Essential Reading: 8 Books Every Salesperson Needs

It doesn’t matter if your sales team is converting leads at a record rate or struggling to meet quotas — there’s always room for improvement. People at every level of your team from directors and managers to consultants and representatives can benefit from new insight and perspective.

There are so many great resources available for sales folks these days: webinars, podcasts, eBooks, white papers, and conferences (click here for those resources!) but I’ve gained so much knowledge by reading plain old books. Take a look at some of my favorites below:  

1. SPIN Selling

SPIN by Neil Rackham — situation, problem, implication, need-payoff — is in. 

Rackham researched more than 35,000 sales calls to build upon this methodology, which discovers prospect pain-points through questioning on S-P-I-N principles.

The 195-page book provides example situations, charts, graphs and tests and will help frame the adoption of consultative selling into your process.

2. How to Win Friends & Influence People 

Don’t let this book’s original publish year of 1936 by Dale Carnegie scare you away because it continues to bring new perspective to sales professionals across the globe. Its lessons are timeless

The guidance on enhancing your way of thinking, becoming a better salesperson and “ways to make people like you” has influenced big names such as Warren Buffet — so it’s definitely worth the read.

3. The Sales Development Playbook 

Every business wants to expel inefficiency and unproductivity in favor of noticeable growth, and sales development is the key, according to the author, Trish Bertuzzi. 

This topic is geared more toward sales leaders and executives, but any sales professional could benefit from it. (Incorporating the principles tremendously helped strengthen and build our pipeline.)

4. Baseline Selling

Baseball fans will gravitate to this book by Dave Kurlan — which uses the National Pastime as a metaphor to show off an interesting way to approach sales.

As an engineer, the Rule of Ratios and emphasis on closing percentages resonated with me. Kurlan’s advice can set up your sales team for home runs — even when they’re out in the field.

5. Good to Great 

Jim Collins' compiled research from 28 companies dissected their strengths, weaknesses, failures and successes — in hopes of discovering what takes businesses from “Good to Great.” 

While this book centers on management and business tactics instead of purely on sales, I gained a ton of insight on next-level leadership, out-of-the-box thinking and pushing for results. 

6. Secrets of Closing the Sale 

Instead of going in-depth on sales practices and theories, Zig Ziglar focuses on the art of persuasion.

This one touted “for anyone who must get others to say yes,” but specifically for our sales purposes, it’s a guide to establishing credibility, putting out the right attitude and having success.

Plus, you’ll enjoy the humor and compelling situational narratives. 

7. The Psychology of Selling 

Out of all the books on this list, Brian Tracy’s was the most motivational for me. It’s filled with ideas, strategies and techniques to move faster and more easily.

Each chapter had a clear-cut learning point — keys to success, the psychology to selling and how to set goals. 

 

8. The Sales Acceleration Formula 

Going from $0 to $100 million in sales can be predicted, planned and measured — at least that’s what the author, Mark Roberge, and the team at HubSpot say. Oh, and they’ve actually made it happen.

This book digs into the proven formula used to scale their sales team, build a process and reach goals. Although this book is the last on this list, I would recommend it as the one you want to pick up and dive into first.

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BONUS TIP: Supplement your traditional sales tactics with a new method of growth called, inbound marketing.

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Increase Your Sales Opportunities

Each of these selected works brings a new perspective and adds value to what your sales team is already doing. I would definitely encourage you to crack open a book (download on your eReader or push play on Audible) and see how you can continue to build upon your success. 

Looking for help accelerating the performance of your sales team? We’re working with manufacturers and industrial companies to evaluate their processes, train on best practices, better understand marketing automation and more. Interested?