Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff
Authors: Oren Klaff
had overcommitted to it—and was about to pay for doing so. It was time for frame disruption . I was ready to pulverize his frame into a puff of fine mist.
I pul ed out my phone and dialed a col eague, Sam Greenberg. I put him on speaker and discussed the logistics of getting the FBI involved.
Dramatic? Yes. But Jim McGhan knew at that moment we were 100 percent committed to fol owing through. I was activating the primal fears in his croc brain. As soon as he became afraid, my frame would crush his, and he would bend to my wil .
“Let me paint a picture for you, Jim,” I told him. “You’ve seen SWAT teams in the movies. It happens just like that . They are going to swarm through this door, FBI accountants wearing Kevlar vests and Glock 22s. And the sheriff wil be blasting pepper spray at anything that moves, dogs wil be barking, and they’l be fastening your hands behind your back with zip ties. Is that how you want today to end, hog-tied, pepper sprayed, lying in the back of a black van with no windows? The other option is—you starting transferring money to us.”
SMASH! That was the moral authority frame, delivered with emotional realism, and here, I achieved the hookpoint . Our frames had col ided. My frame had absorbed his. The only options were my options. There’s a moment in games of strategy when the other side realizes that no matter what moves it makes, the game is lost. This was that moment.
I now had his ful attention. Although it was his office and his domain, I had the seized the high-status position. Although he stil had our money, $640,000, I had the frame control .
“Jim, starting right now, every 15 minutes, you’re going to give me a deliverable. That means—just so you understand me perfectly—every 15
minutes something happens that benefits me . Cancel your schedule, do not leave this room, pick up the phone, and start finding our money.”
He was listening, and I continued.
“I need the money wired to Dennis’s account, right now.”
Just because you have frame control doesn’t mean that someone won’t push back. You just stay committed to your frame and keep it strong.
You plow. Jim started with more MBA doublespeak, returning to rationalization mode. So I expanded the frame to include new characters and new consequences.
“Listen, Jim. Stop ,” I told him. “Get your friends and family and investor’s list and start dialing for money. Every 15 minutes you need to hand me a wire-transfer confirmation.”
This was the point of consolidation. Because I had done everything right, up to this point, there was no need to make threats or create drama.
The frame was set. The agenda was my agenda. Because the social interaction was being governed by my frame, these were the rules Jim had to follow:
Rule 1: Everything happening must involve Dennis’s money.
Rule 2: Something good must happen every 15 minutes.
Rule 3: The meeting isn’t over until al $640,000 is wired.
I sat with Jim for six long hours as he dialed associates, family members, and friends. The money came rol ing in, in smal increments ($10,000
here, $15,000 here).
As I mentioned earlier, when two mental frames come together, when they col ide, the stronger frame disrupts and absorbs the weaker frame. I’d control ed the frame, started it smal , and expanded it, and Jim’s weaker frame col apsed. His internal state went from nonchalance and arrogance to panic and desperation. His status went from high to low. Responding to my frame, he raised Dennis’s money, and we walked out with al the $640,000—irrevocably secured via wire transfers. Mission accomplished.
Over the next few days, Dennis and I and some other victims worked with the authorities and Southwest Exchange was raided. I got Dennis’s $640,000 out just in time, thanks to my knowledge of framing. Not for a moment was it about threats or power plays.
Although it was Dennis’s money legal y, perhaps Jim and Don McGhan never should have
I pul ed out my phone and dialed a col eague, Sam Greenberg. I put him on speaker and discussed the logistics of getting the FBI involved.
Dramatic? Yes. But Jim McGhan knew at that moment we were 100 percent committed to fol owing through. I was activating the primal fears in his croc brain. As soon as he became afraid, my frame would crush his, and he would bend to my wil .
“Let me paint a picture for you, Jim,” I told him. “You’ve seen SWAT teams in the movies. It happens just like that . They are going to swarm through this door, FBI accountants wearing Kevlar vests and Glock 22s. And the sheriff wil be blasting pepper spray at anything that moves, dogs wil be barking, and they’l be fastening your hands behind your back with zip ties. Is that how you want today to end, hog-tied, pepper sprayed, lying in the back of a black van with no windows? The other option is—you starting transferring money to us.”
SMASH! That was the moral authority frame, delivered with emotional realism, and here, I achieved the hookpoint . Our frames had col ided. My frame had absorbed his. The only options were my options. There’s a moment in games of strategy when the other side realizes that no matter what moves it makes, the game is lost. This was that moment.
I now had his ful attention. Although it was his office and his domain, I had the seized the high-status position. Although he stil had our money, $640,000, I had the frame control .
“Jim, starting right now, every 15 minutes, you’re going to give me a deliverable. That means—just so you understand me perfectly—every 15
minutes something happens that benefits me . Cancel your schedule, do not leave this room, pick up the phone, and start finding our money.”
He was listening, and I continued.
“I need the money wired to Dennis’s account, right now.”
Just because you have frame control doesn’t mean that someone won’t push back. You just stay committed to your frame and keep it strong.
You plow. Jim started with more MBA doublespeak, returning to rationalization mode. So I expanded the frame to include new characters and new consequences.
“Listen, Jim. Stop ,” I told him. “Get your friends and family and investor’s list and start dialing for money. Every 15 minutes you need to hand me a wire-transfer confirmation.”
This was the point of consolidation. Because I had done everything right, up to this point, there was no need to make threats or create drama.
The frame was set. The agenda was my agenda. Because the social interaction was being governed by my frame, these were the rules Jim had to follow:
Rule 1: Everything happening must involve Dennis’s money.
Rule 2: Something good must happen every 15 minutes.
Rule 3: The meeting isn’t over until al $640,000 is wired.
I sat with Jim for six long hours as he dialed associates, family members, and friends. The money came rol ing in, in smal increments ($10,000
here, $15,000 here).
As I mentioned earlier, when two mental frames come together, when they col ide, the stronger frame disrupts and absorbs the weaker frame. I’d control ed the frame, started it smal , and expanded it, and Jim’s weaker frame col apsed. His internal state went from nonchalance and arrogance to panic and desperation. His status went from high to low. Responding to my frame, he raised Dennis’s money, and we walked out with al the $640,000—irrevocably secured via wire transfers. Mission accomplished.
Over the next few days, Dennis and I and some other victims worked with the authorities and Southwest Exchange was raided. I got Dennis’s $640,000 out just in time, thanks to my knowledge of framing. Not for a moment was it about threats or power plays.
Although it was Dennis’s money legal y, perhaps Jim and Don McGhan never should have
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