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Free sales guides

Sales guides for your industry, your topic and your market.

Practical guides to cold email, prospecting, follow-ups, discovery calls, objection handling, closing and more, each written for one industry. Pick the skill you need, pick who you sell to, and get a step-by-step plan you can start this week. Free to read, no signup.

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  • 01

    One guide per industry and topic

  • 02

    Country guides for ten markets

  • 03

    Same clear outline in every guide

  • 04

    Free to read, no signup needed

The problem

Generic sales advice rarely fits the people you sell to.

Most sales content is written for everyone, which means it is written for no one in particular. What works for a software buyer can fall flat with a dental practice or a factory owner.

One playbook for every market

A cold email that lands with a startup founder can read as pushy to a law firm partner. Generic advice skips the details that decide whether your buyer replies.

Hard to know where to start

Prospecting, sequences, discovery, objections, closing. Without a plan for your own market, it is easy to spend weeks on the wrong skill.

Local rules get missed

Selling into a new country means new buyer habits and new rules on email and data. Finding that out after you send is the expensive way to learn.

How it works

Pick a topic, pick an industry, get a plan you can run.

The guides are organised so you can get from a question to a plan in a couple of clicks.

  1. 01

    Choose what you want to improve

    Start from a topic like cold email, lead generation, follow-ups or objection handling. Or start from your industry and see every topic for it.

  2. 02

    Open the guide for your market

    Each guide explains why your industry is different, then walks through who to target, what to research, what to say and how to keep going.

  3. 03

    Run it, then let FirstSales help

    Use the 30-day start at the end of each guide. When you want the outreach to run itself, FirstSales finds leads, writes each email and follows up for you.

Browse by topic

Start with the skill, then pick your industry.

Every topic has its own page that lists the guide for each industry. Open the skill you want to get better at and choose the version written for the people you sell to.

3,078 guides across 37 topics

Sales topics

AI search topics

Browse by industry

Find your industry, then every guide written for it.

Each industry page collects every topic for that market in one place, from cold email and prospecting to discovery calls and closing.

95 industries in 15 groups

Technology13

Business Services4

Finance6

Healthcare15

Food & Beverage6

Retail9

Home Services10

Automotive8

Education5

Entertainment3

Travel5

Real Estate4

Manufacturing7

Browse by country

Selling into a new market? Read the country guide first.

Each country guide covers how buyers there like to be approached, the local rules to know before you send, and practical tips for outreach in that market.

Popular guides

Not sure where to begin? These are a good first read.

A short list of guides that cover the most common outbound questions. Each one follows the same outline, so once you have read one you know how to use the rest.

What you get

Guides written for the way your buyers work.

Every guide is free, follows the same clear outline, and is written for one industry and one topic, so the advice fits the people you actually sell to.

  • Written for your industry

    A guide for each industry and topic pair, so a dental practice, a law firm and a software company each get advice that fits how they buy.

  • Every part of the sales process

    From prospecting and cold email to discovery calls, demos, objection handling, negotiation and closing, plus the management side: metrics, coaching and forecasting.

  • Country guides

    Ten country guides cover local buyer habits, the rules on email and data you should know, and practical tips for outreach in that market.

  • AI search topics

    A set of guides on getting your business found in AI search and assistant answers, written for each industry like the rest.

  • One outline, every time

    Every guide follows the same structure, so once you have read one you can jump straight to the part you need in any other.

  • Free, no signup

    All guides are public pages. No account, no email gate. Share any guide with your team by sending the link.

How the guidesare put together

Three ways in, one outline inside. Here is how to find the right guide and what you will find when you open it.

  1. Browse

    Three ways to find your guide

    Go by topic if you know the skill you want to work on. Go by industry if you want everything for one market in one place. Go by country if you are about to sell somewhere new. Each path ends at the same kind of guide, written for your situation.

    • By topic. Thirty sales topics and seven AI search topics.
    • By industry. Grouped so you find yours fast.
    • By country. Ten markets, each with local rules.
  2. Read

    Every guide follows the same outline

    Each guide opens with why your industry is different, then four steps: define who you are targeting, research what actually matters, write messages that get replies, and execute consistently. It closes with common mistakes, the tools and stack, the metrics that matter, a 30-day quick start and answers to common questions.

