Book Description

Marketing as we know it is disappearing, declares industry legend Regis McKenna.As marketers focus on advertising and promotion, the chief information officer is automating their core functions. As they obsess over brand, the chief strategy officer is dispersing their responsibilities throughout the organization. And as they squabble over whether marketing is an art or a science, McKenna argues that they're completely overlooking what marketing has become: a technology.

What does this displacement mean for the future of marketing and its role in today's increasingly networked organizations? Who will manage the all-important customer relationship-and how? In this bold new book, McKenna marshals over forty years of experience as a marketing innovator, investor, and industry visionary to explore an emerging-and essentially different-marketing paradigm.

In this unconventional model, says McKenna, computers and the network do most of the work, from data gathering to customer care and response. The marketing function disappears into a network of relationships and responsibilities between man and machine throughout the value chain. Total consumer access to-and interaction with-the marketplace replaces the archaic broadcast model. For marketers, the end goal changes from creating brand awareness to satisfying customers. And brand itself becomes a"persistent presence" which sustains the customer dialogue however and whenever the customer chooses.

McKenna argues that marketers must shed their marginal role as image creators and take on the brave new role of managing this new infrastructure. They must learn to operate with one foot in marketing and one foot in information systems-integrating the people and technological tools necessary to deliver value and novelty to every customer anytime, all the time. Competitive advantage will come from engaging the entire business in this total access network-making marketing a mission-critical, enterprise-wide responsibility.

A rousing manifesto by a renowned pioneer of high-tech marketing, Total Access will remake marketing and redefine success in our networked world. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Thought provoking
The premise of this book is that the process and function of marketing are changing - in large part due to changes in technology. While it's hard to argue with that basic premise, you're likely to find yourself agreeing with some of the author's opinions about the implications of these changes and disagreeing with others. Whether you agree or disagree with McKenna's predictions for the future, you'll probably find them thought-provoking. The theme I found most compelling was that technology, along with a number of other factors, is likely to bring an end to the era in which branding dominates marketing thought.

Has some great new ideas, bad news for traditional marketers
While the book tends to go round and round a bit, its central theme (the evolution of branding to include all channels of access and the need for a new marketing discipline) is very thought provoking.

McKenna argues that many of the functions traditionally performed by marketers under the auspices of "brand" such as customer service, market intelligence, etc. are being performed by IT departments. He warns marketers that their jobs are being absorbed by the CTO and CIO.

His description of a new kind of "Marketing Architecture" is very interesting. The book manages to tie channels of access together with loyalty, brand awareness, globalization, and partnerships. I found that the book required me to wrench my brain to think about marketing and technology from a very different angle.

I suspect marketers will dislike its central premise. Nobody likes to hear that their job is going to be automated by the guys in the IT department!

More Regis hype
Typical puffed-up, self-promoting. How did this self-described "legend" manage to pull the wool over so many eyes? Remember - this is a PR guy! His advice on anything except self-promotion should be ignored. The book is circuitous and deadly dull.

What was I thinking....
when I bought this book. Completely worthless. First, this book seemed to be a commentary rather than a book filled with facts. No references were made about any of the facts...just the author's and his family's experiences. Kind of like the John Madden of marketing. If you score more points than the opposing team you have a good chance of winning the game....duh!

Too fluffy
The most valuable part of this book is in chapter 7 in which he provides the checkpoints for the marketing architecture. McKenna used the first six chapters to create the foundation from which he postulates the need for the marketing architecture -- which is chapter 7.

I bought into his reasons in the first chapter and as a result, I could have, should have gone directly to chapter 7. ... Read more

Book Description

It is no longer enough to concentrate on customer satisfaction; companies must graduate to customer loyalty. This Management Briefing identifies the four stages of a company's evolution toward building lasting customer loyalty, and it summarizes the key management principles that must guide the transition. The book also provides a seven-step roadmap and audit to help readers:

**increase customer retention rates and convert one-time buyers into lifelong customers
**achieve a breakthrough profit improvement by concentrating on customer loyalty
**make employee empowerment real, not just a fad or slogan. ... Read more

Book Description

Astute managers and entrepreneurs already know that customer loyalty is anecessity for profitable businesses in the '90s and beyond, and they haveinvested in this knowledge by initiating a wide variety of qualityservice programs intended to dazzle customers. But while providingdazzling service may tender short-term customer satisfaction, it is acostly and unsustainable approach. Long-term success depends on replacingthe superficial transaction-oriented approach with the deeper commitmentof partnership-the essence of a value-based approach to servingcustomers.

Describing the qualities that embody this deeper commitment, Customers AsPartners provides examples from the corporate world, small servicebusinesses, and personal experience. Illustrating each key principle withanecdotes and stories, this book shows how all lasting businessrelationships share the same partnership attributes as a friendship ormarriage.

Customers As Partners vividly shows how to achieve lasting success bycreating sustaining personal bonds-the true source of a company'sprofitability. This ground-breaking work provides insights on how to keepthe quality of these relationships central in every interaction. Itoffers a model of partnership where customers offer valuable feedback,support your business by recommending you to others, and forgive mistakesbecause they feel a reciprocal long-term commitment. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly Recommended!
Chip R. Bell combines the practical with the heartfelt in a top-notch guide to creating a partnership with customers. He focuses on the elements of abundance, trust, dreams, truth, balance, and grace. The book uses intelligent and creative case histories and anecdotes to illustrate these essential components and, therefore, rises above the level of the basic how-to. The author pays close attention to intangible, human relationship concerns. The book is written well in an intimate, yet highly informative style. It weaves stories throughout each chapter. Although we at getAbstract recommend this book for people who deal directly with customers and people who supervise, manage, or lead others in a service-oriented business, the author correctly points out that the book's methods also can enhance anyone's professional and personal relationships.

