There are a lot of things that go into building your conversion rates and customer lists, and in the b2b world, a good deal of it starts and ends with your sales team.
You need to hire the right people, find the right training, implement the right strategies and technologies, and figure out the best way to enable your sales team to connect with and convert customers. each individual item on the checklist seems equally important and can be different from knowing where to start or how to proceed to the next step.
You are reading: Best sales books 2021
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available that can guide you through all this and more, whether you’re a first-time business owner hiring your first sales team or a seasoned professional. experienced who wants new ideas to grease the squeaky wheel, so to speak.
In this post, we’ll run through the 15 best sales books to read in 2021, highlighting what’s great about each (and who should read them!).
Now to the rest!
1. empower salespeople to become sales champions
You may be a fantastic salesperson, but do you know how to train your staff so they too can become top sellers?
In most cases, the answer is “no”. After all, selling and training are two different skill sets, which leaves many leaders scrambling to help new sales staff get the training they need.
This book by Keith Rosen delves into the process of teaching managers and executives how they can support and strengthen the skills of their sales team members. this can allow for a more functional and efficient sales department. that alone makes this one of the best selling books in 2021 in our estimation.
2. sell to senior management
if you’re a b2b brand, chances are you sell to executive c-suite members. it’s intimidating and it’s also completely different from selling to department heads you’re probably already familiar with.
The two authors of this book interviewed more than 500 senior decision makers to find out what they wanted to hear when they were on a sales call.
As if this wasn’t actionable enough, there’s also advice on how to communicate with senior staff through your guardians and support network, thereby strengthening your odds. if you want to sell bigger deals and close more often and are targeting those executive leaders, this is an absolute must read.
3. sales secrets
While the last book interviewed high-level executives to hear their side of the sales process, Brandon Bornancin’s Sales Secrets interviews expert salespeople to get their side of the story.
is written as a playbook that was compiled from the advice of over a hundred top-performing sales experts. And these are no small names, as experts like Gary V, Heather Monahan, and Jeffrey Gitomer pop in with tips and tricks.
This is one of the best sales books of 2021 because it’s packed with practical, easy-to-apply, instant advice from experts that aren’t just the same old folks you’ll find elsewhere. it’s well worth a read (and be sure to take notes, add sticky notes, and highlight key sections!).
4. the sale of transparency
When I worked in sales, unfortunately, I saw people lying around me to try to sell more or strongly misrepresenting the truth. It drove me crazy and my sales records were higher because I was honest with my customers.
Today’s buyers are smart and skeptical. As a seller, you need to be transparent about everything… including your flaws. This book by Todd Caponi looks at the right ways to take advantage of full transparency while leading with your failings to sell more, faster.
While it may seem like a bit of a minefield, if you want long-term customer relationships, it’s also a good read; It doesn’t matter if you get sales with quick tricks and then have high abandon rates because of it. few other resources approach the topic from the same angle, which means it will always be one of my best sales books to read, period.
5. get to yes
When you’re working to close big deals, negotiations are sometimes part of the deal. While giving a little can benefit you, you shouldn’t give too much either.
That’s where coming to the yes comes into play; This book details how to negotiate deals (including sales deals) without giving in.
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While this book focuses heavily on conflict resolution, it also provides excellent insights into the sales negotiation process, especially if you have tough executives who like to negotiate tough. Give this book to your sales department and talk about how far your business can afford to double down while maintaining profitability.
6. sales team
iq hasn’t been talked about in a long time; When you work in a customer-facing role, emotional intelligence (EQ) is also an important part of the picture.
This book focuses on the fact that buyers now have all the advantages; Lots of information available online and lots of competitors to choose from. Companies can fix this by learning about the emotional intelligence and sales psychology used to sell and buy.
Learn how to answer common sales questions to keep users engaged, gain control over sales conversations, and easily overcome resistance and objections.
This is one of the best sales books of all time because it covers so many practical strategies to help you strengthen every part of the selling and closing process.
7. Simplified new sales.
Written with a ton of examples and anecdotes that can make the theories more practical and easier to understand (and some good humor), this is a personal favorite: new sales. simplified. lays out a detailed, easy-to-follow formula for a better view of prospecting, nurturing, and closing customers.
However, this book offers more than just a play-by-play; It also discusses common mistakes salespeople make and critical mistakes executives make.
As far as a solid understanding of a high-value b2b buying process goes, this pretty much has you locked in.
