Some people live by the training materials their company gives them. What a shame.
The best salespeople believe in continuing education. What titles are on your list of the best sales books out there?
We’ll start the conversation and debate with an initial 10 sales books. This page is continuously updated – so check back often.
In the past, we’ve reviewed more books and we’ll provide links to those top sales books as well.
It’s important to keep your social, interviewing, presentation, and negotiation skills sharp. You won’t do that by twiddling your thumbs, waiting for your company to train you. And you certainly won’t do it by practicing poor skills sales call after sales call.
Be smart and keep up. Read a sales book or two. Here’s our suggested list – leave your own favorites and recommendations in the comments below!
Dale Carnegie – How to Win Friends & Influence People
The grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies.
How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated.
You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense. It’s a must-read for every sales and business person.
Keith Ferrazzi – Never Eat Alone
Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to personal success?
The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims in his sales book called Never Eat Alone, is in reaching out to other people. As Ferrazzi discovered early in life, what distinguishes highly successful people from everyone else is the way they use the power of relationships—so that everyone wins.
In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps—and inner mindset—he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his Rolodex, people he has helped and who have helped him.
Jill Konrath – Selling to Big Companies
Setting up meetings with corporate decision makers has never been harder. It’s time to stop making endless cold calls or waiting for the phone to ring. In today’s crazy marketplace, new sales strategies are needed to penetrate these big accounts.
In this sales book called Selling to Big Companies, Jill Konrath provides ideas on how to target the right account, find the names of decision makers, develop a compelling value proposition and much, much more.
Steve Marx – Close Like The Pros
The time pressures today on salespeople and clients are out of control. In a misguided effort to save their prospects’ time, the salesperson does all of her work first and by himself – hands off the proposal to the prospect as if it were a baton in a relay race.
Close Like The Pros shows how the most top sellers combine selling and buying into a single process – interactive selling. Presented here is a fresh look at what you can do to collaborate and partner with prospective customers instead of bidding against them.
Jeffrey Gitomer – The Little Red Book of Selling
No list of recommended sales books is ever complete without Gitomer.
It’s written in the typical Gitomer “in your face, no-nonsense” style so expect a combination of fundamental sales and motivational advice and humor.
The Little Red Book of Selling is short, sweet, and to the point, but there’s nothing fundamentally new here. Still, this is a must-have in your sales library.
Sam Richter – Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling
Occasionally a book comes along for sales professionals that offers something completely different and important. Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling
Not a traditional tactics and skills book here – instead, you will learn how to find basic and crucial data on prospects by using cutting-edge web search tactics that even the more astute sales professionals aren’t aware of. Get relevant data prior to your meetings with prospects and customers so you can demonstrate value. This is book is a great resource.
Stephan Schiffman – Getting to Closed
In this book, Stephan Schiffman introduces his Prospect Management System – a clear break with the various “sales is a numbers game” approaches around.
Getting to Closed offers a structured process to rank and define prospects according to action and commitment (rather than “gut feeling”), recognize the “no” answers and calculate cold calling ratios that you need in to succeed in your business. Getting to Closed relies heavily on ratios and charts – it’s a very useful sales book for people in high-activity industries.
Last Updated: 12/10/08
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I really liked Steve Marx’s Close Like The Pros, Gitomer’s The Patterson Principles, Value Selling by Julie Thomas and anything written by Hal Becker. Anything.Everything.All-things.
“Raving Fans” by Ken Blanchard. Not only are we being measured in our day to day dealings with our client/customer but now with blogs sites asking the consumer to rate their experience with companies and individuals you never know what someone is saying about you for the whole world to read. Hopefully it’s a “Raving Fan”
I read “Raving Fans” years ago. I am a successful sales person. I found this book again after 20+ years and re-read it. I now know why I am a raving fan of this book. I bought all of Ken Banchard’s books and they are all brilliant. Never dated! Easy to read. Ken Blanchard is to sales what Jerry Seinfeld is to comedy!
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one of the best foundational books ever.
My latest read that I highly recommend is Joe Vitale’s “Buying Trances.” I honestly believe that any serious student of sales will benefit, precisely because customers and pretty much everyone is preoccupied, so you’ll have to break through to buy even a few seconds of attention. I’m also a fan of James Pickens’ One Minute Closer (even with the scathing critique on this site), because it is jampacked with effective closes that are useful for everyone, even sales virgins, but especially pros. “Open Question Selling” by Val Gee is also a good one… I’m glad I came here today…and I thank everyone for their contributions. Please, do not hesitate to personally send me suggestions if you are sure they’re as good or better than these. Thanks
We love Jefferey Gitomer books: The Little Yellow Book of Yes! Attitude.
I love You Can’t Teach a Kid How to Ride a Bike at a Seminar, The Sandler’s Sales Institutes 7 Step Guide to Successful Selling (and alliteration). Great sales book.
Loved Jeffery Gittomers Sales Bible. Listened to it on Audio CD’s in the car, very motivational and I would give it 5 stars!!! Plan to re-read it each year for motivation and to pick up nuances I may have missed first time through.
I have to say….all sales people should also read Jill Konrath’s Selling to Big Companies and my own Honesty Sells!
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Hi Colleen, Jill’s book is on the list above. Here’s link to your book, I haven’t read it yet – hopefully I’ll get a chance sometime soon. Thanks for your comment!
ANYTHING from Colleen Francis. As a friend of HelmsBriscoe, she has helped our company reach the top. It has been a pleasure everytime I have been able to hear her live. Thanks Colleen!!
For those who are in serious pursuit of mastering the art of sales Sharon Drew Morgen’s newest book titled, “Dirty Little Secrets” is an absolute must read because it reveals the mostly hidden aspect of the iceburg we know as Sales.
Dale Carnegie – How to Win Friends & Influence People
What a great book to get you thinking in a different way…
I would recommend Steve Marx – Close Like The Pros,
Neil Rackham-Major Account Sales Strategy,
Bill Stinnett-Think Like Your Customer and Selling Results
Mark Kuta-Think like a CEO
GREAT BOOKS!!
How did “How I Raised Myself form Failure to Success Through Selling” not make this list?
Perhaps it was an oversight,
“In a nutshell” I think “How I Raised Myself form Failure to Success Through Selling” is a classic sales handbook too!
Two of My Favorites are Zig Ziglar’s “Sell Your Way To The Top” & Jeffery J. Fox’s “How To Become A Rainmaker.” Another recommendation I would make is J Oliver Crom’s “Sales Advantage” available from The Carnegie Group.
“Honesty Sells” is also a good book! I firmly believe being honest is one of the best traits a sales person could have.
Having been in sales for most of my life, I find it shocking you did not list Brian Tracy. I am reading his book “Goals” and it is phenomenal. His audio program called the “pyschology of selling” and psychology of success” are must haves.
One of the best sales books I read was Sandler’s You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar. I always enjoy seeing top books on Sales and seeing what other individuals recommend.