To truly increase your earning potential, you will have to learn how to bring "big value" to your customers. Learn what is important to them, what are their competitive weaknesses, what keeps them up at night.

When you understand your customer's problems, you can present powerful solutions by tying your products or solutions to their pain.

So, you might ask, "How can I learn how to bring more value to my customers?" The answer is both learning how to sell better, and learning how to understand your customer's business and challenges.

Start reading books that teach you how to follow a sales process. With a strong sales process (tailored to your particular product or service) you will be much more effective at, for instance:

1. Prospecting and Qualifying
2. Getting your foot in the door (Gaining Access)
3. Learning about your customer (Needs Analysis)
4. Tailoring a solution to fit your customer's needs

Of course the above stages are simplified, but the point is that once you have an idea what process you should be following, you will always know where your customers stand in the sales funnel. You will also be more realistic with your sales forecast.

So with that out of the way, you can take some time to learn about your customers' business needs and challenges. Try to minimize time spent reading magazines and periodicals (although they are important for understanding trends and current events). Spend your time reading business books that can teach you how to understand and identify your customers' real business challenges at a strategic level.

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In the meantime, get started by checking out one of the books below. They were hand picked for this lens and they are each worth their weight in gold.