We live in an age where we get information in quick blurbs and sound bites. Print media sales are way down; quick data handheld electronics are king. We race and we rush in order to thrive and succeed. It may seem like the most successful business people wouldn’t dare waste time reading books anymore, but that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Successful business people – including salesmen and saleswomen — are almost always voracious readers. Not only do they read books, they read a great deal of them with themes essential to their success. If you want to hire top performing salesmen, one of your interview questions has got to be “What do you read?”
Why Are Readers More Successful?
Part of being top salesmen is having the right mindset. Sales success begins with thinking and believing you are successful, as well as learning from those who have reached success already. When salesmen spend time reading books about being successful, about making money, about gaining power in their sales careers — those are the thoughts in their minds when they come to work every day.
Successful business people are constantly reading about other successful business people. They apply what they learn to their own lives until they achieve their own goals. You want to hire sales people with these reading interests because they are constantly filling their minds with inspirational information directly applicable to the job they do for you. Building a sales team of readers is a very wise move for consistent business growth.
What Are Top Sales Performers Reading?
New motivational books about business and reaching goals are published every year, but there are some popular titles you should know. Below is a list of some of the most highly regarded books and authors that successful salesmen read. Some of these titles are specifically business related, while others are about attracting success and prosperity. Many of these authors have additional important titles, as well.
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
- The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain
- The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin
- The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
- Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
Top salesmen will probably tell you they also read a lot of memoirs of successful people and fiction featuring protagonists who overcome great challenges to conquer all.
During the job interview, ask each applicant what they’ve read in the past six months. Think twice about an applicant who isn’t consistently reading books that will keep their motivation high. Hire sales people who take pride in the motivational and informational books they read.
Consider assigning a reading list to each person you hire. Training sales people can be that much more rewarding with a book list as part of the program. When training sales people for specific types of sales roles or responsibilities, you could choose book topics with applicable themes. You might even start a sales team book club for inspired discussions and idea swapping. Building a sales team that reads together creates a sales team that excels together.