    • Why it is different. What sets your market apart.
    • Four clear steps. Target, research, write, execute.
    • 30-day quick start. A plan you can begin this week.
  3. Compare

    The same topic, written for each market

    Topics and industries form a grid. Pick a row to see every topic for one industry, or a column to see one topic across every industry. Comparing two versions side by side is a quick way to see what changes from one market to the next.

    • Row: one industry. Every topic for your market.
    • Column: one topic. The same skill across markets.
    • Every cell is a guide. One page per pair.
  4. Go local

    Country guides cover the local rules

    Before you email buyers in a new country, read its guide. It sets out how buyers there tend to like being approached, the email and data rules you should know about, and practical tips for that market. It is general information, not legal advice, but it tells you what to check.

    • Buyer habits. How the market likes to be approached.
    • Local rules. Email and data rules to check.
    • Practical tips. What to adjust before you send.
The short version

What every guide has in common

Whatever your industry, a few ideas show up in every guide. If you only have five minutes, start here.

  1. 01

    Be specific about who you sell to

    A clear picture of your buyer beats a big list. Name the role, the size of company, the problem they have and the moment they feel it. Everything else in the guide gets easier once this is written down.

  2. 02

    Research what actually matters

    You do not need a dossier on every lead. You need one or two real facts that connect their situation to your offer: a new location, a hiring push, a change in the market. That is enough to make a message feel written for them.

  3. 03

    Write like a person, not a brochure

    Short, plain messages that open with them, say why you are writing and ask one easy question tend to get more replies than long pitches. The words change by industry. The shape stays the same.

  4. 04

    Follow up, and know when to stop

    Most buyers are busy, so a few well-spaced follow-ups that add something new are part of the plan. Stop as soon as someone replies or asks you to, and honour every opt-out quickly.

  5. 05

    Measure a few numbers, consistently

    Pick the handful of numbers that tell you if outreach is working, such as replies, meetings and deals, and look at them every week. Change one thing at a time so you know what made the difference.

  6. 06

    Know the rules where you sell

    Email and data rules differ by country and sometimes by industry. Read the country guide before you start, say who you are in every message, and make it easy to opt out.

Before you start outreach

in a new market

A short list drawn from the guides. If you cannot tick a line, the matching guide will help.

  • You can describe your buyer in one or two sentences
  • You know the problem they feel and when they feel it
  • Your list matches that buyer, not just the industry
  • Every address on the list has been verified
  • Each message has one real fact about the person or company
  • Messages are short, plain and end with one question
  • Follow-ups are spaced out and add something new
  • Outreach stops as soon as someone replies
  • Every email has a simple way to opt out
  • You have read the country guide for where you are sending
  • You know which numbers you will check each week
  • You have a 30-day plan written down
“User Interface, Ease of Use, Able to hit the inbox in the first attempt.”
Sadashiv B.Founder, small business · G2
What people say

From people who use it

Real words from real users. No paid reviews.

“One of the biggest pains in cold email is making sure that you have your DNS setup correctly. Firstsales has created a system to make sure you have done this correctly.”

Mike O

Trustpilot review

Trustpilot

“One of the best email outreach tools I have ever seen in my 9 years of business experience. It has solved the problem of email outreach for my cold emails.”

Santhosh K.

Founder and CEO, small business

G2

“I have always struggled in cold outreach. However, Firstsales has provided an excellent tool for cold outreach.”

Kaushal S.

Founder, small business

G2
Read all reviews
Before and after

Planning outreach from generic advice or a guide for your market

Same goal: more replies and more meetings. One way adapts general advice by guesswork. The other starts from a plan written for your industry.

Generic advice

Written for everyone.

  • One message for every marketMisses what your buyer cares about.
  • No clear starting pointWeeks on the wrong skill.
  • Local rules found lateAfter the first send.
  • Advice in random orderHard to turn into a plan.
  • Hard to shareNotes scattered across tabs.
  • Stops at tipsNothing to run on Monday.
With a sales guide

Written for your market.

  • Written for your industryWhat your buyer actually cares about.
  • Pick topic, then industryThe right skill first.
  • Country guide firstRules known before you send.
  • The same clear outlineFour steps, every guide.
  • One link per guideEasy to send to your team.
  • A 30-day startA plan to run this week.

Keep going

Questions,answered plainly.

Can’t find yours? Write to us.

01What are the FirstSales sales guides?

They are free, practical guides to selling, each written for one industry and one topic, such as cold email for software companies or discovery calls for healthcare practices. There are also country guides for ten markets and a set of guides on AI search.

