The 10 Best Audiobooks Every Salesperson and Sales Manager Needs to Listen to Now
As a salesperson or sales manager, your time is your most valuable resource. Between client calls, meetings, travel, and putting out fires, finding time to sharpen your skills and mindset is a constant challenge.
This is where audiobooks come in. By listening to audiobooks during your commute, daily walks, or household chores, you can reclaim hours of potentially wasted time each week and invest them in your ongoing growth and education.
And salespeople are catching on to the power of audiobooks. According to the Audio Publishers Association, audiobook sales have grown by double-digit percentages for the past 7 years, generating $1.2 billion in 2019 alone. Busy go-getters are increasingly turning to audio formats to consume information.
To help you get the most bang for your book, we‘ve compiled the ultimate list of the 10 best audiobooks for salespeople and sales managers. These listens contain battle-tested advice, inspiration, and sales methodologies from the world‘s top sales minds.
Whether you‘re an account executive, SDR, or sales leader, you‘ll find audiobooks that will make you better at prospecting, presenting, negotiating, closing, and much more. Download these gems today and soak up their wisdom whenever you have a spare moment to turn your car, treadmill, or kitchen into a mobile classroom.
1. "Fanatical Prospecting" by Jeb Blount
Prospecting is the lifeblood of sales, but let‘s face it—it‘s probably not your favorite part of the job. If you struggle with motivation to pound the pavement and work the phones, this book by Jeb Blount will give you the mindset and techniques to become a prospecting machine.
Blount argues that the number one reason for failure in sales is an empty pipeline and that the root cause is the failure to prospect consistently. He then proceeds to demystify prospecting, laying out his exact process for leveraging multiple prospecting channels, including cold calling, email, social media, and text messaging.
One of the highlights is the Sales Micro-Burst strategy, a high-intensity sequence of activity over a compressed time frame that allows you to dominate a geographic territory or market segment. Hearing Blount describe this technique in his own words is incredibly motivating and really hammers it home.
Perhaps the biggest value of listening to Blount himself read this book is that you feel his infectious passion and energy for the topic of prospecting. You can‘t help but get pumped up to hit the phones and "fill the pipe" with qualified leads.
2. "SPIN Selling" by Neil Rackham
If your sales process involves larger deals and longer sales cycles, "SPIN Selling" is mandatory listening. Based on a massive research study of over 35,000 sales calls, Neil Rackham found that a specific sequence of questioning led to sales success, especially for high-value propositions.
The SPIN framework involves four types of questions:
- Situation questions
- Problem questions
- Implication questions
- Need-payoff questions
By cycling through these questions with the prospect, top-performing reps help customers uncover and verbalize their most critical business problems and the value of solving them. Essentially, they lead buyers to sell themselves on the solution.
Rackham‘s precise, academic tone as the narrator fits perfectly with the analytical nature of the book. As he explains the psychology behind SPIN selling and the data proving its effectiveness, you can‘t help but be convinced to put it into practice.
While the research behind SPIN selling dates back to the 1980s, the method has stood the test of time. According to HubSpot, SPIN selling is still widely used today, with over 120,000 people receiving SPIN training every year.
3. "Way of the Wolf" by Jordan Belfort
You probably know Jordan Belfort from the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But in his second act, the real-life Wolf has repurposed his sales talents towards more scrupulous pursuits, namely teaching ethical sales techniques to organizations around the globe.
In "Way of the Wolf", Belfort breaks down his famous Straight Line selling method, which aims to take a prospect from initial contact to close in the shortest, most efficient path possible. He delves into the art of prospecting, presenting, handling objections, and closing in intimate detail, peppering in plenty of wild stories from his heyday to keep you engaged.
Belfort is a natural salesman and captivating storyteller, which translates very well to the audio format. Listening to him narrate his process feels like getting a one-on-one masterclass from the Wolf himself.
The results Belfort delivers for his clients suggest his methods are as potent as ever. He‘s helped over 100 companies systematize their sales processes using the Straight Line system, in some cases doubling and tripling their revenues.
