Whether you’ve been in sales management for 20 years or 20 minutes, there is always room to grow. And right now is the perfect time to refresh your reading list.
That’s why we put together a short list of great reads for 2017. From sales development and growth to coaching and metrics, these books will leave with you with new, powerful ways to strengthen sales management.
7 books sales management should read in 2017
1. Cracking the Sales Management Code
- By: Jason Jordan (@JasonRJordan) & Michelle Vazzana (@MichelleVazzana)
- Price: $18.10
- Summary: “ ‘Cracking the Sales Management Code’ is a groundbreaking book for sales managers and executives who want greater control over sales performance. Based on new research into how world-class sales forces measure and manage their sellers, it provides a best practice approach to identify and implement the critical activities and metrics that drive business results. It is not a book on organizational leadership; nor is it a book on interpersonal coaching. It is a book on how to effectively manage a sales force.”
- By: Daniel Pink (@DanielPink)
- Price: $11.71
- Summary: “ ‘To Sell Is Human’ offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling … Daniel H. Pink draws on a rich trove of social science for his counterintuitive insights. He reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it’s no longer ‘Always Be Closing’), explains why extroverts don’t make the best salespeople and shows how giving people an ‘off-ramp’ for their actions can matter more than actually changing their minds. Along the way, Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another’s perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive and much more. The result is a perceptive and practical book — one that will change how you see the world and transform what you do at work, at school and at home.”
3. Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions
- By: Keith Rosen (@KeithRosen)
- Price: $18.42
- Summary: “The secret to developing a team of high performers isn’t more training, but better coaching. When managers effectively coach their people around best practices, core competencies and the inner game of coaching that develops the champion attitude, it makes your training stick. … ‘Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions’ is your playbook to creating a thriving coaching culture and building a team of top producers. This book is packed with case studies, a 30-day turnaround strategy for underperformers, a library of coaching templates and scripts, as well as hundreds of powerful coaching questions you can use immediately to coach anyone in any situation … You’ll also discover how to leverage the true power of observation and deliver feedback that results in positive behavioral changes, so that you can successfully motivate and develop your team and each individual to reach business objectives faster.”
- By: Marc Miller (@SpearFysh)
- Price: $14.95
- Summary: “Bestselling author Marc Miller delivers a new, critical tool for connecting with decision makers to make more and bigger sales … Miller explains how to connect with decision makers from the very first point of contact — psychologically, strategically and financially enabling you to create demand for your products and services, protect your core business and close more sales. He offers all of the tools you need to stop being a salesperson and become a businessperson who sells: A simple, analytical matrix for illuminating customer strategies; a first-call methodology that will have every contact offering up the information that you need to make the sale; [and] an adaptable template for generating recommendations that are perfectly aligned with customer strategic needs.”
5. The Sales Development Playbook
- By: Trish Bertuzzi (@bridgegroupinc)
- Price: $12.51
- Summary: “Raise your hand if your company needs more new customers … Guessing your hand is (figuratively) up. This book is about not just growth, but high growth, explosive growth, the kind of growth that weather satellites can see from space. The success of any business-to-business company is directly linked to how effectively they acquire new pipeline. To skyrocket growth, sales development is the answer. This book encapsulates author Trish Bertuzzi’s three decades of practical, hands-on experience … [and] presents six elements for building new pipeline and accelerating revenue growth with inside sales.”
6. The Sales Acceleration Formula
- By: Mark Roberge (@markroberge)
- Price: $17.00
- Summary: “ ‘The Sales Acceleration Formula’ provides a scalable, predictable approach to growing revenue and building a winning sales team. Everyone wants to build the next $100 million business and author Mark Roberge has actually done it using a unique methodology that he shares with his readers. As an MIT alum with an engineering background, Roberge challenged the conventional methods of scaling sales utilizing the metrics-driven, process-oriented lens through which he was trained to see the world. In this book, he reveals his formulas for success. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales, including hiring, training, managing and generating demand … In today’s digital world, in which every action is logged and masses of data sit at our fingertips, building a sales team no longer needs to be an art form. There is a process. Sales can be predictable. A formula does exist.”
- By: Jill Konrath (@jillkonrath)
- Price: $16.00
- Summary: “When salespeople are promoted, switch jobs or face new business conditions, they need to learn lots of new information and skills quickly. It’s a daunting task, compounded by the fact that they’re under intense pressure to deliver immediate results. What Jill Konrath calls agile selling is the ability to quickly learn all this new info and then leverage it for maximum impact. Having an agile mindset, one that keeps you going through challenging times, is the crucial starting point. You also need a rapid-learning plan that helps you establish situational credibility with your targeted or existing customers in just thirty days.”
BONUS: How to Win Friends and Influence People
- By: Dale Carnegie
- Price: $9.60
- Summary: “Since its release in 1936, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ has sold more than 15 million copies. Dale Carnegie’s first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now-famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie’s principles endure and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age. Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.”
In addition to checking out these books, stay up-to-date on the latest sales research, resources and tips by subscribing to our blog at the bottom of this page.
