Sources & method
Where it all comes from.
Sales advice gets passed around until nobody remembers who said it first. Each entry here gets one of three labels, based on what can actually be traced.
Sourced
A named person, book or study is the documented origin. You can go and read it.
Folklore
The technique is real, but the famous story attached to it is legend. The entry says what is and isn't true.
Common practice
Widely taught with no single originator (49 entries). We say so instead of inventing an author.
Books, papers and methods cited
- InfluenceRobert Cialdini, 1984 · Book
- SPIN SellingNeil Rackham, 1988 · Book
- Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss, 2016 · Book
- The Sandler Selling SystemDavid Sandler, 1967 · Method
- Neuro-Linguistic ProgrammingBandler & Grinder, 1970s · Method
- The Endowment EffectKahneman, Knetsch & Thaler, 1990 · Paper
- Prospect TheoryKahneman & Tversky, 1979 · Paper
- The Framing of DecisionsTversky & Kahneman, 1981 · Paper
- Positive Theory of Consumer ChoiceRichard Thaler, 1980 · Paper
- Pre-SuasionRobert Cialdini, 2016 · Book
- Client-Centred TherapyCarl Rogers, 1950s · Method
- Similarity-Attraction EffectDonn Byrne, 1971 · Paper
- Trigger-event sellingCraig Elias & Tibor Shanto, 2010 · Book
- The Challenger SaleMatthew Dixon & Brent Adamson, 2011 · Book
- MEDDICDick Dunkel, PTC, 1996 · Method
- Gap SellingKeenan, 2018 · Book
- Predictable RevenueAaron Ross & Marylou Tyler, 2011 · Book
- Judgment under UncertaintyTversky & Kahneman, 1974 · Paper
- Asymmetric DominanceHuber, Payne & Puto, 1982 · Paper
- The Mindlessness of Ostensibly Thoughtful ActionLanger, Blank & Chanowitz, 1978 · Paper
- But You Are FreeGuéguen & Pascual, 2000 · Paper
- The IKEA EffectNorton, Mochon & Ariely, 2012 · Paper
- Door-in-the-FaceCialdini et al., 1975 · Paper
Flagged as folklore
- Ben Franklin CloseBenjamin Franklin (folklore)
- Columbo CloseColumbo character (folklore)
Corrections
If an attribution is wrong, email the source you have and the entry gets corrected.