6 classic motivational books for success in sales (and in life)

Reading the right books can provide you with powerful tools to increase your sales and generally live a more successful life.

People have been selling products and ideas since the dawn of time. Many others have been writing about it for almost as long.

Here are six timeless books that every salesperson (and everyone else on planet Earth for that matter) should read:

1 – “Think and Grow Rich” is an iconic book about positive thinking first published around the Great Depression. Napoleon Hill had been writing since he was 13 and he based the book and the principles founded in it around his research into some of the top individual success of the period around the Great Depression.

This motivational book hit the stand in 1937 and continues to be one of the top sales books of all times. He looked at the characteristics and habits that helped establish success and used the information to form develop 13 principles for personal achievement.

2 – “Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude” was co-authored by W. Clement Stone and Napoleon Hill.

The book puts forth the points that will keep you fused on the possibilities and not the problems. Everything in your life comes back to who you make up your mind. Stone and Hill help you discover the attitude that will push you to achieve your dreams.

3 – “How to Win Friends and Influence People” was written By Dale Carnegie in 1937 as well. Carnegie believed that 85 percent of success comes from the way a person works with the people around him. These abilities are set out in his book and help you to understand how to help others feel important and appreciated without manipulation.

Carnegie had a focus on how to help people reach success in sales. This book teaches the techniques you need to reach your tops levels in sales and even public relations.

4 – “See you at the Top” by Zig Ziglar has been showing people how to find their own success for the last twenty-five years.

Ziglar seeks to inspire and motivate the reader and provides tips for changing your perceptions, finding the answers, developing a goal, seeing the possibilities and much more. His six steps can help you create a focus that will give you success in your sales numbers and in your life.

5 – “The One Minute Salesperson” by Spencer Johnson first hit the shelves in 1984. It takes you through the steps that will help you help others.

Johnson reminds the reader that sales must be more than just about moving a product if you want to reach the highest success. You have to help the customers feel good about what they buy by understanding what they need. It is a relatively short read packed with substantial tips for the sales person.

6 – “The Greatest Salesman in the World” may be a small book, but it is loaded with valuable tools for your success. The book was written by Og Mandino who fell into a career of sales after returning from World War II.

Mandino reminds you that success in sales starts with a belief in who you are and what you are doing. You can discover some of the keys you need for success, but also some of the tools that will lead you to a happier life than you may ever have imagined.

Conclusion

While books alone will not give you the success that you want, they can serve as tools to help you build your path.

Take the motivation and inspiration written by those who have gone before. Let these classic books help you increase your sales and also expand your view on life.

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