Sage advice and wisdom on how to delight your customers.
Chip Bell takes the idea of customer service one step further -- make your customers "partners".Partners have responsibilities and are treated much more like the neighbor next door.Mr. Bell fills this bookswith lots of stories that underline his key points and make it real.I'mbuying copies as Christmas gifts for all my frontline employees.

Simple and easy to read...a read-in-one-sitting book!
Customers as Partners is an enjoyable book that cuts right to the chase onwhat customer service SHOULD be.This book goes well beyond getting andkeeping customers; it is a roadmap for developing lifelong partners. Chip's examples are down to earth and can be related to by everyone fromSenior Management right down to the person at the cash register or frontdesk.You won't find any quality jorgon or terminology here... just plainenglish thats easy to read in one sitting.Definately a five-star book. Be sure to buy more than one copy if you intend to lend it to a friendbecause you won't see it again. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Extremely useful book with the emergence of BPM
This is a very useful book for anybody interested in designing and managing customer friendly services. The methodology that the author uses (unfortunately does not have a name) can easily be tweaked for manufacturing processes. With Business Process Management currenly gaining acceptance, this book would be a must. Specific comments include:

1. Content on simulation is basic. The reader must do some additional reading outside this book to really start doing useful simulations.
2. Replace flow charting conventions with more accepted and evolving conventions like IDEF, BPMN, UML 2.0 etc.
3. Content on measuring performance is also basic. A reader must probably read some additional books on Balanced Scorecard or Dynamic Balanced Scorecard.
4. Enhance these ideas with BPO related content.

Please note that most of my specific comments are developments that have happened or are happening after this book was published.

Leads the way towards effective service delivery
This book examines service processes from both the internal and customer's viewpoints, and provides a clear path to capturing, analyzing and integrating metrics from viewpoints. If you follow the design approach that the author proposes you will have baseline processes that are measurable and manageable. More importantly, you will have a process that is flexible enough to follow changing customer requirements and demands, as well as lending itself to continuous improvement

I like the comparison made early in the book between products and services and the emphasis on not only design of services, but delivery. These are reinforced by fictional case studies and examples that transform theory into practical steps.

In the section devoted to actual design of service processes the author uses quality function deployment (QFD), which is a powerful technique that has proven itself repeatedly since it was first used by Japanese shipbuilders in the mid-60s. In my opinion QFD is the best technique for capturing, assessing and managing requirements. Its key strengths are the ability to quickly perform a comparative analysis on the whats and hows, show correlations and trade-offs in a quantifiable manner, and superimpose a competitive analysis. The most important aspect of QFD, though, is that it captures the voice of the customer.

The author drills down into design concepts and introduces another powerful technique called the Pugh Method (named after Professor Stuart Pugh), which is a highly refined approach to evaluating design concepts and selecting the best concept from competing alternatives. While I had a great deal of experience with QFD, the Pugh Method was new to me and I have quickly added it to my collection of best practices and tools.

In the section on management and improvement the real work begins. Here the author thoroughly covers design implementation. This looks easy on paper - doing it is another thing and the advice offered is on the mark. Measuring performance of the process (internal view) and assessing customer satisfaction (external view) are discussed in detail and quantitative methods are heavily employed. I thought the chapter on assessing customer satisfaction was among the best approaches I have come across. I also liked the chapter on improving service performance. This chapter shows you how to ensure continuous improvement of service delivery, which is key to staying one step ahead of customer demands.

I develop and implement information technology service support and delivery processes for a living. This book has influenced my thinking over the years and the approach has been successfully implemented within that environment. However, the approach can be applied to any service, which is evidenced by the examples and case studies that are used throughout the book, none of which have anything to do with information technology. This book is the first one I recommend to colleagues, and it has my highest recommendation for anyone who wants to develop and implement a truly customer-focused service process.

Old News
Rohit Ramaswamy has presented us with a dinosaur view of how to manage service processes. It reflects the old "inside-out" view of service management, which is now widely discredited by leading service managers. Hence the emphasis on widespread internal metrics and the operations orientation. True attention to service implies driving the company's service offering from the outside-in, and is keyed by customer satisfaction measurement rather than operational measures.

Invaluable
This is the only book in print today that deals specifically with service design. Dr. Ramaswamy explores this subject in great depth, providing tremendous detail and essentially opening the gates to those service companies that would like to emulate the fabled six sigma approach. Dr. Ramaswamy is a skilled communicator and academic, whose style leaves no stone unturned for any manager who is seriously interested in the subject of service design.

The definitive work on service design and improvement.
Back in the summer of 1995, I had the pleasure of reviewing two drafts of this book prior to its publication. The book has two primary strengths. First, it provides crystal-clear explanations of sophisticated techniques in the order in which they should be used for effective design and ongoing improvement of service processes. In this sense, the book is like a textbook, but it does not contain a problem set. Second, the book provides guidance to the practitioner in an "over-your-shoulder" style that approaches what it is like to have Dr. Ramaswamy consulting for you and sharing his methodology with you. I highly commend this book to you!

William J. Feuss, District Manager - Customer Value Strategy, AT&T Business Services ... Read more

Book Description

People have expectations. Your clients, for example. Sometimes their expectations of you seem unreasonable. But sometimes your expectations of them seem just as unreasonable (in their eyes).

The problem is that these mismatched expectations can lead to misunderstandings, frayed nerves, and ruffled feathers. More seriously, they often lead to flawed systems, failed projects, and a drain on resources.

Yet how often do you openly acknowledge these differences in expectations and take steps to better manage them? And how often are you a victim of your own expectations of yourself?

Expectations are difficult to control and impossible to turn off. Naomi Karten offers concrete ways to manage them, and in the process, to dramatically improve the effectiveness of your services.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Expectations . . .

