Best Sales Books for Beginners (2021)

​Sales can be a jungle. From mastering your knowledge of the different products you sell to going through sales processes with wildly different prospects there is a lot to learn. These books make the complex seem simple as they break down the requisite steps for all ‘beginner’ sellers.  The more simple you can make sales the easier you’ll be able to master your craft.

#1 SPIN Selling

Closing business is tough. There will always be competitors bad mouthing and low balling you on top of prospects buying criteria not lining up with your own timeline. Oftentimes, prospects don’t even know there is a problem because they have been operating a certain way for so long. As any tenured seller will let you know, the questions you ask are key in separating the novices from the vets. SPIN selling takes a customer centric approach by asking four questions that build rapport, credibility and eventually close business. After observing 35,000 sales calls (who’s got the time for that) Rackham identified four crucial questions. These questions are:
 
SITUATION questions
PROBLEM questions
IMPLICATION questions
NEED-PAYOFF questions   
 
Key Takeaway: Before each call in your sales process take 10 minutes and write down questions that you need to ask to probe and nudge the buyer in the right direction. Even write them down word for word and practice those lines until you become comfortable with the talk track.
 
Quote of the book: “Success in the larger sale depends, more than anything else, on how the Investigating stage of the call is handled.”

#2 The Secrets of Closing the Sale

Closing business will only happen when certain criteria are hit and for any beginner Ziglar’s list of key ways to persuade other should be your harpoon as your proceed through your sales career. Whether you're a seasoned sales veteran or just beginning in sales, Secrets of Closing the Sale provides you with practical advice (100 specific closes) and effective questioning techniques (700 questions) to turn your prospects into clients.
 
Key Takeaway: The most successful seller I’ve worked with always viewed the sales process from the perspective of the prospect. Thinking to themselves “how would the client view this”, “would this really help the prospect based on a quicker timeline, risking a poor implementation” etc… Ziglar echoes those sentiments that you can close all the business you want if you will help other people get what they want first. Learn as much as you can about the prospect and their ultimate goals. Find out what they need to solve their problems and show them how your product can get get them there. Provide case studies and best practices from clients along the way (take stories from other colleagues and use them as your own if you are new to the space).
 
Quote of the book: “If you do not believe in your product or service enough to offer it to your own family and friends, then you should question the value of what you are selling.”

#3 Little Red Book of Selling

Jeffrey Gitomer’s The Little Red Book of Selling (2004) preaches the 12.5 principles that any solid sales person should have. Gitomer is a genius at peeling back the onion to show why people buy.  He teaches the small details are where the battle is won and where you can infer a whole heck of a lot about what the client is really thinking. With Gitomer’s straightforward no B.S style and over 500,000 books sold, do yourself a favor and go grab a copy.
 
Key Takeaway: Prospects buy because they “have confidence in their sales representative”. The best sellers sell themselves as part of the process from professionalism to building rapport, you are a big piece of the puzzle.
 
Quote of the book: “sell to help the other person”

#4 Presentation Zen

In the modern age of selling it is largely taking place on Zoom. Zoom is your new battlefield and it is increasingly difficult to keep the prospects attention when they’re in the midst of a busy day, putting out their own fires, personal issues and on and on it goes. Have you ever been on an 1 ½ hour zoom? You’ll get what we’re referring too. Reynold’s teaches the effective communication skills to concisely share your thoughts and paint a compelling picture of how your services can fill the prospects need. Learn how to present to any audience whether its C-suite on down to your champion to convey and more importantly sell your services.
 
Key takeaway: Three important takeaways are,
#1. Limit text on slides
#2. Make it visual
#3. Tell a story
 
Quote of the book: “If you need to put eight-point or ten-point fonts up there, it’s because you do not know your material. If you start reading your material because you do not know your material, the audience is very quickly going to think that you are a bozo. They are going to say to themselves ‘This bozo is reading his slides. I can read faster than this bozo can speak. I will just read ahead.”

#5. How to Win Friends & Influence People

​How do you know a book is an all time classic? Maybe just maybe when it is was written back in 1936 and is still being mentioned as an “all time classic”. Whether you are looking to kickstart your sales career or improve your social skills, this is the book for you. Lessons backed up by interesting stories for applicable lessons for all to learn. The book deals with communicating with other people mainly through avoiding conflicts and proactively working to make a good impression. Sales or no sales, anyone who deals with people for a living should read the wise teachings of Dale Carnegie.
 
Key Takeaway: Carnegie believes that you should never argue and try to contradict others as little as possible because not only will you not convince them you’ll only make them more angry. Check it out in your own personal life. The next time you get an argument see if the person agrees with you more or less after the fight. Another key note is that a leader should always lead with praise as opposed to criticism as it will allow their subordinates to flourish.
 
Quote of the book: “Personally I am very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that for some strange reason, fish prefer worms. So when I went fishing, I didn’t think about what I wanted. I thought about what they wanted. I didn't bait the hook with strawberries and cream. Rather, I dangled a worm or grasshopper in front of the fish and said: "Wouldn't you like to have that?"

Why not use the same common sense when fishing for people?”

#6. Hacking Sales

Ever heard of the online learning platform that has raised over $300 million dollars in funding called, Udemy? If you haven’t welcome to the company that has revolutionized learning. How did a small start up grow this large? Look no further than Max Altschuler the company’s first sales hire. Altschuler explains how exciting of a time it is to be in the tech space as it has been revolutionized through data, automation and technology. Gone are the days of stiff regimented hard charging sales man and in is the new breed of revolutionaries like Altschuler. This book is not a sales 101 book, it is for sellers and closers.
 
Key Takeaway: Every Monday morning, Max makes a list of what happened the previous week, what’s stressing him out, amongst other activities. I have had similar success planning my week on Sunday and getting ahead of the week to ease the Sunday scaries.