The Art of Reframing

3 Step Framework, Insight from a consult, and more

Reframing is the act of putting a new Frame, or perspective, on something.

Every human being has the ability to Reframe.

Reframing also allows us to put on new Frames in order to influence others (and ourselves!)

When you successfully Reframe, this leads to a change in behavior.

We can define a successful Reframe by the outcomes our Reframe produces.

Chad note: I know this is quite abstract however it’s important in order to lay down the foundation.

Frames aren’t New

The concept of Frames & Reframing has been around forever and are most commonly found in the media and Psychotherapeutic interventions, therapy, etc.

Frames are also popular in the PUA / Game communities too.

These various communities & applications have influenced the widespread adoption & popularity of Frames. Unfortunately, (or fortunately?) Frames are still not popular in the world of Sales.

Examples of Reframing in Sales

- Getting a prospect that thinks your solution is too expensive to see that it is actually too expensive not to buy

- Breaking out of the prospects baseline perception of salespeople. i.e “most salespeople are incompetent” to “Who is this guy? He is impressive”

- Getting a closed off prospect to open up

- Influencing a prospect to move from curious to committed

- Getting a prospect to chase you

and the list goes on.

How to Reframe

While Framing & Reframing are concepts backed by science, the practical application of Frames are very much an art form.

There is no “how to” manual on how to do it.. at least none that I’m aware of.

Successfully applying Frames requires an intimate understanding of the nuances of the topic, creativity, and being quick on your feet.

3 Step Framework

Being an avid practitioner of Frames, I’ve developed a 3 step framework that can help you better understand the *how to* of Reframing using real world examples.

Step 1 - What are they implying?

When the prospect is saying something to you, what are they really saying? What is their underlying intention?

Prospect: But your competitors all gave us a demo

Intention: You better have a good reason for not conforming + What you’re doing is not “normal”

Every good communicator has the skill of being able to read people’s intentions and then respond appropriately to the intention.

While reading intentions with 100% accuracy is impossible, it is a skill that can be improved upon over time.

The first step towards improving is awareness.

then practice (i.e practice responding to the intent of the message)

and then your pattern recognition will improve based on real world feedback

Repeat this cycle over a long period of time and Competence will continue to improve.

Step 2 - Categorize it into a Frame

Next, take your interpretation of their intention and Frame it.

For example, the prospect says:

“We’re just in the early stages of our evaluation process. We heard some good things about you guys so we figured we’d also reach out to you and see what you got.”

Intention: We’re the choosers here and we’re not sure how serious we are yet about making a decision

Which Frame(s) are they using here?

One of them is certainly a Prize Frame.

Chad note: When I hear a prospect say the above I immediately picture a scene straight out of the Bachelor. The prospect being the Bachelor (the Prize to be won). Image source:

Step 3 - Respond to the Content, Emotion, and/or Frame

After you’ve read their intention and categorized it into Frames, you are better positioned to give a strong response.

You now have 3 options:

1) Respond to the Content

You can respond to what is being said *while* injecting it with powerful Framing. Will show examples in next section. Responding to the content is also useful when you first need to Clarify the message.

2) Respond to the Emotion

You can respond to the Emotion being conveyed by the prospect. This is how you build an emotional connection with them and show Empathy.

3) Respond to the Framing

You can respond to the Framing of the message (how the message is being Framed, what is being implied, etc)

Responding to the Framing of a message is by far the most powerful approach.

*Chad note: These 3 options aren’t mutually exclusive.. they can and often should be stacked together for maximum impact. For example, when you Frame something effectively to someone it elicits an emotion and that emotion overrides their logical thinking. Sometimes the impact of the Framing is so strong that you essentially K.O’d the other person.

Applying the Framework using Real-World Examples

In the real world, this process happens in an instant. As you practice, you will get better at this.

Step 1 - What are they implying?

Prospect: We use [competitor] currently. But I want to try something better. Their tool is too slow. Quite frustrating actually. Not sure if it's an industry thing but most of the tools we tried are very slow.. Are you guys any faster?

Intention/Meaning of the message: Does every company in this space suck? I’m frustrated trying to find the diamond in the rough. Does it even exist?

Step 2 - Categorize it into a Frame

Prospect: We use [competitor] currently. But I want to try something better. Their tool is too slow. Quite frustrating actually. Not sure if it's an industry thing but most of the tools we tried are very slow.. Are you guys any faster?

Frames used: Commodity & Prize Frame. Perhaps even a touch of Moral Authority.

