Survey Results: 15 Most Recommended Sales Books of All Time

Survey Results: 15 Most Recommended Sales Books of All Time

At Scaling Sales community, we surveyed 234 salespeople about which sales books they most recommended. Here are the rankings:

 

RANK #1 SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham.

With an entertaining tone, Rackham explains why traditional sales models don't work. He explains the successful SPIN strategy and uses real-world examples and case studies. 

 

RANK #2 How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Carnegie highlights the use of other's ego against your charm, appreciation and personality.

 

RANK #3 Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson

Based on survey, it says that every sales rep falls into one of five distinct profiles, of which 'the Challenger' always delivers high performance.

 

RANK #4 Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler

Learn the outbound sales process that helped add $100 million in recurring revenue to Salesforce, almost doubling their growth, with zero cold calls.

 

RANK #5 To Sell is Human by Daniel H. Pink

Book has a way to be a best salesperson, the six ways to pitch, the three rules for understanding others, the five frames that can make your message clearer, and more.

 

RANK #6 The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer

It's short, sweet, and to the point. It's packed with answers that people are searching for in order to help them make sales for the moment.

 

RANK #7 Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff

Applying the findings in the field of neuroeconomics, while sharing stories of his method in action, Klaff describes how the brain makes decisions and responds to pitches. 

 

RANK #8 Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg, John David Mann

Cultivate a trusting relationship and focus exclusively on creating value for the other person, say the authors, and great results will follow by itself.

 

RANK #9 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

The classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say ""yes""€”and how to apply these understandings. 

 

RANK #10 Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes

The Ultimate Sales Machine shows you how to tune up virtually every part of your business by spending just an hour per week on each impact area you want to improve

 

RANK #11 How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger

Bettger shares instructive anecdotes and guidelines on how to develop the style, spirit, and presence of a winning salesperson.

 

RANK #12 How to master the art of selling by Tom Hopkins

Tom educates on how to succeed in sales, including new information on using the latest research techniques and using e-mail and online resources.

 

RANK #13 Selling 101 by Zig Ziglar

Here in a short, compact and concise format is the basics of how to persuade more people more effectively, more ethically, and more often.

 

RANK #14 Mastery by Robert Greene

By analyzing the lives of masters such as Charles Darwin, Einstein, and Leonard da Vinci, Greene debunks many myths and distils the wisdom to reveal the secret to greatness.

 

RANK #15 Cold Calling Techniques by Stephan Schiffman

Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!), provides you with all of the right tools for turning prospects into meetings, and meetings into big sales. 

 

 

Tell us in the comment below if your favorite book is missing out, or you think you agree/don't agree with few of the rankings.




      • Sticky Posts

      • As Sales Person, Here are my New Year Resolutions. What are Yours?

        Being a salesperson, I keep learning from my mistakes and have noted a few changes that I need to make in my approach. I take these resolutions going into 2021, hoping to keep it going for as long as possible :) 1. I will not say "Yes, our product has

      • Once Upon a Sales Meeting!

        It was an awkward silence in the meeting room "Uproar." John Kowalski, the new sales manager, was not happy with the team's performance. After scribbling something in the notepad, he decided to break the silence, John: I cannot believe you guys have been working like this. No reports, delusional forecasting, random targets, and no eye on the ball. Kevin: We followed Richard's orders. John: Well, Richard is not here anymore, is he? John walked up to the whiteboard, and wrote in big bold letters: "TARGET

        • Recent Topics

        • Zoho CRM Quotes – Subform and PDF/Writer Limitations

          Hello, I am encountering the following limitations in Zoho CRM Quotes: Custom product images cannot be uploaded in the subform – the image upload field cannot be added; only the file upload field is available. File upload placeholders cannot be used in

        • Strange behavior in CRM Number Field – Characters allowed but not "e"?

