Authors Share Key Takeaways from Their Sales Books

Sales professionals tend to have a special knack for condensing and delivering information — it’s a necessity in this busy world full of short attention spans.

As such, we thought we’d put our lineup of esteemed authors, whose sales books were featured in our recent #LinkedInHolidayReads giveaway contest, to the test. We firmly believe that these six works offer invaluable insight and guidance to modern sellers, who generally have tight schedules of their own. Embarking on a new book is a commitment, and you want to be confident you’re picking up the right one for you.

With this in mind, we asked each of the authors to provide a short, simple overview of why sales professionals will benefit from reading their book. (An elevator pitch, if you will.) Here’s what they had to say. 

Essential Lessons from 6 Sales Books 

The High-Velocity Sales Organization, by Marc Wayshak

Marc Sums Up the Sales Lesson: Developing a high-velocity sales organization is no longer just as simple as keeping your salespeople motivated and well-paid. In today’s highly dynamic market, leaders must develop a formal process to create a highly effective sales culture. In short, every top-performing sales organization has a clear but diversified sales strategy, an ongoing process for attracting top talent, and clear accountability metrics.

Beat the Bots: How Your Humanity Can Future-Proof Your Tech Sales Career, by Anita Nielsen

Anita Sums Up the Sales Lesson: AI, robots and the like are not going to decimate B2B sales or sales professionals as long as we learn to create personalized value for our clients. Personalized value is on a human-to-human level so it is the only thing that truly differentiates – robots can’t create personalized value. It’s unique, often unexpected and cannot be replicated. It’s what endears you to your customer and makes you irreplaceable.

More Sales, Less Time: Surprisingly Simple Strategies for Today's Crazy-Busy Sellers, by Jill Konrath

Jill Sums Up the Sales Lesson: How we’re working today isn’t working for us. In More Sales Less Time, salespeople and sales leaders discover how to save 1-2 hours per day, focus on what really matters and be more strategic/creative in their selling efforts. Ultimately, they’ll get significantly better results, work less and have more fun.

Create Togetherness: Transform Sales and Marketing to Exceed Modern Buyers' Expectations and Increase Revenue, by Jeff Davis

Jeff Sums Up the Sales Lesson: The modern buyer-seller relationship has changed due to digital disruption. The buyer has more access to information, people, and resources and is demanding a superior buying experience focused on providing personalized insights and significant upfront value. The only way to increase sales productivity and accelerate revenue growth is to partner with marketing and orchestrate a buying experience that empowers the modern buyer to make the right purchase decision for their unique business challenges.

Nonstop Sales Boom: Powerful Strategies to Drive Consistent Growth Year After Year, by Colleen Francis

Colleen Sums Up the Sales Lesson: Do your sales results lurch between highs and lows — with the end of each quarter reduced to a mad scramble to meet quota? For many sellers, the pattern is commonplace and unshakeable. Nonstop Sales Boom explains how to break this unhealthy cycle and achieve strong, steady results by showing you how booms and busts are completely in your control, how to spot them coming, and how to stop this negative cycle completely. Packed with enlightening examples of sales disasters and standouts, this practical guide brings balance to the selling process, reliability to revenues, and booming sales all year long.

Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition, by Anthony Iannarino

Anthony Sums Up the Sales Lesson: Prospecting isn’t an event. Prospecting is now a campaign, where you professionally persist and pursue your dream client over time. If you want to know how to professionally persist effectively and use your greater value creation to capture mindshare and gain appointments with your dream clients, you’ll find the strategy in Eat Their Lunch.

No More Selling by the Book

Each of these authors seeks to instill an important mindset shift for salespeople, who must adapt to a transformed digital environment or risk irrelevance. If any of the messages above strike a chord with you, we highly recommend clicking through the Amazon link and grabbing a copy — even if you weren’t one of the lucky #LinkedInHolidayReads winners. 

Packed with innovative ideas and fresh thinking, these works will help you ensure you’re staying ahead of the pack rather than selling by the book in 2020 and beyond.

Meanwhile, you can keep a finger on the pulse of all things modern selling by subscribing to the LinkedIn Sales Blog.