VIVID Selling Glossary

VIVID names five conversation phases: Vision (the desired future), Identify (the present gap), Validate (the experience or hesitation), Impact (consequences the buyer recognizes), and Decision (a clear, autonomous choice). For example, “What would a reliable handoff change?” explores Vision; it does not imply the buyer is ready for a presentation.

The system moves from Internal State and First Contact through the Diagnostic Engine, VIVID Architecture, Guided Persuasion, Objection Dissolution and The Observer. The layers give a seller a map for practice; they do not predict that every buyer follows a fixed path.

The Revealing Paradigm, the Own Principle, non-neediness, Commission Breath, the Ten Master Principles and the Language of Influence. Notice when your need for an outcome changes pace or attention. The sixty-second reset and strategic silence are practices for your own state, not methods for reading a buyer’s mind.

The first exchange across calls, messages, meetings and re-engagement. The book teaches the First Seven Seconds, Anti-Sales Voice, Name-as-Question, intentional silence, permission to continue and a Diagnostic Offer. A relevant, truthful opening gives the other person a real choice about continuing.

Use the seven Strategic Question Types, Question Stacking and VRP=C to learn what the buyer means. The four named buyer-psychology layers and four buyer types are additional lenses. A seller may need a Direct fact question and a Tough question in one conversation; the taxonomy is about the question’s job, not a hierarchy of “good” and “bad” questions.

The conversation uses Vision, Identify, Validate, Impact and Decision. A presentation can use the separate Five-Movement Arc: Framing, Proof, Peak, Inevitability and Decision. For example, a seller might first explore the buyer’s handoff problem, then later present evidence for a proposed workflow.

Guided Persuasion connects a buyer’s stated criteria with a relevant remedy while protecting ownership of the decision. The book names six core instruments and five modes. It can be Emotional, Demonstration, Consultative, Product/Vision or Proxy according to what the buyer needs in that moment.

Classify a concern provisionally as Money, Trust, Timing or Identity. Use Absorb → Diagnose → Validate → Dissolve → Confirm to understand and respond. A phrase such as “let me think” may be a request for time, a real boundary or an open question; it cannot prove that an earlier layer failed. COR is reserved for Identity conflicts.

The Observer notices three feeds: your state, the buyer’s state as expressed or observed, and your structural position in VIVID. It uses post-conversation analysis and the recursive practice loop to select one improvement. Ask when a buyer cue is ambiguous; observation does not confer access to private motives.

The alternative to the Convincing Trap. Instead of arguing a conclusion into place, ask questions that help the buyer examine their own situation and criteria. The Own Principle is that what the buyer says in their own words carries more weight than a seller’s assertion. A revealed gap does not obligate a purchase.

Framing → Proof → Peak → Inevitability → Decision structures a presentation of an offer. It is separate from the VIVID conversation phases. Proof should answer a question the buyer has raised; Inevitability explains how the proposed parts fit together, not that buying is inevitable.

Attend to three feeds at once: your state, the buyer’s state as they express it, and your structural position in the VIVID conversation. If you notice yourself rushing to prescribe while the buyer is still clarifying the problem, pause, recap and redirect. Verify uncertain interpretations with the buyer.

A site phrase for the experience of hearing a generic sales opening. It is not a fixed two-second brain mechanism. Use a true reason for contact, speak naturally and ask whether the person wants to continue; then review the response you actually received.

The book’s name for outcome neediness that can alter a seller’s pace, language or attention. It is a cue for self-observation. The sixty-second reset—five counts in through the nose, seven out through the mouth—helps the seller return attention to the conversation. No visible cue guarantees a buyer’s reaction.

The book’s master Guided Persuasion function: help a buyer compare the person, team or organization they say they want to become with a present pattern that may not support it. Ask permission where a question could feel personal, and let the buyer correct the comparison. This anchor preserves older “identity tethering” links; the book term is Identity Gap.

A site term for using shame or a threat to a person’s identity to push a yes. It differs from the book’s Identity Gap, which invites examination of a buyer’s own stated standards. The buyer can decline the comparison or the offer.

A post-call prompt: did you understand the buyer’s purpose and explain relevant options, or did outcome pressure lead you to push past their answer? Record a specific moment and a better response to rehearse. It is a self-review question, not a score of the buyer’s feelings or a book question taxonomy.

Questions that explore what a fact means to the buyer. “What happens when the handoff fails?” is diagnostic if the answer helps the buyer and seller understand a real effect. The book’s named taxonomy remains Easy, Tough, Direct, OR, Clarifying, Loose-Thread Pulls and Confused-Skeptic.

Questions that gather necessary facts such as timing, current process or decision participants. They are useful and often Direct questions in the book’s taxonomy. A fact question becomes weak only when the seller never connects the answer to what the buyer is trying to decide.

A discovery call can become an unscoped coaching session when the seller starts designing a tailored plan before clarifying fit or the paid service. State what the call includes, answer within that scope, and explain where a personal plan begins. Useful information in discovery is not inherently a mistake.

The seller silently performs tailored analysis or implementation work in a call intended to determine fit. Clarify the deliverable, inputs and agreement needed for that work. A prospect asking “what would you do?” does not by itself authorize a regulated recommendation or require a purchase.

A site phrase for a buyer asking to explore an offer after a clear discovery conversation. It is not a required outcome of diagnosis or a separate book GP mode. The seller still explains scope, price and limits and asks what the buyer wants to do next.

A site phrase for asking for commitment before questions of fit, cost and scope are clear. A direct decision question after a complete explanation is not pressure by itself; the problem is pushing past uncertainty or a stated no.

