Playbook · Early fit to Scale
Early fit to Scale × Discover
This cell has playbooks for specific products and habit routes: B2B sales-led.
- M2 Early fit
- How do we put every new user on the path that retained users took?
- M3 Scale
- Can we scale acquisition, conversion and loops without leaking?
- Discover
- Why would the right people try it?
Variant · B2B sales-led
Early fit and Scale × Discover · Sales-led B2B
For sales-led products, Discover is the buyer's first decision: proof from similar companies, verifiable and relevant authority, an admitted minor weakness for credibility, and the switch anxieties answered up front.
Moves. Case results from companies like the buyer's INF-T-SP-17 (Influence Ch.4, p.107); authority that is real, current and relevant to the claim INF-T-AU-01 (Influence Ch.6, p.166); admitting a minor limitation to earn credibility on the major points INF-T-AU-07 (Influence Ch.6, p.174); reversing the loss frame so inaction becomes the visible risk.
Lead with these moves
- TechniqueEvidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.
Proof from similar others
people like you
- TechniqueEvidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.
Verifiable, relevant credentials
checkable expertise that fits the claim
Also in season
- Evidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.Admit a minor, real limitationsay what the product is not good for
- Evidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.Proof at the moment of uncertaintyproof placed where people hesitate
- Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.Show that not acting is the bigger riskhonest cost-of-inaction framing
Not now
- Small copy or button A/B testsAt your volume a small tweak would take months to read.
- Scale paid acquisition while activation leaksFix the setup leak first: new paid users would hit the same broken first session.
How to measure it
Questions to answer first
- What proof do buyers ask for at each stage of a deal, and can you show results from companies like theirs?
- Does each type of visitor see proof from people like them (same role, size, use case)?
- What worries stop visitors from trying (setup effort, cost, data, getting locked in), and what would remove each one?
- Which single thing on your landing page drives most sign-ups, and how do you know?
- What do reviews, support tickets and sales-call notes say people value most, and complain about most?
Limits
What we don’t claim
- Seasons are defaults for the cell. Evidence from your own product can move a technique in or out of season.
- A playbook names candidate moves; which one goes first depends on the binding constraint in your product.
Sources
Influence · Robert Cialdini
Ch.4, p.107 · Ch.6, p.166 · Ch.6, p.173 · Ch.6, p.174
Source IDs: INF-T-SP-17INF-T-AU-01INF-T-AU-02INF-T-AU-07
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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