4. "Never Split the Difference" by Chris Voss
While not strictly a sales book, "Never Split the Difference" delivers powerful lessons on negotiation from someone who‘s mastered the art under the highest-stakes situations—a former FBI hostage negotiator.
Throughout his career, Chris Voss persuaded terrorists, bank robbers, and kidnappers to see things his way. The tools and techniques he used, which emphasize tactical empathy and active listening, are remarkably applicable to sales negotiations.
Voss breaks down specific phrases and questions you can use to disarm a prospect‘s concerns, uncover their core needs and desires, and guide the conversation toward your desired outcome. He covers how to respond when your proposal is labeled "too expensive", handle deadlock, and deliver bad news to clients in the least damaging way.
It‘s captivating to hear Voss himself tell his war stories from harrowing hostage negotiations. That he‘s able to find universal lessons for business within these dramatic life-or-death situations is a testament to the power of his insights.
Many of Voss‘s techniques are geared toward fostering trust, which is perhaps the most important component of closing deals. According to HubSpot Research, a full 55% of salespeople say gaining a prospect‘s trust is what they struggle with most in the sales process.
5. "To Sell Is Human" by Daniel H. Pink
In "To Sell Is Human", bestselling author Daniel Pink shatters the stereotype of the sleazy, manipulative salesman. He argues that, in the modern world, we are all in sales now. Even those not involved in a traditional sales function spend a huge chunk of their time selling ideas, influencing others, and moving people to act.
Pink distills the crucial components of sales success down to three key skills: attunement, buoyancy, and clarity. Attunement is the ability to see things from the buyer‘s perspective and adjust your behavior accordingly; buoyancy refers to staying afloat in an ocean of rejection; and clarity involves curating information to find the signal in the noise and identify the right problems to solve.
Pink draws on fascinating research from psychology, economics, and other social sciences to show how these skills are becoming more important than ever in the rapidly evolving sales landscape. Listening to him explain these studies in his measured, professorial tone really drives the points home in a memorable way.
Perhaps most valuable are the many practical tips, techniques, and exercises Pink suggests to help you implement the ABCs of selling. From the "Five Whys" of getting to the heart of a customer‘s problem to the "positivity ratio" for optimal buoyancy, you‘ll walk away from this listen with a tool kit to elevate your influence abilities.
6. "The Challenger Sale" by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson
In "The Challenger Sale", Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson of the sales training firm CEB argue that the most effective salespeople take control of the customer conversation by challenging their thinking.
Based on a study of thousands of sales reps across multiple industries and geographies, Dixon and Adamson identified five distinct profiles of salespeople: the Hard Worker, the Problem Solver, the Challenger, the Relationship Builder, and the Lone Wolf. To their surprise, the Challenger performed the best by a wide margin.
Challengers take control by teachable moments that reframe the way customers think about their business. They‘re not afraid to push a customer outside their comfort zone if it gets them thinking differently about their needs.
While the narration in the audiobook is done by professional voice actors and not the authors themselves, the delivery is engaging and compelling. The many case studies demonstrating Challenger selling in action are particularly well-told in this format.
Many sales organizations have adopted the Challenger method and seen serious results. For example, after Salesforce implemented Challenger techniques, the average contract value of its deals jumped over 25%.
7. "The Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes
Chet Holmes was a master of scaling sales organizations and helped his clients generate over $1 billion in revenue. In "The Ultimate Sales Machine", he reveals the 12 key strategies that turned his company into a high-performance sales engine.
Holmes advocates a relentless focus on the fundamentals of selling and business management, showing how a pig-headed discipline on a few core activities can produce massive results. He provides detailed blueprints for highly effective tactics like "Dream 100" prospecting, building a stadium pitch, and executing quarterly strategic planning workshops.
Holmes peppers his lessons with entertaining stories and metaphors that drive the key points home and make them stick in your memory. You get the sense that this material has been honed through countless live seminars, making it ideally suited for an audiobook.
Some of the most valuable nuggets center on time management. Holmes argues that the key to productivity is to "touch it once"—that is, handle a task the first time it enters your schedule rather than repeatedly revisiting it. Given how easy it is for salespeople to get bogged down in non-selling activities, this is an especially pertinent lesson.
