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The Best B2B Sales Books to Read in 2017

6 min readDecember 27, 2016

There is always something new to learn in sales. Every year, I’m impressed and awed by new selling strategies, techniques, tactics and tools that come to light. There are so many brilliant salespeople out there, and we’re lucky that some of the best are willing to share their hard-earned knowledge and secrets with us.

Let’s be honest, B2B sales is hard! However successful you were in 2016, if you’re looking to make 2017 your best year ever, you might benefit from reading some of these amazing sales resources. Each is filled with wisdom that can bring about your next “ah ha” moment that will take your B2B sales game to the next level.

Ready to have the best sales year of your career? Time to hit the books!


  1. Sales Development PlaybookThe Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million

    by Trish Bertuzzi

    • Wow! This book by the Bridge Group’s amazing leader Trish Bertuzzi is absolutely packed with knowledge that can help you reach new heights as a salesperson. The book reveals knowledge that Bertuzzi acquired over three decades of practical, hands-on experience. It presents 6 key elements necessary for building pipeline and accelerating sales. Whether you’re an inside sales leader or even a rep, Bertuzzi’s book is a must-read!

  2. B2B Sales BlueprintThe B2B Sales Blueprint: A Hands-On Guide to Generating More Leads, Closing More Deals, and Working Less

    by Dan Englander

    • This book offers a hands-on guide to sales, lead generation and sales productivity, based on the author’s experience working with 16 Fortune 500 companies across a wide variety of verticals. Included: how to master your first conversation, follow up, closing techniques and sales shortcuts. You’ll also learn how to get consistent referrals from customers and how to invest your time in the most promising sales opportunities.

  3. Predictable ProspectingPredictable Prospecting: How to Radically Increase Your B2B Sales Pipeline: How to Radically Increase Your B2B Sales Pipeline

    by Marylou Tyler and Jeremy Donovan

    • A healthy pipeline is one of the most important ingredients for a successful B2B sales organization. This guide to prospecting by a co-author of the bestselling Predictable Revenue reveals a blueprint that can help you successfully target, qualify and close new sales opportunities. This book features a variety of easy-to-implement techniques that can really help you build out your sales pipeline. This book is a great read for sales and marketing executives, as well as team leaders and sales development reps.

  4. The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever NeedThe Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need

    by Anthony Iannarino

    • Anthony Iannarino never wanted to work in sales, let alone be a sales manager. He wanted to be a rockstar. While pursuing rock and roll stardom, he took a job in sales and, over time, found that sales was his true calling. He has devoted years to trying to understand why a few salespeople enjoy wild success, while most only achieve mediocrity. In this book, he distills his knowledge into a guide aimed at transforming you into a sales rockstar. Revealed: the key skills you need to separate yourself from other salespeople.

  5. 40 Best Sales Techniques EverThe 40 Best Sales Techniques Ever: Conquer the Leaderboard, Crash President’s Club, and Make More Money

    by Jonathan Jewett

    • This book reveals 40 sales tips that author Jonathan Jewett developed over a career of selling to Enterprise Fortune 500 companies. I like that these tips are actionable, and fairly easy to implement right away. Included: tips for building a pipeline of qualified opps, how to transform yourself into an industry thought leader, how to design compelling sales messages, how to take your presentation skills to the next level and more!
  6. The Smart Sales MethodThe Smart Sales Method 2016: The CEO’s Guide To Improving Sales Results For B2B Technology Sales Teams

    • This book is a little different than most of the other books on our list in that it is primarily written for CEOs and high level sales leaders. It offers client-facing sales methodology designed specifically for organizations that sell complex offerings in a highly competitive marketplace. So if you’re leading a company or a sales team, this book can help you achieve year-over-year growth.
  7. The Sales Aceleration FormulaThe Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million

    by Mark Roberge

    • In this awesomely actionable book, Mark Roberge, SVP of Worldwide Sales and Services at Hubspot, reveals the tactics that he used to help build a $100 million business. Readers will learn how to apply data, technology, and inbound selling to every aspect of accelerating sales. Roberge will help you hire successful salespeople, coach reps into all-stars, generate demand, implement a sound sales process and replicate success.
  8. Amp Up Your SalesAmp Up Your Sales

    by Andy Paul

    • Salespeople today face a fast-paced and increasingly crowded marketplace where meaningful product differentiation has all but disappeared. To compete, sellers themselves need to become the key differentiating factor. This book, by sales sage Andy Paul, shows salespeople how to set themselves apart and win customers’ trust. This book combines Paul’s research and field experience to deliver one of the best strategic guides ever written on B2B sales, and quickly became a favorite around our own sales organization.
  9. Buyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into your Customer's Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More BusinessBuyer Personas: How to Gain Insight into your Customer’s Expectations, Align your Marketing Strategies, and Win More Business

    by Adele Revella

    • Simply put, using buyer personas is one of the most powerful sales and marketing tactics. That’s because using personas help you tailor your sales activities to meet buyers’ expectations. This book, by one of the world’s leading authorities on buyer personas, reveals best practices for segmenting your customer base, investigating various customer types and delivering radically relevant messages to each type of buyer.
  10. Fanatical ProspectingFanatical Prospecting

    by Jeb Blount

    • Prospecting is one of the most challenging and most important sales roles. This guide to prospecting by NFL quarterback turned sales guru Jeb Blount comes highly recommended by a pastiche of sales leaders including Jill Konrath, Mark Hunter and Anthony Iannarino. It focuses on ways that prospecting SDRs can fill their pipe with the right kinds of leads. The book covers a range of topics including objection handling, crafting persuasive emails, using social media in the sales process and a 5-step framework for telephone prospecting.
  11. The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your ResultsThe Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results

    by Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon

    • One of the most influential sales books to shake up the industry over the past 5 years has been The Challenger Sale, which advanced a methodology that the most successful sales reps are those that challenge their customers’ beliefs. In this follow-up by Challenger Sale authors Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon, they reveal new research that shows that being a Challenger seller isn’t enough, it also matters who you challenge. B2B sales often requires building a consensus among several buyers at a company. And in this book, the authors reveal research indicating that only a specific type of customer stakeholder has the credibility, persuasive skill and will to challenge his or her colleagues to embrace change. The Challenger Customer reveals a blueprint for discovering ideal customers and equipping them to effectively challenge their own organization.
  12. Screen to Screen Selling: How to Increase Sales, Productivity, and Customer Experience with the Latest TechnologyScreen to Screen Selling: How to Increase Sales, Productivity, and Customer Experience with the Latest Technology

    by Doug Devitre

    • By reading this book, you’ll learn how to make effective person-to-person connections without being in the same room. The power to handle meetings remotely has been a game-changer. This book explores the changing landscape of sales and shows how remote sales delivers a higher impact at a lower cost. This step-by-step guide provides information that can help you access and successfully implement digital and online tools that you need to conduct remote meetings, sales presentations, training sessions, and more.

Do you know about a great recently published sales book that didn’t make our list? Let us know!

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