke a challenge (playfully and with humor).
Make them do a legitimate task to earn the deal.   BMW makes the borrower promise to keep it clean to get a special M3.

The Prize frame works best when you completely change your attitude toward money.   Money is useless until they use it to get what you have.  Money wants to go to work by investing in deals.   Money cannot do anything without you.

  • Have to give up the concept of ABC (Always Be Closing).   Money is a commodity that can come from any number of places.   It’s what you do with the money.   There are many places to source money, there is only 1 of you.
  • “I’m glad I could find the time to meet with you today.   And I have a meeting after this.  So let’s get started.”   Strengthens both your prize and time frame.
    Humor is crucial.