Book Description

One of the oldest myths in business is that every customer is a valuablecustomer. Even now, many businesses don’t realize that some of their customersare deeply unprofitable, and that simply doing business with them is costingthem money.Often the top 20 percent of customers generate almost all of acompany’s profit, while the bottom 20 percent are actually destroying value.

The cutting-edge companies featured in Killer Customers, in industriesranging from retail to manufacturing to financial services, are taking afundamentally new look at how they treat their best and worst customers. Moreimportantly, they are re-conceiving their companies as portfolios of customers.

For corporate leaders, business managers, or small business owners, KillerCustomers offers a breakthrough plan to delight their best customers anddrive consistently superior results. ... Read more

Book Description

Once you have bought into the concept of customer relationship management (CRM), how do you separate the practical and useful from the pie-in-the-sky to plan, scope and implement a project that delivers tangible results? With CRM project failure rates running as high as 80 per cent, anyone unable to answer this question stands every chance of becoming yet another accident statistic.

Gentle stresses a back-to-basics approach that favors tactical rather than strategic CRM. He identifies the common stumbling blocks that threaten all CRM projects, regardless of vendor, product or technology, and proposes practical solutions to get round them; highlights critical success factors and risk factors, and features a range of case studies (both successes and failures) and a 40-question risk analysis.

Subjects covered include: Whether you should even be launching a project; Building a realistic foundation for CRM; Establishing a realistic budget; Ensuring commitment from both management and users; Coping with organizational change and company politics; Managing international CRM projects while recognizing local realities. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Not what the title suggests
I ordered this book with expedite delivery only to find out that it is neither a handbook nor its contents are strictly about project 'management'. It is about CRM though, but it seems more like a list of separate and partially elaborated ideas, such as the ones written on flash cards, glued together by textual bridges to produce a book. Some ideas are valuable, but there seems to be no underlying plan or theory to give coherence to the book. It seems to me like the name 'project management handbook' is way too ambitious, and was thought more for its marketing impact than to be precise in describing the contents.

Please correct error below (I am the author)
Hi,

I am the author of this book. There is a mistake that has remained uncorrected for over 9 months now, and this is quite embarrassing, both for me and for Amazon. In your editorial review you have a quote "Required reading for all operational managers", which should be attributed to Dr Alain Micaleff (and NOT Dr Alain Michael). Check the back cover of the book for confirmation.

Can you please correct this asap - AND inform me that you have received this message and will be acting on it?

Thanks,
Michael Gentle (mgentle2@aol.com)

Mandatory for anyone implementing CRM
As a CRM consultant, the first 35 pages of the book alone made it worth the purchase price.

The author takes a very pragmatic approach to the realities of CRM and cuts through a lot of the BS that's out there right now. He makes an honest assessment of the reasons that CRM has often failed, and helps the reader avoid the traps that others have fallen into.

It's not a book about technical implementation, or a how-to book with lots of checklists. Rather, it is a book that will help you: build your business case for CRM (and/or decide that if CRM is even something your company should pursue); understand and avoid the most common risks; set realistic goals for projects; and take a tactical approach (i.e. short projects with measurable goals) to CRM.

A good read for anyone involved with implementing CRM. I'll be recommending it to clients as a must read and reference book for project managers, project sponsors, consultants and vendors who are working on CRM projects.

Now all we need is a very short book that explains CRM to the masses in simple terms - something I can give to the executives and "beginners" that I work with. ... Read more

Book Description

A Book in the University of Michigan Business School Series It's a simple equation: no customers equals no profits. So how can a company ensure that its customers enjoy a consistently satisfying experience? In this book, two experts from the University of Michigan Business School lay out a five-stage process that links all of the key measures of customer satisfaction with marketing strategy and product development to guarantee excellent customer service. Johnson and Gustafsson show managers how to break down the organizational barriers that defy great customer service and instead tie together their customer value chain to create a cohesive customer measurement and management system. So, if like most companies, yours has only a fleeting understanding of its relationship with its customers, this book offers the organizational know-how to make and keep them happy. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Subtitle Says It All...The Book Explains It All
This is one of several excellent volumes in the University of Michigan Business School Management Series in which the authors provide a cohesive, comprehensive, cost-effective customer measurement and management system which consists of five separate but related stages. Specifically, they explain:

