If you’ve been following my reading challenge you know that I love books that have psychology in them. This book is loaded with psychological framing.
The book talks about how there are always “frames” and only one frame can be the alpha frame at a time. Someone will be alpha and someone will be beta. He talks about how there are all kinds of “beta traps” that people throw at you to keep you as the beta. For example, he explains that Walmart’s world headquarters is set up that way. If you have a product you are trying to sell to Walmart, you have to meet them at their headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. And they have an entire process and physical structure laid out to make sure you are the “beta”. He explains that have a large reception area with 2 enormous reception desks. You have to sign in, wait in a lobby that has grade school-style chairs with the attached desk for those who need to fill out forms. There are candy vending machines in the lobby as well. Then the process begins where after waiting for a very long time in the lobby, someone will come get you and bring you to a hall of a bunch of 6 x 8 rooms. You see other vendors in the little window before you arrive to what feels like your “cell”. You are put in a room by yourself and told that the buyer will join soon. Two buyers eventually enter the room. The meeting is short with a heavy focus on price, volume, logistics and your financial ability to support the Walmart account and then finally back to price again. The entire process and physical layout of Walmart is designed to make you feel like the underdog. He explains that this happens in meetings all over the world. He gets into the very minute detail to show you that in order to pitch well, you have to control the “frame”, or at least be aware when you are being controlled.
It’s a great book that’s super psychological in nature. I started reading it a year ago. I was happy to pick it up again and re-read through it.