Oren Klaff - Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

PITCH ANYTHING

PITCH ANYTHING

An Innovative Method for

PRESENTING, PERSUADING,

AND WINNING THE DEAL

OREN KLAFF

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Copyright 2011 by Oren Klaff. Al rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-175976-2

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For Dad, true north

Contents

Chapter 1 The Method

Chapter 2 Frame Control

Chapter 3 Status

Chapter 4 Pitching Your Big Idea

Chapter 5 Frame Stacking and Hot Cognitions

Chapter 6 Eradicating Neediness

Chapter 7 Case Study: The Airport Deal

Chapter 8 Get in the Game

Index

PITCH ANYTHING

Heres the big idea in 76 words: There is a fundamental disconnect between the way we pitch anything and the way it is received by our audience.

As a result, at the crucial moment, when it is most important to be convincing, nine out of ten times we are not. Our most important messages have a surprisingly low chance of getting through.

You need to understand why this disconnect occurs in order to overcome it, succeed, and profit. This book tel s you how.

I Am Not a Natural

I pitch deals for a living. My job is to raise capital for businesses looking to expand rapidly or go public. I am good at it. When companies need money, I get it for them. I have raised mil ions for deals involving Marriott, Hersheys, Citigroup, and many other household namesand I continue to do so at a rate of about $2 mil ion per week. From the outside, the reasons for my success seem simple: I offer wealthy investors profitable deals that involve Wal Street banks. But others do that, too. Yet I raise a lot more money than they do. They compete in the same market. Do the same types of deals. Pitch the same kinds of facts and figures. But the numbers show I am consistently one of the best. The difference isnt luck. It is not a special gift. And I have no background in sales. What I do have is a good method.

As it turns out, pitching is one of those business skil s that depends heavily on the method you use and not how hard you try. Better method, more money. Much better method, much more money. Its no different for you. The better you are at advocating your position, the more successful you wil be. Maybe you want to sel an idea to investors, convince a client to choose you over the other guy, or even explain to your boss why you should be paid more. I can help you get better at it using the five methods in this book.

Pitching a Master of the Universe

Over the years, Ive pitched toand closed deals withsome of the iconic businesspeople of our time, including founding members of Yahoo!, Google, and Qualcomm. But the story of what I can offer you cannot real y be told without my explaining the day I went to pitch one of the guys Tom Wolfe would describe as a master of the universe.

Jonathan (never Johnny or even John) is an investment banker who controls vast sums of capital. He gets between 600 and 800 pitches a year; thats three to four every business day. He often makes multimil ion-dol ar investment decisions based on no more information than a few e-mails on his BlackBerry.

As a dealmaker, this guyand I have absolutely no intention of giving you his name; he sues everyone and anyone at a moments noticeis the real deal.

There are three things you must know about Jonathan. First, hes a math phenom who can calculate yield curves in his head. He doesnt need spreadsheets. He can instantly analyze what you are pitching him. Second, hes seen more than 10,000 deals and can detect any kind of flaw or BS no matter how wel hidden. Third, hes tough talking and, at the same time, witty and charismatic. The upshot: When hes pitching you,