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.

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

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

The LinkedIn Playbook. Contacts to customers. Adam Houlahan. 2022. ISBN 978064535380.   This is a revision to his 2016 book.  It’s good. Very good in fact. The author takes you from the why to the how and is thorough and detailed. I considered myself quite current on LinkedIn but found several tips and ideas that I could use right away. As the LinkedIn audience becomes more sophisticated, we need to always be putting our best foot forward to make good use of this resource and our time.  A quick read as he has a very easy style and helps you make sense of things.

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.

Sell Without Selling Out. Andy Paul. 2022, ISBN 978177458088.  Andy sent me an early version of this book and I am glad he did.  This book is so ethical. It fully respects the customer and the seller. It’s not a formula or magic bullet, but it is so true. Early on he says you are not there to sell the client; you are attempting to influence their buying decision.    Each section rings so true in the daily life of selling yet many will find that they are not doing the right things now.   Clearly written you will zip through this, but it deserves a thoughtful read.

The Five Secrets of a Sales Coach. Hilmon Sorey & Cory Bray.    2020.  A colleague sent me this book and it is a delight.  I like sales allegories as they are quite rare.    This concise and modest book presents a useful framework for the struggling sales manager to improve the results of himself and his team, in an ethical and human way.     This reflects current management models to help get the most from your team through mutual buy-in.  It also reflects workplace changes as demographics change.     Good read, well under an hour.

Unreceptive. A better way to sell, lead and influence. Tom Stanfill,2021. ISBN 9781400225811.  This author really gets it. How to deal with those folks in your life who just don’t/can’t hear you. He gives you the context for how a person becomes unreceptive and then how to better approach them. Then as a sales pro he leads you through how to apply this to your interview practice.  I was glued to this book and read it nonstop.  {How come all this good stuff comes along now? I could have used it years ago).  Terrific book, very readable, something to really kick start your year.  Go get em’.