Sales & Marketing
Offers, persuasion, positioning and closing deals.
9
concepts
9
tools
71
books
How sales & marketing works — step by step
Read these in order. Each takes about 3 minutes.
- 01
Making an irresistible offer
Make your offer so valuable that saying no feels silly — by boosting results and cutting time and effort.
First step: Write the dream outcome your customer wants.
- 02
The principles of persuasion
Six shortcuts make people more likely to say yes: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity.
First step: Reciprocity: give something useful first (a free guide, advice).
- 03
Consultative selling (SPIN)
Win bigger sales by asking smart questions that help the buyer see their own problem — before you pitch.
First step: Situation: understand their setup (keep these few).
- 04
Negotiation with tactical empathy
Negotiate by deeply understanding the other side's feelings and view — not by splitting the difference.
First step: Mirror: repeat the last few words they said, as a question.
- 05
Positioning
Positioning is making it obvious who your product is for and why it's the best choice for them.
First step: List the competitive alternatives (what customers would do without you).
- 06
Start with why
People are inspired by why you do something before what you do — so lead with your purpose.
First step: Write why your business exists beyond making money.
- 07
Pricing on value
Set prices by what your product is worth to the customer, not just what it costs you.
First step: Estimate the value to the customer (money saved/earned, time saved).
- 08
Lead generation: the core four
There are four ways to let people know you exist: warm outreach, content, cold outreach and paid ads.
First step: Warm outreach: message people you already know.
- 09
Clear messaging (customer as hero)
Make the customer the hero of the story and your brand the guide who helps them win.
First step: A character (your customer) wants something.
Tools for sales & marketing
Most useful at these stages
Essential reading
Traction
Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares
Lists 19 ways to get customers and gives a simple method (Bullseye) to test them and focus on the one that works.
$100M Offers
Alex Hormozi
How to make an offer so good people feel stupid saying no, using a simple 'value equation'.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini
The classic research on why people say yes: reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking and scarcity.
Start with Why
Simon Sinek
Inspiring companies communicate from the inside out: why they exist, then how, then what.
Obviously Awesome
April Dunford
A practical method for positioning: making it obvious why your product is the best choice for a specific customer.
Never Split the Difference
Chris Voss with Tahl Raz
A former FBI hostage negotiator's techniques: tactical empathy, mirroring, labelling and calibrated questions.
SPIN Selling
Neil Rackham
Research on 35,000 sales calls showing big deals are won by asking Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff questions.
The Personal MBA
Josh Kaufman
A plain-English crash course in business fundamentals, from value creation to finance.
$100M Leads
Alex Hormozi
Lead generation broken into four core channels (warm outreach, content, cold outreach, paid ads) and the 'Rule of 100'.
Building a StoryBrand
Donald Miller
Clarify your message by making the customer the hero of the story and your brand the guide.
Explore by tag
From the library (71)
$100M Offers: How To Make Offers So Good People Feel Stupid Saying No
Teaches startups to create 'Grand Slam Offers' that maximize perceived value and minimize buyer risk, driving higher conversion rates in customer acquisition. Vs Traction Channels, it focuses on offer optimization to make channel spend more effective, with use cases in SaaS, agencies, and e-commerce boosting LTV 3x+. Critical for go-to-market product-market fit validation.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On
Unveils STEPPS framework (Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value, Stories) for startups to engineer word-of-mouth customer acquisition virality. Vs Traction Channels, focuses on content psychology over paid distribution; use cases like Blendtec videos exploding views 10x via humor/emotion. Vital for low-cost go-to-market growth.
Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers
Strategies for tech startups to cross from early adopters to mainstream customers via niche domination and 'whole product' assembly, enabling scalable acquisition. Vs Traction Channels' testing, emphasizes beachhead markets like enterprise software; use cases include Salesforce's CRM pivot to SMBs post-chasm. Go-to-market bible for B2B innovation.
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
The definitive guide to principled negotiation from the Harvard Negotiation Project. This international bestseller with over 15 million copies sold teaches a proven, step-by-step strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict—from business negotiations to personal disputes.
Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini's groundbreaking work on the psychology of compliance. Essential for founders who need to persuade customers, investors, and employees.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini's seminal work on the psychology of why people say yes, revealing six universal principles of influence that drive human behavior and decision-making.
LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products
Silicon Valley veteran Martina Lauchengco's definitive guide to product marketing for tech products. Part of the bestselling SVPG series, this book explains the four fundamentals of product marketing and how great products can win in the market.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip and Dan Heath's exploration of what makes ideas memorable and influential, revealing the six principles of sticky ideas through the SUCCESS framework that helps messages resonate and last.
New Sales. Simplified.: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development
Mike Weinberg's no-nonsense guide to prospecting and winning new business. Named a Top 20 Sales Book of All Time by HubSpot, essential for founders who need to hunt for customers.
Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It
April Dunford's practical guide to product positioning based on launching 16 products. Essential for founders who need customers to immediately understand why their product matters.
Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal
A New York Times bestseller by Oren Klaff that revolutionizes pitching by applying neuroscience and behavioral psychology. This practical guide teaches entrepreneurs and professionals how to command attention and drive decisions in high-stakes presentations.
Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind
Al Ries and Jack Trout's groundbreaking book introducing the concept of positioning - how to differentiate your product in the customer's mind.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!
Outlines 22 fundamental marketing laws like Leadership (be first) and Focus (own a word) for startups to build dominant positions and acquire customers by creating categories. Use cases include Starbucks owning 'premium coffee'; vs Traction Channels, prioritizes mental positioning over tactical distribution for long-term customer loyalty. Key for go-to-market strategies in competitive markets.
The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million
HubSpot's Chief Revenue Officer Mark Roberge shares the data-driven playbook that took HubSpot from zero to $100 million. Essential for B2B SaaS founders building scalable sales organizations.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell's groundbreaking exploration of how small changes can trigger widespread effects, introducing the concept of social epidemics and the three rules that govern how ideas spread.
Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth
Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares's framework for finding the marketing channel that will make your business grow, covering 19 traction channels used by successful startups.
$100M Leads: How to Get Strangers to Want to Buy Your Stuff
Equips startup founders with actionable lead generation strategies through four core channels—warm outreach, content posting, cold outreach, and paid ads—for scalable customer acquisition. Unlike the broader 19 Traction Channels, it prioritizes high-ROI tactics with proven use cases like gym chains generating hundreds of leads monthly and agencies filling sales pipelines. Ideal for go-to-market strategies in resource-constrained startups.
All Marketers Tell Stories
Guides startups in using authentic storytelling to create believable narratives that drive customer acquisition and loyalty, outperforming generic messaging. Unlike Traction Channels' distribution focus, it builds emotional connections for organic sharing; use cases show brands like TOMS growing via mission stories. Core for go-to-market narrative strategies.