Need a little inspiration? Check out this list of sales motivation books that are guaranteed to breathe life into your selling career.
No matter how good you are at your craft, your skills can grow stale without cultivation and practice. While there’s no shortage of internet articles about the art of selling, nothing beats a collection of sales motivation books for building up your sales career. These time-tested tools of knowledge have served some of the greatest salespeople to have ever lived, and their relevance remains high even in today’s evolved sales landscape.
Think about it. There are dozens of internet articles that will give you snippets of advice on enhancing your sales tactics, but few of them go in-depth into the reasons why those tactics work. To use a tool, you must first understand what it does. You can try to do that with a quick tutorial, but you won’t learn a tool through and through without reading the manual.
Phone sales, in particular, can benefit from sales motivation books because there’s such a high rate of rejection. Reading up on psychology, skills, and craft will not only help remind you why you got into sales in the first place, but it will build your confidence and encourage you to persevere in a field where “no” is an answer too often heard. Minimize your rejections and learn to perfect your sales strategies by discovering what the experts have done over the years and heeding their advice and experiences.
15 Sales Motivation Books You Need to Read
To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of 15 of the best sales motivation books that every successful salesperson should read. These books are unrivaled in their effectiveness, touching on everything from cold-calling to closing and even providing insight into sales psychology and how to influence people. No matter what stage you’re at in your career, these books are guaranteed to give you and your numbers a boost.
1. The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
Selling is first and foremost about relationships, and building a relationship requires understanding how other people think. Brian Tracey’s best-selling work delves into what thought processes make sales work and how your own psychology affects the way you sell. If you want to build a vast network and close lots of deals, this is a must-read.
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Another best-seller from another heavy-hitter, in this famous work, Carnegie teaches you how to exude charisma and exert influence over even the toughest customers. Before you’re done, you’ll learn how to handle different kinds of personalities and—imperative for sales—how to get people to like you.
3. Smart Calling: Eliminate the Fear, Failure, and Rejection from Cold-Calling by Art Sobczak
This is one of those sales motivation books that every phone salesperson should have in their library. Sobczak’s advice will help you to overcome the pressures often associated with phone sales, namely fear and failure. Follow these tips carefully, and you’ll forget you were ever intimidated by a cold call.
Make cold-calling easy with Call Logic’s cloud-based auto-dialing software. Discover all the fantastic features by scheduling a demo.
4. Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
Loaded with a variety of ways to close deals and stir conversation with prospects, Ziglar’s book shows just how creative and personalized closing deals can be.
5. Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness by Jeffrey Gitomer
Looking for a quick read that will help you boost your numbers? The Little Red Book of Selling provides short and creative tips for selling that you’ll be able to apply immediately, without spending too much time on the page.
6. The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal by David Hoffeld
There may be no better collection of evidence-based strategies for pitching and closing sales. This book offers countless studies that show selling is as much a science as it is an art.
7. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon
Speaking of art, remember that sales is as creative as it is scientific. While Kleon’s work doesn’t really fall under sales motivation books, his advice will help you think differently about your creativity and how you apply it to work in sales.
8. Exactly What to Say: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact by Phil M. Jones
What you say matters. And with phone sales, your words are almost all you have. Learn how to choose them wisely to maximize connecting with people and impacting your business.
9. Hyper-Connected Selling: Win More Business by Building Personal Influence and Creating Human Connection by David J.P Fisher
Relationships are based primarily on trust. If you’re having trouble building the personal connections necessary to nurture a successful sales career, check out Fisher’s book for tips on how to connect over more than just what you’re selling.
10. DISCOVER Questions Get You Connected by Deb Calvert and Renee Calvert
Lead customers to their own conclusions by learning effective call structures, how to ask thought-provoking questions, and how to pitch a sale without sounding like a salesperson.
11. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
Success means understanding yourself and the world around you. Learn how to do so and become one of the most effective salespeople you know.
12. How to Get a Meeting With Anyone by Stu Heinecke
A staple of sales motivation books, build your confidence as well as your Rolodex by learning how to get past gatekeepers and land the sales meetings that will matter.
13. Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini
Generate more “yes” answers using Cialdini’s six principles of compliance. Build these into your sales routine and see how far your influence can go.
14. The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer
This is a one-stop-shop for all things sales. Learn to improve everything from prospecting to pitching to cold-calling to closing. An essential among sales motivation books.
15. Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal by Oren Klaff
Finally, learn how to make every pitch a success with Oren Klaff’s unique method for winning business no matter who your audience is.
Reach out to more prospects in less time with Call Logic’s cloud-based call management system. Check out a demo to see how Call Logic can benefit your business.