• How to identify the system's purpose and goals, deciding which customers to include and how to group them into natural segments that reflect their interests and purchasing patterns

• How to use qualitative research to build the "lens of the customer", a model of customer views of the products and services that you provide, customer satisfaction, and the loyalty and retention that result

• How to use the lens of the customer to build a customer survey to measure quality, satisfaction, and loyalty

• How to use the lens again in analyzing data from the customer survey, both to determine what could be done to improve customer satisfaction and to assess the probable effect of each potential improvement on bottom-line financial performance

• How to set priorities for quality improvement, using the information developed from the survey as background for business decisions, and then implement the decisions according to the priorities set by management

Whew! That's a lot! Fortunately, Johnson and Gustafsson devote a separate chapter to each of the five stages of the process.. They also provide three valuable appendices: A mini-case study of the Ratorp Tire Company, the NACS Customer Satisfaction Survey, and a Data Analysis in Practice. If your organization needs to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profit, here is an excellent source.

A hands on book that you can put to action
This is a great book for people who have always wanted to be actionable in analyzing customer satisfaction and loyalty data to make strategic decisions. The book provides concrete examples with real data to step you through in building satisfaction models that lead to bottom line performance. It is extremely well written for a broad range of audience from the novist to the experts. This book not only provides you with the necessary tools to run models but also explains in an easy to understand manner the underlying reasons and background as to how customer satisfaction and loyalty models should be approached. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to have the ability to actually run customer satisfaction models and make intelligent interpretation and executive decisions. ... Read more

Book Description

According to Robyn Waters, it’s a myth that trends can only be spotted early byüberhipBohemian types who are ever so much cooler than everyone else.

She ought to know. As Target’s former VP of Trend, Design, and ProductDevelopment,Waters helped a dowdy regional discount chain become a national fashiondestination.Today she consults for many different companies to help them stay ahead of thecurve.

The Trendmaster’s Guide features her favorite tips and examples forunderstanding and anticipating trends. Every letter from A to Z offers aninsight to helpreaders navigate the unknown and prepare for whatever their costomers want next.It’s aquick read that packs a lot of insight between "A is for antennae" and "Z is forZen."

Anyone can use the tools in The Trendmaster’s Guide to become more awareofthe world around them. Even if you weren’t born with a trendspotting bone inyour body,you don’t have to be a follower forever. No one these days can afford to just becatchingon when others are already moving on.

Waters stresses that recognizing and reacting to trends is a learned skill, andit can beacquired without spending time in the streets of Milan or the high schools ofOrangeCounty. If you’ve ever witnessed a trend unfolding and said to yourself, "Ishould haveseen this coming," there’s hope. You too can become a trendmaster. ... Read more

Book Description

This tutorial offers help to improve every telephone interaction a company has with its valued customers. Drawn from Davis' experiences, the book includes exercises, stories and examples of how attitude, telephone etiquette, communication styles and listening skills impact the bottom line. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Older Workers Benefit From Beyond "Hello"
With your permission, we're using Beyond "Hello" as our basic text for our course curriculum , which teaches older workers Customer Service Skills. Your book has been an excellent platform for this training. It's clear, concise, understandable, and easy to relate to. I constantly reinforce to our students that they should use your book as a resource and reference on the job.

Great Tutorial
This tutorial offers help to improve every telephone interaction a company has with its valued customers. Beyond "Hello" includes exercises, stories and examples of how attitude, telephone etiquette, communication styles and listening skills impact the bottom line.

Each chapter contains tips to help make a great first impression, enhance customer interaction and retain and strengthen client relationships through excellent customer service over the telephone.

A "must read."

Fantastic Guide
I've had the opportunity to work with Jeannie while printing a recent copy of my newsletter on professional conduct. Beyond "Hello" is an easy to read, comprehensive guide that can help anyone improve and sharpen his or her phone skills. I highly recommend this book and include it as required reading for my entire staff. Congratulations Jeannie on a book well done!

