Oren Klaff, author of the exciting book Pitch Anything, writes about the science behind creating and presenting a great sales pitch. Not just another book on selling, Pitch Anything describes how the brain makes decisions and responds to pitches. Klaff’s book is an important contribution to understanding how to make successful sales pitches.

The last part of the selling process is what the author refers to as “Frame Stacking and Hot Cognitions”. During this critical phase, the seller has no more than five minutes to propose something that is concrete and actionable – “something so compelling that it will cause your target to chase you to get what you have”. In making final buying decisions, buyers will rely on their emotional brains in deciding whether to proceed or not. In fact, they rely on their guts (instead of evaluation and analysis of facts and information)  or what Klaff labels as hot cognition. Klaff writes that “Most of the time, the data we have collected about choices and alternatives and options aren’t used to make a decision anyway. They are used to justify decisions after the fact“. He strongly recommends against using rational arguments (in the closing moments in making the sales pitch) to make the sale – but to create hot cognition by stacking frames.

Frames are different ways that we see the world and it is most important that salespeople use four frames in the selling process that they will stack in quick succession. The four frames are:

  • The Intrigue Frame – The key with this frame is to create an exciting story that creates intrigue in the mind of the buyer. Klaff writes that “The targets (buyers) have given you their time because they want to visit a new world to learn about new things and interesting ideas and become involved in the lives of unique, interesting and talented people…People (buyers) want to know how you have faced obstacles and overcome them. They want to see you in situations that reveal your character. They want to know that you are someone who rises to whatever level necessary to overcome obstacles and someone who travels in the company of interesting people who are players in whatever game you are playing.” These intriguing narratives ignite the buyer’s hot cognitions and are the key to making the sale.
  • The Prize Frame – Prizing “let’s you position yourself as the most important party in the deal, not the people on the other side of the table”. In deploying the prize frame, you position yourself as invaluable and someone who the client would be privileged to work with.  You “flip the frame” from one that focuses on the buyer evaluating you to one in which you are evaluating the buyer and his/her organization. You come across as someone who is choosy about who you work with and you want to “figure out if we would work well together and be good partners”.  The prize frame tells the buyer:

“T am the prize.

You are trying to impress me.

You are trying to win my approval.”

  • The Time Frame – The key here is to establish a concrete date and time for the buyer to make his/her final decision. This is based on the neuroscience principle that states that “There’s a scarcity bias in the brain and the potential loss of a deal triggers fear”. So tell the buyer exactly when he/she has to make up his/her mind (not the other way around).
  • The Moral Authority Frame – The key here is to tie your sales pitch into a bigger issue that the buyer, his/her organization and society values and establish yourself as an individual with strong moral character. As an example, the author reveals how he won a big investment deal to revitalize an older airport in California. While his competitors focused on numbers, plans, spreadsheets, peoples’ backgrounds, etc., Klaff focused on the rich history of the airport and how his team would respect its heritage and make important contributions to the airport’s local community. Klaff writes that “Show the brain something that society values, and you won’t just be hitting hot buttons, you’ll be stomping on them.”

Pitch Anything is an absolute must-read for anyone involved in selling products, services and ideas to others.