Guard Against Conflicting Messages
Use Jargon with Care
Identify Communication Preferences
Listen Persuasively
Help Customers Describe Their Needs
Become an Information-Gathering Skeptic
Understand Your Customers' Context
Try the Solution On for Size
Clarify Perceptions
Set Uncertainty-Managing Service Standards
When Appropriate, Just Say Whoa
Build Win-Win Relationships
Formulate an Action Plan ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Learn how to communicate the good and the bad news
The key message of this book is that you must listen carefully to your customers and co-workers, hearing every word, but also the broad message. Many of the primary problems in the business-customer relationship are due to different definitions of commonly understood words, such as "regular", "extended", "timely" and even "month." Whole phrases are subject to different interpretations, and the author recites an instance from a trip to her physician. After examination, the physician pronounced her condition as "unremarkable." At first she was angry, and yet having the sense to think before making a fist, she realized that was the doctor's way of saying she was fine.
Which also points out what is the most critical condition for success dealing with anyone, whether they are in the group described by the book title or not. As e-mail use has shown us, it is almost impossible to avoid saying something that can be taken in an offensive manner. Business is about getting things done, and you don't complete complex tasks by making small talk about the weather. You do things by communicating the current situation as it is, even if it is not what the receiver wants to hear and it is necessary to take people to task. Therefore, your best policy is to avoid getting angry quickly, developing a thick skin and concentrating on completing the tasks at hand.
Naomi Karten puts forward advice that is simply not heard often enough. Forget about all of the sensitivity nonsense and concentrate on forms of communication that can be used to explain frustrations, demands, concerns, and all of the other things that go wrong between people trying to work together. Understand that ambiguity is the natural state of affairs, so look for the real meanings rather than the individual words. Whenever you hear something, put your feelings aside for a short time until you clearly understand what the message really was.
The phrase "People who want more, better, faster, sooner, NOW!" is just a long way of describing "customers", so anyone in business must be prepared to deal with such people. In this book, you will learn how to approach customers with your feelings placed in the background and all of your information receivers on high-band. With business growing more competitive every day, this may be the only way to remain a viable economic entity.

A useful guide to create good understandings with others.
Managing Expectations is a book for everyone who deals with customers or other people with expectations. Using a customer service model, Ms. Karten describes the ways in which people successfully and unsuccessfully manage what people expect. She advises on how to create better working relationships by fostering clearer understandings of the circumstances and limitations which exist in any situation.

Failure to manage expectations often has catestrophic consequences to projects and relationships. Those who want to build long-term relationships and successful projects will consider the cautions and advice presented here.

Ms. Karten uses gentle humor and warmth to tell us the lessons that we need in order to better communicate what we know to our clients.

People who are clients can also use this book to better understand the process of working collaboratively.

It's a fine book for evoking new insights and inspiring better communication. ... Read more

Book Description

James Heskett, Earl Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger reveal powerful new evidence that paying close attention to the employee-customer relationship will enable any organization to be a low-cost provider and achieve superior results -- proving that you can have it all, a goal thought inadvisable just a few short years ago. At the heart of this bold assertion is the authors' indisputable conclusion supported by thirty-one years of groundbreaking research: today's employee satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment strongly influences tomorrow's customer satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment and ultimately the organization's profit and growth -- a quantifiable set of associations the authors call the value profit chain.

In what may be the most far-reaching study ever undertaken of the strategic importance of the employee-customer relationship, Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger offer profound new insights into the life-long value of both employees and customers and the increasingly important concept of employee-relationship management. Readers will discover how organizations as diverse as aluminum maker Alcoa, travel agency Rosenbluth International, and the Willow Creek Community Church treat employees like customers (in the case of Willow Creek, volunteers as well). Conversely, the authors show how advertising agency Merkley Newman Harty and financial services provider ING Direct treat customers like employees, pursuing the ones they want most. At the Vanguard Group, Cisco Systems, and Southwest Airlines, both practices are common.The authors explain how these organizations and many others -- whether large or small, public or private, or not-for-profit -- achieve profitability and growth or the equivalent by leveraging results and process quality to deliver differentiated products and services at the lowest cost.

Timely, essential, and important reading, The Value Profit Chain should be readily accessible on the desk of every forward-thinking manager. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

As Good As It Gets
The Value Profit Chain provides tremendous insight into the critical elements of a world class operating strategy. I particularly found Chapters 1 and 2 extremely helpful in providing a framework to think about the details of what is required to support our brand positioning. As they say, God is in the details and this book helped me understand which details matter and which don't. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to lead customer-focused change in their organizations.

A Good Idea, But not a Clear Argument.
This book has some value but it is jumbled up with a lot of that mumbo jumbo that people in HR use when they have little to add to a discussion.

Most employees are not owners and will never really behave (work hard) like owners - they talk much about loyalty and responding to good practices but experience tells me that when it comes to the choice of a midnight session to complete a presentation, most will have an excuse (got to take the cat to the vet) and those that stay will want two days off as their matching reward while telling you for the next year how hard they work.

This book sides with the employees as being open to great things so you just have to treat them as per their instructions.

Yes in some cases, employees will meet the expectations. But mostly they will let you down, as does this book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Helped me greatly with a persuasive paper for Bus. class.
I had a persuasive paper to write for my Business communication class and this book helped me cite statistics and argue in favor of hiring a Corporate Travel Manager. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Service: The Competitive Weapon for the 1990sDemand for total customer service is rolling over business like a juggernaut. Companies that master service will triumph; those that ignore it will be swept into bankruptcy. Total Customer Service shows why understanding customer service is imperative, how to achieve it, what it costs, and provides a six-point plan for acquiring the decisive weapon in business wars. The Six-Point Plan for Gaining the Competitive Edge• Devise a service strategy• Get top managers to behave like customer service fanatics• Concentrate on motivating and training employees• Design products and services that make good customer service possible• Invest in service infrastructure• Monitor achievement of customer service goals ... Read more

Reviews (1)

This is an *excellent* book!!!!!!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to excel in giving goodcustomer service.I have a background in retail, social psych, and marketresearch, with experience in customer satisfaction research studies - and Ifound this book extremely useful.Not only did I learn a lot from it, butit also put much of what I have learned along the way (and feel as aconsumer) into writing!It can help you plan a customer service programfor your store or company, whether your company is brand-new orpre-existing.It is a little dry at times, but also has some greatexamples of what you should do or not do.I'd buy the book just for them! ... Read more

Book Description

This classic service primer shows how to make service quality an imperative in the organization and increase profits with customer loyalty. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Insightful!
This often-quoted classic still has a lot to say about the service frenzy of today's market, a phenomena that it predicted in its first edition more than fifteen years ago. Karl Albrecht and Ron Zemke have written a powerful, no-nonsense book filled with illustrative examples. If many of their insights seem to be common sense by now, it is only because so many of them have become a part of our collective business unconscious. If this volume was prophetic then (1985), it is indispensable now. We from getAbstract recommend this book to managers and executives throughout the corporate hierarchy.