A worksheet that turns a stated recurring cost into a monthly illustration when the underlying inputs are real and relevant. It is not proof of an insurance need, coverage amount or future outcome. Use the producer’s established needs-analysis process for individual recommendations.

A working hypothesis that the buyer does not yet trust a proposed mechanism or provider. “I already have an advisor” may instead mean their current relationship meets their needs. Ask what, if anything, they want to compare before inferring a trust problem.

A demonstration selected around the buyer’s stated workflow and open questions. Ask what they need to see, show relevant proof and invite correction. A fixed seven-minute opening or three-altitude sequence is a possible site exercise, not a book phase or a guarantee that the demo will close.

Help a buyer who supports further evaluation prepare accurate material for colleagues. A buyer-verified summary, question sheet and risk log can travel into an internal review. Mark unknown security, cost and implementation claims as open and connect colleagues to the right expert. The buyer owns the internal process.

A seller state that allows a clear conversation without needing this buyer to say yes. The book teaches Commission Breath, Ferrari Dealership Energy, willingness to walk away and the sixty-second reset. The purpose is to keep attention on fit and choice, not to perform indifference.

An optional practice cue to slow a rushed delivery and leave room after a question. The exact percentage is not a measured rule or a promise about buyer response. The book’s canonical practices are tonality, pacing and Strategic Silence: count to five, then count to five again when appropriate.

The book’s ten named principles. They are distinct from the four writing principles in Chapter 6. Principle 10 says COR dissolves what logic cannot; the full six-step COR procedure appears in Chapter 29. Use a principle to choose a behavior to practice, not as a claim that the rest of the system fails without perfect mastery.

Easy opens access; Tough reaches what matters; Direct gathers necessary facts; OR offers two acceptable directions; Clarifying sharpens vague words; Loose-Thread Pulls revisit a meaningful detail; Confused-Skeptic puts uncertainty on the seller so the buyer can explain their reasoning. Question Stacking combines types in sequence.

Validate → Respond → Probe = Control. Validate in one sentence, respond with one or two sentences of substance, then probe with a relevant question. Control means keeping a useful direction in the exchange; it does not mean Confirm, consent to buy or control over the buyer. Permission before a Tough question remains appropriate.

Surface Criteria, Mechanism Belief, Felt Outcome and Identity. These are named dimensions, not a numbered ladder. An objection can carry all four while one category is often most relevant. For example, a fee concern may be about Surface Criteria or conceal a question about trust in the mechanism; ask before deciding.

The two axes are Decision Speed (fast/slow) and Decision Driver (logic/emotion). They yield Commander (Control, then Status), Visionary (aspirational Status, then Confidence), Analyst (Certainty, then intellectual Safety), and Guardian (Safety of what they protect, then Relief). The Ninety-Second Read is a working hypothesis; the Mask Trap warns against trusting a performed style.

Invite the buyer to describe a desired future in their own terms. “If the handoff worked reliably, what would that make possible?” is a Vision question. Do not supply a life outcome the buyer has not named.

Surface the gap between the buyer’s desired future and current situation. Ask what happens now, what they have tried and where a meaningful detail needs clarification. The buyer’s description can correct the seller’s initial hypothesis.

Acknowledge the buyer’s experience or concern without automatically endorsing a factual position. “That sounds frustrating; what part has been hardest?” validates the sensation and invites detail. This is a deeper phase than the quick one-sentence Validate inside VRP=C.

Explore what the gap affects now and over time. Use the buyer’s own numbers when they have them, check assumptions and leave uncertainty visible. “Which work is delayed when that handoff fails?” can establish impact without manufacturing a mathematical inevitability.

Make the next choice explicit after the buyer understands the offer’s fit, terms and open questions. The full-call question “Do you want my help?” is available; the X/Y/Z close tests whether named conditions are resolved. A buyer can choose yes, no, more information or more time.

A way to review whether Vision, Identify, Validate, Impact and Decision left important questions unanswered. A hesitation can arise for many reasons, including no fit or a genuine boundary; it does not reveal a unique broken phase. Ask what the buyer still needs to know.

The book names Identity Gap; Edge-Rounding and Permission Architecture; Honey Technique; Closing Off Before Opening Up; OR Questions; and the Recap Instrument. Question Stacking also operates in Guided Persuasion. Select an instrument for a buyer-stated purpose rather than running a fixed sequence.

Emotional is the default, Demonstration uses restraint, Consultative works with evidence, Product/Vision makes the offering transparent, and Proxy serves a dual purpose. The Mode Recognition Window helps choose and shift modes. These are modes of Guided Persuasion, not buyer types.

Match the buyer’s conversational pace enough to remain understandable, then guide attention toward a relevant question or recap. Check whether the buyer follows and corrects you. A seller cannot infer permission to lead from mirrored body language or use pacing to override a no.

COR is for Identity resistance when a buyer’s criterion may conflict with their stated outcome. The book teaches six steps: identify the outcome; identify the criteria; check 2.5, the Non-Negotiable Checkpoint; get permission to explore; reveal the mismatch through a contextual variable; reposition a possible upgrade; and get buy-in with autonomy. Stop when the criterion is a genuine boundary.

Before trading a concession, ask what the requested change is meant to solve. A price request can involve Money, Trust, Timing or Identity; it is not proof that Impact failed. Explain verified terms and hold value where appropriate, while allowing a real budget boundary or no fit to stand.

Observe → Analyze → Prioritize → Practice → Observe again. This maintenance habit sits inside Layer 7, The Observer; it is not the layer’s name. Use a concrete moment from one call to select one rehearsal, then compare what happens in a later call.