What if the secret to turning a mediocre sales team into a powerhouse lies not in fancy tools but in how you lead? Sales management often feels like a balancing act, where the pressure to hit numbers clashes with the challenge of inspiring people. Today, effective leadership in sales is more critical than ever as markets shift rapidly and teams face unprecedented demands.
Experts like Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach renowned for leadership development, and David Cohen, founder of Techstars, have spotlighted books that cut through noise with practical wisdom. For instance, Goldsmith praises Keith Rosen’s coaching framework for turning managers into true leaders, while Cohen appreciates how Rosen simplifies complex coaching conversations. Similarly, John Spence highlights Mike Weinberg’s no-nonsense approach to building high-performance sales cultures.
While these expert-curated books provide proven frameworks, readers seeking content tailored to their specific team dynamics, industry, or experience level might consider creating a personalized Sales Management book that builds on these insights. Tailored content can help you apply these principles uniquely to your leadership journey.
Best for managers needing clear leadership strategies
Mark Hunter, a best-selling author and consultant renowned for sales prospecting expertise, recommends this book after witnessing widespread leadership failures in sales teams. He states, "This is the first blunt, spot-on sales management book that will unsettle you to the core about how you lead people." Hunter credits the book with reshaping his understanding of effective sales leadership, emphasizing accountability and culture. Alongside him, John Spence, a top 100 business thought leader, praises the book’s clarity and simplicity, highlighting how Weinberg distills complex sales management challenges into actionable insights for running a superstar team.
“This is the first blunt, spot-on sales management book that will unsettle you to the core about how you lead people. A must-read for every sales manager, for every salesperson to buy for their manager, and for anyone who wants to be a manager!”
Mike Weinberg's passion is helping sellers and sales teams win more NEW SALES! He is a coach, speaker, trainer, consultant and a multiple best-selling author. Mike's specialities are new business development and sales management, and he's on a mission to simplify sales and create high-performance salespeople and sales teams. Known as a #SalesTruth-teller, salespeople and sales leaders appreciate his blunt, funny, tell-it-like-it-is style, and his ability to share simple, practical, powerful, and easy-to-implement concepts. He’s spoken on five continents and has become one of the most trusted and sought after sales improvement experts in the world. Mike works with companies in all industries ranging in size from a few million to many billions of dollars. Mike's newest book, The First-Time Manager: Sales releases in September of 2023 and he says it is his best yet and has his favorite cover of the four books! Mike was the #1 producer in three different companies before launching his firm, and he has been named a Top Sales Influencer by Forbes, OpenView Labs, and several other publications. His first book, New Sales. Simplified. - The Essential Handbook for Prospecting and New Business Development became a #1 Amazon Best-Seller and spent a year as the #1 top-rated book in its category, has been named the #3 Most-Highly Rated Sales Book of All-Time (by HubSpot). Mike's second book, Sales Management. Simplified. - The Straight Truth About Getting Exceptional Results from Your Sales Team has been called 'arguably the greatest book ever written on sales management,' and 'an unequaled blueprint for leading salespeople and building high-performance sales teams,' and named the #1 book every sales manager should read (Inc. magazine). A transplanted New Yorker, Mike has called St. Louis home for 30 years. He says his wife Katie is still the best proof that he really can sell, and they have three adult children and a new granddaughter. Mike's an avid golfer and a NY Pizza and Porsche 911 fan. Mike's launched his popular podcast in late 2021 and you can find The Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast on your favorite podcast platform and on his site at mikeweinberg.com. Follow Mike on twitter and instagram at @mike_weinberg.
When Mike Weinberg first discovered how much leadership style impacts sales results, he cut through the usual fluff to deliver a straightforward critique of common management mistakes. You’ll learn exactly how to build a healthy sales culture, run meetings that matter, and align your team with the right targets, grounded in vivid case studies and real examples. Weinberg’s blunt, no-excuses approach benefits sales managers struggling to move past mediocre results and executives wanting to understand why their teams underperform. Chapters on retaining top performers and remediating underachievers offer practical insights you can apply immediately, making this a valuable read if you lead or aspire to lead a sales team.
