The 10 Best Sales Books to Read this Year

In sales, it is important to remain a student of the game. Continual study is necessary to become a better salesperson and what better way to do that than by reading some of the best sales books?

Choosing a book can be difficult, as there are thousands to choose from, so we've compiled a list of the top-ranked books, covering a variety of sales topics. Whether you want to ask better questions, prospect more effectively, or better lead your team, there's a pick here for you!

Perfect Selling by Linda Richardson 

In this book, you'll learn how to master the infamous sales call. It provides sales professionals with information on how to confidently lead sales calls, use structure to maximize every minute, add value, deepen relationships and win more business. By following her five simple steps, you can master the sales call process.

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Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher, William Ury

So you've mastered the sales call; now it's time to master the art of negotiating. Since its original release almost 40 years ago, this book has helped millions of people learn a better way to negotiate. This updated version contains a step-by-step guide to achieving mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. It’s one of the best books on negotiation you will ever read.

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Seducing Strangers: How to Get People to Buy What You're Selling by Josh Weltman

This may be an advertising-centric book but salespeople can learn a lot from this advertising veteran. Weltman shares his expertise about the processes of persuasion and motivation that are crucial to effective selling. This book outlines the four key elements of selling and explains how to implement them. 

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Never Be Closing: How to Sell Better Without Screwing Your Clients, Your Colleagues, or Yourself by Tim Hurson & Tim Dunne

Outstanding selling isn’t just about mastering the art of persuasion. The most successful selling comes from a sincere interest in your clients and their needs. This book offers a simple and repeatable productive selling framework that will enable you to sell more effectively by focusing on your client’s best interest rather than focusing on the sale.

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To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel Pink

This book offers fresh yet practical insights into modern selling, including how to move others, make your message clearer and more persuasive and gain referrals. In this book, you’ll learn the new ABCs of moving others - it's no longer about "Always Be Closing". It explains why extraverts don't make the best salespeople and shows how providing alternatives to people's actions can have more impact than changing their minds itself. 

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Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Change can be frightening for people because they have no control over how or when it happens to them. Salespeople are constantly dealing with change and uncertainty. This book discusses how to take the fear and anxiety out of managing the future and offers techniques on how to anticipate, acknowledge, and accept change to make a positive impact on your job and life in general.

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How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Numerous well-known people have climbed the ladder of success in their business and personal lives with the help of this book. This classic read will help you learn the fundamentals of handling people and how to make them like you.

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SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

Based on 12 years and $1 million in research, Rackham coined the SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need payoff) strategy. You will learn why traditional sales methods, which were developed for small consumer sales, simply won't work for large sales and why conventional selling approaches are doomed. This powerful technique is the secret to understanding and producing record-breaking high-end sales performance.

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Our Top Picks:

Ziglar On Selling: The Ultimate Handbook for the Complete Sales Professional by Zig Ziglar

Master motivator, Zig Ziglar offers a wealth of inspirational and practical information for making it in today's fast-paced sales environment. The goal of this book is to help sales professionals persuade their customers effectively, ethically, and more frequently. 

This is our seasoned Executive Sales Recruiter, Vanessa Boone's top recommendation for sales professionals looking to improve their skills. 

“I would have to say my #1 top pick is Ziglar on Selling. Mr. Ziglar focuses on sales as an honourable profession, built on human interaction and founded in empathy. He discusses the sales process, the need for planning and execution, and knowing when to close by asking for the business. For all the processes, strategies, and "tricks of the trade", he never loses sight of the human foundation of every sales transaction, and the importance of conducting business with integrity, honour, and respect.” 

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It Starts With Clients: Your 100-Day Plan to Build Lifelong Relationships and Revenue by Andrew Sobel

A global expert in client relationship management, Andrew Sobel shows you how to dramatically grow your business by mastering 14 critical client development challenges. Using his roadmap, you can win more new clients and grow your existing relationships. You’ll learn to sharpen your ability to ask the powerful questions that can transform your client relationships and master how to reframe client requests to create wider, higher-impact relationships.

This is our Executive Sales Recruiter, Eden Render’s top pick!

“Sales is all about building relationships; sometimes however, we can find yourselves only focused the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This read highlights the significance and importance of developing advisory relationships with influential C-suite executives. When you understand the critical client development challenges, you can learn how to win more net new clients and grow your existing relationships. The tips in this book will help you foster a community of sustainable and meaningful relationships, which is a key ingredient in driving growth and revenue.”

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Being a sales professional always requires you to be in a position of readiness and open to great opportunities. As you work to improve your skills, you should also maintain an updated resume. Check out our sales resume infographic for tips on creating a winning resume.