I’m often asked about books that have inspired me over the years. I love getting that question from friends, colleagues and members.
Here, I’ve compiled my recommended insurance reading list for today, and beyond, all in one place.
The list is categorized by Sales, Mindset and Leadership titles — some are well-known and others are not so much. Each of these books has provided value for me in the way I operate my Agency, shaped the tools and content for our Insurance Agency Optimization business, and inspire how I lead my life as a husband, father and community member. I hope you find value in them, too.
Scott’s Suggested Insurance Reading List (in no particular order)
Sales
The Little Red Book of Selling
Author: Jeffrey Gitomer
The Little Red Book of Selling teaches salespeople—or anyone for that matter—how to win the sale by getting their prospects to value them before they value the product or service.
Power Phone Scripts
Author: Mike Brooks
Power Phone Scripts is the sales manual you’ve been looking for: over 500 proven, current, and non-salesy phrases, rebuttals, questions, and conversation openers that will instantly make you sound more confident – just like the top producing sales pros do right now.
Profit from Positive
Author: Margaret Greenberg
Profit from the Positive provides a complete system that will help you become a better leader and improve your team’s performance. You’ll learn how to get more work done without working more hours, how to control your emotions and improve a bad mood, how to avoid making hiring mistakes, and more.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Author: Dale Carnegie
This one is a classic that has withstood the test of time. The same principles that worked in 1936 are still highly effective today.
The Compound Effect
Author: Darren Hardy
The book highlights the importance of everyday decisions in guiding us towards our life goals. The compound effect will help guide you towards building momentum, making a plan, changing your habits toward being good, and tackling your limits.
The Slight Edge
Author: Jeff Olson
The Slight Edge is ‘the key’ that will make all the other personal development books and tools that you consume actually work.
To Sell is Human
Author: Daniel Pink
To Sell Is Human explains how selling has become an important part of almost every job and equips the reader with tools and techniques to be more effective at persuading others.
The Psychology of Selling
Author: Brian Tracy
The Psychology of Selling explains that the act of writing goes hand in hand with the work of the subconscious, whether in the control of decisions or in the search for problem-solving, everything tends to have more satisfactory results
Insurance Agency Optimization, A Step-by-Step Guide to Market Domination
Author: Scott Grates (shameless plug)
This is an introduction to the entire agency optimization platform as well as the concept of “opportunity optimization.” We only get ONE chance to demonstrate our value and to create a unique/memorable customer experience in our highly competitive field. Does your agency have simple, repeatable systems in place to ensure you are consistently executing on these opportunities? This book will begin to challenge you to think differently and improve your daily habits.
P.S. You can get my book FREE today. Request your copy.
The Ultimate Sales Machine
Author: Chet Holmes
Based around a simple premise: that mastery isn’t about doing 4,000 things, but about doing 12 things 4,000 times. And these 12 things – ranging from time management techniques to aggressive marketing strategies – are exhaustively examined and resourcefully related throughout this wonderful little book.
Mindset
The Shark and the Goldfish
Author: Jon Gordon
Fear and uncertainty are staples of daily life in today’s struggling economy. As bad as things can be, economic downturns also lead to new opportunities. It’s easy to worry, give up and let fear paralyze you. However, you have more control than you think you do and how you handle adversity is your choice… and the only choice that matters.
The Energy Bus
Author: Jon Gordon
A tale of negative George who got on the “energy” bus after his car tire went flat, and met the bus’s driver: Joy. Joy was upbeat, perceptive, and smart. She picked up on George’s negativity, so she decided to help him live his life better by educating him about the ten rules that would change his life.
You Are a Badass
Author: Jen Sincero
You are a Badass points out everything wrong with our daily choices. We live our lives doing what others tell us to do and what we think we are supposed to do. Instead, Jen Sincero suggests you should be doing what you want to do. Doing what you love and living for yourself will make you happier and richer. You Are a Badass aims to help you identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make large sums of money, and learn to love yourself and others.
Good to Great
Author: Jim Collins
This book is perfect for anyone running or working in a company. It will highlight what it is that makes a company good and will show you ways to make it even better. The author, Jim Collins, has put together a list of companies that went from “good to great” and compares this to what he considers to be mediocre companies. This helps to identify what separates the elite from the rest.
Start With WHY
Author: Simon Sinek
Start With Why explains how some leaders and organizations become more successful than others by deliberating on the importance of “Why?” rather than “What?” for success.
Think and Grow Rich
Author: Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill starts with an introduction that is both cryptic and bombastic at the same time. He says the “secret” of each chapter will manifest to you IF YOU ARE READY FOR IT. When it does manifest, you should have a toast because that will be the most important turning point of your life.
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Author: Stephen Covey
How you apply a principle will vary greatly and will be determined by your unique strengths, talents, and creativity, but ultimately, success in any endeavor is always derived from acting in harmony with the principles to which the success is tied. Through insight and practical exercises, Covey presents a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity — principles that give you the security to adapt to change, and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
Atomic Habits
Author: James Clear
James Clear argues that big goals shouldn’t be your main focus in life. Instead, you should be utilizing frequent, repetitive actions and systems to help develop habits that stick. The significant changes you want to make in your life depend more on creating small habits than sizable shifts
Leadership
The Dichotomy of Leadership
Author: Jocko Willink
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin are two guys you don’t want to fool around with. Not only because they are former SEALs, but because they pretty much look like they are some other species. So, when they say that leadership is all about owning your mistakes and balancing – you’ll balance, admit to everything you’ve done wrong, and ask no further questions!
Extreme Ownership
Author: Jocko Willink
This book teaches readers the lessons that two US Navy SEAL officers obtained during their service. These officers led the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War. In Extreme Ownership, they apply powerful leadership principles from the battlefield to business and life. Through life-threatening experiences, the two authors learned that leadership is the most important factor responsible for success.
Leaders Eat Last
Author: Simon Sinek
Ideal for anyone who leads, whether it be a small team, an entire organization, a community, or a family. As a leader, it’s important to create a culture that leaves everyone happy and fulfilled, and this is exactly what Simon describes. Simon emphasizes that when an environment is built on trust, teams will work together, have each other’s backs, survive and thrive.
The Culture Code
Author: Daniel Coyle
“Why do certain groups add up to be greater than the sum of their parts, while others add up to be less?” This is the main question that this book explores. This book will help leaders who want to create a collaborative culture in their company, as well as creatives who want growth in their projects.
Wooden on Leadership
Author: John Wooden
Wooden on Leadership explains step-by-step how he pursued and accomplished this goal. Focusing on Wooden’s 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success, it outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to “be at your best when your best is needed”–and teach your organization to do the same.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