Step 3 - Responding to the Content, Emotion, and/or Framing

Responding to the Content

Here are 2 ways to respond to the Content of their message:

Chad note: Jump off points are parts of a message that can be leveraged to move the conversation in new directions

2nd Chad note: Notice in Response 2 how we respond to the content and inject it with a Prize Frame?

Clarifying

So in Response 1, we directly respond to their message by including what is assumed + seeking more clarification:

Response 1: When you say "try something better" what else do you mean besides finding a tool that is "faster"?

Clarification = More information gathering (a good thing)

Clarifying is also incredibly useful when the prospect asks you a question that can have different meanings:

Prospect: What kind of companies do you work with?

Chad note: *Pause* Think about this for a second.. what do they mean with this question?

🤡: We work with all sorts of companies. Some in your industry and smaller / larger than yours too.

^ Trying to answer all the different possible meanings of the question doesn’t work.

🐲: Did you mean companies in your industry, companies with the same problems as you, or companies of your size?

^ Lay out a few options of what they could mean and let them choose. If in the off chance it’s none of the above they will likely tell you what they meant. Then you can respond to the right question.

Never answer a question without first knowing the reason/intention/trigger for the question.

This is where Clarifying comes in. Clarifying a message is a great first step regardless how you choose to respond afterwards

Examples of Clarifying questions / statements

🐲: When you say X, what do you mean by that?

🐲: Help me understand what you mean?

🐲: Can you clarify?

🐲: I’m not sure I understand what you mean

*Chad note: The more you need to Clarify what you say, the lower your perceived status will be. Defending/Justifying/Explaining is Low Status behavior.

Responding to the Emotion

If we wanted to respond to the underlying Emotion of their statement, we can say:

In this example, notice how empathetic Chads response is. He tells the prospect “I understand” you completely.

With this type of response you can also end it with a question to flip it back to the prospect i.e:

🐲: ..so yeah. tell me, is speed important enough for you to go through the trouble of implementing a new solution?

Responding to the Framing

The Holy Grail of responses is responding to the Framing of a message. These types of responses are used by the most competent communicators.

In this example, we stack 2 powerful Frames that address both the content of their message and the Framing of their message.

By the end of this statement you’ve regained control of the Frame.

Insight from a Consult

I was presented with an interesting scenario recently.. I was consulting a business owner who was in the market for a service.

The reps at the other company were Competent at Frames and the biz owner wanted my thoughts on a specific part of the conversation where the Pain was already established.

Their conversation went like this:

*🐲= the company sales rep

🐲: How familiar are you with [technical topic]?

Biz owner: Not that familiar

🐲: Yep makes sense. you’re an amateur in it and it shows based on what’s happening in your company

Biz owner: Yeah..

That’s it. They have Frame Control. He knows it and they know it.

Here’s how the biz owner could’ve responded instead:

🐲: How familiar are you with [technical topic]?

Biz Owner: Depends.. how do you define “familiar”?

^ Analyst Frame to shrink their frame

🤡: Well what we mean is are you familiar with how to set up [technical topic]?

Biz Owner: Yes of course, but as a business owner I can’t do everything. That’s why I prefer to bring in people who are competent enough to do it

That’s it. Had he said this he would’ve swatted away their shit tests and regain control of the Frame.

Quick Analysis of the new response:

Biz Owner: Yes of course but as a business owner I can’t do everything. That’s why I prefer to bring in people who are competent enough to do it

“Yes of course” = implies he’s seen it a million times (Bored Competence)

“As a business owner I can’t do everything” = Moral Authority Frame

“That’s why I prefer to” = a quasi ‘Fake Because’ + ‘I prefer’ reinforces he’s the Prize not them

“People who are competent enough to do it” = Frames ‘competent people’ as a group the salesperson should aspire to i.e a mix of Commodity & Prize Framing

*Chad note: “How familiar are you with x?” is a *huge* Frame and one that engulfs many responses. Most people fail to Reframe it properly.

Pro tip

If you haven’t already, join an improv group. It will help you improve your communication skills, creativity, and confidence under pressure.

BowTiedSalesGuy | Chad Salesman @BowTiedSalesGuy

Regular reminder: Do improv if you’re serious about improving your communication / sales abilities I believe being good at improv is one of the best indicators of social intelligence (plus you’ll meet a lot of cool & creative people)

If you want a step by step system on how to implement Frames into your sales process then check out my course here

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