Start Managing Your Customer Service
Tired of all of those "smile and be friendly" customer service approaches?As a leader this book was instrumental in getting me started in knowing what to do within my division to improve customer service.

Grab the note pad and cancel your appointments.........
Pick this book up, grab your pen, and start taking notes.Albrecht and Zemke have tapped the fountain of proven total customer service strategies.No touchy-feely management fluff here, but rather a proven service strategy aligning customers, employees, and systems along a common plane.As with any product, we try to improve it.These two authors get it right: Service is a product - Let's improve it until our customers say its perfect.Then make it better.

From customer moment-of-truths to the importance of out-focused organizational structures, Service America provides insight into the mind of the customer and why they flock to companies offering stellar customer service.This book exposes the truth we often overlook: Service is the Competitive Edge. ... Read more

Book Description

In today's highly networked and competitive global economy, mounting social and environmental problems are forcing corporations to focus on more than just their stockholders' interest in meeting bottom line profitability. More and more companies are recognizing the value of identifying and building relationships with all of their organization's stakeholders-employees, customers, suppliers and even communities.In fact, recent research has shown that companies that treat their employees well, create jobs in the local economy, develop innovative products and services, take care of the environment, and contribute to the community, are often more profitable.

In The Stakeholder Strategy, sociologist Ann Svendsen presents an effective and practical step-by-step guide that companies can use to forge a network of powerful and profitable collaborative stakeholder relationships.

While some forward thinking corporations have tried limited collaborative approaches-focusing on one stakeholder group at a time--few have taken a comprehensive and strategic approach to building relationships with all of their stakeholders, notes Svendsen. And, while considerable commitment to the idea of stakeholder collaboration exists, there is a lack of knowledge and understanding about how to develop these relationships. The Stakeholder Strategy is the first book to show business leaders and managers how to establish and maintain positive, mutually beneficial stakeholder relationships.Based on a synthesis of ideas from community relations, corporate philanthropy, stakeholder management, organizational change, sustainability, and the corporate social responsibility literature, it offers an integrated framework, as well as the practical tools for developing new kinds of collaborative relationships.

Svendsen uses easy-to-grasp concepts from everyday life, such as the process we go through in finding a mate or developing a long-term friendship, to illustrate these relationship-building strategies.She lays out the steps a company should take to create a collaboration-friendly organization: establishing a social mission, values, and ethical guidelines; assessing corporate readiness for collaboration; and making changes in communication, information and reward systems to support internal and external collaboration. Featuring case study examples from companies in North America and Europe who are working to build collaborative relationships with their stakeholders, The Stakeholder Strategy is the first book to provide a detailed explanation of how to conduct stakeholder audits and social audits so that companines can evaluate their relationship-building success and keep on track. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly Recommended!
Ann Svendsen’s critically acclaimed book is one of the first attempts to define a new relationship between business and its employees, customers and communities. Written in a conversational, intelligent style, The Stakeholder Strategy makes the case for collaborative stakeholder relationships and tries to show companies how they can develop and nurture those relationships for mutual benefit. Regardless of whether you think that Svendsen has succeeded or failed in that goal, the book gives plenty of examples, drawn from diverse industries, to support her claims. At the same time, it doesn’t get bogged down by endless source notes; the book provides just enough data to make a point and back it up. The book isn’t a flimsy how-to, nor is it a dry academic tome. It fits comfortably in the middle by incorporating the best of both approaches. We at ... recommend this book to company leaders and managers, as well as anyone — from life-long employee to adversarial activist — who falls under the new definition of a corporate stakeholder.

The Mansion In The Mist
I really enjoyed the book because it made me use my imagination. Set in the 1950s, in a mansion in another world, three characters are required to find a certain object. If they fail, creatures will invade the planet Earth. The story is told by Anthony Monday, the thirteen year-old protagonist, who starts the adventure by accidentally transporting himself to the other world. Once there, Anthony learns of the plot by the antagonistic creatures, who will stop at nothing to take over Earth. Together with the help of his friends, the Eells, the group searches for the solution that will prevent the creatures from reaching their goal. This conflict is decided just at the last moment. I liked this book because it makes the reader follow along and think of solutions to the many problems. Also, many surprises and suspenseful moments are found throughout the story. The only negative comment that I have about the book is that the discussion about the various solutions was too drawn-out. For readers my age, I would highly recommend this book because it was interesting and had a good plot. If you like the R.L. Stine books, this would be a great book for you to read because the authors are very similar. I would only recommend this book to teachers if they enjoy reading science fiction.