-- Clint Greenleaf ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Review: The Nordstrom Way
After reading this book, I noticed that Nordstrom dominates their competitors in regards to customer service. The author successfully explains how the original Nordstrom store eventually grew to become a large, powerful company. As a customer of Nordstrom, I felt encouraged to continue giving the family-run company my business. I recommend this book especially to those who own or work for a company, small or large. Anyone involved with retail will benefit from reading this book.

"THE WISEST INVESTMENT FOR ANY COMPANY"
"The Nordstrom Way" is a gift I received from a close friend of mine when I began my career at Nordstrom three years ago. Not only did it give me a clear insight behind Nordstrom but it made me strive to become a better employee. The book outlines perfectly on what it means to be a success in customer service at any business by following the "upside down pyramid". To be a success at Nordstrom; be true to each and every customer. Having top sales is not what makes you a great success but building great relationships one customer at a time is. My philosophy for working at Nordstom is that it is a privelage, not a right, to be a part of the #1 company for customer service. Nordstrom 'Empowers" you to make decisions on your own by following one simple rule; use your best judgement, which means by ALWAYS putting your customer first. Each and everyday I exercise this right and set an example to all. Because of the great mentors that I have at Nordstrom I know that my career will be a long, happy, and healthy one. I challenge All who are considering a career in retail and want to arise to the challenge of leading by example apply at Nordstrom. Become a part of a "World Class Team". There are no problem customers just challenged employees.

"Your Customer Service Specialist"

This is one of the last stores that has a good return policy
Old fashioned notions of what makes for good customer service and a decent return policy are what differentiate Nordstrom from competitors.

Wouldn't it be nice if they all adopted the "Nordstrom Way" sometime?

Nordstroms - Still a Solid Read
This book made a big splash when it hit the stands in 1995. If you are worried about it being outdated, don't be. I found it to be very thorough in it's study of Nordstrom's, and it is still a good lesson in what we should all strive for.

Minimal mistakes that need to be updated in the next revision:
1). Their top notch website is not addressed, however, it does describe the thinking that was held by the company in 1994 to take advantage of the new electronic media. I thought that this section spoke volumes to how far reaching Nordstrom's view of service really is.
2). Very minor changes have been made to their business plan since this book was released. Most of these changes would be evident to the keen observer after 10 minutes in their store.

All in all, I recommend this book to anyone who is studing how to change attitudes on customer service. If you are just looking for a book on sales, this is not for you.

The Nordstrom Way Review
Reading the Nordstrom Way has made me highly respect the store itself. It was very refreshing to read a book about a company that places so much emphasis on customer service. After reading the book, I was convinced that Nordstrom truly values their customers above all else, unlike many retail stores today. I thought that the author did a very good job in both retelling the history of Nordstrom and conveying their way of conducting business. Through telling the story of the Nordstrom family, giving examples of good customer service, and sharing personal stories of Nordstrom employees, the author does an excellent job of helping the reader understand what Nordstrom is all about. I would recommend this book to anybody interested in learning about how to run such a successful business as Nordstrom has done and will continue to do for years to come. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Excellent overview of the grocery industry
This book covers the current grocery industry from beginning to end. It's ideal for those just entering the business i.e. brand managers, promotion managers, etc. Major retailers, wholesalers are examined in detail. Descriptions concerning popular formats, distribution channels, promotion techniques....you name it....it's here. An excellent read.

An excellent overview of trends in the grocery industry.
This book is an outstanding resource for anyone involved in sales or marketing of grocery products. It begins with an overview of recent events that have shaped the grocery industry, and includes implications for future competition. The extensive section on consumer trends and behaviour is well-researched and easy-to-read. The list of reference resources (including research papers and news articles) is impressive.

A good introduction and survey of the world's largest market
As someone who has spent 30+ years living in the world that the authors describe, I found it a good outline of how the grocery business works - from a marketing point of view. The primary value of the book is in the breadth of its coverage, its readability and shortness. I have personally purchased at least a dozen copies to pass on as orientation material for my senior staff who may benefit from more of a big picture of the world they are working in, as well as specialized consultants for our firm that need to understand our milieu. None of these people would read the longer, more comprehensive tomes. So this book fills an urgent need for some of us practitioners.