Best for sales coaches seeking practical frameworks
Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach and author with decades of experience in leadership development, emphasizes how rare it is to find a book that truly elevates sales leadership. After observing many leaders struggle to reach their teams' potential, he praised this book, saying, "Keith Rosen's Sales Leadership will take organizations to the next level of success that many sales leaders struggle to achieve!" This recommendation comes from Goldsmith's deep understanding of what drives effective leadership. Also, David Cohen, founder of Techstars, notes how Rosen simplifies coaching for busy managers, turning what seems daunting into achievable conversations. Their insights highlight the book's practical value for anyone serious about transforming sales management.
Since 1989, Keith has delivered his customized sales training programs & sales management training & coaching programs to hundreds of thousands of salespeople & managers, on six continents & in over 75 countries. He is the founder and CEO of Profit Builders, named one of the Best Sales Training & Coaching Companies worldwide for the last five consecutive years. Keith has written several best sellers, including Own Your Day and the globally acclaimed, Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions, used by the top global sales organizations & winner of Five International Best Book Awards, as well as the #1 best-selling sales management coaching book. His recent book, SALES LEADERSHIP, was named the 2018 Sales Leadership Book of the Year by Top Sales World and one of the Best Sales and Leadership Books of 2018 by Amazon. As a leader in the coaching profession & the pioneer of management coach training, Keith was inducted in the inaugural group of the Top Sales Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition for his outstanding contributions in sales coaching & leadership development. He was also named The Sales Education Leader of the Year. Inc. magazine & Fast Company named Keith one of the five most influential executive coaches. He's been featured in Entrepreneur, Fortune, The New York Times, Selling Power & The Wall Street Journal. Keith was also featured on the award winning television show, Mad Men. Keith is one of the first coaches who earned the distinguished Master Certified Coach designation credentialed through the International Coach Federation. Keith lives in New York with his wife & three children who are his greatest inspiration.
When Keith Rosen first discovered the unique challenges sales leaders face, he developed a coaching framework tailored to their realities rather than generic leadership concepts. In this book, you learn how to transform your sales team culture by shifting from problem-solving to developing individual capabilities, using his L.E.A.D.S. Coaching Framework™ to ask powerful questions and foster accountability. Rosen provides practical methods to boost productivity, enhance forecast accuracy, and turnaround underperformers within 30 days, all designed for busy managers who need quick yet impactful coaching tools. If you manage sales teams and seek a clear, efficient approach to inspire excellence, this book offers focused strategies rather than broad leadership theory.
Named Top Sales And Leadership Book Of 2018 By Amazon
Sales Leadership Book Of The Year By Top Sales World
This AI-created book on sales leadership is tailored to your specific goals and experience level. By sharing your background and the leadership challenges you face in sales, you receive a personalized guide that focuses exactly on the strategies you need. It makes sense to customize this book because sales leadership varies widely depending on team structure, industry, and objectives — one-size-fits-all advice often misses the mark. This custom book delivers targeted steps to help you lead your sales team more effectively, based on what matters most to you.
TailoredRead AI creates personalized nonfiction books that adapt to your unique background, goals, and interests. Instead of reading generic content, you get a custom book written specifically for your profession, experience level, and learning objectives. Whether you're a beginner looking for fundamentals or an expert seeking advanced insights, TailoredRead crafts a book that speaks directly to you. Learn more.
This tailored book provides step-by-step sales leadership strategies designed specifically for sales managers seeking to elevate their team’s performance. It presents a personalized framework that aligns leadership techniques with your unique team dynamics, industry challenges, and personal goals, cutting through generic advice to offer practical, actionable steps. The book focuses on critical competencies such as coaching, motivation, performance management, and strategic sales planning, ensuring each concept fits your distinct context. By integrating targeted leadership practices with individual team needs, it delivers a tailored approach that bridges expert principles with on-the-ground realities.
