It Only Takes 1% to have a competitive edge in sales. Thomas A.Freese. ISBN1891892118.

No 2 of Freese´ series of sales books. This one uses an interesting style of having 100 short chapters , each on a separate point . A very useful book, that builds on the first – Question Based Selling. I believe for todayś selling environment; serious sales people must read his books. He gets so much right immediately that one becomes so much better as a salesman so quickly. He offers useful approaches to everyday issues in selling. These range from major corporate through to being a start-up salesperson. How to deal with pricing, aggressive competitors, inside coaches and anti-coaches. There is so much value in here I wish he had written it earlier so I would have made even more sales.

Hermanisms. Axioms for business & life. John L. Herman Jr. 2007. ISBN9780979020414.

John L. Herman Jr. Is a failure expert who after building serveral businesses, he started one that capitalized the assets of failed businesses. This book is 77 examples of lessons learned during his life time. Eg. Do you know your real margins? Or, cost of goods is the most misunderstood part of business. He talks about how to know when to fold vs hold. A very valuable book, with proven insights. Would that I had found this book to give to clients years ago. On sales , if your client wants vanilla, do not try to sell chocolate. On reading, most leaders are readers. Buy this , read it and give copies to your stars.

On Writing Well. The classic guide to writing nonfiction. William Zinsser. 2006. ISBN9780050891541. On day 1 of my first university English Class, I met a book called The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. A slim volume, first published in 1917 it has prevented me from making many serious grammar and style errors. Zinsser first wrote his book in ´76, just after I stopped taking English classes. This is a book I wish I had met sooner. It is superb. He covers many different styles of non fiction including travel, memoirs, sport and family history. His major lessons for me was how to find your own voice and that the writing is for yourself, no other.

PeopleSavvy For Sales Professionals. Lead the field. Four secrets for getting inside your prospectś head and heart and getting customers for life. Gregory Stebbins. 2007. ISBN 9781887152105.

This is one volume that brings together many approaches to what I call social selling styles. If my readers agree that we now must teach and train our own sales teams, then this is an excellant background, base skills book for that task. If you have already implemented question based selling approaches in learning how your customers buy, this book will give you more skills to blend in. Clearly written, with a logical style, this is a useful book, but his secrets have not been secret for a long time.

Think Like Your Customer. A winning strategy to maximize sales by understanding how and why your customers buy. Bill Stinnett. 2005. ISBN 0071441883.

I am always looking for what I think is the best sales book to recommend. This is the book for B2B sales this year. A very high sales performer, Bill Stinnett has really hit the mark with this book. If you coupled the strategies and methods of Stinnett with the strategies and tactics used by Bill Freese, (Question Based Selling) you could build the ultimate sales machine in your company. I am just blown away at the thoroughness, quality of process and thought that has gone into this book. When I asked Bill for a review copy he arranged to call me to find out where I was coming from and what I did with the reviews. This gentleman dots the i’s and crosses the t’s.

Buy it, read it, and keep it on your read often, do not lend bookshelf. Of course if you are content with the status quo, this book will only make you realize how much more there is out there. I am really pumped by Stinnett!

The Language of Success. Business writing that informs, persuades, and gets results. Tom Sant. 2008 ISBN 9780814474730.

Tom Sant is a giant in the field of effective business writing. Years ago I first learned how to write effective business proposals from his book of the same name. I have subscribed to his newsletter for years learning how to better proposals as well as how to ¨template¨¨proposals, saving time in a big way. This book is a welcome addition to his previous work. Regardless of what type of writing you need to do to be successful at work and home, he has collected in one place a terrific asset. For example he gives you the ¨before and after ¨experience for all that he talks about. You and your business will benefi from Tom Santś experience. This is a library ¨keeper¨¨

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