Light weight
Barbara Kahn is a marketing professor at Wharton but I hear only because her husband Robert J. Meyer is also a chaired marketing professor in the same department. She wrote a "quantitative" dissertation for her PhD but Kahn actually is a touchy-feely behaviorist who works on variety-seeking behavior, a very trivial topic in marketing ignored by all serious researchers. She knows nothing about quantification by her own admission. She also says her dissertation was written entirely by her supervisor and not by her, my Wharton friends tell me. This background, or rather, the lack of any background, is reflected in her book. The book falls seriously short of its promise and reads like an alphabetical soup. Don't waste your money on this book when there are much better books available on amazon.com. Better still don't waste your time on this book. It's an IQ-reducer and will leave you dumber and more confused.

My review :)
Hi. I read some of the book when I took Professor Kahn's Mktg 101 class. (for those of you in the class, not much was on the test about this book). Anyway, although it was recommended for "Anyone who shops" I shop practically everyday and grew up shopping often at grocery stores, but did not find the book to be a good read. I consider myself relatively well educated in business related literature as I took the class during my senior year at Penn's Wharton school. There seemed to be too much academic information which distracted me from enjoying the book and getting a lot our of it. For people on Prof. Kahn's level of marketing expertise this book is likely to be very useful, but it is not as useful to undergrads in Marketing 101 or to the general population. ... Read more

Book Description

In today’s telecommunications services industry, rapidly changing technologies and a decline in growth are creating intense competition where the customers’ quest for value is of paramount importance. Offering you a survival strategy based on customer-centered marketing, this forward-looking resource helps you assess your company’s market potential and target desirable segments successfully. You gain practical insight in evaluating your present customer base and learn the best ways to adjust your marketing strategies to eliminate unprofitable customers and attract high-value replacements. Moreover, the book helps you become attuned to customer demand and present a service portfolio with a high potential for success. ... Read more

Book Description

In today’s “customercentric” world, superior service is fast becoming a vital competitive advantage. Customer Service provides hands-on, comprehensive coverage for improving all aspects of customer service, especially handling problems and stress. This new edition features interviews with working customer service professionals, boxes that highlight leadership qualities of successful customer service managers, an increased focus on diversity issues, and more.

Book Description

· How to choose the best call center tools and systems · How to get the most out of ACDs (automatic call distributors) and other complex systems in order to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales · Includes three ready to use RFPs (request for proposals) for buying an ACD, computer telephony system, or recording and analysis solution

Phone calls and emails from customers are not just "events"; they are significant milestones in customer relationships. This book presents a roadmap showing you how to significantly improve customer relationships - whether via phone, mail, fax, email, or Web - by making the best use of call center technology.

You'll discover how to navigate the business, technical, and financial issues in building and managing a customer contact center. The book shows you how to foster enhanced customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost, and how to make the call center an engine of business growth by using technology to up-sell and generate new revenues from existing customers.

No other book provides such practical, in-depth information on managing a call center's technology and workflow. Key topics include staffing, network basics, ACDs; disaster recovery, data gathering and reporting, customer experience mapping and management, CRM, and much more. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Needed help
I was promoted to run the call center in our company. We have two centers with 300 Telephone and Customer sales reps. I have no expernce in computers except for my PC. I bought this book to help me talk to the computer staff. They cannot fool me as much now. They were too busy for the call center. Now they understand we make most of the money. This book help me present this better.

A solid, fact-filled, and highly useful guide
A Practical Guide To Call Center Technology: Select The Right Systems For Total Customer Satisfaction by telecommunications expert Andrew J. Waite is a highly informational book for businesspeople who need to set up a telephone system to handle customer orders, complains, and other important matters. Fielding long-distance calls from any number of people for good business is no small feat, and chapters from this guide address such diverse issues as basic connection and setup, typical switching systems, the value of an ACD (Automatic Call Distributor) system, and much more. A glossary at the back helps readers unfamiliar with the terminology catch up quickly...A solid, fact-filled, and highly useful guide for anyone who needs to launch an effective and efficient call center -- and keep it running smoothly! ... Read more

Book Description

Even today with quality improvement the battle cry of American industry, the quality programs in most companies are limited to "conformance to technical standards," according to quality expert Bradley Gale. While some have ventured a step farther to measure customer satisfaction, few of them, Gale demonstrates, have attempted to track market-perceived "quality" -- how buyers select among competing suppliers, why orders are won or lost, and which competitors are succeeding in which market segments.

