Here Are the Best Books to Read Over the Holidays

Nov 14, 2018 | Productivity, Resources, Sales, Sales Leadership

Many leaders take advantage of the holidays in November, December, and January to read the latest books about sales and leadership. I wholeheartedly agree with this practice; it’s a fantastic way for any leader to stay sharp and informed.  

But which titles from 2018 are really worth your precious time? Here are my top recommendations.

Best Books to Read Over the Holidays

Sales Enablement: A Master Framework to Engage, Equip and Empower a World Class Sales Force by Tamara Schenk and Byron Matthews

Wondering how you can leverage sales enablement to win? Here’s your comprehensive guide. This book shows how to build, orchestrate, and lead sales enablement as a sustainable system. Together, coauthors Byron Matthews and Tamara Schenk have a combined 48 years of experience and expertise in the areas of sales-performance improvement, sales enablement, and sales training. They include a step-by-step guide to implement sales enablement initiatives, complete with helpful checklists, processes, frameworks, and templates.

Stop Selling and Start Leading by Deb Calvert

Stop Selling & Start Leading is the perfect pick-me-up for sellers who have lost faith in traditional tactics. You’ll get an evidence-based strategy for producing better results given today’s challenging buyer/seller dynamics. The book features:

  • Groundbreaking research on exactly what B2B buyers want from sellers. 
  • Examples from sellers of how exhibiting leadership behaviors leads to making extraordinary sales. 
  • Steps to be more effective in selling and to re-ignite your pride in the sales profession.

Combo Prospecting by Tony Hughes

Concerned your team might be bombarding C-level decision makers with digital outreach? Internationally respected sales leader and widely read business blogger Tony Hughes has written an invaluable handbook for 21st-century sales professionals and entrepreneurs trying to tackle this challenge. This book is filled with bold, smart, and powerful strategies combining proven old-school values with new-school techniques to connect with impossible-to-reach executive buyers. His potent “COMBOs” will help your team gain access to top-level prospects, secure meetings, and make the sale

Sales Differentiation by Lee Salz

“If we don‘t drop our price, we’ll lose the deal.” If you hear this from your salespeople, get 

Salz’s book now. He offers 19 easy-to-implement concepts that will help salespeople win deals while protecting margin. These concepts are applicable to any salesperson in any industry and are based on the idea that how you sell (not what you sell) differentiates you. The book’s “what you sell” section helps salespeople and executives easily identify their true differentiators, determine the right circumstances to share them, and develop a strategy to position them in a compelling way with buyers. 

Race to Amazing by Krista Moore

Ever promoted a rep to a manager and gotten poor results? Feeling the pressure of developing the next generation of millennial sales leaders to improve retention, remain competitive, and continue to grow? In her book, dynamic and influential sales leader Krista S. Moore shows high-potential sales leaders and business owners how they can become amazing leaders. The Race to Amazing program, which has been successfully implemented by hundreds of companies and thousands of sales professionals throughout North America, will put both aspiring and practicing leaders on the path to greater leadership success.

Value Propositions that Sell by Lisa Dennis

We all know a value proposition is so much bigger than just an elevator pitch — and this book helps marketers and sellers build a buyer-focused value proposition that drives both marketing engagement and sales conversations. You’ll learn how to create a Value Proposition Platform™ that delivers the roadmap for all types of content: web, digital, sales presentations, sales scripts, discovery questions, and live conversations. Case studies show you how (from start to finish), and downloadable templates will help guide your progress.

The Modern Seller: Sell More and Increase Your Impact In The New Sales Economy by Amy Franko 

Left-field competition. Commoditization. Less loyalty. More decision makers. Faster ROI expectations. In The Modern Seller, Amy Franko explains the new sales economy and its impact on customers, sellers, and leaders. You’ll learn her Five Dimensions of the Modern Seller — which will help you boost the effectiveness of your sales activities and results by leaps and bounds. This informative, engaging book includes research, personal stories, and anecdotes from successful sellers and leaders.

Eat Their Lunch by Anthony Iannarino

Do you frequently call on prospects or customers who have someone already sitting in your seat at the table? Anthony Iannarino calls this environment the “Red Ocean.” It’s the place where growing your business means competing to win deals and winning customers away from your dream clients. If you want to target the best and most profitable customers in your territory and take them from your competition, let this book be your guide. (The final chapter shows how to take business from your competitors while keeping them from taking yours.)


Which one of these books are you excited to read? Or have you read one or two already? If so, what did you think? Please leave a comment and let me know! 

Alice Heiman

Alice is nationally known for her expertise in elevating sales to increase valuation for companies with a B2B complex sale that have exceptional growth potential. She’s originally, from the widely known Miller Heiman Group. Spending her time strategizing with CEOs and their leadership teams to build the strategies that find new business and grow existing accounts is her passion.  Her clients love her spirit and the way she energizes their sales organization.

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