Sales and training programs come in many forms, online, in local college classrooms, workshops, and through distance learning. Prices for the training range from very little to a whole lot of money. A less costly while still highly effective alternative is to read, read, and read some more.
Sales and marketing professional development books line the shelves in local bookstores or from the online bookstores. For the lowest cost alternative, local libraries will also have a section for sales and marketing.
List of Sales Skills
There is a book for every skill set needed to be a success at professional selling. Regardless of the product or service being sold, every salesperson needs to be practiced and polished at:
- Finding sales leads or prospecting
- Making cold calls
- Setting meetings with clients
- Doing research
- Preparing a sales pitch
- Learning as much as possible about the product or service being sold
- Filtering out the real problem presented by the client
- Finding effective solutions
- Presenting solutions
- Pointing out the value added aspects
- Asking for and closing sales
- Follow up and follow through
- Building and maintain relationships
- Dressing professionally
- Communicating effectively and appropriately
- Keeping skills sharp
- Using technology
- Monitoring the business and community environments
This is really the short list of skills. While the list may seem daunting, the resources to address the needed skill sets are just as abundant.
Some of the Top Sales and Marketing Books
Sales and marketing professionals can read about the latest sales books through publications such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Week, and Selling Power magazine, just to name a few. Another good source is to read the reviews and visit the bestsellers list at the online bookstores.
Here is a short list of powerful titles with a variety of sales topics that every type of salesperson can benefit from reading. Some are older titles but they still apply to today’s sales world. These books also continue to appear on the bestsellers list at amazon.com.
- Spin Selling by Neil Rackham (McGraw-Hill, 1988)
- Little Red Book of Selling 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness (Bard Press, 2004)
- Sales Bible the 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success by Jeffrey Gitomer (HarperBusiness, 2008)
- Word of Mouth Marketing, Revised Edition, How Smart Companies Get People Talking by Andy Sernovitz, Seth Godin, and Guy Kawasaki (Kaplan Press, 2009)
- Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith (Business Plus, 1997)
- Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (The New Rules of Social Media) by Brian Halligan (Wiley, 2009)
- Any book by Malcolm Gladwell but especially The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Back Bay Books, 2002)
- The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott (Wiley, 2010)
- Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar (Updated Edition, 2004, Fleming H. Revell
- The One Minute Manager by Kenneth H. Blanchard (1982, William Morrow)
Successful Selling
When looking for good books to read, look for past titles with the words sales and/or marketing in them. There are other types of books that can make a difference as well. Books on leadership, small business, entrepreneurship, production, quality control issues such as Lean manufacturing or Six Sigma, any book on communications, buying trends, psychology of buyers, social issues, or any type of business related book.
The one rule of success that every theorist can agree on is that to be successful, one has to maintain a high level of professional skills. Reading books and magazines on a wide range of topics related to sales or marketing can add much to those skills.
Read ways to sell just about anything.
