11 Must-Read Sales Books for sales Leaders

As a sales leader you always try to be innovative and go beyond the books while crafting out your future strategies but there are some books which can shape your future strategies. Although the sheer amount of books in the market can easily overwhelm an individual but this article will easily solve your problem by weeding out the best from the rest. This article lists out the 11 best sales books that every sales leader irrespective of their domain should read. 

The article lists out the books that help you achieve a broader perspective of your work, help you manage a team and increase overall performance.  

To sell is human 

About the author:  This book has been authored by Daniel Pink. A very renowned author who has written various bestsellers and he also has an exceptional professional background.This book is a detailed manual written by him for a sales executive.

One line book summary: A guide to master sales through the lens of social science. 

About book: A deeply analytical book published by Riverhead books. This book has bagged various bestseller awards. The chapters systematically open the art of sales to a reader taking them through the journey of mastering sales and supplying them with relevant data and statistics to strengthen their belief in the author's strategies. The book is filled with various case studies and examples and a detailed historical analysis of how sales has been an evolving field. 

What's in store for you in the book: This book details out various statistics based study of various sales methods and how they evolve over time. As a sales person this will help you understand the shortcomings or hardships in doing sales in the past and how they have improved in today's time. Also this book details out how the right amount of persuasion works and how we all are selling something to each other in our daily life.  

Link of the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1786891719/ 

The introvert's edge 

About the author: Matthew Pollard the author of the book is a sales professional who has made it big in the sales cycle in Australia. After graduating he became a skilled sales professional occupying various key management positions in life. He had already made it big in life when he decided to start training people “The art of sales”. This book can be easily called as a fruit of all his endeavours packed in some hundreds of pages delivering extreme value. However Matthew didn't have it all easily he described how he always had to get an extra edge inorder to succeed his classmates as well as colleagues in order to overcome his personal disabilities. This book is worth reading because it details the exact process of generating trust in your customer and closing out a sale.

One line book summary: Sales is of anyone, even for introverts when they play to their strengths. 

About book: This 240 pages book published by Amacom is a perfect read for an introvert trying to break out in the world of sales. However, don't consider this book to be niched out for introverts only because we all face some kind of introversion while prospecting. This book details out the whole sales process and guides an introvert on how to face it. This book will help a professional and in the meantime tells you how you can overcome your fear and build up a strong confidence.

Link of the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0814438873/ 

Zig Ziglar secret of closing a sale

About the author:  The book is written by the renowned American author and sales expert Zig Ziglar. He has written nearly 30 books on the topics of sales and is one of the most experienced and renowned guys in the field of sales and marketing. His various sales methodologies and books on sales are used by many management professional to improve and innovate their art of sales 

One line book summary:  A compilation of classic old school marketing techniques which are still relevant. 

About book: The book published by Penguin USA can be easily called a classic book in sales and marketing. The book contains some old school but all time relevant advice for sales leaders and sales representatives. This book was recommended by Seth Godin himself on "The Tim Ferriss" show. Talking about the book he said how this book was one of the most detailed books on the topic of sales and marketing which he had read in his career. 

What does the book have in store for you?

This book will help each and every sales sales leader to shape their teams in such a manner that they will focus on only one aspect ie. "The customer". The book literally places the customer on a pedestal and details out how as a team leader we should shape our teams around the customer. This book divided into 37 chapters provides you with valuable insights of making a confirmed sale by building up effective communication channels between your teams and your customers. If your teams are struggling to gauge the customer then this book is a recommended read to help you understand the customer better. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0425081028/ 

Pitch anything

About the author:  Oren Klaff has exceptional experience in raising capital and pitching the perfect pitch in front of investors. Over his career he raised a total of $400 million for his ventures in the field of neuroscience. He has an experience of raising capital from various high networth individuals. Apart from this he has also been a part of various boards and committees related with the capital markets.

One line book summary: A summary of transformative ways to pitch your ideas to your customers.

About book: This book gives you the various factors involved in crafting the perfect pitch while negotiating. Negotiation can range from collecting capital to bargaining at the local shop. This book covers it all. The best part is that these are tried and tested methods to transform the way you position yourself while selling your idea. The S.T.R.O.N.G tactic to pitch anything will help you pitch literally anything and seal the deal. 

What's in store for you in the book?‍

This book will give you actionable insights into selling anything and the strategies have been crafted by an individual with a very vast experience. This will help you better your skills as a salesman by using methods that can alter the way your brain functions while selling something. The strategies in this book have been crafted by utilising neuroscience which will help you and your teams achieve peak efficiency. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071752854

Spin selling 

About the author:  Neil Rackham the author of this book established his own venture and as a president of his company he has provided consultations, mentorship to various companies including Fortune 500 companies like IBM and Xerox. His background in research psychology has been extremely instrumental in shaping the methods he uses for his perfect sales strategy.

One line book summary: Equip yourself with SPIN technique to increase sales volume.

About book: This book published by McGraw details out insights on how to do high end sales. It introduces SPIN selling to its readers in a simple way and covering all aspects of selling from various perspectives. It also has a comparative study of sales wherein the author has compared how sales methodologies differ across various teams depending on size or region etc. 