          Hi everyone, Has anyone faced this strange issue in Zoho CRM? In a Number field, it is possible to type some characters, but the character "e" cannot be entered. This was really surprising to me. Normally, a number field should restrict all characters

        • No background for video recordings, no playback speed, can't even playback longer recordings - have to download…

          Hi. We utilize heavily video messages on Slack, but wanted to migrate to Cliq with Zoho One, however very basic yet very frequently used feature is missing: backgrounds for video recordings and playback speed. We were not happy with Slack's 5 minute limits

        • Support inefficiency

          We have been asking for support for a minor adjustment for 12 days now and we haven't got a single viable resolution from support team despite there are 19 emails going between our HR team and various support emails from Zoho. 1. they do not understand

        • Can I export to PDF in Zoho Learn

          I have seen help pages where export to pdf options are available but I do not see that option available from the application. I see that exprt is available in my free trial version but that is only to html pages. I need to be able to export my manuals

        • Zia capabilities now available in the Professional edition announcement

          Hello all! The Professional edition now supports a broader set of Zia capabilities, enabling teams to bring AI into more of their everyday CRM work. From writing assistance and summaries to setup support, predictions, and recommendations, Zia can now

        • Perfomance Management - Zoho People

          Hi team, I am looking for performance management data such as KRA, goals, feedback, appraisals, etc., in Zoho Analytics. However, I am unable to find these metrics while editing the setup. Could you please confirm whether these fields are available in

        • Where Do I set 24h time format in Cliq?

          Where Do I set 24h time format? Thanks

        • This will be long, Please bear with me - Next Gen Layout - Search

          In general, I think that Zoho are going in the right direction with the Next Gen UI. The latest update brings some nice improvements and all-in-all from a user's perspective I think the improvements are generally very good. However, there are some areas

        • Selecting all notes in a notebook

          In Windows11, I select a notebook and I get a list of notes, but only 30 notes. If I scroll down to the end, I get an additional 30 notes (and at the top it now shows 60 notes). I can keep doing this to eventually see all my notes but this is a real pain.

        • Update latitude & longitude address field API

          How do I update the coordinates of an address field from a widget? I can't modify the latitude and longitude of the address field. I think the problem is how I'm writing formdata variable. zoho_init.then(function (data) { var queryParams = ZOHO.CREATOR.UTIL.getQueryParams();

        • Filter Records in CRM API

          Hi Team, I’m currently working on a task to retrieve expired deals from the CRM. By “expired deals,” I mean deals where the closing date has already passed and the stage is not “Closed Won” or “Closed Lost” (i.e., all other stages). I tried using both

        • User Name in Zoho Cliq Not Updating Across Apps?

          We updated the name of a user in Zoho. (From Sue to Taylor) Her name has not been updated in Cliq on all apps. When in Zoho One, if I go to Cliq directly, it is correct, but if I am in another app, and the Cliq bar pops up on the bottom, it will be the

        • Ability to Use Both AND and OR When Creating Rules (Advanced Conditions)

          I'd like to be able to use more complicated logic when setting up rules. E.g. in Zoho Mail, I can choose "Advanced conditions (AND/OR) to create a rule that can be applied to multiple subject lines from the same sender. But in Zoho TeamInbox, I will have

        • Attaching files to emails within CRM Deals.

          Hello, We have recently started using the extension "Workdrive for CRM" (Related List) to view/store our documents for each Deal, instead of using Attachments. Overall it feels like a better way to go but the user experience is not so great when it comes

        • Why I can't map Account Name from lead module to Account module?

          When I qualify a lead in the bluerprint, I use automated conversion in Blueprint to automatically create Contact, Account and Deal. the Deal record and contact record has been successfully created automatically as I expect, but I can't see any account

        • Pause(1);

          I'm using scheduler to invoke an interaction via http post with an external service. The schedule code uses a for-each loop that runs so fast my external application's log files get messed-up (they are named by date-time stamp). What I'm suggesting is

        • Release Notes | February 2026

          We have rolled out another set of enhancements in Vertical Studio during February 2026, bringing improvements to Canvas customization, reporting capabilities, and data access controls. Here is a summary of what was released during February 2026: Canvas

        • Agentic Engineering with Zoho: The Next Evolution of Intelligent Systems

          The concept of Agentic Engineering is reshaping how modern systems are designed. It introduces a new layer to the way we think about artificial intelligence and system architecture. For years, most software systems have operated in a reactive way — responding

        • Engenharia Agêntica e as soluções da Zoho

          O conceito de engenharia agêntica impacta diretamente como os sistemas são projetos. Este tema inseri mais uma camada a nossa idéia de inteligência artificial. Antes o desenvolvimento de sistemas operavam de forma reativa e dependente de comandos diretos,

        • Effective project and task customization with CodeX

          Dear users, Beyond Task Lists is a series of articles aimed at showcasing the various customization capabilities of Zoho Projects. We'll discuss real life project management scenarios, use cases, and requirements that needs combining multiple features.