A framework for a holistic approach to stakeholder relations
This book is essential reading not only for community relations managers but for any corporate manager responsible for corporate strategy and for developing relationships with a company's key stakeholders. Svendsen provides a practical, easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach to all phases of building collaborative relationships. The book is filled with useful tools, practical tips, case vignettes and charts that summarize key points. The author discusses the critical role of both implicit and explicit "contracts" between stakeholders and companies and emphasizes relationship building as a corporate-wide responsibility. She sees reputation as critical to corporate success and trust as the most important ingredient in building positive stakeholder relations. And, she focuses on the importance of preparing an organization for relationship building by developing a social mission and creating structures and policies that support collaborative relationships with both external and internal stakeholders. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer loyalty has always been grounded in human interaction. Years ago, you'd walk into your favorite store and the staff would know your name, they'd remember your favorite brands, and they'd smile, nod, and take pains to make sure you came back. Because you were treated well by a personable, friendly staff--and because you were physically constrained by time and distance to limit yourself to particular stores--you'd go back to the same stores again and again.

The reach of the Web and advances in database technology have made this same level of personalized attention attainable by e-tailers thousands of miles away with a virtual staff customers may never meet. With customers now freed of the shackles of distance, they can comparison shop and fill out a profile that introduces a personalized element where e-tailers remember their name and preferences at a level that exceeds what a brick-and-mortar retailer can provide.

More than ever, the Web is empowering customers, making them more demanding of a great shopping experience, and consequently more fickle. Today's customers have the world at their fingertips, and keeping them loyal has become even more difficult. This is why websites are failing at an alarming rate. It's more obvious than ever that success lies not only in attracting customers but in retaining them.

In e-Loyalty, Ellen Reid Smith, leading customer loyalty expert and nationally acclaimed speaker, offers the definitive and essential step-by-step guide to creating and managing highly effective online loyalty and retention strategies.

Using some of the Internet's leading consumer and business-to-business websites as case examples, she takes readers from the early stages of implementing e-loyalty marketing programs through budgeting and evaluating their impact. From explaining the key concepts of e-loyalty to advising on critical website design factors, Reid Smith imparts techniques that can be applied by companies of any type or size--from the Fortune 500 companies she is regularly called upon to consult with to Internet start-ups.

Most of all, what truly distinguishes Reid Smith is her unwavering focus on not just retaining customers but retaining a company's most valuable customers through customer lifetime value modeling. Her advice will help companies ensure that their retention programs are focused on the most profitable customers since this aspect of online marketing has become the most important issue facing websites worldwide.

No matter whichsegment of the online economy you hail from, this is the essential handbook for initiating, cultivating, and extending that rarest of company assets: e-loyalty. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

This book gave me a plan for designing customer retention
I heard Ms. Smith at a conference and bought her book to get more details on her 7 steps to designing an e-loyalty strategy. The book throughly explains her 7 steps with tons of examples, some of which were really funny (I love humor in a business book). I designed and implemented a customer retention program based on the book and our customer return rate has really soared. Both the customer communications and reward ideas were key in raising our page view and purchase rates. It's a great book for businesses with websites that aren't successful, or for anyone implementing a customer retention program online.

Remarkable light on the substance; disappointing purchase
I read a number of the reviews here and was quite excited to read this book when it came in the mail. Much to my chagrin, the material was very light and pretty much common sense. There were no great insights and a remarkable lack of specific examples. The author discusses her suggestions in generalities, but does not support those suggestions with specific examples forcing the reader to long for clarification on exactly what she is trying to recommend. All in all, a disappointing purchase. This book may have been great in 2000, but today is obsolete.

A great primer for Loyalty
I consult for clients in ebusiness strategy and one of my clients was interested in using a loyalty program to retain clients. With little time on my hands, I needed to become an expert on Loyalty and Ellen's book was the best primer I could find. As a resource, her book provides a great foundation for what loyalty is about, the theory, and the how-to-approach for building a loyalty program. I may be a quick study, but I credit Ellen's book with giving me the knowledge that I needed to be credible with the client in our first meeting. With all the confusion out there about loyalty, and the misperception that everyone has about loyalty=points program, I believe Ellen's is the right book to set you on the right path

The step by step manual to truly engender loyalty!
Ellen Reid-Smith has distilled everything you need to know and everything you need to do into a step-by-step manual for creating a website that will cause people to show up and then to keep coming back. The real key is that you must focus your efforts on Most Valuable Customers (MVCs) as these are the people who make your business profitable and pay the bills. Reid-Smith demonstrates with hundreds of excellent examples from her many years of first-hand experiences that companies who try to please everybody equally end up pleasing nobody completely. If you design your website to attract everyone and assume that your "great" service will keep them coming back, then, you don't have a prayer against your competition. As Reid-Smith points out, you MUST design with your MVCs in mind and focus on strategies that build "switching costs" that will keep you best customers with you and make it difficult for them to consider going to a competitor. This focus on MVCs will give your website a distinctive "personality" that will soon attract casual users to also become MVCs. The book is easy to read, but, is clearly quite deep on the details of what you need to do to go get it done. I applaud Ms. Reid-Smith for being the first to market with such a helpful blueprint for success fo content and commerce website developers!

Key to Survival
The key concept in the Darwinian model of evolution is that even small competitive advantages will, over time, determine the dominant traits overall.

What we are seeing in the "dot-com" world is a blindingly fast Darwinian process. The trouble is that due to its speed, it is difficult to differentiate why the winners are winning and the losers are losing. That is, unless you take into consideration the human side of the issues.

In her book, e-Loyalty, Ms. Reid Smith brings her many years of experience together with a sublime understanding of human relationships to make it clear that though the Web may be new, the principles that work to develop loyal customers are not.

The tools available are uncountable. The technologies have never been more powerful. The medium is mass-oriented. With Ellen as your guide, you will find clarity in solving your problems.

