Accusation Audit
List every negative thing the other side might be thinking about you, then say it before they do.
How it sounds
- You You probably think I'm just another vendor here to waste your time
- Buyer Reacts with relief or surprise instead of defensiveness
- You You might also be wondering if we can actually deliver on time
- Result The unspoken objections lose their power because you named them first
The full entry
An accusation audit is Chris Voss’s technique, from Never Split the Difference (2016), of listing every negative thought, feeling, or objection the other side might have about you and saying it out loud before they get the chance to. It’s built on the idea that naming a criticism yourself takes its sting away, because the other person no longer has to be the one to raise it.
To use it, prepare the list before the call: what would this buyer be thinking if they were being brutally honest about you right now. Then open with it directly. “You probably think I’m just another vendor here to waste your time, and you might also be wondering if we can actually deliver on time.” Said plainly, without defensiveness, it usually gets a laugh or a visible relaxing rather than agreement.
It works best opening a call or meeting where you expect real skepticism, a cold intro, a burned relationship, a competitive replacement. The common mistake is softening the accusations into vague statements; the sharper and more specific the audit, the more it reads as honest rather than as a sales tactic.