Knights on the Road

Selling in a Crisis. 55 ways to stay motivated and increase sales in volatile times. Jeb Blount.

2022-11-13T18:38:36Z

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.

The Escape Artist. The man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world. Jonathan Freedland.

2022-11-07T18:32:08Z

The Escape Artist. The man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world. Jonathan Freedland. 2022. ISBN 9781529369076. The story of Rudolf Vrba ( Walter Rosenberg) who along with his partner Fred Wetzler were successful at escaping Auschwitz and found their way to the Jewish underground in Slovakia to get the story out. The description of life, and death, at Auschwitz is thorough, detailed and enough to make your blood boil. Then you have Vrbo’s life after he escaped and tried to get the story out as they had found out that The Nazi’s were preparing to exterminate all the Jews in Hungary. He was shaped by his years in the camps and afterward. Really gripping book.

Building a Story Brand. Clarify your message so customers will listen. Donald Miller.

2022-10-31T21:01:46Z

Building a Story Brand. Clarify your message so customers will listen. Donald Miller. 2017. ISBN 978071803333. To quote the author, ” If you confuse you lose”. This is the ultimate book on using stories to build your business. One of my clients pointed this book out to me and I am so glad they did. I read it in one sitting but I know I will go back to it many times. Many of the problems I find in my coaching clients have to do with the basic weakness and lack of clarity in their stories they take to prospects. Miller covers this topic very thoroughly – in all facets of your business including internally. Well worth the read and should be on your desk for years.

Madam Secretary. Madeleine Albright

2022-09-30T17:34:55Z

Madam Secretary. Madeleine Albright. 2013. ISBN 9780062265470. What a testament to a ground breaking woman. First woman US ambassador to the UN ( Clinton), first woman US Secretary of State (Clinton). Albright has been through it all. It’s a full autobiography that reads well, and spares no details. She came from a war wrought in Europe and settled in the US at a young age. My takeaway is her descriptions of diplomacy and how the UN can effect change in countries through assistance as well as sanctions. And it takes a long long time. Eg Milosevich in Serbia. So, there is room for optimism but a requirement for patience. Worthwhile reading as you learn a lot about Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Sales Coaching Essentials. How to transform your sales team. Mark Garrett Hayes.

2022-09-21T16:47:03Z

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.

2022-09-19T22:06:02Z

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.

2022-09-13T20:20:14Z

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.

2022-09-09T22:07:56Z

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.

Strikingly Different Selling. Dale Merrill & Scott Savage

2022-09-09T16:39:19Z

Strikingly Different Selling. Dale Merrill & Scott Savage. 2022. ISBN 9781642504873. The two authors are two high performing experienced sales people with the Franklin Covey organization. The book is very useful to all levels of B2B sales people, marketers and managers. They layout very different ways of selling which complement good practise. The first part of the book shows good ways to capture the reader’s attention using metaphors of billboards, movie trailers, flashbacks and flashforwards (I.e. present status and future status). There is one of the clearer statements of differentiation (How does your client see that you are different, since they buy on differences?) with good examples and ideas. This is well worth getting the book for this. They go on to show good selling practices during all parts of the sales. Excellent resource and well worth the read.

The Billion Dollar Spy. David E. Hoffman

2022-07-30T15:51:56Z

The Billion Dollar Spy. David E. Hoffman,. 2015.ISBN 9780385537605. Fascinating true story about a highly placed Russian engineer who gave the US the information about Russian advances in radar and airborne systems during the ’90s. This saved the US billions in expenditures on deterrents that would not work and directed US advances to the point that they were singularly superior in the air vs the Russian MIGs and Supelovs. The CIA was beset with cautious leaders during the Clinton years so this individual was initially stymied by indecisions. At great risk to himself, he provided 100s of classified documents to CIA. Eventually he was betrayed by a washed-out CIA agent Holmes and Aimes the Russian spy. Well written.