This is a must read for anyone who wishes to survive and thrive online. ... Read more

Book Description

Competing in a Service Economy is a hands-on guide to creating services, with illustrative examples from service-oriented companies including Disney, Ericsson, IKEA, National Association of Convenience Stores, Ritz Carlton, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Sterling Pulp Chemicals, and Telia Mobile. This practical resource for executives, general managers, and managers in marketing, operations, and human resources reveals how to gain a competitive advantage by creating and implementing a strategic plan that will ultimately improve their organization's services. Written by the authors of the best-selling book Improving Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty, and Profit, this important new book will help business professionals to think and plan strategically to dramatically improve services, service development, and service innovation within their organizations. ... Read more

Book Description

What Do Citicorp, UPS and Marriott have in common? They are "breakthrough" service providers, firms that changed the rules of the game in their respective industries by consistently meeting or exceeding customer needs and expectations. To find out how these companies do it, service management experts James Heskett, Earl Sasser, and Christopher Hart put the question to the chief executive officers of fifteen of America's leading service firms attending a workshop at the Harvard Business School. Breakthrough leaders, they discovered, think very differently about their businesses than do their competitors, in distinct and well-defined ways. Now, in Service Breakthroughs, based upon five years of exhaustive research in fourteen service industries, Heskett, Sasser, and Hart show exactly what enables one or two companies in each industry to constantly set new standards for quality and value that force competitors to adapt or fail.

At the heart of breakthrough performance, the authors contend, is a sometimes intuitive but thorough understanding of the "self-reinforcing service cycle" that replaces traditional management of "trade-offs." The "cycle" is a paradigm derived from the research results suggesting direct links between heightened customer satisfaction, increased customer retention, augmented sales and profit, improved quality and productivity, greater service value per unit of cost, improved satisfaction of service providers, increased employee retention, and further heightened customer satisfaction. With detailed examples and dramatic case studies of Mark Twain Bancshares, American Airlines, Florida Power & Light, Federal Express, McDonald's and many other companies, Heskett, Sasser, and Hart show how this self-reinforcing cycle of behavior differentiates breakthrough leaders from their "merely good" competitors.

The authors describe how breakthrough managers develop counterintuitive, even contrarian, strategic service visions. These companies define their "service concept" in terms of results achieved for customers rather than services performed. They target market segments by focusing on psychographics -- how customers think and behave -- instead of demographics. And instead of viewing a service delivery system as a facility where the service is producted and sold, breakthrough firms see it as an opportunity to enhance the quality of the service.

These profound differences in thought and action have brought spectacular results. For managers who wish to set the pace in their service industries, Service Breakthroughs will be essential reading. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A very thorough view on sevice excellency
This is one of the first books that discuss the client-side of businesses. When this book was published, very few authors had thought of addressing this topic, and Heskett, Sasser and Hart did an excellent job in their analysis of the service industries. The market for banks, hotels, airlines and other service providers has changed dramatically in the last ten years, and the authors show what the leaders in each of these markets did to keep their customers coming back. They show that the main goal of the corporation is to 'achieve goals for the customers', not only perform services day in and day out. I have read many other books on this same subject after this one, but none with such wit and brilliance. ... Read more

Book Description

The business world seems to have given up on loyalty: many major corporations now lose-and have to replace-half their customers in five years, half their employees in four, and half their investors in less than one. Fred Reichheld's national bestseller The Loyalty Effect shows why companies that ignore these skyrocketing defections face a dismal future of low growth, weak profits, and shortened life expectancy. Reichheld demonstrates the power of loyalty-based management as a highly profitable alternative to the economics of perpetual churn. He makes a powerful economic case for loyalty-and takes you through the numbers to prove it. His startling conclusion: Even a small improvement in customer retention can double profits in your company. The Loyalty Effect will change the way you think about loyalty, profits, and the nature of business. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

How to Capture the Most Benefit from Your Business
This is an outstanding book for explaining and exploring the economic value of keeping a customer. In explaining those benefits, it becomes clearer how important and affordable it is to keep customers. Unlike most business books, which seem to be written by people who cannot use numbers, this one quantifies its points. It also shows you how to do the same for your business. As such, it is a very practical and important resource for every company. I strongly urge you to read and apply these lessons to your business. In many companies, getting new customers is seen as the solution to virtually every problem. However, a lot of times companies have to get new customers because they have disappointed the old ones. You are better off to find out why you are losing customers, and do something about it. Otherwise, you will just spend a fortune to add new customers who will soon leave you for the same reasons. This book also explains a well-known investing phenomenon, that companies with high loyalty rates are great stocks to own (like Coca-Cola, Gillette, and so forth). Did Warren Buffett know this all along? I should mention that I am a management consultant, but have no connection to the firm that wrote this book.

The most valuable business book I've read in years!!!
The Loyalty Effect takes a long, detailed look at the economics of loyalty, providing concrete examples to support the conclusion that the goal of a business must be the creation of sustainable value for customers employees and investors.

Reichheld takes that which many of us hold as "intuitively correct" and adds substance to our intuition. By translating loyalty into the language of accounting and finance, for example, he proves over and over again, that loyalty is a pre-requisitie for proitability. He doesn't argue against profitability...he merely clarifies the order of priorities for management.

I'm a former IBMer and I now run my own management consulting firm. Reichheld's firm is in fact a competitor, and yet I strongly recommend this book to any decision-maker who is interested in breaking through the fluff and securing real-world advice regarding specifc ways to sustain the health of any company.

Rather than reading the "visionaries", the turnaround specialists and the various and assorted geniuses read this. Reichheld, offers a straightforward summary of empirical evidence that correlates high retention rates (of customers and employees) with long-term profitability. While many other authors seem to be pushing their own agendas (and egos), Reichheld is summarizing the collective experience of numerous companies around the world.

Read this book. It will guide you to better business performance whether you're in marketing, finance, engineering, operations, HR or window-cleaning. If you're tired of losing customers and employees, this book may help save your butt! (if you're patient and willing to ask some difficult questions).

Superb
Simply the best business book I've read in years. An invaluable framework for long-term success.

Substantiating soft efforts for loyalty with hard figures
“Loyalty is dead” begins this classic about loyalty. But after you’ve read this book, you'll know that pursuing loyalty pays off. The authors show you many ways to measure the profit of loyalty. Not only is employee loyalty important but also the loyalty of customers and investors. The first step is to build up a set of values for your company. This core task can't be delegated; it must be done by CEOs themselves. Loyalty can't be managed; it must be earned. The book contains many examples of how large companies have done this. What I like most about this book are the hints for substantiating “soft” efforts for loyalty with “hard” figures. Most of the time the authors argue for a focus on the long term. Loyalty-based management is hard work. This is the right book to get you started.

