Cold calling is one of the most essential techniques for modern marketers. You need to contact your prospective clients so that you can let them know how they will benefit from your diverse range of products and services.
As a marketer in the current fast-paced digital era, you need to be on the constant lookout for the best sales techniques and tips. Since it is widely accepted that cold calling is the best way to push the sales funnel and enhancing lead generation, it is definitely advisable to gather tried and tested tips along with a sales call report template that will help you with this vital activity.
If you want to refresh your sales knowledge and read about the cold calling experience of established marketing leaders, you should pick up some of the famous books available in the market.
They can help you to understand the fundamental principles of sales, and improve your cold calling strategy. Here is a compiled list of the top 10 cold calling books that will prove to be useful for all sales team members and help them excel in the art of persuading prospective clients:
Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters The Most
Author: Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen
Published: November 2, 2010
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: This book is ideal for sales professionals and executives who are trying to work on their communication and customer interaction skills. A smart book- can help sales team members enhance their emotional intelligence skills. This will enable them to improve their negotiation skills and ensure that they maneuver tricky customer conversations with ease.
The book covers how to manage client interaction, how to listen effectively, and follow a problem-solving approach during communication.
Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters The Most Summary
Your Growth Hacks Aren’t Working
Author: Steli Efti
Published: 2017
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: This is a practical book that is meant for start-up owners and budding entrepreneurs as it will help them set up cold calling methods for their businesses. This book explains how cold calling is a comprehensive technique, and how to integrate it into your business strategy to find your target customer base.
There are also sections that cover the details of sales psychology and the most common sales mistakes that can be avoided. This is a great pick as it can out sales team members on the right path with respect to cold calling, and increase their conversion rates to a large extent.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Cold Calling
Author: Keith Rosen
Published: August 3, 2004
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: A perfect read for newcomers in the sales field, this book can help any kind of sales professionals understand the intricacies of cold calling. It helps employees strengthen their technique of prospective new clients through phone calls, and close more sales deals with positive outcomes.
The book also focuses on improving the quality of customer interaction and motivates sales professionals to secure a strong position at the top by building up a big number of conversions.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Cold Calling Book
How To Get A Meeting With Anyone: The Untapped Selling Power of Contact Marketing
Author: Stu Heinecke
Published: February 16, 2016
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: This book is meant for sales professionals of all kinds as it throws light on the benefits of personalized contact marketing campaigns. It explains the concept of contact marketing and explains how cold calling can work for companies by increasing their business revenue and lead generation.
The author gives numerous tips, techniques, and tactics that can ensure that the sales team converts higher prospects, and up their cold calling game plan.
How To Get A Meeting With Anyone: The Untapped Selling Power of Contact Marketing Book
Fanatical Prospecting
Author: Jeb Blount
Published: October 5, 2015
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: Though this book will be most useful for newbies in the sales function, it also includes lots of practical takeaway lessons for experienced senior executives. The author has given emphasis to detailed prospecting methodology in the book and helps readers to understand how to converse successfully with potential customers.
The book gives a healthy dose of sales motivation and describes in detail frameworks for cold calling, email communication, and social selling. It is a must-have on any sales professional’s reading list, as it will help them learn the art of prospecting through multiple channels.
Take The Cold Out of Cold Calling
Author: Sam Richter
Published: July 9, 2009
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: An ideal read for salespeople who make a lot of outbound calls, this book shares how to foray into the world of cold calling and make a positive first impression. This can help to forge long-lasting relationships with valued prospective customers.
This book is a holistic resource that can enable sales professionals to access qualified lead lists from multiple sources such as the web and social networks. It also has detailed sections on how to overcome the fear of cold calling, and build up positive outcomes out of your customer conversations.
Take The Cold Out of Cold Calling Book
How To Crush It, Kill It & Master Cold Calling Now!
Author: Anthony Iannarino
Published: April 8, 2013
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: A starter’s guide to cold calling, this book is a must-have for any beginner in the sales field. The author is an experienced and seasoned sales coach; hence he gives some perfect solutions to sales team members to improve their prospecting technique.
The book is a compilation of blog posts that are informative, innovative, and insightful for sales executives. It gives tips on how to increase prospect value during cold calls and also throws light on the six effective principles of cold calling.
How To Crush It, Kill It & Master Cold Calling Now! Book
Gap Selling
Author: Keenan
Published: December 3, 2018
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: An engaging read, this book shatters various myths and beliefs that surround sales tactics. Gap Selling helps sales professionals to understand how they can influence their decisions, and help them to make the right decisions in the buying process.
The book explains the process of cold calling and gives sales team members valuable tips on how to polish their skills. Any sales executive who reads this book will definitely be able to increase their conversion ratio and gain more positive outcomes.
Smart Calling: Eliminate the Fear, Failure, and Rejection from Cold Calling
Author: Art Sobczak
Published: April 8, 2013
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: This book provides actionable advice to salespeople that can help them improve their cold calling techniques. It provides both inspiration and insight on prospect marketing and enables sales representatives to deliver a value proposition by setting smart call objectives.
The book gives practical tips such as how to deliver powerful opening statements that are interesting during cold calls, and stay motivated in the process. It is a definite read for any employee connected with the sales function.