02Are the guides free?

Yes. Every guide is a public page. There is no signup and no email gate.

03How do I find the right guide?

Start from a topic if you know the skill you want to improve, or from your industry if you want everything for one market. Each topic page lists the guide for every industry, and each industry page lists every topic.

04What is in each guide?

Every guide follows the same outline: why your industry is different, four steps (define who you are targeting, research what matters, write messages that get replies, execute consistently), common mistakes, tools and stack, the metrics that matter, a 30-day quick start and answers to common questions.

05What do the country guides cover?

How buyers in that market tend to like being approached, the email and data rules you should know about, and practical tips for outreach there. They are general information, not legal advice, so check the rules that apply to you.

06My industry is not listed. What should I do?

Pick the closest industry in the same group, since buyers in neighbouring industries often behave alike. The topic guides and the masterclass also cover the basics that apply everywhere.

07Do I need FirstSales to use the guides?

No. The guides work with any setup. FirstSales is there when you want the outreach to run for you: it can find and research leads, write each email for one person, send from warmed inboxes and follow up until someone replies.

08Can I share a guide with my team?

Yes. Every guide has its own address, so you can send a colleague straight to the guide they need.

Outreach that keeps going after you log off.Leads, emails, follow-ups and replies, handled.

Connect unlimited mailboxes and let AI agents find leads, write each email and follow up. Or send your own templates in manual mode. From $29/mo.

Start your $1 trial See pricing

$1 for 3 days · Cancel anytime · No contract

Install with AI

Your coding agent sets up the FirstSales CLI and skills for you.

Prompt for Claude Code

I'm setting up FirstSales (https://firstsales.io), an AI outbound sales platform: campaigns, contacts, a reply inbox, deliverability and lead signals. Help me get my workspace sending real, good emails end to end, from Claude Code.

Read these first so you know how FirstSales works:
- Developer docs and API: https://developer.firstsales.io
- CLI: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firstsales.io/cli
- Skills for coding agents: https://github.com/firstsalesio/firstsales-skills (read README.md and GUIDE.md)

Setup
1. Install the CLI: npm install -g @firstsales.io/cli
2. Install the FirstSales skills:
   claude plugin marketplace add firstsalesio/firstsales-skills
   claude plugin install firstsales@firstsales
3. Ask me if I already have a FirstSales account. If not, send me to https://app.firstsales.io to sign up.
4. Ask me to create an API key under Settings → API → API Keys, with only the scopes we need.
   Never ask me to paste the key into this chat. Tell me to run this in my own terminal, so the key stays hidden:
   read -rs FS_KEY && firstsales auth login --api-key "$FS_KEY"; unset FS_KEY
5. Run `firstsales whoami` and tell me which workspace and organisation we are connected to.

Then ask me about my business: what I sell, who I sell to (roles, company size, countries), my best customers, and what I use today for outbound (tools, lists, mailboxes). Walk me through:
1. Teaching FirstSales my business: website, offer, proof points and case studies in the knowledge base, so the AI writes like someone who knows the product.
2. Connecting my sending mailboxes and checking my sending domain: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and warm-up. If anything is unhealthy, tell me the exact DNS record to add.
3. Bringing in contacts: import my CSV or CRM export into a clean list, remove duplicates and bad emails, and block domains I must never email (customers, competitors, my own).
4. Building my first campaign: the right list, senders, steps and timing. Write the sequence with me, show me the drafts, and do not launch until I say yes.
5. Setting up Signals if it fits: find people engaging with LinkedIn posts about topics my buyers care about, and turn them into leads.
6. Inviting my team and giving each person the right access.

Once campaigns run, show me how to work the reply inbox from here: which replies need an answer, draft responses in my voice, and move good conversations into deals. If I use Cal.com, connect it so follow-ups can offer my booking link (not the first email).

Throughout, as you learn about my business, proactively suggest and help create:
- Reply templates for the questions and objections my prospects are likely to raise, based on my product, site and codebase if you can see them.
- Campaign ideas and segments worth testing, with the reason for each.

Safety rules:
- Show every change as a dry run (--dry-run) first and wait for my yes. Never send emails, launch campaigns or delete anything without my yes.
- Tell me before anything that spends credits, and how many.

Be opinionated. If the docs give a sensible default, just use it. Don't make me choose between five options.
Developer docs ↗npm: @firstsales.io/cli ↗GitHub: firstsales-skills ↗