If you aren’t constantly sharpening your skills, eventually you’ll end up dull.
And a dull knife is of no use to anyone.
The thing is, new sales reps understand this. When you’re young and hungry, you sop up as much information as you can to improve your performance.
Once you transition into leadership, however, it’s easy to get comfortable, even complacent.
But sales leaders have to hone a double-edged sword: you have to enhance both your skill as a seller, and as a leader.
So if you haven’t read these 8 best books about sales management, stop what you’re doing and order them now.
8 Best Books About Sales Management Every Manager Should Read
1. Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions
–A Tactical Playbook for Managers and Executives-
An exceptional sales manager knows the difference between training and coaching your team.
Overall, it’s much harder to coach than to train. So if you find you’re struggling in this area, pick up Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions.
This book provides a tactical, step-by-step playbook packed with case studies, strategies, & hundreds of powerful coaching questions to push you to confidently lead your team.
The book says it best:
“If you do not have a defined process that moves your people forward so they can achieve greater results, then what is it you are managing?” Sales training doesn’t develop sales champions. Managers do” –Keith Rosen (Author)
2. How to Win Friends & Influence People
-The Only Book You Need To Lead You To Success-
Your reps will only take action to improve themselves if they see the value. Bottom line: you can’t make your people do anything.
That’s why knowing how to influence those around you with simple, strategic communication is an essential skill in leadership, management, and coaching.
How to Win Friends & Influence People has stood the test of time because it provides timeless wisdom on how to communicate strategically and effectively.
The book says it best:
“So the only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.” –Dale Carnegie (Author)
3. Cracking the Sales Management Code
-The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance-
There’s no handbook on how to lead a high-performing sales team.
At least, there wasn’t—until Jason Jordan & Michelle Vazzana wrote one.
Cracking the Sales Management Code gives you everything you need to know on how to measure and manage sales performance. It goes both high-level and strategic, down to practical, tactical tips.
The book says it best:
“Letting go of the past is as much a part of management as providing guidance for the future.” –Jason Jordan & Michelle Vazzana (Authors)
4. Sales Management. Simplified
–The Straight Truth About Getting Exceptional Results from Your Sales Team-
So many sales management issues are self-inflicted.
Sales Management. Simplified. is a hard-hitting wake-up call designed to get you thinking: what if I’m the problem?
Sure, it’s not a comfortable question to ask. But engaging in some critical self-reflection is essential to fix problems in your organization and maximize your team’s performance.
The book Says it best:
“The harsh truth is that those in sales and sales leadership who understand and master the basics thrive, and those who ignore them perpetually struggle.” – Mike Weinberg (Author)
5. Eat Their Lunch
-Winning Customers Away from Your Competition-
Key to sales success is understanding your competition—and this book teaches you how to leave your competition in the dust.
Eat Their Lunch is a no-fluff read on the four levels of value to win customers away from the competition. After all, their loss is your gain.
The book says it best:
“You don’t win by focusing on your competition. What makes you a dangerous competitor is how you play the game.” – Anthony Iannarino (Author)
6. Stop Selling and Start Leading
-How to Make Extraordinary Sales Happen-
Today’s buyers have a keen eye for suspicious, manipulative, or disingenuous sales tactics.
Instead, they want trusted partners and leaders who can clearly and confidently demonstrate why customers should buy from them.
Stop Selling, Start Leading, gives simple principles and behaviors of leadership that will help your entire team improve their performance by always putting the buyer’s perspective front and center.
The book says it best:
“Details derail sales. Buyers want to be stirred into action.”-James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner and, Deb Calvert (Authors)
7. Gap Selling
There are so many sales beliefs that salespeople take for granted:
- People buy from people they like
- Closing is a skill of strong salespeople
- Price is the main reason salespeople lose the sale
And on and on.
In Gap Selling, shreds these and other sales assumptions, highlighting a powerful new way for sellers to connect with buyers.
This book is a powerful tool to help you break down common misconceptions among your team, clearing the way for more effective, successful selling practices.
The book says it best:
“Because longevity promotes favorability, it may confer legitimacy.”- Keenan
8. The Intentional Sales Manager
Sales success never happens by accident. Until you rise to the occasion and harness your full potential as a leader, you’ll never get your people to do the same.
The Intentional Sales Manager outlines proven strategies for overcoming sales challenges, helping you to get everyone on the right track.
The book says it best: “Until you harness the power of your own purposeful intention as a sales leader, your people will never deliver on their full potential.” – Pat McManamon
Final Thoughts: Reading Is Just the Start
As much as each of these books give you the knowledge to improve your skills as a team manager and leader, it’s just the first step.
Once you gather all this valuable knowledge, you have to put it into action:
- Train your team on the methods and practices mentioned in the books above
- Coach individual reps to help them apply what they’ve learned
- Continually reevaluate and monitor to see what impact, if any, these changes have on the bottom line
If you find it difficult to monitor sales rep performance, that could be because you aren’t using the right tools. Coaching intelligence software enables you to see what your reps are doing, surface the most important insights, and step in to help them fix any performance issues and close skill gaps.
Click here to learn more about what coaching intelligence is, and how it can help you make your team better.