Using cases including Milliken & Company; AT&T, United Van Lines, and Gillette, Gale shows how leading-edge companies have gone beyond the minimal achievements of conformance quality and customer satisfaction to focus on the third, higher stage, "market-perceived quality versus competitors" and aspire to an emerging fourth stage, "true strategic management." Drawing on his extensive research at AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, Parke-Davis, and other world-class companies, Gale provides new metrics for market-perceived quality that are straightforward and easy to interpret. His set of seven integrative tools for customer value analysis makes up the heart of the "war room wall" to help guide business-unit teams in their effort to outperform competitors in satisfying customers. The great value of these tools is that they are derived from a future-oriented strategic navigation system that tracks competitive information and market-perceived quality. Learning to master this system accelerates customer satisfaction from a slogan to a science and leads ultimately to true strategic management -- the fourth stage of Total Quality Management.

The processes described in this book provide an insider's perspective on the criteria of the Baldrige Award. Bradley Gale's insights and innovative methods for defining, measuring, and improving market-perceived quality will create an entirely new thrust for the worldwide quality movement.

Reviews (2)

If you need tools...
Dr. Bradley Gale is one of the world's leading authorities on the process of Value Mapping. Value Mapping is the technique of turning customer feedback from customers into powerful management tools that point the way to improve profits. Value Mapping is an excellent approach for industrial marketers to include in their arsenal of analytical tools. This book is filled with examples and framework templates that show you how to do it. The key for those of us in industrial marketing is getting the customer data. It's usually more difficult in industry, and there is often low or no funding available for market research. Once your company decides to stop "flying blind" this book can be exceedingly valuable as a handbook that covers to do with the information.

Prentis Hall
President
The Industrial Marketing Practice Association...

Practical and Useful
This book has much to recommend it - readable yet with somewhat of a quantitative approach to finding better ways to deliver value to customers.

Its' real worth is that it takes a view that requires the inclusion of the needs of the customer in the process of strategy development.

Too many books describe a process to improve the product or the supply chain without asking the most critical question - will anyone actually pay us for making these changes ?

If it has a (slight) shortfall, the book does not apply the same detail to integrating the needs of the customer to the decision making process. However, this is overcome by the sound way in which Gale seeks to assist us in finding ways to drive value for the customer.

Worth the investment - it does require some effort to read, but most worthwhile books are like that. ... Read more

Book Description

"Customer Service" is not a lost art -- but it surely needs to be rediscovered.With all the books that have been written on the subject, it is surprising how little solid insight has been really offered.That is why Unleashing Excellence stands out from the crowd.Without fluff and puffery, customer service experts Dennis Snow and Teri Yanovitch give a no-nonsense, highly readable, easy-to-understand guide that will encourage readers to take a serious look at their own efforts and make the important changes necessary to create the ultimate customer service for their businesses.By examining some of the world's best customer service organizations, readers will be provided with the keys to implementing programs and changing behaviors that can spell success.As Aritotle said, "We are what we do repeatedly, therefore, excellence is not an act, but a habit."Unleashing Excellence will help determined readers to make excellent service a habit. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Effective Guide for Executives and Managers
Customer service is similar to Motherhood and Apple Pie. Organizations that deliver outstanding customer service as an integral part of their business operation build customer loyalty and bottom line strength. Those that don't...well, we all know that bad customer service can destroy a company, or at least severely limit its potential.

This knowledge is legendary. Techniques for delivering good customer service are well-known. This is not brain surgery. Why another book on the ubiquitous topic?

First, note the title. The book title doesn't talk about Excellent Customer Service or You Will Be Fired if You Aren't Nice to Our Customers. The Unleashing Excellence title-and theme of the book-is directed toward senior executives. Customer service is a corporate strategy that needs to be led from the top. This book needs to be read by senior executives that allege that they don't have time to read it. The downside of mediocre customer service can be career-limiting to executives who don't pay attention to this critical component of their company's business.