Tim Hughes, CEO and co-founder of Digital Leadership Associates and a recognized pioneer in social selling, highlights this book among his top leadership reads. During intense periods of guiding sales teams through digital transformation, Hughes found Cespedes' research-based insights invaluable. He shared, "10 great leadership books to read over the holiday period," noting how this guide helped clarify which sales strategies truly matter in a fast-evolving market.
“10 great leadership books to read over the holiday period (via Passle) by Timothy Hughes @DLAIgnite #socialselling #digitalselling #sales #salestips #salesleader #salesforce #salesenablement #prospecting #book #BookReview #readinglist #booklovers” (from X)
Frank V. Cespedes is the MBA Class of 1973 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He has run a business, served on the boards of corporations as well as startups, and consulted to companies around the world. He is the author of six books, including Aligning Strategy and Sales, which was cited as 'the best sales book of the year' by strategy+business. He has also published numerous articles in Harvard Business Review, the Wall Street Journal, MIT Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, and other prominent publications.
When Frank V. Cespedes reconsidered common sales management beliefs, he challenged the hype surrounding modern selling techniques. Drawing from his Harvard Business School background and extensive business experience, he offers a data-driven approach to hiring, incentivizing, and training sales teams that confronts misconceptions about e-commerce, big data, and AI's impact. You learn how to build a comprehensive sales model, set effective prices, and manage multichannel strategies, with real examples and research backing each point. This book suits sales managers and executives eager to ground their decisions in empirical evidence and avoid falling for fads.
Named to 2021 Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award longlist
Best for leaders aiming to elevate team performance
Brian Tracy, a best-selling personal development author with over 78 books and 10 million copies sold, values this book for its direct impact on sales management. After years of studying productivity, he found that this guide provides a quick, practical boost to every salesperson's performance, saying, "This fast-moving, practical book shows you how to immediately boost the performance and productivity of every salesperson. It will make you look like a genius!" This endorsement reflects how the book reshaped his views on leadership in sales. Following him, Ken Blanchard, a leadership expert, highlights how this book transforms managers into true leaders, reinforcing the book's focus on developing leadership skills essential to sales success.
“This fast-moving, practical book shows you how to immediately boost the performance and productivity of every salesperson. It will make you look like a genius!”
Kevin F. Davis helps sales organizations implement consistent, repeatable best-practice processes for salespeople and sales managers. Kevin’s approaches, skills and tools are described in his two most recent books: 'Slow Down, Sell Faster!' provides salespeople with a consultative sales process linked to a deep understanding of the buying process. It’s an especially effective approach for high-stakes sales involving multiple decision-makers that deliver big rewards. 'The Sales Manager’s Guide to Greatness' provides sales team leaders with the core framework they need to lead and coach a sales team to achieve exceptional results. Because of his experience and passion, Kevin is a highly sought after speaker and seminar leader who inspires his audiences to make the essential changes needed to maximize their performance. Kevin is the founder and president of TopLine Leadership, which is a leading provider of customizable sales and sales management training programs. He has more than 30 years of experience, having started his sales career with Lanier Worldwide (today part of Ricoh Corporation). Kevin worked his way up from sales rep, to sales manager, to general manager, so he brings to his clients practical skills and tools that he has developed from many years of real-world sales and sales management experience.
When Kevin F. Davis first discovered the six sales rep instincts that undermine management effectiveness, he crafted a leadership mindset transformation at the heart of this book. You get a deep dive into ten strategies for elevating your sales team's performance, including mastering coaching conversations and blending the buyer's journey into your sales process. For instance, Davis dedicates chapters to practical hiring techniques and accurate sales forecasting, arming you with tools to boost accountability and results. If you're leading a sales team and want to sharpen your leadership skills beyond basic management, this book delivers focused insight without fluff.
Amazon Best Seller in Sales & Selling Management
2018 Axiom Business Book Award Winner, Silver Medal
Gretchen Gordon, a self-proclaimed sales nerd with four decades immersed in sales and leadership, crafted this book after her own struggles as a sales manager left her feeling overwhelmed and ill-equipped. Her transformation from a frustrated manager to an award-winning leader fuels the clear, experience-backed guidance found in this book. She aims to ease the stress of sales managers like you by sharing the science behind successful sales leadership and helping you rediscover your passion for the role.
