Bluefire Insurance

Like any skill, your ability to sell insurance products to your clients can be improved through a combination of both theory and practice. In your day-to-day work as an agent, you have probably gained extensive practical experience talking to clients, gathering information, and providing helpful advice. But there’s always room for improvement, especially on the theory side of the equation. This guide will walk you through the best books for closing sales in general and specifically in the insurance industry. 

And it’s important to note that the modern sales environment has changed significantly over the past decade, especially in this business. With virtual sales being the default, AI popping up at every step of the selling and supply chain, and buyer behavior changing massively in the post-pandemic era, it helps to understand that insurance sales involve a lot more than just cold calling (smiling and dialing may as well be dead). 

Read on for the top selection of books to improve your insurance sales techniques in this helpful guide from Bluefire Insurance. We’re ready to partner with you today! 

How These Books Can Improve Your Selling Skills 

It’s not fair to say that simply reading a book is going to improve your selling skills. But consistent reading across a variety of topics can help to cement much of the passive knowledge you gain within your active working memory. It’s a slower pace, but it pays off in the long run. 

When you run into situations that range from unruly clients to unexpected opportunities, these skills and strategies will help you succeed. For example, you might remember a technique from one of the books below that you can implement to defuse the situation. 

Best Books to Improve Your Selling Skills 

The list below includes both the significant selling classics (not insurance specific) and encompasses a broad map of what the best salespeople tend to read. Sales coaching tools often involve the reading of these books, and the best agents often have them sitting on their bookshelves (and soon, so will you, hopefully). And if you’d like, there are audiobooks for sales professionals for the list below if you’d prefer to listen on your commute to work. 

1. Agile Selling by Jill Konrath 

As its name might suggest, Konrath’s text focuses on the ability to learn as a fundamental skill set of selling — a rather indirect approach. It offers some practical techniques you can implement to get up to speed quickly in a new role, industry, or territory. This is an excellent text for agents selling complex products and who want to learn how to learn faster. 

2. The New Solution Selling by Keith M. Eades 

Eades’ book reframes selling as diagnosing and solving customer problems rather than pushing products. This book effectively updates Mike Bosworth’s Solution Selling from decades ago. It brings new concepts to the forefront, including structured ways to navigate longer B2B sales cycles (qualification, pain points, value, and management). Among consultative selling books, it’s a standout. 

3. The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson 

Dixon and Adamson argue in this manual that the best sales reps are “challenger” types who teach clients something new rather than simply pushing commodities. Primarily aimed at complex B2B deals where you need to reframe the buyer’s thinking and create constructive tension. 

4. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham 

Another classic. Rackham’s book is based on a massive study of real sales calls. It shows that large, complex deals are won by asking four types of questions: Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff. The method helps you uncover and develop needs so buyers essentially talk themselves into the solution. 

5. Gap Selling by Keenan 

In another life, Keenan may have been a stand-up comedian. And yet this same skillset makes for an excellent sales read. Gap Selling centers everything on the “gap” between a prospect’s current state and their desired future state. You dig deeply into problems, impacts, and root causes, quantify the gap, and then position your offer as the bridge across it. 

6. The Transparency Sale by Todd Caponi 

Caponi’s book does a decent job of combining behavioral science with the reality of buyer skepticism in the modern era to show that being honest about what you’re selling can often paradoxically build trust and help you sell more. This follows a broader trend toward consultative sales rather than simply running roughshod over your clients. 

7. 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer 

The long and the short of Gitomer’s text is that sales follow a set of “laws” (mindsets and behaviors) covering value creation, attitude, personal branding, relationship building, and attracting business instead of chasing it. The idea is that aligning with these principles makes selling easier, while ignoring them makes everything more complicated. 

8. Sell More With Science by David Hoffeld 

Hoffeld combines research from social psychology, behavioral economics, and even neuroscience to explain, in a three-part system, how to sell with integrity. This is a great text that emphasizes quantitative outcomes based on real academic literature. 

9. The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes

Last — but certainly not least on this list — is Holmes’ text. It lays out 12 core strategies across management, marketing, and sales (time blocking, continuous training, “Dream 100” targeting, education-based marketing, etc.). The big theme is obsessive focus and “pigheaded discipline”: master a few high-leverage basics and repeat them relentlessly, with the updated edition layering in more modern marketing and mindset content. 

Must-Reads for Insurance Sales Professionals 

With a solid library of non-insurance-specific books on your shelf, it’s time to dig into the industry-specific literature. While the school of hard knocks may be the best teacher in this field, it also helps to have some professional guidance. That’s why the recommendations below from Figueredo and Tracy can be invaluable. 

The Secret Art of Selling Insurance by Ana-Maria Figueredo 

A short and sweet text for any agent looking for a leg up on the competition is Figueredo’s compact playbook. The idea here is simply to look for better clients, not merely maximizing raw sales activity. The long and the short of it is to focus on targeting clients who are not only likely to buy, but also of higher quality. Along with this idea is the concept of “non-invasive” selling — focus on efficient networking, avoiding low-yield activities, and build a durable referral network (in other words, a sales loyalty system). This is an enjoyable book that emphasizes empathetic selling rather than boiler-room-style craziness. 

The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy 

While not explicitly focused on selling insurance, like many of the books on this list, Tracy is an “inner game first” book that makes a lot of sense to start with, since it focuses on your conception of yourself rather than your clients. The basic principles here are to see yourself as a potent agent first and foremost, set goals, work backwards from your targeted revenue, and build practical skills like prospecting and structuring presentations. 

Level Up Your Sales Game 

Once you have fine-tuned your sales skills, it’s important to put them into action in your insurance agency. 

Here at Bluefire Insurance, we empower independent insurance agents to build successful, influential careers for themselves. To discover just how far you can take your career, become a Bluefire producer today! We look forward to hearing from you! 

FAQs 

What Is the Best Sales Book for Beginners in Insurance? 

As stated above, the crown of starter books for agents is The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy. It’s relentlessly foundational: mindset, confidence, goal-setting, and understanding why people buy — all of which you need before you worry about scripts or product minutiae. 

Which Sales Book Is Best for Boosting Confidence in Client Conversations? 

If the goal is confidence in live client conversations, give SPIN Selling by Rackham a read. Pair SPIN (conversation structure) with The Psychology of Selling for a good one-two punch of what to say and how to feel when saying it. 

What Book Should I Read If I Struggle With Closing the Deal? 

The Challenger Sale is a great choice here. It shows you how to take control of the conversation (including pushback on pricing, status quo, “think about it,” etc.) without being a cartoon closer. 

Are There Sales Books Written Specifically for Insurance Agents? 

For new agents, the recommended reading materials include The Official Guide to Selling Insurance for New Agents by David Duford and So You Want to Be an Insurance Agent by Jeff Hastings, in addition to the books mentioned previously.