Peter Pick
(...)

How to Achieve and Then Sustain Loyalty
I read this book when it was first published and recently re-read it. Those who have checked out my reviews of other books which address many of the same issues already know that I have a bias with regard to "customer satisfaction" and "customer loyalty", agreeing with Jeffrey Gitomer and others that the former is wholly dependent on each transaction and the latter can end (sometimes permanently) because of a single unsatisfactory transaction. The objective for those who have customers (be they internal or external) is to achieve and then sustain their passion about doing business with you. You want them to become evangelists.

Of course, Reichheld fully understands all this. In a brilliant essay which recently appeared in the Harvard Business Review, he shares new research which (again) shows that companies with faithful employees, customers, and investors (i.e. capital sources which include banks) share one key attribute: leaders who stick with six "bedrock principles": preach what you practice (David Maister has much of value to say about this in his most recently published book, Practice What You Preach), play to win-win, be picky, keep it simple, reward the right results, and finally, listen hard...talk straight. In this book, Reichheld organizes his material within 11 chapters which range from "Loyalty and Value" to "Getting Started: The Path Toward Zero Defections." With meticulous care, he explains how to devise and them implement programs which will help any organization to earn the loyalty of everyone involved in the enterprise. He draws upon a wealth of real-world experience which he and his associates in Bain & Company, a worldwide strategy consulting firm. Reichheld heads up its Loyalty Practice. In his most recently published book, Practice What You Preach, David Maister explains why there must be no discrepancy whatsoever between the "talk" we talk and the "walk" we walk. Reichheld agrees, noting that the "key" to the success of his own organization "has been its loyalty to two principles: first, that our primary mission is to create value for our clients, and second, that our most precious asset is the employees dedicated to making productive contributions to client value creation. Whenever we've been perfectly centered on these two principles, our business has prospered." It is no coincidence that the world's most highly admired companies are also the most profitable within their respective industries. I wholly agree with Reichheld that loyalty is critically important as a measure of value creation and as a source of profit but that it is by no means "a cure-all or a magic bullet." Loyalty is based on trust and respect. It must be earned, usually over an extended period of time and yet can be lost or compromised at any time with a single betrayal.

Here are three brief excerpts:

"One common barrier to better loyalty and higher productivity is the fact that a lot of business executives, and virtually all accounting departments, treat income and outlays as if they occurred in separate worlds. The truth is, revenues and costs are inextricably linked, and decisions that focus on one or the other -- as opposed to both -- often misfire."

"Companies cannot succeed or grow unless they can serve their customers with a better value proposition that the competition. Measuring customer and employee loyalty can accurately gauge the weaknesses in a company's value proposition and help to prescribe a cure."

"While every loyalty leader's strategy is unique, all of them build on the following eight elements: Building a superior customer value proposition, finding the right customers, earning customer loyalty, finding the right employees, earning employee loyalty, gaining cost advantage through superior productivity, finding the right [capital sources], and earning [their] loyalty."

Who will derive the greatest value from this book? Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of size or nature) which has been weakened by defections among customers and/or employees. If the primary objectives are value creation and partnership, decision-makers in these organizations must never betray or neglect any of the fundamentals of loyalty-based management: "partnership builds incentive; incentive builds value; value builds loyalty; loyalty builds even greater value." It's as simple and (yes) as difficult as that. ... Read more

Book Description

Battle-tested strategies for marketing your product or service to victory!

Millions of business warriors have been inspired by lessons from one of the world's greatest strategists, Sun Tzu. In Sun Tzu Strategies for Winning the Marketing War, the bestselling author and Sun Tzu expert Gerald Michaelson interprets the influential thinker's classic battle strategies specifically for today's marketing professionals by boiling down the classic The Art of War into "The Principles of the Marketing War," such as:

• Organization of Intelligence: Know your market as well as you know yourself
• Economy of Force: Assess accurately where you employ your resources
• Simplicity: Even the simplest plans are difficult to execute

Each principle is followed by strategic and tactical applications of the principle as adapted by the most successful armies of the world throughout history. The book features real-life applications of Sun Tzu's theories drawn from some of the business world's most successful marketing campaigns.

Reviews (1)

Sun Tzu: Strategies for Marketing
Some of the wisest words for marketing professionals can be found in this book, not only because Gerald Michaelson' extensive studies but also by the fascinating framework he uses. Applying Sun Tzu's philosophy to marketing makes a lot of sense. Sun Tzu's the Art of War contains a great deal of wisdom applicable to marketing and Mr Michaelson illustrates this beautifully.

Marketing professionals from all cultures will enjoy this book, as it makes relevant the universal paradox of business - that strategy must be like water, with form yet formless, and most robust when it is least rigid. Such ancient Taoist's insights are prsented here in a fresh and entertaining style that will enlighten every marketing mind. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Breakaway is a must read!
Breakaway is a must-read book for anyone in the corporate world who has responsibility for human resources, employee development, sales and marketing management, and for top corporate executives.

The main theme of the book is that in order to break away from the competition in today's ever-changing economy, an organization must effectively develop employees to deliver value to the customer faster than the competition does. After analyzing how organizations currently train employees and the deficiencies associated with this type of training, Fred goes on to define a new method for bringing employees to proficiency faster and more successfully than traditional training methods.

The first several chapters of the book document a new model for human performance and the three rules for accomplishing peak performance. The first rule - Establish a proficiency threshold - describes how to determine the point at which an employee is equipped to deliver the promised value to customers quickly. Fred clearly describes the questions that managers must ask in order to define the proficiency threshold and discusses the relationship of the proficiency threshold and the value chain.