The authors, both formerly part of the Walt Disney leadership development programs, are now in private practice. They are active consultants-to a wide range of employers-on customer service issues. In their work, they apply what they learned at Disney and other employment experiences to deliver an executive-targeted message. Toward this end, the book is easy to read, includes shaded call-out boxes, Action Steps and Pitfalls to Avoid at the end of each chapter. The book's concluding chapter presents nine leadership actions to guide readers in strengthening their customer service delivery. A comprehensive index makes the book even more reader-friendly.

Readers will benefit from a continual flow of best practice stories from many employment settings. Many of the examples of good work come from the authors' clients. These illustrations serve to enhance and illuminate the content to bring the traditional concepts to life in ways that leaders can read the book and initiate appropriate actions for individual and organizational improvement. Several sections of the book stand out in my mind, but all chapters are filled with ideas, thought-provoking discussions, and anecdotes to bring the concepts to life.

Yes (sigh), this is ANOTHER customer service book. Do we need more books on this topic? Some of us are beginning to feel overstuffed with this topic---like the bloated feeling we get after a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Thankfully, this book serves a specific purpose of providing how-to advice and insights for executives and managers to consider and implement. Use it as a tool to stimulate customer service conversations in your organization as you inspire increasingly high attention to incredible customer service as a part of your corporate DNA.

Required Reading for Customer Service Providers/Professional
What a great book! A practical and quick read that should be mandatory for everyone that works in the customer service arena. The sections are divided in such a way that you can immediately put in place the ideas presented. A perfect book for anyone working with Customers, CEO's, a gift for your boss or the Customer Service Consultant. It's a "must read and pass-on" book. ... Read more

Book Description

"To carry out a customer-centric strategy, every company needs a customer bible like The Ten Demandments to believe in and to execute against." --Guy Kawasaki, CEO, Garage Technology Ventures

The Ten Demandments presents an informed and interactive road map that takes readers directly to the hearts, minds, desires, and demands of the new customer, whether it is the end consumer or a business-to-business relationship. Customer experience guru Kelly Mooney scrutinizes the total customer experience with strategic insights, anecdotes, and action plans.

Reviews (8)

Great Book!
This is the first book I've read on the topic of customer experience and loyalty that truly inspired ME! This is a lively and engaging book with a great point of view. It's written from the customer's perspective- a very interesting and refreshing twist on an important topic.

But why aren't companies doing a better job of providing the exceptional experiences the author talks about in her book? It was certainly an eye opener for me! Glad I found it when I did.

A Must Buy!
A great book with good, solid information. The author really knows her stuff and the anecdotes throughout the book were truly inspiring. More companies should heed the Ten Demandments!

Great Book!
As my company begins 2003, #1 on the radar is our customer experience. So I was delighted with The Ten Demandments and have already begun thinking about how to incorporate several of the "demandments" into our own strategy. Easy to read, fast paced and insightful! Highly recommend.

Thank you
For continuing to drive home the message that what customers really want are awesome, inspiring, exceptional experiences! With so much competition out there it's amazing that some companies are still not focused on this.

Great insights with practical "what do I do now" guidance
This book is a great read the first time and one that I go back to time after time. Why? First of all, it's written with a snappy rhythm that is easy to read and simultaneously energizes me. Mooney is well versed in the patterns and practices of big names like Victoria's Secret, Krispy Kreme, Oprah and Starbucks, but she also introduces us to lesser known companies and the secrets that are helping them build their business.

At the end of each Demandment chapter, she includes a self-evaluation "quiz" that reflect the substance of the demandment to enable the reader to identify if they are making or breaking the demandment. This is a great resource for marketing/business consultants or for people working in-house and need help seeing the forest through the trees.