Smart Calling: Eliminate the Fear, Failure, and Rejection from Cold Calling Book
The Founder’s Guide To Sales Negotiation
Author: Steli Efti
Published: 2018
Why Salespeople Need To Read This: An ideal read for startup owners, this book can help them establish a smart cold calling strategy and build their sales negotiation. It gives out clever tips and smart strategies that can improve the outcome ratio of cold calling, and increase lead generation.
The book is a must-read for any sales negotiator as it gives practical knowledge on how to handle difficult questions, and get past cold calling roadblocks. The sales team can use this book as a guide to kick-start the process of cold calling and setting up a long strategy that will give them an increased rate of positive results.
Whether you are a newbie at cold calling or an experienced veteran, you could always gain from a fresh perspective. Books are a treasure that can give out tons of knowledge, practical advice, and tips. They will help you to analyze the shortcomings and gaps in your selling process.
Hyper-Connected Selling
Author: David J.P. Fisher
Published: May 12, 2017
This is an ideal book for all kinds of sales professionals looking to enhance their customer relationship building and customer interaction.
Why should salespeople read this book?
The way customers buy today is a lot different than it used to be earlier. This book introduces you to various tools and tactics that can be used alongside old sales techniques. It teaches how to build relationships so that there are closing opportunities for you, It is ideal for someone looking to leverage technology to increase their sales.
The Psychology of Selling
Author: Brian Tarcy
Published: July 18, 2006
Why should salespeople read this?
This book offers a good dose of motivation along with psychological principles which play an important role during sales. It is a great book for professionals starting out in the field of sales as it covers the fundamentals pretty well.
The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible
Outbound Sales, No Fluff
Author: Rex Biberston and Ryan Reisert
Published: December 7, 2017
Why should salespeople read this?
This contains a pretty comprehensive overview of the outbound selling world. It is also free of any self-promotion and fluff. Beginners can learn the fundamentals of creating prospect lists in the first half of the book. The second half of the book deals with specifics of cold calling, social selling, using technology tools, etc. to improve your conversions.
Outbound Sales, No Fluff: Written by two millennials who have actually sold something this decade.
Triangle Selling
Authors: Hilmon Sorey and Cory Bray
Published: 7 December 2018
Why should salespeople read this?
This book empowers salespeople, executives, and managers to adopt the fundamentals that are necessary to fuel growth within the organization. It also teaches effective onboarding methods and ways to remain agile in an ever-growing and evolving profession. The fundamentals are handy and important to learn as they can help you improve your skills and play an incredible part in the growth of your organization.
Triangle Selling: Sales Fundamentals to Fuel Growth
Spin Selling
Author: Neil Rackham
Published: 1988
Why should salespeople read this?
It is a great book for anybody involved in selling or managing a sales team. It outlines the revolutionary SPIN technique which stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff.
Following these simple, practical, and effective techniques will enable you to increase your sales volume very well.
The New Solution Selling
Author: Keith M. Eades
Published: 5 December 2003
Why should salespeople read this book?
This book gives a great idea about various sales methodologies and how applying one to your selling will give you a tried and tested advantage. The book uses the formula PPVVC=S which stands for Pain*Power*Vision*Value*Control = Sales, to help salespeople increase their accuracy of closing deals.
Predictable Prospecting
Authors: Marylou Tyler and Jeremey Donovan
Published: 15 August 2016
Why should salespeople read this?
This book provides great guidelines that can help you build a solid pipeline. It shows ways to target and track ideal prospects, optimize contact acquisition, and improve performance continuously. It also shows ways to reach revenue goals faster and in a more efficient manner.
Predictable Prospecting: How to Radically Increase Your B2B Sales Pipeline
The Sales Development Playbook
Author: Trish Bertuzzi
Why should salespeople read this?
This book deals with growth. An explosive growth. The success of businesses is linked directly with how effectively they acquire a new pipeline. Sales development is the answer to skyrocket your growth.
And, this book is a great read to understand six elements for building a new pipeline and accelerating the growth of revenue.
The Sales Development Playbook: Build Repeatable Pipeline and Accelerate Growth with Inside Sales
The New Handshake
Authors: Joan C. Curtis and Barbara Giamanco
Published: 5 August 2010
Why should salespeople read this?
Social media plays a great part in the lives of people these days and it should be used to increase sales as well. The book teaches ways to expand beyond traditional ways of selling. This book mainly deals with how communication evolves, and in the latter parts, gives an idea about different social networking sites and ways to make the most of them, to increase sales.
The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media
Combo Prospecting
Author: Tony J. Hughes
Published: 11 January 2018
Why should salespeople read this book?
The book offers a great combination of old and new sales techniques and strategies. It shows ways to combine tested sales methods and social media strategies and technology hacks. It offers a great mix of methods that works brilliantly in growing sales.
COMBO PROSPECTING: The Powerful One-Two Punch That Fills Your Pipeline and Wins Sales
Cold calling is not just a process of dialing phone numbers continuously; rather it is a purposeful activity that can build your bottom line results. There is an exhaustive amount of sales literature available in the market – you need to be careful about your reading choices and pick up the best books that will be worth the time and effort put in.
Reading these bestsellers will help you introspect and work hard on improving your cold calling technique. So pick them up to climb up the sales ladder with ease and master the art of cold calling!
