If you're managing a sales team, it's hard to know how to do your job better. Where do you look for the advice you need to take your team to the next level?
Thankfully, there are timeless books that can guide you towards mastering the art of persuasion, learning the psychology of selling, and earning the respect and influence of others. Books that will help you improve your own selling, as well as the success of your team.
To help better develop your sales strategies and have a thriving sales career, here are the six best sales books that every sales manager should read.
How to Win Friends and Influence People - by Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends and Influence People is a perennial bestseller that teaches timeless principles on making friends, increasing your influence, and becoming a better leader. It is a self-help bible that is especially important for sales professionals looking to better their people skills.
One effective principle that every salesman should leverage from this book is to create amazing personal experiences with everyone they interact with. The goal is to build trust and form a friendship. Creating healthy relationships will better serve customers which will get them to buy from you.
In a job where being liked and respected pays huge dividends, this book is a must-read.
The Ultimate Sales Machine - by Chet Holmes
In this book, Chet Holmes shows how to improve your business with just 1 hour of deep focus on areas that need improvement.
It also helps you with sales by teaching you:
- How to craft your pitch to executive decision-makers at large companies.
- How to create a compelling backstory for your business.
- Why you must provide recurring sales training for your team members.
By using the advice from this book you can create the ultimate “sales machine” that helps your business, and your sales team, thrive like never before.
Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing the Sale - by Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar is a master salesman who has written numerous bestselling books about sales. He's also famous for his clever one-liners, like:
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
“We miss 100 percent of the sales we don’t ask for.”
“Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”
Secrets of Closing the Sale offers profound insights on mastering the art of persuasion, and getting people to say yes. It has over 700 perspective changing questions, and 100 successful closings your team can take advantage of and master the art of effective persuasion.
SPIN Selling - by Neil Rackham
Today, sales professionals must have a solid strategy to get the most out of their sales team, which is where SPIN Selling can be an invaluable resource.
In this quick read, Rackham answers key questions such as, “What makes success in major sales?” and “Why do techniques like closing work in small sales but fail in larger ones?” with his revolutionary SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy.
Packed with real-world examples, case studies, and 12 years of researched data, SPIN Selling provides a fresh perspective on selling that will help you bring your sales performance to the next level.
Cracking The Sales Management Code - by Jason Jordan
Cracking the Sales Management Code explains what actually affects sales results. It's an essential operating manual for better sales management.
In it, Jordan teaches you:
- How to deliver stellar sales performance using five critical processes
- Deciding which of the processes is best suited for your team
- The three most important sales metrics to focus on
Based on extensive research revealing how world-class companies measure and manage activities that actually drive sales results, it's a mandatory read for sales teams and for the managers leading them.
Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions: A Tactical Playbook for Managers and Executives - by Keith Rosen
“Sales training doesn’t develop sales champions. Managers do.”
Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions follows the idea that it’s not sales training that creates an exceptional sales executive but better coaching.
This book is packed with case studies, a 30-Day Turnaround Strategy for sales management, effective coaching templates and scripts, as well as hundreds of powerful coaching questions you can use immediately to coach anyone in any situation.
What's are Your Favorite Sales Management Books?
There will be new sales strategies every day, but the best way to improve your own skills is by learning from the greats. Whether you are selling in person, on the phone, through email, or social media, books like these can help turn you and your team into a strategic selling machine!
What is your favorite book on sales or sales management? Let us know in the comments below!
