Becoming a successful sales manager isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s important to keep growing and sharpening your craft, especially amid such a fast-paced industry. We have access to the wise words of several sales experts out there, so why not take the time to learn from them?
I’ve pulled together a list of the best sales books that changed the way I approach selling, and that have ultimately improved the way my team works together.
Here are a few of the best sales books every sales manager should read:
SPIN Selling
What it’s about: In SPIN Selling, the former founder of Huthwaite Corporation, Neil Rackham, provides expert wisdom from years of experience advising companies like IBM and Honeywell. Rackham answers questions like “What makes success in major sales?” and “Why do techniques like closing work in small sales but fail in larger ones?”
Why you should read it: While it’s not the newest book out there, this classic is still filled with essentials for anyone running or managing a salesforce. You’ll learn why traditional sales methods created for small consumer sales don’t work for large sales and why traditional methods fail in major sales. This is the book you need to read if you want to dramatically increase your sales volume from major accounts.
Predictable Revenue
What it’s about: This is not another book about how to improve cold calls or get deals to close faster. Instead, Aaron Ross’ Predictable Revenue examines the outbound sales process that generated $100 million in recurring revenue to Salesforce.com — nearly doubling their enterprise growth without cold calls in just a few years.
Why you should read it: Predictable Revenue revolutionized outbound sales. Today, it is now the foundation of many great inside sales teams. Ross provides tips for developing a self-managing sales organization and making outbound enjoyable. You’ll also learn seven fatal mistakes to avoid and how to boost your response rate to nine percent with cold prospects on virtually no budget.
The Sales Acceleration Formula
What it’s about: In this book, Mark Roberge gives a scalable approach to building a winning sales team and increasing revenue. Roberge shares how he built his $100 million business by challenging conventional methods. Using the metrics-driven and process-oriented lens, through which he sees the world, he developed new formulas for success.
Why you should read it: This is one of the best sales books you can read as a sales manager. You’ll learn how to apply data and technology to accelerate sales. You’ll also learn how aspects like hiring, training, managing, and generating demand affect sales acceleration.
Secrets of Question-Based Selling
What it’s about: Written by Thomas Freese, this book takes a commonsense approach to demonstrate how asking the right questions at the right time can identify your customer’s needs accurately.
Why you should read it: This hands-on guide will teach you how to penetrate more accounts, overcome consumer skepticism, build credibility sooner, increase return calls, and motivate different types of buyers.
Of course, there are plenty of other great books out there so by no means should you limit your education to these books. These are just some of the best sales books that made a significant difference in how my team approaches sales.
Go ahead and do your own research to see what you find. You never know what great books you’ll stumble upon.
At Insightly, we have a CRM for all kinds of businesses and all kinds of users. Learn about all of Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.
Mikita Mikado is the Co-Founder & CEO of PandaDoc, a platform helping sales teams create, deliver, and track intelligent sales content to close deals faster. To learn more about simplifying your sales documents, connect with Mikita and the PandaDoc team on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
