When I worked on my MBA, this was "the" book to read on the topic, and I would say, even today still holds a lot of relevance.

Michael Porter: Competitive Strategy
http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Strategy-Techniques-Industries-Competitors/dp/0684841487/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201757992&sr=1-7

Many of the ideas, concepts and theories related to strategy floating out there, "borrow" from Porter and his writings. He is the Harvard guru on the subject and his books on Cometition. On the other hand, I found his book kind of dry and academic. Not for everyone. After reading it, you may not necessarily be a great business strategist, but at least you will understand the concepts very well. It is very generic, such that you will not really see things at a tactical level.

With a more sales-oriented, "practical" stretegy orientation, I've always liked the books written by Miller & Heiman. Some good theory behind their practical strategies. This is a good place to start. Such as the New Strategic Selling.

http://www.amazon.com/New-Strategic-Selling-Successful-Companies/dp/044669519X/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201758414&sr=1-1

There are of course, lots of books out there on the subject -- some quite entertaining. But these two come to mind as "must reads" though perhaps not as fun to read as others.

(I'll leave it to someone else to recommend Crossing the Chasm, which tends to get mentioned often here. The problem with this book, is that people misundersand business strategy and product strategy ... but that's for another day).

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Robert Dubicki

Hi Adam

Business wise, I would highly recommend "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do about It" by Michael E Gerber.

Tessa Stowe
www.salesconversation.com

In my humble opinion, here they are:

1. You CanÂ?t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar by David Sandler

2. Close the Deal by Sam Deep

3. Strategic Selling by Robert Miller and Stephen Heiman

4. SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

5. Power Base Selling by Jim Holden

6. Selling to the Very Important Top Officer by Anthony Parinello

7. Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore

8. You Have to Be Believed to be Heard by Bert Decker

9. Managing the Professing Services Firm by David Maister

For those who are fond of books, I strongly recommend trying out http://www.shelfari.com. I especially liked the community TAG cloud around the books which allows me to find other good related books that might be worth reading. I have NO affiliation to Shelfari. I have personally used it and found it useful.

Thanks,
Suresh

For sales insights, I always like to mix it up with a little contextual reading about the industries I deal with, just so i can be a better subject matter expert. I often use what I learned from The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman to engage clients in conversations. If you're all sales pitch, I've found you rarely succeed.