Andy Paul's Blog, page 57

How to Use Podcasting to Connect with Your Prospects. With Will Barron. #322

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is Will Barron. Will is the UK-based host of the Salesman.red podcast. Among the many topics that Will and I discuss are how Will’s background in chemistry and medical device sales led to starting his podcast, how sales professionals would benefit by podcasting and how to build trust into the customer relationship.

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What’s Your Unique Promise of Value? With John Smibert. #321

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is John Smibert, Co-founder and CEO of Strategic Selling Group. Among the many topics that John and I discuss are the importance of building your personal brand — your unique promise of value; how you as a salesperson can become a domain expert; and why every salesperson should publish on social media.

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Where Will the Real Sales Revolution Begin? With Bridget Gleason. #320

Welcome to another Front Line Friday with my regular guest, Bridget Gleason. On this week’s episode, Bridget and I discuss, among other topics the connection between new sales technologies and enhanced sales productivity. Join Bridget and me for this episode of Accelerate! as we dig into the future of sales in the face of technological changes.

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How to Gamify Sales Productivity. With Jeremy Boudinet. #319

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is my guest

Jeremy Boudinet. Jeremy is Director of Marketing at Ambition, a sales productivity platform that drives people and process with goals, scorecards, contests, and analytics. Among the many topics that Jeremy and I discuss are the origins of Ambition, the transparency and accountability that gamification provides in sales, what kinds of sales organizations are a good fit for gamification, and how Ambition implements gamification to help improve sales productivity.

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How to Get the Best ROI from Sales Training. With Norman Behar. #318

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is Norman Behar, CEO and Managing Director of the Sales Readiness Group, and co-author of the new book, The High-Impact Sales Manager: A No-Nonsense Practical Guide to Improve Your Team’s Sales Performance. Among the many topics that Norman and I discuss are some of the new ways millennials prefer to access sales training, what to look for when selecting a training vendor, creating a culture of accountability, and the skills a sales manager needs besides those of a top sales rep.

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The Top 5 Sales Books Recommended by Leading Sales Experts

Which sales books should you read right now?

My top-rated podcast, Accelerate!, just marked its one year anniversary. During that time I’ve conducted over 300 in-depth interviews with world-class sales and marketing experts.

At the end of every interview I ask my guest to name the one book, excluding any book(s) that she or he had written, that they recommend that every sales professional should read. It wasn’t a requirement that they pick a sales book. However, perhaps not unsurprisingly, all of the top recommendations are sales books.

Here are the top five books, listed in order, that that every sales professionals should read right now. (Actually, it’s seven books as there was a three-way tie for the fifth most recommended book.)

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People. By Dale Carnegie.

I find it interesting that the book most frequently cited by my guest sales experts as a “must read” for today’s salespeople was first published in 1936. America was still firmly in the grips of the Great Depression when Dale Carnegie, a former lard salesman and successful teacher of public speaking, published the book that has captured the attention of literally millions of people with down to earth lessons about how to get your customers to know, like and trust you. The advice in this book is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. After all, despite what pundits might say about the primacy of the science of selling, success in B2B sales still involves a person talking to a person. And Carnegie shows, there’s an art in making the authentic connections with your customers that will result in orders.

2. SPIN Selling. By Neil Rackham

This classic from Neil Rackham, has influenced multiple generations of B2B salespeople and sales managers since its publication in 1988. The Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff model is still very relevant for all sellers today and is a great foundation for a sales process. While SPIN Selling was primarily written for enterprises selling complex products and services, I believe that all B2B sales professionals, regardless of company size and product/services sold, will benefit from understanding the tried and true strategies in this book.

3. The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation. By Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Enterprise sales teams are still as enthusiastic about The Challenger Sale as they were when it was published in 2011. Like any highly popular book, The Challenger Sale has attracted plenty of detractors who contend it just rehashes the widely-known best practices of top sales reps. While that may be true to a degree, the central message of this book is one that every sales rep should take to heart. It requires a commitment to self-development and learning on the part of sales reps to develop the acumen required to have effective “Challenger” sales conversations with buyers. It’s a challenge that everyone should rise to meet.

4. Think and Grow Rich. By Napoleon Hill

Originally released in 1937, one year after Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends…,” Napoleon Hill’s motivational masterpiece is still as instructional and inspirational as it was upon its publication. The 1960 version of the book has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. If you haven’t read Hill’s 13 step formula for achieving your goals, what are you waiting for?

We had a 3-way tie for the fifth most recommended book:

5.a: New Sales Simplified: The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development. By Mike Weinberg.

A modern classic full of Mike Weinberg’s trademark blunt talk about what you’re doing wrong now and what you need to do to build your sales using proactive new business development. It’s a worthwhile read because you’ll walk away with an easy to follow framework that takes the mystery, and the fear, out of how to be an effective new business sales rep.

5.b: To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. By Daniel Pink.

Daniel Pink’s NY Times best-seller starts with the premise that most of us work in jobs that require us to influence others in order to get our work done. More than a book of practical sales advice, To Sell is Human challenges us to rethink many of our long held assumptions about what it takes to become an effective influencer in many different environments.

5.c: The Greatest Salesman in the World. By Og Mandino.

A short parable about developing the essential behaviors that will drive a lifetime of success and fulfillment. Through the lessons contained in the 10 scrolls that are revealed to his protagonist, Hafid, Mandino shows that everyone has in them the potential to achieve their goals. Don’t be put off by the religious underpinnings of the story. This is a insightful book that you will continue to refer back to throughout your career.

Be sure to join the conversation on Accelerate! Six days a week I have informative, unscripted conversations with the best and brightest minds in sales, marketing and leadership. Click here to view a catalog of all past episodes. Subscribe and listen on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Overcast or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy what you hear, please take a minute and leave a review on iTunes.

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How to Simplify The Complex Sale. With Brian Burns. #317

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is Brian Burns, host of the popular podcast, The Brutal Truth About Sales and Selling, and author of The Maverick Method: Simplifying the Complex Sale. Among the many topics that Brian and I discuss are the problems Brian sees in the poor implementation of sales automation tools, the lack of sales training to teach sales reps how to authentically connect with customers in the complex buying process, and traits for success as a sales maverick.

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How to Create a Sales Process. With Craig Rosenberg. #316

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is my guest

Craig Rosenberg. Craig is Co-founder and Chief Analyst at TOPO, a sales research and advisory firm. He’s also the founder of the Funnelholic blog. Among the many topics that Craig and I discuss are the current state of the sales process; how to build a sales process that supports the needs of you, the seller, and the buyer; how to relate and engage with your customer throughout their buying journey and the value of human selling vs automation.

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How to Build Your Personal Brand with Networking. With Matt Holmes. #315

Joining me on this episode of Accelerate! is Matt “Handshakin” Holmes, Founder of Handshakin.com,and author of the eBook, Six Networking Strategies for Entrepreneurs: Networking 101 for new startups and first-time entrepreneurs. Among the many topics that Matt and I discuss are how Matt realized he could teach others about personal branding, some of his strategies to build and protect personal brand; the importance of online networking; and using networking to build your personal brand.

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How to Reduce “No Decision” Decisions. With Bridget Gleason. #314

Welcome to another Front Line Friday with my remarkable guest, Bridget Gleason. On this week’s episode, Bridget and I discuss, among other topics, a listener question from Tim, about how to reduce the frequency of “No Decision” decisions; the root causes of no-decision decisions; and how sales reps can proactively collaborate with prospects to enhance the buying experience to reduce no-decision decisions. Join Bridget and me for this episode of Accelerate! to learn how collaboration and engagement can accelerate the buyer’s journey to a productive conclusion.

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