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We get it: not everyone has time to make their way down a legit summer reading list. Especially this summer.
Or...maybe you’ve got the time but you’re still scarred from the required reading of summers gone by. (Lord of the Flies, anyone?)
We recently did a roundup of our favorite sales management books for 2020 — but we figured it was worth sharing some great, digestible daily reading, too.
So here are a few of the best sales blogs from some of our favorite brands. It’s a great list for everyone: sales leaders and reps, newbies and pros. These blogs also offer a solid mix of thought-provoking perspectives and insights plus tactical, on-the-ground perspectives.
Bonus: you’ll find a ton of great newsletters and other resources on these sites, as well as some worthwhile reads on their social feeds — so be sure to sign up and follow along!
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The Best Sales Blogs in 2020 (in no particular order)
1. Gong Blog
The Gong blog is exactly what you’d expect from the brand: it’s fun, it’s engaging, it packs a punch, and...it’s purple.
Highly tactical and 100%-sales focused, the articles and videos you’ll find here are easy to read and digest, with a tell-it-like-it-is tone that’s actually pretty refreshing. Sales management and selling skills are both areas of emphasis, so reps and managers alike will walk away with solid learnings.
Devin Reed, who manages content strategy at Gong, also hosts a great podcast (Reveal: The Revenue Intelligence Podcast) that’s worth catching!
Check out this post: This (Surprising) Cold Email CTA Will Help You Book A LOT More Meetings
2. The Heinz Marketing Blog
Matt Heinz is the President and Founder of Heinz Marketing. In addition to his deep sales and marketing experience, Matt’s an author, speaker, and yes — a blogger.
But Matt’s not the only writer behind the Heinz Marketing blog. Heinz does a great job of featuring a ton of different perspectives, from client engagement managers to executive assistants to senior marketing consultants to interns.
The Heinz blog isn’t exclusively about sales — it is Heinz Marketing after all — which means it’s a solid resource for both sales and marketing folks who want to get a better idea of how they two disciplines intersect.
Check out this post: Forecasting B2B Marketing Activities to Meet Sales Goals
3. OpenView Blog
OpenView Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that has invested in a lot of software brands that are household names (you know, if you’re in tech).
Aside from their shining portfolio of companies, they also maintain a blog with timely, insightful posts. A lot of the content here may be more relevant to sales leaders, as there’s a lot of focus on higher-level strategy and positioning, but really, anyone in sales who wants to learn more about the big picture will find something useful here.
One key area of emphasis is product-specific content; in fact, they’ve got specific categories for Product and Pricing as well as Product-Led Growth.
Another great thing about the OpenView blog is the variety of contributors: they do a great job of soliciting guest content from subject matter experts (ahem), so you’ll get exposure to lots of different topics and viewpoints, as opposed to the same old, same old.
Check out this post: The SaaS Pricing Resource Guide
4. Close Blog
First things first: We’ve gotta give a shout-out to Close for saying no to stock images and pulling some pretty creative blog feature images (usually from your favorite feature films) out of their hats.
But the writing is worth checking out, too. Close puts out a solid mix of timely and evergreen content, and the topics they come up with are fresh and outside-the-box. There are categories for process and management as well as really specific skill-building, like cold calls and emails.
Check out this post: 21 sales memes everyone doing B2B sales in 2020 will get
5. Instructure Business Blog
This isn’t just for the sales crowd, but sales leaders, managers, and enablement folks will find some great resources here that speak to their needs and interests.
Instructure’s blog tends to feature employee- and workplace-oriented content — which makes sense, as their “Bridge Employee Development Platform” is all about putting people at the center of their business.
That’s especially top of mind now since critical topics — like diversity and inclusion — have become major themes of 2020. And of course, there’s the ongoing remote workplace culture that teams are continuing to navigate. Instructure has some truly insightful articles about creating a supportive, productive environment for your employees and colleagues.
Check out this post: Before They Quit, They Quit
6. Ambition Blog
Okay, we realize we’re kind of patting ourselves on back, but we really couldn’t leave ourselves off this list. If you’re here, then you know: our blog is committed to providing value to sales leaders, sales enablement leaders, managers, reps (and really anyone else whose role is even tangentially related to sales).
At the end of the day, our goal is to create content that speaks to the burning, top-of-mind questions you have. And we’re not naive enough to think we’ve got all the answers, so we make it a point to gather and deliver insights from very smart people outside of Ambition on a regular basis.
Check out this post: 5 Sales Incentives That Won't Cost You A Cent
7. Drift blog
Both marketing and sales folks love Drift, so it’s no surprise they love their blog, too.
It’s hard to find a post on Drift’s blog that won’t give you actionable, let’s-implement-these-today kind of takeaways. From creating better video content to enhancing your BDR culture, there’s really something here everyone. Plus, they’ve got a great voice and their writing is just fun to read.
We’re especially impressed with the content they put out around their commitment to anti-racism, celebrating Pride month, and other topics that they’re not afraid to take a stand on.
Check out this post: For Great Sales Enablement, Check Your T.O.N.E.
8. Udemy Blog
At Udemy, there’s something for everyone. (Hey, new tagline?) Here again, the content goes way beyond the sales sphere, and in fact, a lot of it isn’t industry specific at all.
One our favorite sections to explore is the Soft Skills section. There are a lot of topics here you won’t find on your typical sales blog — like creating psychological safety in the workplace or how to improve your writing skills.
We also love the Business category, which goes pretty broad (want to learn how to become a stockbroker?), but also includes some super-solid sales-specific articles.
Check out this post: Conflict is a Gift: 5 Steps to Better Conflict Management
9. Seismic blog
Seismic is all about ensuring that teams are armed with relevant, accessible content. So it’s no surprise that their own team is a content machine.
Seismic generates and delivers quality content on a regular basis, both on their blog and in their Knowledge Center. While it’s all generally sales- or sales enablement-related, we like how they get vertical-specific: they’ve got categories for tech, banking, manufacturing and more.
Check out this post: 9 Tips for Connecting with Buyers and Closing Deals Faster in the Modern Sales Cycle
10. RAIN Group’s Sales Blog
The RAIN Group delivers 100% highly tactical sales content that aligns with the philosophy and programming they’ve become quite popular for.
Their blog is browsable by topics like management, training, negotiation and prospecting. There’s not a lot of fluff here: they bring a strong, to-the-point perspective on selling that’s often supported by solid data and research.
Check out this post: 5 Key Takeaways from Our Top-Performing Sales Organization Research
Have other favorite blogs we should include? Give us a shout and let us know!