Gretchen Gordon, a self-proclaimed sales nerd, is far from your ordinary sales expert. After a disastrous Girl Scout cookie selling experience and a P&G sales gig that left her questioning her career choice in sales, Gretchen decided to face her fears head-on. With a lot of grit and determination, she transformed herself into an award-winning salesperson and was soon promoted to sales manager. Initially proud, she quickly became frustrated and overwhelmed as she felt ill-equipped to perform as manager. Fortunately, she channeled her inner sales nerd to learn the secrets to successful sales management. Now, after 40 years in and around sales, having studied the science associated with success, and after helping hundreds of sales managers grow out of their frustration and stress, Gretchen's determined to create an army of happy sales managers. She wrote The Happy Sales Manager to make it easier for the many people who find themselves leading a sales team but feel overwhelmed and underqualified as she once did. Gretchen leads a team of sales experts at her company, Braveheart Sales, with a mission to save the world one sales team at a time. A sought-after keynote speaker, she focuses on the skillset and mindset of sales and sales leadership. When she's not changing the sales world, Gretchen is an avid competitive golfer, wife, proud mother of grown children, and fur-mom to two Shih-Tzus.
When Gretchen Gordon first realized that traditional sales management techniques often leave managers overwhelmed and underprepared, she decided to rewrite the playbook. Drawing from her 40 years of experience and her own journey from a frustrated sales manager to an award-winning leader, she offers you practical insights into mastering essential sales management skills. You’ll learn how to motivate your team to take ownership without micromanaging, handle underperformers effectively, and shift mindsets that hold you back—all through clear examples and straightforward strategies. This book speaks directly to those who feel the weight of leadership but want to regain confidence and enjoy the process again.
This AI-created book on sales management is tailored to your specific challenges and goals. Based on your current team dynamics and leadership experience, it delivers a 30-day plan packed with daily actions to address your unique sales hurdles. Having a personalized guide makes it easier to focus on what you truly need rather than sifting through generic advice. It’s created specifically for you to help rapidly transform your sales team with concrete, focused steps that match your context.
TailoredRead AI creates personalized nonfiction books that adapt to your unique background, goals, and interests. Instead of reading generic content, you get a custom book written specifically for your profession, experience level, and learning objectives. Whether you're a beginner looking for fundamentals or an expert seeking advanced insights, TailoredRead crafts a book that speaks directly to you. Learn more.
This personalized book provides a tailored approach to rapidly improve sales management effectiveness through daily actionable steps. It focuses on diagnosing your specific sales challenges and delivering targeted strategies that fit your team’s dynamics and industry context. The book offers a structured 30-day plan, breaking down complex sales leadership functions into manageable activities designed to boost performance and accountability. It emphasizes the practical integration of coaching, pipeline management, goal setting, and team motivation, ensuring you cut through irrelevant advice and focus on what matters most for your particular situation. This personalized framework equips sales managers with a clear path to transform their teams within a month.
Mike Weinberg loves sales! He is a consultant, coach, speaker, and bestselling author known for simplifying sales and building high-performance teams. His deep expertise in new business development and sales management drives this book, aimed at helping you avoid common traps when stepping into leadership. With a practical and candid style, Weinberg shares insights drawn from working with companies worldwide, making this a valuable companion for your first sales management role.
Mike Weinberg loves sales! He is a consultant, coach, speaker, and bestselling author. His specialties are new business development and sales management, and he's on a mission to simplify sales and create high-performance salespeople and sales teams. Mike is known for his practical approach and for calling it like he sees it. He works with companies in all industries, ranging in size from a few million to many billions of dollars, and has spoken and consulted on five continents. Mike's first book, New Sales. Simplified. became a #1 Amazon Best-Seller and spent a year as the #1 top-rated book in its category. His second book, Sales Management. Simplified. has been called 'arguably the greatest book ever written on sales management.'
