To never stop learning is a common philosophy of top performers. There are myriad methods for continuing your education and personal development, such as higher education (MBA), executive seminars (Selling Power), sales training, interacting with a mentor and reading (or listening:) to books.
Over the years, I've learned some of my best stuff from reading the great sales leaders like Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins and Neil Rackham. One of my favorite interview questions is to ask what the candidate is currently reading. There was a candidate who told me they were reading SPIN Sellingand even had the book on the nightstand because it was so great. When I asked who wrote it and what SPIN stood for, the silence was deafening...ouch!
My goal is to consume a business book every 2-3 weeks. I believe that getting just one solid, actionable idea is worth the cover price. Now don't get me wrong, non-fiction is important as well. We all need a quality diversion now and again and you'll look pretty damn boring reading some sales tome on the beach. Case in point, my wife distracted me with last month with the Twilightbooks...there was some bribery involved, but I must say they were delightful. Right now I'm reading Digital Body Languageby Steven Woods, CTO and co-Founder of Eloqua Corporation.
If you want to add some more girth to your repertoire, check out a few of the top books on my "hungry salespeople" list below. I welcome your suggestions - feel free to send me your favorites!
It only takes 1%by Tom Freese - easy read and lots of useful tips. The "executive survey" paid for the book hundreds of times over.
Power Base Selling: Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighterby Jim Holden - better than Selling to VITO!
The 5 Paths to Persuasionby Robert Miller (of Miller-Heimann), etc. - categories of leadership and how to effectively communicate with each.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasionby Robert Cialdini - tremendous insight on how to influence...and defend yourself against it.
Secrets of Closing the Saleby Zig Ziglar - "You can have anything you want in life if you will help enough other people get what they want."
In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High Tech Marketing Disastersby Rick Chapman - hilarious stories and 1st hand perspectives on why many tech companies failed.
The Tipping Pointby Malcolm Gladwell - Learn how Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople create "stickiness".
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