Book

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

Chris Voss Paid Intermediate

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.

  • 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 on blackswanltd.com ↗

It answers 7 questions

  1. I'm a technical founder and I hate selling, do I really have to do sales myself?
  2. How do I run a sales call without sounding like a pushy salesperson?
  3. How do I handle objections and prospects who go silent on me?
  4. What sales process should I follow if I've never sold anything before?
  5. How do I sell in India where buyers negotiate hard on price and payments come in late?
  6. How do I cold email people at big enterprises when I'm a small unknown startup from outside the major hubs?
  7. How do I sell confidently when I am the founder and also the youngest or least experienced person in the room?

Read with it

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  4. Steli Efti (YC alum, co-founder of Close CRM) is one of the most trusted voices on startup outbound and cold email, practical,... Close Article · article series The Close Sales Blog (Steli Efti on cold email & founder sales) Steli Efti
  5. The research-backed classic on consultative selling, the antidote to 'pushy salesperson' instincts. Its... McGraw-Hill Book · book (~200 pages) SPIN Selling Neil Rackham
  6. When your first ten will come from cold outreach, this guide gives you the full mechanics: building a target list, qualifying,... Close Article · Multi-chapter guide The Ultimate Startup Guide to Outbound Sales Steli Efti
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