When Mike Weinberg first realized that excelling as a salesperson doesn't automatically translate into effective sales management, he crafted this guide to bridge that gap. Drawing from his extensive coaching and consulting experience across industries, the book teaches you how to shift from doing the selling yourself to leading others in doing it well. You’ll learn to embrace a managerial mindset, avoid micromanaging, and foster a culture that drives performance without burning out your team. Chapters on cultivating accountability and building winning sales cultures provide concrete frameworks to help you navigate your new role with confidence. This book suits new sales managers eager to master leadership rather than just sales techniques.
Best for SaaS sales leaders improving deal qualification
John McMahon is widely recognized as the only person having been the CRO at five public enterprise software companies including PTC and Ariba. His deep expertise, shaped by pre-IPO experiences and board roles at Snowflake and MongoDB, informs this book. Driven by the repeated failures he witnessed in sales leadership, McMahon offers you insights grounded in real SaaS sales challenges and leadership lessons drawn from his unique career.
John McMahon is widely recognized as the only person having been the CRO (Chief Revenue Officer) at five public, enterprise software companies, PTC, Geo-Tel, Ariba, BladeLogic and BMC. John's expertise was formulated as a pre-IPO member of 4 of the 5 companies listed above. Today, John is a board member at public software companies Snowflake, MongoDB and private, pre-IPO companies Lacework, Sigma, Cybereason and Observe. In the past, John has been a board member or executive consultant to: Hubspot, GlassDoor AppDynamics and Sprinklr.
When John McMahon first realized the persistent failures in enterprise SaaS sales teams weren’t about selling ability but poor account alignment, he wrote this book to tackle those gaps head-on. You’ll learn why many sales leaders struggle with recruiting top talent, coaching reps on advancing deals, and motivating teams beyond scorekeeping. The book digs into practical problems like why half of proof of concepts fail, how reps miss finding true business champions, and why sales forecasts often miss the mark due to CRM gaming. If you manage or lead SaaS sales teams, this book offers a no-nonsense look at improving rep competency, deal qualification, and sales process control.
Best for frontline managers mastering daily challenges
Mr. David A Brock is a recognized authority in sales management, with decades of experience across diverse industries and executive roles. His career focus on helping sales leaders deliver results shines through in this book, where he distills complex challenges into straightforward strategies. Brock wrote this guide to address the reality that many frontline sales managers are thrown into demanding roles without formal training, providing you with the insights and tools needed to not just survive, but thrive in sales leadership.
Mr. David A Brock is a recognized authority in sales management, with decades of experience in sales and executive roles across various industries. He has dedicated his career to helping sales leaders and teams achieve exceptional results through practical guidance and actionable insights. His expertise is reflected in his writing, where he distills complex concepts into clear, applicable strategies for sales managers at all levels.
When Mr. David A Brock first realized how little formal guidance existed for frontline sales managers, he set out to fill that gap with this book. You’ll learn how to juggle the many hats a sales manager wears—from coaching and recruiting to analyzing metrics and managing executive expectations—through clear examples and practical scenarios. For instance, the chapters on handling problem employees and leveraging sales tools provide tangible steps rather than vague advice. This book suits anyone stepping into sales management, especially those eager to master not just hitting numbers but leading teams effectively in fast-changing environments.
Best for leaders needing consistent sales processes
David Mattson is CEO and partner at Sandler Systems, Inc., where he leads global training and consulting in sales and management. Having worked closely with Sandler Training's founder since 1986, Mattson brings deep expertise to this book, which reflects his commitment to establishing a common language and process in sales leadership. His experience as a consultant and trainer worldwide grounds the book’s 49 principles, making it a practical guide for sales managers seeking order and consistency in their teams.
David Mattson is CEO and a partner at Sandler Systems, Inc., an international training and consulting organization headquartered in the United States. In 1986, Mattson met the founder of Sandler Training, David H. Sandler, and fell in love with his philosophy, methods and materials. In 1988, he went to work for Mr. Sandler, and was eventually chosen to lead the company. Mattson continues to be a trainer and business consultant for management, sales, interpersonal communication, corporate team building and strategic planning worldwide. David is also the author of The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them, and co-author of Five Minutes with VITO: Making the Most of Your Selling Time with the Very Important Top Officer.
