Oren Klaff Quotes

As you are pitching your idea, the croc brain of the person sitting across from you isn't 'listening' and thinking, 'Hmm, is this a good deal or not?' Its reaction to your pitch basically goes like this: 'Since this is not an emergency, how can I ignore this or spend the least amount of time possible on it?'

This filtering system of the crocodile brain has a very short-sighted view of the world. Anything that is not a crisis it tries to mark as 'spam.'

If you got a chance to look at the croc brain's filtering instructions, it would look something like this:
1. If it's not dangerous, ignore it
2. If it's not new and exciting, ignore it.
3. If it is new, summarize it as quickly as possible - and forget about the details.
And finally there is this specific instruction:
4. Do not send anything up to the neocortex for problem solving unless you have a situation that is really unexpected and out of the ordinary.

These are the basic operating policies and procedures of our brains. No wonder pitching is so difficult.

I was watching myself fall back onto the classic sales approach, with its tired old script: First become likable and build rapport, then explain “features and benefits,” next do a trial close, and then fight like an alley cat to overcome all the objections the buyer has come up with.

To solidify the prize frame, you make the buyer qualify himself to you. “Can you tell me more about yourself? I’m picky about who I work with.” At a primal, croc brain level, you have just issued a challenge: Why do I want to do business with you?

That eureka moment has been carefully planned and programmed to deliver an insight at exactly the right time. When you put the pieces together before the detectives do, you feel smart, happy, powerful, and in control (exactly the emotions needed to motivate you to buy some canned beer, frozen pizza, and extra-soft toilet tissue). And you tune in next week so you can feel that way again.

If you are trying to win your target’s respect, attention, and money, he becomes the prize.

Instilling certainty is different from creating Status Alignment. With Alignment, your goal is to show the buyer you’re similar to them and make them instantly feel like you “get” them — whether you’re talking to a coal miner or a Fortune 500 CEO.

who believes that we feel decisions in our body, not our mind. There’s a whole side to us that computers don’t have and the “rational economic man” economists like to talk about doesn’t have either. Our bodies “know” the situations we meet in life and how we should respond.

Bruner says that one mode of “constructing reality” is called the paradigmatic mode (one can think of this as the detective mode).

I'm glad I could find the time to meet with you today. And I do have another meeting right after this. Let's get started.

A frame is the instrument you use to package your power, authority, strength, information, and status.

Start-ups often prepare absurdly aggressive and optimistic plans, which have a very low likelihood of success, just to maximize the company’s perceived dollar value.” Your financial projections, whether for a product or a company, are supposed to answer such basic questions as, How strong is the company? What if plans go awry, does the company have enough cash to last a few bad quarters? Do you know how to budget well?

causing people to do the opposite of what you’re asking, just to prove that you aren’t controlling them — a phenomenon known as psychological reactance.

You create novelty by violating the target’s expectations in a pleasing way.

We don’t need facts and explanations to convince ourselves. We know what we like. Even when we try the rational approach — making lists of pros and cons — if it does not come out how we like, we go back and redo the list until it does.

Observing power rituals in business situations — such as acting deferential, engaging in meaningless small talk, or letting yourself be told what to do — reinforces the alpha status of your target and confirms your subordinate position. Do not do this!