8. "Zig Ziglar‘s Secrets of Closing the Sale" by Zig Ziglar
The late Zig Ziglar is nothing short of a sales legend, having inspired millions over his 40+ year career as a motivational speaker and trainer. In "Secrets of Closing the Sale", he laser-focuses on perhaps the most critical part of the sales process—asking for and securing the business.
Ziglar provides over 100 different closes for all kinds of scenarios and buyer objections. You‘ll learn versatile techniques like the Puppy Dog close, the Shame close, and the Subject To close, all brought to life through Ziglar‘s masterful storytelling.
But what elevates this listen from a collection of closes to an enduring sales classic is the generous dose of Ziglar‘s motivational wisdom. In his charming Southern drawl, Ziglar emphasizes principles like integrity, honesty, and putting the customer‘s needs first. It‘s impossible to not come away inspired to be the best salesperson and human you can be.
With over 250,000 copies sold, the impact and influence of this book on the sales world is undeniable. Many of today‘s top sales trainers and authors cite it as one of their most pivotal reads. Experiencing this seminal work in Ziglar‘s own voice is powerful.
9. "Influence" by Robert B. Cialdini
Dr. Robert Cialdini is the leading global expert on persuasion, compliance, and negotiation. In "Influence", he explains the six universal principles of influence—reciprocity, commitment & consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity—and how to ethically apply them to move people to say yes.
What makes Cialdini‘s insights so powerful and credible is that they‘re grounded in rigorous research and an exhaustive pool of real-world case studies. He is both a scientist and a brilliant storyteller, which comes through in his narration.
As Cialdini walks you through experiments proving the power of each principle and anecdotes of them in action, it sparks tons of ideas for how to adapt them to a sales context. You start to recognize how you can leverage social proof through customer testimonials, build reciprocity through consultation calls, and frame your solution as a scarce resource, to name just a few applications.
Salespeople who understand these hardwired human responses can ethically nudge prospects toward the close while avoiding manipulative tactics that damage trust. It‘s perhaps no surprise, then, that "Influence" has sold over 3 million copies and been translated into 30 languages.
10. "Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success" by Colleen Stanley
Sales has often been viewed as a numbers game, a matter of raw hustle, persistence, and volume. But as buyers become more informed and empowered, brute-force approaches are losing effectiveness. To thrive in today‘s sales environment, you need emotional intelligence.
Colleen Stanley, an expert on emotional intelligence and sales performance, shows how the best salespeople and sales leaders use EQ skills like empathy and self-awareness to build trust with clients and motivate their teams. She breaks down a four-part model for increasing your sales EQ—being aware of your emotions, managing your emotions, being aware of others‘ emotions, and managing relationships—and provides assessments to track your progress.
Stanley‘s warm and empathetic narration embodies the principles she teaches. It really feels like she‘s in your corner, coaching you to tap into your full potential.
The research is clear that emotional intelligence is crucial for sales success. According to Salesforce and other experts, EQ is the most important factor in reaching top sales performance, accounting for nearly 60% of success.
The Bottom Line on the Best Sales Audiobooks
By downloading and listening to these 10 audiobooks, you‘ll get a complete education in sales directly from the greatest minds in the field. You‘ll walk away with proven, practical systems for prospecting, qualifying, negotiating, closing, and every step in between, along with cutting-edge insights into human influence and persuasion.
But perhaps most importantly, you‘ll soak up the wisdom and experience of masters like Jordan Belfort, Zig Ziglar, and Neil Rackham, gleaning inspiration and best practices from their legendary careers. It‘s the next best thing to having them as personal mentors.
So load up your smartphone with these titles and turn your downtime into prime time for growth. Even if you just listen for 15-20 minutes a day during your commute, workouts, or daily chores, it‘ll add up to hours of learning each week.
Then, get out in the field and put your new knowledge into action. With these expert voices in your ears, you‘ll be armed and ready to crush your sales quotas. Happy listening and happy selling!