Sales Management, Sales Leadership, Process Improvement, Team Building, Performance Metrics
When David Mattson first realized that sales teams often lack a unified language and process, he set out to address this gap with a clear framework. This book lays out 49 practical principles aimed at bringing consistency and discipline to sales leadership, covering everything from managing team dynamics to establishing measurable goals. You’ll gain insights into why salespeople resist structure and how leaders can effectively implement systems that everyone can follow. If you're leading a sales team and struggle with aligning your people and processes, this book provides a sensible approach grounded in decades of experience.
Best for leaders focusing on team emotional skills
Colleen Stanley, president of SalesLeadership Inc., brings over twenty years of sales training experience to this book. Recognized by Salesforce.com as one of the top eight sales influencers of the twenty-first century, she wrote this after observing that emotional intelligence is often overlooked yet crucial in sales leadership. Her expertise uniquely qualifies her to guide leaders in building high-performing teams through empathy and emotional skill development.
Colleen Stanley is president of SalesLeadership Inc. and has been in the sales training business for over twenty years. She is the foremost expert and thought leader in bringing emotional intelligence to the sales profession. Salesforce.com named Colleen as one of the top eight influencers in sales of the twenty-first century. She is a popular speaker and master trainer.
When Colleen Stanley discovered that emotional intelligence was the missing ingredient in sales leadership, she focused her expertise on teaching sales leaders how to foster soft skills that drive real team performance. With over two decades running SalesLeadership Inc., Stanley challenges the traditional emphasis on hard sales tactics by demonstrating how empathy, accountability, and emotion management build resilient, motivated sales cultures. You’ll learn how to integrate emotional intelligence into hiring, training, and daily leadership practices to transform underperforming teams. This book is especially useful if you're responsible for shaping sales culture and want to move beyond technology fixes toward lasting human connection and growth.
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Conclusion
Across these 10 books, a few themes stand out: leadership grounded in clear accountability, coaching that drives performance without burnout, and the vital role of emotional intelligence in sales culture. Whether you're tackling your first management role or refining seasoned leadership skills, these insights are your toolkit for real impact.
If you’re struggling with team motivation, start with "The Happy Sales Manager" alongside "Sales Leadership" for practical coaching methods. For rapid implementation, combine the blunt truths in "Sales Management. Simplified." with the strategic rigor of "Sales Management That Works." Each book offers a unique piece of the puzzle.
Once you've absorbed these expert insights, create a personalized Sales Management book to bridge the gap between general principles and your specific situation. Tailored reading can accelerate your leadership growth and sharpen your team's competitive edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
I'm overwhelmed by choice – which book should I start with?
Start with "Sales Management. Simplified." by Mike Weinberg. Its straightforward advice will ground you in core leadership essentials before moving to more specialized topics.
Are these books too advanced for someone new to Sales Management?
Not at all. "The First-Time Manager" is designed specifically for newcomers transitioning from selling to managing, offering practical mindset shifts and guidance.
What’s the best order to read these books?
Begin with foundational leadership in Weinberg’s and Davis’s books, then explore coaching-focused titles like Rosen’s and Stanley’s. Finish with strategic and emotional intelligence perspectives for depth.
Do I really need to read all of these, or can I just pick one?
Each book offers distinct value. While one can provide insights, combining multiple perspectives equips you with a broader skill set to handle varied management challenges.
Which books focus more on theory vs. practical application?
"Sales Management That Works" leans on data and theory, while "The Sales Manager's Guide to Greatness" and "Sales Manager Survival Guide" emphasize actionable steps and real-world scenarios.
How can personalized Sales Management books complement these expert recommendations?
Personalized books tailor expert principles to your unique team, industry, and goals, making strategies more relevant and easier to implement. Explore this option here.
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