Ian Ross
Ian Ross created the seven-layer VIVID Selling Framework and is writing The VIVID Selling Operating System, a book in progress. His teaching examines how sellers prepare, diagnose, guide, and review a sales conversation. He hosts the Close More Sales podcast and The Output, a show on AI in sales.
A sales conversation is more than its closing line. VIVID looks at the seller's internal state, the first contact, the diagnosis, the conversation architecture, and the decision. Those layers give sellers a way to examine where a conversation needs attention before reaching for another closing technique.
That observation is the starting point for the VIVID Selling Framework: seven connected layers for examining a sales conversation. VIVID Selling OS brings the framework into practice through industry courses, exercises, and diagnostic tools.
Framework vs. Operating System
Two things, clearly distinguished:
- The VIVID Selling Framework is the methodology: the seven-layer model (Internal State, First Contact, Diagnostic Engine, VIVID Architecture, Guided Persuasion, Objection Dissolution, The Observer) plus the revealing paradigm that underwrites it.
- VIVID Selling OS is the practice platform: industry courses, diagnostic tools, and labs that help learners work with the framework. The book that documents the method is in progress.
The Core Move
The philosophical shift at the heart of the framework is the revealing paradigm. Rather than trying to convince a buyer, the seller asks questions that help the buyer examine their own situation. When a buyer states a conclusion in their own words, the seller can respond to what was actually said instead of supplying the conclusion for them.
Start Here
The Output · Featured Episode
Handle ANY Sales Objection So Easily It Feels ILLEGAL
Topics I Write and Teach About
- The seven-layer VIVID Selling Framework
- Diagnostic vs data questions
- Commission Breath and Layer 1: Internal State
- Cold call opener architecture
- Objection dissolution patterns
- Multi-stakeholder B2B sales
- Insurance diagnostic selling
- Real estate acquisition calls
- Tech sales demo structure
- Financial advisor prospecting
- High-ticket close psychology
- Dual awareness and self-observation
The Through-Line
The VIVID approach asks the seller to diagnose before prescribing. A prospect may arrive with a vague concern; careful questions can help them describe what is happening, what they have tried, and what remains uncertain. The seller can then recap that picture, check it with the prospect, and decide together whether a next step fits.
The in-progress book develops the framework; courses and practice tools apply it to specific industries. Articles explore selected concepts and examples.
Where to Start
If you're new here, take the Seller Type Quiz. It has 35 questions and is free to take. You will receive a score across the seven layers and a suggested place to begin. The VIVID Selling System package is currently on hold while the book is in progress; see its current preview for availability. For an overview, read the cornerstone post /blog/vivid-7-layer-selling-framework/.
"Look beyond the closing line. Study the layers beneath the conversation."
Currently Building
As co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, I am building sales technology for real estate investors, focused on lead response, conversation support, and more consistent follow-up and practice for sales teams.
Visit objectionproof.ai → YouTube channel →Where I break down how AI is actually changing sales work: what's hype, what's installing, and what operators should be doing with it right now. New episodes on the Objection Proof AI YouTube channel.
See all episodes on YouTube →Featured & Podcast Appearances
Host · YouTube
Close More Sales on YouTube
youtube.com/@CloseMoreSales →
Host · Spotify
Close More Sales on Spotify
Spotify →
Audiobook · Author
Close More Sales
Audible / Amazon →
Guest · Funds on Fire w/ Devin Robinson
The Psychology of VIVID Capital Raising
Apple Podcasts →
Guest · Rafael Cortez
From Bookstore to Sales Coach: Sales Mastery, Frameworks & Mindset
YouTube →
Guest · Real Estate Disruptors w/ Steve Trang
Sales Secrets That You've Never Heard Of
YouTube →
Speaker · Collective Genius Mastermind
Ian Ross at CG LIVE
YouTube →
Guest · PropertyRadar
Scripts Are Killing Your Sales Team: What Top Coaches Do Instead
YouTube →
Guest · Properties to Profits
Why Sales Is the Fast Track to Financial Freedom
YouTube →
Guest · Leads2Deals
How To Spot Fake Gurus and Avoid Burnout
YouTube →
Webinar · Launch Control
How to Double Revenue with Your Existing Leads
YouTube →
Platform: VIVID Selling OS provides curriculum and diagnostic tools across nine industry contexts.
Previously: Founded and ran Advanced Sales Mastery, a live coaching program for operators scaling past inconsistent close rates.
Podcast: Close More Sales on Apple Podcasts
Elsewhere: The VIVID Selling Newsletter on Substack · LinkedIn
Get in touch
For questions about the framework, the courses, or sales team training: [email protected]
Follow the work:
YouTube: @vividselling
Instagram: @vividselling
Twitter / X: @vividselling
Coaching & team training
Working with Ian.
Clients describe their earlier sales coaching and team training with Ian, in their own words.
After 20 years in sales, I thought I'd seen every framework. Ian's methods caused a complete paradigm shift for our team. At Unwind Land Co. we retrained our entire sales organization on the VIVID model, and went from averaging 8 deals per quarter to over 40. That's 400%+ year over year. Most "gurus" only know their niche. Ian's system works because it maps the psychology underneath every conversation, regardless of what you're selling.
Team training
Retraining the entire sales team
Ian's sales training helped me buy more houses at a deeper discount. He helped me reframe a question which resulted in me buying a house for less money than other offers the seller had on the table.
Property negotiations
A better question in a competitive deal
I've gone from being a setter making $5K a month to now, four months later, closing inbound with a full calendar at around $20K a month. If that's not a return on your investment, I don't know what it is.
Sales development
Moving from setter to inbound closer
Those conversations with Ian made me $50,000 on the past two deals. I was able to go back and renegotiate the original purchase price on one deal, saved $4,000, and got another $110,000 off.
Property negotiations
Renegotiating the purchase price
One sales rep can generate me a net of six figures a month. So what do I care if I drop a $100K check to net $100K every month from one employee? If one employee goes to the next level, that's a 12x return right there. We have four salespeople; if they all do that, that's a 48x return. Those are crypto-like returns. Why wouldn't you do that?
Michael describes a potential return on training investment. His calculation is conditional.
Training investment