8. how to get a meeting with anyone
Our marketing efforts can sometimes bring us new customers so our sales team can spring into action and get to work nurturing leads.
sometimes, however, we need to be more aggressive. account-based marketing is a perfect example; You may know that a local accounting agency would be a great client, so you want to introduce them directly. you need to meet with their decision makers because you can’t pitch without it.
stu heinecke is a hall of fame nominated marketer and columnist for the wall street journal, and he realized that a few tricks and thinking outside the box could lead him right to the execs and gatekeepers above.
contact marketing can be incredibly powerful. Giving your salespeople the tools they need to communicate and schedule appointments with highly targeted prospects is exactly what this book is about. When you’re ready to go on the offensive and start talking directly to customers, this is the book to read.
9. sales truth: debunking the myths
Here’s another outstanding book by Mike Weinberg, who also wrote “New Sales. simplified.”
He reminds readers that many of the latest “gimmicks” don’t really work and that the best sales processes are relatively simple…potentially with new technology like crms added.
also seeks to debunk some common myths that can mislead sales teams, including the fact that the number of likes a sales boost article receives is inversely proportional to its usefulness.
This is a back-to-basics book that also challenges many assumptions your team (and the industry in general) may have.
10. high profitability prospecting
While social media and search engines have changed the shape of sales and prospecting channels, we know the importance of those channels remains.
We still have to look for prospects, even if there are more ways for people to find our businesses and come to us because waiting is not enough.
This amazing sales book from Mark Hunter tackles prospecting myths and shares best practices that can help you find better leads, qualify leads quickly, and follow up with better timing, messaging, and offers. The book can help you and your sales team find better prospects and know what to do once you’ve identified them, so it’s worth a read.
11. the qualified sales leader
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if you work for a saas company, this is a must read.
Written by 5x cro john mcmahon, qualified sales leader directly addresses the top challenges and common issues within the industry. these include:
- leaders who don’t allocate accounts according to skills
- inaccurate sales forecasts plaguing the industry
- lack of training or inability to sign “a” players
- sales team members don’t know how to overcome objections
This book tackles all of these issues and more head-on, and is valuable to team members, sales leaders, and even executives alike. there’s plenty of real-life experience and hard-earned lessons here.
12. agile sale
sales expert jill konrath knows better than anyone that sales requires adaptability because everything around us is already changing. we’re sure many of our readers are also familiar with that fact.
Salespeople need to learn new skills quickly as the market changes, they change roles or work on new accounts. this can be overwhelming as they are pushed to deliver almost instant results.
To adapt to ever-changing environments, this book dives into techniques salespeople can use to learn new skills and absorb new information at speed, even in a busy season.
every seller should read this. It has everything from mindset tips for personal motivation to time management tools and gamification strategies. To get more high-performing employees on your team, this is a good place to start.
13. secrets of a master closer
mike kaplan built 3 different multi-million dollar sales companies, earning him the right to call himself a “master closer”.
This is another book focused on sales training, but it also reviews the fundamentals of sales and a deep understanding of the overall sales process.
There are training exercises, sales principles, and closing techniques discussed in depth in this book that Kaplan personally tested and used during his 20 years in the industry. the goal is to sell more and faster, and we think this book can definitely help.
14. ninja sale
Most salespeople today will be taught traditional selling methods such as cross-selling, up-selling, and standard selling techniques.
This book can change the way you and your team think about sales in general.
What if there was a science-based sales system that could deliver predictable results regardless of the personality type of your sales team members and the customer?
The entire focus behind this system is primarily to shut up and listen, to listen to what a user needs and to be able to “solve” a sale by asking the right questions. it’s a step-by-step guide, and even if you don’t follow it to the letter, there’s a lot of good stuff to take in here.
15. ultimate guide to sales training success
We opened our list of “best sales books” with a sales training guide… and we’ll end with one too. That’s how important the training process is, even when you’re hiring the best talent to begin with.
If you or your sales leaders ever wished you could clone yourself, this is the guide you need. can help you transfer your hard-earned insights and instincts to your staff with an 8-step roadmap.
The book contains new methods to improve learning retention for different types of learners, how to provide constructive feedback, and common mistakes to avoid when training your team. has rave reviews from agencies and companies that have implemented the knowledge to their benefit… why shouldn’t you be next?
final thoughts
There you have it: These are the 15 best sales books we recommend all sales leaders and salespeople read in 2021 (and probably 2022, too). We’ve kept our list relatively short, so we can highlight the best and most valuable resources available today that will help your team get results faster. revenue acceleration is what matters to us, and these 15 books can help you on your way to it.
Looking for new ways to identify high-value leads faster and improve your prospecting and sales pipeline? get started with breadcrumbs.io for free here.
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