The second rule - Accelerate the accumulation of experience - includes a discussion of how people really learn, describes the four phases of learning, discusses how traditional training methods leave the accumulation of experience to chance, and how to manage the accumulation of learning. Using an example of training copper splicers to become fiber optic cable splicers, Fred demonstrates how to successfully manage the accumulation of experience in relation to training.

The third rule - Measure the cycle time to threshold proficiency - describes the metrics used to measure the how fast an employee can be trained to arrive at the proficiency threshold. Fred goes into some detail on how to measure the overall proficiency of the organization, and redefines the learning curve as the proficiency curve.

In the last half of the book, Fred describes how to "put it all together". Recognizing that no two companies are the same, Fred compares and contrasts the styles of two very different companies. What emerges is that there is no set of rules for achieving organizational proficiency, rather there are a set of key concepts that managers must be aware of in designing fast, effective, successful development programs.

In summary, this book is very readable, indeed it is designed "...for the business leader, to be read in the time it takes to fly from Chicago to San Francisco or Denver to Miami." True to one of the key concepts, the book is clear, concise and to the point.

About the author:
Charles L. Fred is a thought leader in performance improvement and an expert in learning speed. He is the founder and CEO of The Breakaway Group, which provides seminars and workshops to teach the concepts described in Breakaway. Formerly the CEO of Avaltus, a leading provider of e-learning services, he has also directed major change efforts in both the manufacturing and service industries, has consulted to successful companies around the globe, and has been a frequent speaker to major business forums and groups of senior executives over the past twenty years. Once a nationally ranked NCAA track athlete, he continues to compete in corporate races across the country. He lives in Centennial, Colorado, with his wife, Julie, and their three teenage children.

Review by Richard D. Turnquist.

If you only have time for one book this year, read this one.
What has really changed in our world in the last two decades? Time has sped up and surpassed all the other busienss variables in importance. These days time is more important than money.

To win in business, you must break away from the pack and stay ahead by serving your customers extraordinarily well. "Speed-to-proficiency is more than a theoretical advantage; it is the most devastating competitive weapon in a world where the competitive forces of scale, automation, and capital are subordinate to the power of a proficient work force."

I enjoyed this book, right from the first sentence -- "This book is designed for the business reader, to be read in the time it takes to fly from Chicago to San Francisco or Denver to Miami." Breakaway is an easy read with a vital message. Read it.

Excellent Book!
Breakway was clearly written by an author who has been in the trenches, growing a company and working with people. From its elegant organization to its intuitive set of theories Breakaway reinforces what we all know to be true - that a principled approach to business will achieve the best results. This book should be on every business person's must-read list.

D. K. Luraas
Breakaway is a refreshing, common sense book that provides fresh, new ideas about performance improvement, and the value of employees. This book describes how important a competitive edge is in today's market place, and provides the tools to help you succeed!

Breakaway
Breakaway lives up to its promise (and premise) of delivering value and expertise fast and clean. No-nonsense, practical, with suggestions of surgical precision to guide organizational transformations.

Don A. Johnson
Principal,
The Clarity Group, Inc. ... Read more

Book Description

Every day your organization—and you—are in the spotlight. Your employees are performing and the audience—your customers—will love the show, hate it, or worst of all ignore it. Scott McKain has discovered wha tthe film, television, and music industries have known for years: to be successful, you must create an emotional link with your audience.

• Tell your story well. It will make you a star.
• Have a short, powerful, and unique high concept statement. It worked for Jaws and it will work for you.
• Practice the eight essential acts your customers want you to perform.
• Your employees are the stars of the show. Treat them that way.
• Create the Ultimate Customer Experience, and you will acquire amazing loyalty and unlimited referrals.

"No matter what your business," says Scott McKain, "you are always on stage. Make your performance one that leaves your customers with a feeling of Wow!"

Reviews (6)

Solid Strategies from an industry insider
I know and admire Scott McKain. He is Vice Chairman of a business conglomerate and a veteran media personality. His insights into how regular businesses can learn much from the entertainment industry are right on target. Learn, as I have, how to attract an audience, win them over, hold their attention, stimulate word of mouth promotion and gain their allegiance. Build a following for your business like entertainment companies do for theirs.
Not only is this fascinating, it is also fun to read. Scott has visited with John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and scores of other celebrities, many of the stars of the music industry, TV executives, talent agents, business owners and best selling authors to bring you ideas that will create a blockbuster for you!

Great book from a great speaker
I heard Scott McKain speak at a meeting recently. Following the presentation, our company gave each dealer a copy of this book. I am now buying more copies for my employees. I think this is one of the better business books I have read. It is one of the few that combines ideas with specific points on how to use them. I don't know that I could give it a better recommendation than the fact that I have read it and now I want the people who work with me to read it.

Lacks Entertainment Value
Mr. McKain likes to reference show business in his book. And what makes a movie great is how it develops a tight plot and then keeps its audience engaged. This book contains enough good material to fill 50 pages but then is streteced to 200. Mr. McKain's biographical perspective of himself is also a little too much for my taste.

A couple good concepts, but generally a weak and unengaging read.

Wow! This man knows his stuff!
What an incredible book, based on a powerful premise! Indeed, all business is Show Business, and McKain, a veteran of both types of business, shows us precisely how to do it. I read a lot of business books every year. I recommend this one highly. The man knows his way around. Lights, camera, read!

a terrific book
This book has more practical suggestions and ideas than just about any other business book I have read. What I liked the most is that the author has been a part of building and managing real companies and is not some "expert" just talking about theories like we see so much of in business books today. This book and "Good to Great" are the two best books out there. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Challenging the last 15 years of CRM thought
"Customer Relationship Management:
Creating competitive advantage through win-win relationship strategies"
(Kaj Storbacka & Jarmo R. Lehtinen)
144 pages, McGraw Hill

Although the title sounds like just another CRM book, this text book stylebook provides useful insights, challe