Selling in a Crisis. 55 ways to stay motivated and increase sales in volatile times. Jeb Blount. 2023. ISBN 9781394162369. This is a truly motivational sales book. At times I felt he was channeling good Zig Ziglar vibes. Many sales people today have not experienced a down turning economy and need this book to help them reset. The strongest takeaway for me is that now is the time to stick to the basics of sales and not be lazy. Those of us who do that will succeed despite what the economy does. Easy quick read, but very useful.

Sales Coaching Essentials. How to transform your sales team. Mark Garrett Hayes. 2022. ISBN 9781788603324. A very clear and well written guide to sales coaching. The author makes a clear distinction between training (teacher led) and coaching (partnership). In the sales environment coaching is a must-do for sales leaders. In my practise I see it as a journey of the sales leader and the sales team together toward better practices in their market. Your clients can help you find what works. Thus book touches all the bases in sales and gives you approaches, questions and concrete examples on what to do in any sales situation. Buy this book, read it, make notes and ensure it is on your desk for when you need it.

The Undoing Project. A friendship that changed our minds. Michael Lewis. 2017. ISBN 978039324594. A story by the author of Moneyball. The story of the work by Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky. These two genius psychologists have affected so much of our daily decisions by relating psychology to economics and dealing with real situations. For example, they discovered that our fear of loss is so much larger than then the appreciation of gain. Something used by every successful sales person and politician. The work (and there is a lot of it) now permeates so much of our perceptions of the world and how items are framed to us. Man is fallible and not purely rational and these two found numerous insights into our fallibility. Prior to these two, economists were stuck in believing in the rational man. Making this shift took a long time. After Tversky passed away, Kahneman went on to so any plaudits ( Nobel Prize) and recognition. Lewis does a great job of showing us their humanness and their powerful synergy with the work they did together. Every sales manager needs to read this one.

Leading Growth. the proven formula for consistently increasing revenue. Anthony Iannarino. 2023.

ISBN: 9781119890348. One of my favorite writers on sales has done it again. This is the book on sales leadership, just like his first book “The Only Sales Guide You “ill Ever Need” is for salespeople. I was honored to just get a pre-release copy to review. I read it in less than a day as it is so well laid out, real, and worthwhile. You will cover the essentials of sales leadership and see all the various ways you can be sidetracked. It is a book of best practice of effectiveness, while being uplifting on every page. He makes clear distinctions between strategy and tactics, and does not shortchange either topic. In my present sales coaching role, I see the value of this book for managers and directors. It will be my recommended sales book of the year. Buy it, read it and read it again. It is that useful.

Pickup the Phone and Sell. How proactive calls to customers and prospects can double your sales. Alex Goldfayn. 2022. A very useful boon for today’s SDRs. This book is full of tactics and tips for outbound selling. Also, it has a lot of motivational material for sales managers to use with their teams. I found it easy but detailed enough to read that the material can be immediately useful. His website goldfayn.com has good free resources for the sales teams. You need this on your shelf to read through the year.

Selling the Price Increase. The ultimate field guide to raising prices without losing customers. Jeb Blount. 2022. Jeb is a volume sales writer, who puts out really good sales books each year. I am a fan of his work and the content he religiously posts on LinkedIn etc. This book is slightly different as it addresses one prickly (to some sales people) topic. Jeb does his usual thorough analysis of the issue and then presents a step-by-step guide of how and what to do. (IMHO this is also a decent method for dealing with any angry customer.) Along with this you get a good dose of Jeb’s general guide to selling. My takeaway is that if you are a valued sales person to the client, then price increases can be communicated openly and received well. Very useful book for any sales person especially the young ones. We all need to be reminded of the bottom-line contribution of a price increase

Sales Coaching Essentials. How to transform your sales team. Mark Garrett Hayes. 2022. ISBN 97861788603324.  This book does what it sets out to do.  In today’s world the effective sales leader is the head coach for the team.  This is a book I would put on my desk to reread and make notes. prior to coaching sessions. It is organized around topics that are of immediate importance to sales.  As well the overall view is leading the team and team members to solutions they come up with and are responsible for.  You don’t do the work for them.  Very useful book.

Elite Sales Strategies. Anthony Iannarino, 2022

This is likely my choice for sales book of the year. Anthony has penned a book that tells you the current state of modern sales.  Any sales leader, sales person or executive in sales should have this book on their shelf and read it a few times a year.  This can truly help you be different from the pack and really bring value to your clients from the get go.  I have all my sales coaching clients read his The Only Sales Guide You Will Ever Need before I engage with them.  I will now add Elite Sales Strategies as a must read.  Buy it, read it, work it and read it again

Elite Sales Strategies. a guide to becoming one-up, creating value and becoming truly consultative. Anthony Iannarino. 2022.  This is likely my choice for sales book of the year. Anthony has penned a book that tells you the current state of modern sales.  Any sales leader, sales person or executive in sales should have this book on their shelf and read it a few times a year.  This can truly help you be different from the pack and really bring value to your clients from the get go.  I have all my sales coaching clients read his The Only Sales Guide You Will Ever Need before I engage with them.  I will now add Elite Sales Strategies as a must read.  Buy it, read it, work it and read it again.

Blink. the power of thinking without thinking. Malcolm Gladwell. 2007.  I am rereading Gladwell’s book as it has some interesting points in today’s virtual meeting world.  Much is about intuition and what drives your intuition.  I am especially taken with the section on reading faces.  Zoom type calls are 2D and we may miss much of what we get from F2F in person meetings.  It is too easy to be lazy in virtual meetings and miss much of what is going on with your prospect on the screen. By applying some of what Gladwell is talking about, you can get much more out of your conversations, but you really need to work on it. This type of attention can only help foster better engagement in your client on the screen.