Everything from

Chris Voss

2 resources from Chris Voss we point founders to, and the questions each answers.

📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Intermediate

Why we picked it Your short answer says to ask what would have to be true for someone to pay today, and this book is the toolkit for exactly that kind of question. Voss teaches calibrated "how" and "what" questions that make a stalling buyer explain their own blockers out loud. Read it to turn a polite "let me think about it" into a real conversation about what is actually stopping the yes.

Never Split the Difference

From Chris Voss by Chris Voss

  • Open questions with how and what get buyers to reveal the true objection
  • A "no" is often the start of the deal, not the end
  • Let the buyer talk their way to the reasons they should act
Open goodreads.com →
Answers I keep getting warm interest and 'this is great' but no one pays. How do I turn the first yes into money? How do I follow up after a good sales call without being annoying or looking desperate?
📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Intermediate

Why we picked it Written by a former FBI hostage negotiator, not a sales trainer, which is exactly why it works for founders who recoil at 'sales' language. It teaches you to listen for what a prospect is actually objecting to underneath what they're saying, a skill that transfers directly to pricing and closing conversations. Use the labeling and mirroring techniques on your very next call, they work in a five minute conversation as well as a hostage standoff.

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

From Chris Voss

  • Mirroring and labeling get a prospect to reveal the real objection behind their stated one
  • Getting to 'no' first often opens a more honest conversation than chasing an early yes
  • These are listening techniques, not manipulation tricks, and they're learnable
Open blackswanltd.com →
Answers I'm a technical founder and I hate selling, do I really have to do sales myself? How do I run a sales call without sounding like a pushy salesperson? How do I handle objections and prospects who go silent on me? What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before? How do I sell in India where buyers negotiate hard on price and payments come in late? How do I sell confidently when I am the founder and also the youngest or least experienced person in the room? How do I cold email people at big enterprises when I'm a small unknown startup from outside the major hubs?
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