        • Set expiration date on document and send reminder

          We have many company documents( for example business registration), work VISA documents. It will be nice if we can set a expiry date and set reminders ( for example 90 days, 60 days, 30 days etc.,) Does Zoho workdrive provide that option?

        • Debit opening balances of vendors

          Dear colleagues: I am looking at the trial balance as on 31st March 2024, and punching opening balances (1st April 2024) in Zoho Books. Vendors have credit balances, by its nature, but some of our vendors have debit balances as well (e.g., we have paid

        • Zoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?

          Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). Impacted

        • Client Portal ZOHO ONE

          Dear Zoho one is fantastic option for companies but it seems to me that it is still an aggregation of aps let me explain I have zoho books with client portal so client access their invoice then I have zoho project with client portal so they can access their project but not their invoice without another URL another LOGIN Are you planning in creating a beautiful UI portal for client so we can control access to client in one location to multiple aps at least unify project and invoice aps that would

        • The Social Wall: February 2026

          Hello everyone, This month, we’re bringing you a mix of exciting toolkit enhancements and a few improvements across the web and iOS app, all designed to make your social media management simpler and smoother. File converter Images come in different formats,

        • Zoho Mail and SalesInbox doesn't link to CRM record using Reply-To

          Hi, I've just set up SalesInbox, with the intention of using it for sales enquiries (instead of Desk, which I have been using until now). I've noticed that, unlike Desk, SalesInbox only uses the 'From' email address to attempt to link to a CRM contact

        • Service line items

          Hello Latha, Could you please let me know the maximum number of service line items that can be added to a single work order? Thanks, Chethiya.

        • Poor Search Results on Zoho CRM

          The search on Zoho CRM is quite poor. Salesforce has now published a new search, when will get this on Zoho? https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_hybridsearch_index.htm&type=5

        • How to use filters on all products page? Or even a category page?

          Hello, I am trying to create some filters so users can use filters to find products they are looking for. So what i am trying is to create a filter according to price lets say. So if i define it this way i am expecting to see this filter option on category

        • Capture Last check-in date & days since

          I have two custom fields on my Account form, these are "Date of Last Check-In" and "Days Since Last Contact" Using a custom function how can I pull the date from the last check-in and display it in the field "Date of Last Check-In"? and then also display the number of days since last check-in in the "Days SInce Last Contact" field? I tried following a couple of examples but got myself into a bit of a muddle!

        • Archiving Contacts

          How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?

        • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

          Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening

        • 3/18 オンライン勉強会のお知らせ Zoho ワークアウト （無料）

          ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 3月開催のZoho ワークアウトの開催が決定しましたのでご案内します。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 ▶︎参加登録はこちら（無料） https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/BoNTN7zYR8OvOPGShqBY0A ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目指すイベントです。

        • Conversion Rate – Won Deals over Assigned Prospects

          Hello, I would like assistance configuring a KPI in Zoho Analytics titled: Objective of the calculation: Number of Won Deals divided by Total number of assigned prospects (not only converted prospects). Important clarification: The denominator must include

        • Feature Request – Conditional Visitor Information Request in Zoho SalesIQ

          We would like to request the ability to conditionally ask for visitor details based on the communication channel used in Zoho SalesIQ. Specifically: When a visitor initiates a conversation through the live chat widget on the website, we want to continue

        • Apple Messages for Business in Omnichannel communications?

          Hello, Apple launched "Apple Messages for Business" but Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk don't appear in the list of possible integrators. Zoho already promotes https://www.zoho.com/crm/omnichannel.html Omni Channel integration, but Apple Messages does not yet appear.

        • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

          Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?

        • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

          Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

        • ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open not working properly

          I have a Zoho CRM Widget and in it I have a block where it will open the blocks Meeting like below block.addEventListener("click", () => { ZOHO.CRM.UI.Record.open({ Entity: "Events", RecordID: meeting.id }).catch(err => { console.error("Open record failed:",

        • Next Page