Frame It Like You Mean It: How to Slay with the Framing Effect
If you’ve ever walked away from a sales conversation wondering why your airtight pitch landed like a dad joke at a funeral, you might not have a closing problem—you might have a framing problem.
Why Framing Matters (and Why It’s Your Secret Weapon to Slay)
Framing is the art of presenting the same information in different ways—making it feel like a win or a loss, a safe bet or a wild risk, depending on how you wrap it.
Kahneman & Tversky proved people will choose completely different options depending on whether you frame them as gains or losses… even when the math is identical.
In sales, the right frame doesn’t just sell—it Slays:
- Loss Aversion – People fear losses twice as much as they value equivalent gains. So instead of “you’ll save $200K,” try “you’ll lose $200K if you wait.”
- Endowment Effect – People overvalue what they already have. Show them that inaction means losing what they think is secure.
- Socratic – Ask questions that expose bias without a lecture.
- Challenger – Reframe their perspective so they can’t unsee the truth.
The Frames You Need in Your Arsenal
Think of frames like lenses on a camera—each one shifts the view, even if the subject’s the same.
| Frame Type | How to Slay It | Sales Example |
|---|---|---|
| Risk (Gain vs Loss) | Put the spotlight on what they could lose. | “Would you prefer saving 80% of customers… or watching 20% walk away?” |
| Attribute | Make the positive shine, or the negative sting. | “95% accurate” vs “5% error-prone.” |
| Goal (Action vs Inaction) | Show the cost of doing nothing. | “Prevent a $200K leak” vs “Earn $200K more.” |
| Number | Choose the scale that hits hardest. | “Free up $1M in five years” vs “$200K per year.” |
| Comparative | Frame the contrast to make your offer dominant. | “Twice as fast” vs “50% slower.” |
| Time | Make speed feel like salvation. | “Launch in 30 days” vs “Avoid a 60-day delay.” |
Classic Slay Moves from Science
Kahneman’s experiments read like the OG Slay playbook:
- People picked “200 people saved” over “400 people die” (gain frame = safe choice).
- But flip the wording and suddenly, most took the risk.
Moral of the story? You’re not just selling what—you’re selling how it’s seen.
How to Train Your Slay Frame
If you want to make framing second nature, try this:
- Reframe Drill: Take one of your KPIs and write it as both a gain and a loss. Feel the emotional punch.
- Trap Spotting: Listen for how prospects already frame their situation—then pivot it.
- Comparative Crushing: Give them the benchmark they want to compare against.
The Slay Takeaway
Framing isn’t fluff—it’s fuel. It’s how you make your offer impossible to ignore without changing a single feature or price point.
Get this right, and you won’t just close deals—you’ll Frame It ‘Til You Slay it.
