The best books for improving sales performance

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve built my career around the belief that sales is a noble profession and that selling is about uncovering needs, filling needs, and creating value for customers. Things like purpose, ethics and values should be at the center of why someone sells. And those that do will be far more successful. I love these books because they all support these ideas of sales as a career to be proud of, that is necessary and that good salespeople truly put the best interests of their customers first. 


I wrote...

Listen to Sell: How Your Mindset, Skillset, and Human Connections Unlock Sales Performance

By Mike Esterday, Derek Roberts,

Book cover of Listen to Sell: How Your Mindset, Skillset, and Human Connections Unlock Sales Performance

What is my book about?

As the selling environment has evolved and the sales ecosystem has grown more complex, many salespeople are beginning to question whether their role still has meaning. Some are wondering whether they even want to be in sales anymore. But we believe there’s never been a better time to be in sales. 

My book celebrates the sales profession and the salesperson as a respected, valued partner. Regardless of what’s happening in the industry at any given moment, the secret to sales success lies in mastering the human elements in sales. Trust, authenticity and the human connection the salesperson brings to the sales conversation are a professional salesperson’s biggest differentiators. You can’t sell without listening to your customers—and yourself. 

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Selling With Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud

Mike Esterday Why did I love this book?

Lisa clearly makes the case that sales is one of the only professions where we allow it to be defined by the people who do it badly. And yet, you will come away from this book understanding that the top salespeople are ones who earnestly want to improve life for their customers.

When purpose-driven sales become part of the culture and bigger than the transaction - and your "true north" is improving life for customers - you’ll actually wind up making more money.

By Lisa Earle McLeod, Elizabeth Lotardo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Selling With Noble Purpose as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Don't let anyone tell you that you have to choose between making money and making a difference.

Selling With Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud, 2nd Edition is an update of the acclaimed book that changed the game in sales. Using real-world data, compelling stories and psychological research, Selling With Noble Purpose explains why salespeople who genuinely understand how they can make a difference to customers outsell those who only focus on internal targets and quotas.

Sales leadership experts McLeod and Lotardo reveal how a Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) can drive a team…


Book cover of A Mind for Sales: Daily Habits and Practical Strategies for Sales Success

Mike Esterday Why did I love this book?

Too many salespeople are burning out. Often, it’s not because they lack basic selling skills and product knowledge but because they haven’t developed a success mindset and a sense of purpose, passion, and accountability that drive the habits required to achieve breakthrough levels of sales performance. Mark clearly lays out the daily habits needed to maximize sales productivity and potential. 

By Mark Hunter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Mind for Sales as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For salespeople feeling stressed and disappointed that their customers don't want to hear from them, this guide is the key to developing the mindset and habits required to reach a new level of sales success.

The world of sales can be tough, so it's easy to get discouraged when the rejections start piling up and your customers stop answering the phone. This allows the wrong thought patterns to start developing, soon you aren't making quotas and then you begin looking at job listings waiting for your next downfall.

Sales expert Mark Hunter can relate as his start to sales was…


Book cover of Integrity Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy

Mike Esterday Why did I love this book?

The concept behind Integrity Selling for the 21st Century is simple: Only by getting to know your customers and their needs—and believing that you can meet those needs—will you enjoy relationships with customers built on trust. Only then, when you bring more value to your customers than you receive, will salespeople reap the rewards of high sales.

Ron’s book is the standard for putting to rest the idea that manipulative, self-focused selling techniques that demean and coerce the customer are what selling is all about. 

By Ron Willingham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Integrity Selling for the 21st Century as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"I have observed several hundred salespeople who were taught to use deceptive practices like 'bait and switch' and encouraged to play negotiation games with customers... In the same industry, I have observed countless people who had been taught to sell with high integrity. Ironically, their customer satisfaction, profit margins, and salesperson retention were significantly higher." - Ron Willingham

If you've tried manipulative, self-focused selling techniques that demean you and your customer, if you've ever wondered if selling could be more than just talking people into buying, then Integrity Selling for the 21st Century is the book for you. Its concept…


Book cover of The Growth Leader: Strategies to Drive the Top and Bottom Lines

Mike Esterday Why did I love this book?

