ELF vs HALF Client Selection
Work with Easy, Lucrative and Fun. Walk away from Hard, Annoying, Lame and Frustrating.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 88%
Voss borrowed the ELF/HALF distinction from Joe Polish of Genius Network: ELF is Easy, Lucrative and Fun; HALF is Hard, Annoying, Lame and Frustrating. Don't work with HALFs, do work with ELFs. Black Swan built it into their methodology and Voss instructs his team to walk away from HALFs — but before they'd walk on their own, the team collected the data. Of the HALFs they did close, two things were true: it took no less than twice as long (and up to five times) to close and implement, and the HALFs never repeated. Fighting the uphill battle and winning means a 50% pay cut for a client you'll never work with again. Neither of those makes sense.
Origin
Voss picked up half versus elf from Joe Polish, who runs Genius Network. Voss's own team resisted walking away until they collected the data on their closed HALF deals, which settled it.
Core principles
- 01HALF clients take two to five times longer to close and implement — that's a 50%+ pay cut minimum.
- 02HALF clients don't repeat, so you took the pay cut for a one-off.
- 03Fighting an uphill battle and winning is still a loss.
- 04Life is too short to work with people who don't want to work with you.
How to run it
- 1
Classify every prospect as ELF or HALF
ELF = Easy, Lucrative, Fun. HALF = Hard, Annoying, Lame, Frustrating. Make the call early and explicitly.
- 2
Collect the data before you argue the policy
Voss's team wouldn't walk away on principle, so they measured. Track how long HALF deals take to close and implement versus ELF deals, and whether HALFs repeat.
Pro tip The data does the convincing that the rule alone can't — a lesson in the framework's own medicine.
- 3
Do the pay-cut math
If a HALF takes twice as long, you've taken a 50% cut in pay. Then check repeat business: if HALFs never repeat, you took the cut for a client you'll never see again.
Watch out Two to five times as long is the observed range; twice is the optimistic case.
- 4
Authorize the walk-away
Tell the team explicitly: walk away from the HALFs, and get out of the way of the ELFs. Make it a stated policy so nobody has to justify a pass.
Pro tip Convincing a HALF to become a client sets up the wrong dynamic from day one — they'll jump down your throat at the first problem.
In the wild
Voss's team resisted walking away from difficult prospects, so they collected data on the HALFs they had closed. Two things were true of every one: it took no less than twice as long — anywhere from two to five times — to close and implement, and none of them ever came back.
→ A 50% or worse pay cut in exchange for a client who never repeats. The team adopted the walk-away rule and built it into Black Swan's methodology.
Common mistakes
Treating the closed HALF as a win
You fought the uphill battle and won — and took a 50% cut in pay for a one-time client. Closing is not the same as profiting.
Follow up, follow up, convince
Entrepreneurs and salespeople are trained to keep pursuing until they convert. Hala found her worst clients were precisely the ones she'd fought hardest to win — she'd started every one from a weak position.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders, agency owners, and sales leaders who control who they take on.
Not ideal for
Early-stage operators with no pipeline who genuinely cannot afford selectivity yet, or fixed-territory roles with no client choice.
From the transcript
“Elf is easy, lucrative, and fun. Half is hard, annoying, lame, frustrating... don't work with halves, do work with elves.”
“It took us no less than twice as long to close the deal and implement it. Anywhere from two times to five times as long...…”
“Secondly, the halfs don't repeat. So you took a 50% cut in pay to work with someone that you are never gonna work with again.”
“Life is just too short to work with people who don't wanna work with you.”
From the episode
Chris Voss: Advanced Negotiation
Chris Voss