Sum it Up

What if I told you sales and hostage negotiation could be similar? Chris Voss is one of my most influential negotiation favorites. While he doesn’t teach sales directly, in his masterclass he discusses negotiation. Chris was a hostage negotiator and brings those skills to his students and around the world to negotiate in any situation. There is a lot to learn from him but one of those most notable for me, and maybe for you here too, is the concept of “sounds like”. In his masterclass, you can find an entire conversation and negotiation situation with only two words that turn the conversation from one dimensional to influential, by only using the term “sounds like”.

I’d like to invite you to consider a situation where you’re talking with a friend, acquaintance, coworker, etc. and they’re kind of listening but you’re not sure they’re really digesting what you’re saying. You’re repeating yourself and feeling flustered, you’ll repeat the phrase “ya know what I mean?” to them a few times because you really can’t be sure that they’re catching on. Its frustrating that they hear you but they’re not listening. Your clients feel this too. They feel like maybe you’re hearing them, but you have no idea what they’re really saying, you’re just waiting for your next opportunity to talk instead, waiting to entice them to buy.

Consider the phrase “sounds like”. I have touched on this phrase before when discussing open ended questions. It should be used in tandem. The “sounds-like” phrase is a powerful tool to sum up what the person on the other side of the conversation is trying to tell you. They want to know you’re listening and understanding their pain points and able to help them solve their problems. The “sounds like” phrase sums up what they’re saying and helps you move on to the next point by giving them space to say more. Additionally, you will find people will generally give two positives and a negative in conversation when asked open-endedly about a service or product they use.

“Sounds like” goes like this:

Seller: “So tell me more about the platform you’re currently using to track inbound traffic to your site.”

Client: “Well, one thing I love about this service is that it shows real-time insights, so we can see exactly who’s on the site and where they're coming from."

Seller: “Seeing who is on the site and where they’re coming from sounds like it’s valuable. What else do you find helpful about it?"

Client: “It’s also great for tracking specific campaigns - helps us see which ads bring in the most traffic. The only downside is it sometimes misses data during high-traffic periods, which can be frustrating."

Seller: “So mostly reliable, with some hiccups. That makes sense. Sounds like high-traffic accuracy is crucial to your team’s performance”

.. and end scene

Using “sounds like” ensures that you are not only hearing the person on the other side but that you genuinely understand and want to help. While it shouldn’t be used on its own, this simple phrase can help you truly gauge what is important to someone and give them and yourself grace to correct you if you’re wrong. All in all, there are plenty of ways to sum up a phrase when someone is talking. Personally using “sounds like” has transformed the way I have conversations with people in every space. It’s a helpful tool to understand a friend going through a hard time as much as it is impactful for your selling relationships. People want to feel heard; they want to feel like you empathize and are truly listening. Simply repeating their concern and summing it up, you can build better relationships.