What's in store for you: This book will help you as an individual conquer the method of high end selling. It will help you create actionable strategies to sell your products to the bigger customer. The whole methodology of doing high end sales is completely different and this book will give you rules with which you and your team will master high end sales. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0070511136 

Fanatical prospecting

About the author: Jeb Blount is an exceptional sales coach and a reputed business leader who mentors high networth individuals and Fortune 500 companies regarding sales. His strategies help teams accelerate sales with minimum optimization in fixed time intervals. His sales acceleration strategies have won him many laurels in the field of business and Marketing. 

One line book summary: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling 

About book: The book published by Wiley is a perfect combination of the various techniques required by a sales team to keep their pipeline filled with quality leads all the time. The book details out multiple proven methods been used since decades which are useful for any sales leader.  

What's in store for you in the book?

This book details out all the inefficient approaches that will spoil your future sales prospects. Once you and your team understand the reason why sale's pitches fail then you can understand and implement the new age strategies that are bound to work. This book details out how you can leverage technology and prospect yourself through multiple channels with ease. This book is a perfect guide if you are planning to accelerate your sales and optimise your teams.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119144752/ 

Agile selling

About the author: Jill Konrath is an expert sales guide providing training to various sales representatives and executives using methodologies she implemented on herself personally. She has authored various best selling books on high end selling and various other sales related topics.

One line book summary: Learn a system to rapidly absorb new information and  master new skills 

About book: This book focuses not only on the sales part but also the human part inside a sales person. Apart from providing tips and strategies for enhancing sales there are various methods in order to achieve a work life balance. The book details out various meta skills and high level skills that are required in the cut throat competition in today's time. While achieving this high end proficiency she also teaches how to manage time and achieve peak productivity. 

What's in store for you in the book?

The book provides you with various simplified ideas to shape the work environment of your teams. The book is a storehouse of tips, tricks and actionable strategies that you can implement on personal as well as professional basis. The book will help you get your fundamentals of sales right and help you shape your sales strategies and teams around those fundamentals. However she doesn't limit to fundamentals and also teaches how to innovate yourself and achieve proficiency in sales. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3L119O/ 

More sales, less time

About the author: Jill Konrath is an expert sales guide providing training to various sales representatives and executives using methodologies she implemented on herself personally. She has authored various best selling books on high end selling and various other sales related topics.

One line book summary: Discover time saving hack that can increase your productivity.

About book: This book published by Portfolio talks about how to stay ahead in a field like sales wherein you can never complete your targets irrespective of the amount of time you put in your job. This book helps you leverage technology and your team mates at optimal levels to save time and achieve peak efficiency. This book gives you a variety of tips and tricks which you can implement to master sales and achieve work life balance. 

What's in the book for you?

This book will help you weed out activities which don't generate efficiency but end up sucking a major amount of your time. It will help you as well as your teams to leverage your maximum brain power and induct productive habits into your teams. This book will optimise your whole sales flow from beginning to end and weed out every other inefficient activity.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CZCW35U/ 

Exactly what to say

About the author: Phil M Jones started his early career at the age of 14 and  he has been in business since then. He has grown his personal business to exceptional heights and then he proceeded to coach people in sales using his personal strategies. 

One line book summary: A perfect guide for precise communication with your customer 

About book: This book will help you get that coveted affirmative answer from your subordinates, associates, business prospects or your future clients. This book gives you insights to sell more by crafting out effective communication and meanwhile shaping up your effective persona alongside.

What's in the book for you?

The book gives you tried and tested methods for all the problems you and your team will face while doing sales. This book will help you navigate from the most complex business situations. It will help your representatives craft a balance between influencing your clients while maintaining your integrity and not sounding too desperate to sell yourself. This book immediately crafts out a balance between various factors involved in selling. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073SF65ZZ/ 

The ultimate sales machine

About the author: Chet Holmes is a master strategist in the field of sales and marketing. He has provided his services to various large corporations and has been the chief artist behind various marketing and advertising campaigns that are famous today. 

One liner book summary: 12 strategies to transform your organization into a high-performing, moneymaking force.

About book: This book is a holistic guide to innovate the way your sales channel functions with the help of various strategies which have been time tested again and again. This book can't be summarised into hype or theory instead it's relevant advice that can change the way you do sales. 

What's in the book for you?

This book has the innate potential to turn your teams into money printing machines. The book provides you with various real life advice packed with case studies and makes up a perfect bunch of material to motivate your team to stay ahead in the game. This book lays down the clear cut path for every executive to land their dream client with ease. 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591842158/ 

The challenger sale

About the author: This book is co-authored by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon.  Brent has an exceptional academic profile coupled up with an amazing professional experience in various roles across sales and marketing. He is known for his keynote speeches and his presentations as well as his workshops in sales and marketing. Matthew has authored various books related to sales and marketing and has been key adviser to various notable firms and helped them out through various complex problems.

One liner book summary: Uncover how a Challenger salesperson outperforms other four sales rep profiles.  

About book: The book presents an out of the box way of approaching your customer and that is by challenging him. This book breaks from the traditional shift and focuses on how your behaviour is responsible for your sales. The attitude with which you attend and make calls position you as an effective salesperson. This book will help you position yourself as an effective sales person to your prospective clients. 

What's in the book for you?

A sales team always needs newer approaches to build relationships with clients. The roadmap to build that innovative approach that your team needs can be built by reading through the actionable strategies in the book. This book let's your team function not as an average sales person but instead places himself above the customer as a challenger who provides him with the best solution

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591844355/