Build your Business with Books

We often think of reading as a leisurely activity for people who have “free time”. If you are running your own company or building your business, free time may seem non-existent. Still it is important to make time to read. Reading can strengthen your knowledge and foster creative ideas.

Our recent sales training was designed around a book. Yes, a book! Once a week our sales team met to review and discuss a chapter of the book. Each person was asked to present a chapter to the group. The presentations allowed the employees to be creative and practice the principles they learned from the book. It was a fun and engaging activity for the team to read, role-play and practice together. We learned a ton, not just from the book but from each other as well.

A good book can be used in a number of ways to grow you, your team, and your business. We would like to share a few:

•  Apply your reading to your work. Are you struggling with a specific skill at work? Maybe you want to brush up on a certain software program. Grab a book related to your problem and find a solution!
• Encourage others. When you run across a great book, buy copies for key members of your team that it would benefit and give the books as gifts to each. You could even use them as part of your sales training, like D & D did! It’s a great teambuilding exercise. Clients also appreciate good books. Send a great read to some of your top clients with a personal note. Doing so will make you stand out above the rest and build stronger relationships.
• Join a book club. Reading groups with a rotating schedule of leaders means that everyone has a chance to practice their leadership skills and the management of a group of people, who have different backgrounds and opinions.
• Vary your reading. If you typically only read business books, commit to reading one book this year in three areas outside your comfort zone. Reading different types of books can expand your vocabulary, boost your creativity and even perfect your writing skills.

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it. ― Oscar Wilde

Finding time to read is challenging, but, hey, you found the time to finish this article! What good books have you read lately?