5 books I forgot to put in the 10 Books to Improve Your Sales post.
In my haste to post I left out half the goods. Here’s the rest…
6. Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
– This is becoming a classic. Chris Brogan has become THE social media rockstar. Overlooking this book as simply a social media marketing resource would be a mistake. Sales is about influence, reputation, and trust–Chris delivers the goods. He tells you how to gain these key elements of a sale online, which is where your customer is looking for you.
7. Confessions of an Advertising Man
– Again, this is a gem that is probably overlooked by sales people because it’s not in the sales stack at your local bookstore. The “Advertising Man” throws most people (including your unread competitors). This is a book about sales. David Ogilvy was a master salesman. Let him give you the secrets.
8. Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt: Do What You Love, Love What You Do, and Deliver More Than You Promise
– Now we go back to some of my old favorites. This was one of the first sales books I ever read. Actually, I thought I was just learning about business. I would later learn that there is no such thing as a legitimate business book that isn’t about sales–without sales, there is no business. I still religiously read (his books and newsletter) and practice the sage advise of Harvey Mackay. He’s proven and seems to be a genuinely nice guy. I like learning from nice people.
9. How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication
– The best sales people are great communicators, great listeners, great storytellers. Larry King is one of the best. Again, this is a book I picked up for other reasons and ended up in my sales stack on my bookshelf.
10. SPIN Selling
– Probably still the best book on pure, straight-forward sales methodology. You can have all the skills in the world: good listener, great storyteller, approachable personality, full of integrity and influence, but at the end of the day you have to have a system. It’s simple. To make your living at sales you still need to generate and process a lot of conversations. That’s where your sales methodology comes into play. Get this book and build your sales process.
You’re probably noting a trend here–I like the oldies.
It may be because I learned to sell in the early 90’s, but I’m more inclined to believe there are two bigger things going on here:
- Old stuff is new stuff when it’s no longer in hot circulation
- People like (miss) the personal, kind, respectful approach
Let me know which ones you’ve read. What did you you think of them? Which ones are you going to read next?