Scott advocates for a paradigm shift toward creating consultative relationships that align seamlessly with an organization’s broader business strategies. He also shares the power of aligning strategy, leadership, and sales to achieve sustainable revenue growth.

He shows that what and how you sell determine not just your strategy but who you are as a company. And Scott makes a compelling case for elevating focus on the customer experience. 

By Scott K Edinger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Growth Leader as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Growth is a leadership issue, not a sales issue. However you define business growth-total revenue, net income, margin expansion, number of products and services, or customer loyalty-sustained and strategic growth requires an organization to do more than sell by simply communicating the value of its products or services. It must create value in the way it sells by delivering a compelling experience that adds value beyond the product itself. As a leader, it's your job to build and guide that experience.

The Growth Leader reveals how top executives create profitable growth through the intersection of strategy, leadership, and sales. With…


Book cover of Sales Success Stories: 60 Stories from 20 Top 1% Sales Professionals

Mike Esterday Why did I love this book?

This book is a great mix of anecdotal evidence from some of the best salespeople, summarized into clear takeaways about the importance of authenticity, purpose, and relationship building.

Scott’s book articulates well why success in sales is so much more about who you are and what you believe than it is about what you do. He shows how the salespeople who are at the very top of their games have figured out their own "superpower" and that sales leaders have to go beyond managing numbers and instead manage the individuals on their teams. 

By Scott Ingram,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sales Success Stories as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Want to learn the insider secrets of the top 1% sales achievers? Discover the inspiring techniques of 20 sales VIPs so you can climb the ranks and bring in the biggest commissions of your career.

Fed up with the same old sales results? Tired of advice from so-called sales gurus who don't actually sell for a living? Want to learn closing techniques from real-world doers? Account director, podcast host, and top 1% achiever Scott Ingram has spent his whole life obsessed with sales. With nearly two decades of sales experience under his belt, he's ready to share 60 inspiring stories…


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Trial, Error, and Success: 10 Insights into Realistic Knowledge, Thinking, and Emotional Intelligence

By Sima Dimitrijev, PhD, Maryann Karinch,

Book cover of Trial, Error, and Success: 10 Insights into Realistic Knowledge, Thinking, and Emotional Intelligence

Sima Dimitrijev, PhD Author Of Trial, Error, and Success: 10 Insights into Realistic Knowledge, Thinking, and Emotional Intelligence

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

My core value is realistic education—learning from each other’s errors and successes, but with full awareness of the difference between the determined past and the uncertain future. We can benefit from uncertainty, which I’ve been doing for a living as an engineer, academic researcher, and inventor. I make use of knowledge and science as much as possible, but I also know that strategic decisions for the uncertain future require skepticism and thinking to deal with the differences in a new circumstance. With my core value, I am passionate about sharing insights and knowledge that our formal education does not provide.

Sima's book list on realistic knowledge and decision making

What is my book about?

Everything in nature evolves by trial, error, and success—from fundamental physics, through evolution in biology, to how people learn, think, and decide.

This book presents a way of thinking and realistic knowledge that our formal education shuns. Stepping beyond this ignorance, the book shows how to deal with and even benefit from uncertainty by skeptical thinking, strategic decisions, and teamwork based on enlightened self-interests.

This bottom-up thinking is thought-provoking for leaders who wish to build teams rather than herds. The insights in the book will help you to be better prepared for the unexpected, less likely to conform when you…

Trial, Error, and Success: 10 Insights into Realistic Knowledge, Thinking, and Emotional Intelligence

By Sima Dimitrijev, PhD, Maryann Karinch,

What is this book about?

Everything in nature evolves by trial, error, and success. They didn't teach you this in school, even though you should know why the rigid laws of physics don't rule nature and don't inhibit your free-will decisions to try, fail, and succeed. As a guide to success, this book shows how skepticism, prudent use of science, and thinking lead to strategic decisions for the uncertain future.
 
Presenting real-life examples, the thinking in the book combines sharp analyses with broad analogies to show:
 
How to identify realistic knowledge and avoid harm due to overgeneralized concepts. How to create new knowledge and solve…


5 book lists we think you will like!

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