Most importantly, this book represents the CUSTOMER'S point of view - the one that matters most these days. Business owners - big and small - would do well to embrace the wisdom and practical advice Mooney offers. ... Read more

Book Description

Advance praise for 101 Marketing Strategies for Accounting, Law, Consulting, and Professional Services Firms

"Practitioners at all CPA firms who implement these ideas–and the key is always in the implementation–are likely to reap the benefits of sustained success."
–Bradley J. Allen, CPA
Partner
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP

"A ‘can’t-miss’ strategy for developing business.Troy Waugh clearly and concisely focuses on the most critical issues while not overburdening the reader.It provides the tools necessary for even the novice to become a marketing star."
–Joe Beachboard, Esq.
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC

"Troy has done it again!Another tremendous book on sales and marketing for professional services firms.It would be virtually impossible to read this book and not experience a jump in your sales and results."
–Allan D. Koltin, CPA
President and CEO
PDI Global, Inc.

"Troy Waugh–‘the rainmakers’ rainmaker’–has provided a well-designed blueprint for selling professional services that skillfully draws upon his more than thirty years in the field.This practical, highly focused guide to the selling process can help our firms achieve sales successes measured not only by effort but also by bottom-line results."
–Howard B. Allenberg
Vice Chairman and CIO
BDO Seidman, LLP

"[Waugh’s] three-level selling process, starting with development of the relationship and moving through the buying process of the client and the selling process of the professional, is right on target with how our firm approaches professional selling and business development."
–Dave Murray
Director of Marketing
Clifton Gunderson, LLP ... Read more

Book Description

Do you want a better understanding of who your customers are? Do you want to learn how to acquire the customer voice? The next decade will be the decade of the customer. Meeting their wants, needs, and desires better than anyone else will be paramount to your organization's success. Acquiring, Processing, and Deploying Voice of the Customer gives you the tools you need to develop a Voice of the Customer (VOC) plan from beginning to end.Shillito describes the delicate customer-company balance. He covers the various components types of VOC such as voice of the company, voice of the designer/engineer, and voice of marketing that must be integrated through the use of an interdisciplinary team to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for the enterprise. The author not only discusses VOC but also includes a hybrid model - Customer Oriented Product Concepting (COPC) - for deploying VOC into a product or service design that balances the needs of the customer with the needs of the enterprise.All of these elements go into developing a successful VOC process. However, timing is key. Shillito presents a step-by-step template for integrating VOC into the fuzzy front end of the commercialization process. He demonstrates how product development teams can get an early focus and stay on course during the commercialization process. The book provides a set of breakthrough tools that may be used to obtain and deploy VOC.The most comprehensive VOC guide available, Acquiring, Processing, and Deploying Voice of the Customer provides you with the techniques required to shape a product or service so that their elements balance customer and company needs while being affordable to both. It describes qualitative and quantitative processes integrated into a system to determine the customer's wants and how you can meet them. The new methods found in this book will put you ahead of your competition and ahead of the crowd. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for Making Rain

"An entertaining and practical guide to building lifelong client loyalty, Making Rain is profoundly insightful as well as motivating. A must-read for all professionals who aspire to distance themselves from their competitors by growing client relationships that are stronger, deeper, and more valuable–for them and for their clients."
–Dale Gifford, Chief Executive, Hewitt Associates

"Few understand the advice business like Andrew Sobel, and his well-written book, Making Rain, is overflowing with insight and sage advice on how to create value for clients and earn their enduring loyalty."
–Jim Robbins, Chief Executive, Cox Communications

"This is a book that is both fascinating and fun. Brilliantly written, meticulous in detail, and penetrating in analysis–anyone who wants to master the art of being a professional advisor will benefit from it."
–Sir Brian Pitman, Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley and former chairman, Lloyds TSB Group

"In a world where managers seem to churn over more frequently than inventories, Andrew Sobel’s new book, Making Rain, is a welcome respite, a savvy guide to lasting client and customer relationships."
–Stan Davis, author, It’s Alive and Blur

"Making Rain appeals to everyone in business, not just in professional services. Andrew Sobel highlights how the interaction of relationships, longevity of trust, innovative ideas, and expertise combine to produce results and long-term loyalty. An excellent read that is full of insights."
–Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman, Citigroup Europe

"In Making Rain, Andrew Sobel demonstrates a deep understanding of how resilient client relationships are formed and why some professionals are pulled in closer and closer by their clients while others, just as skilled technically, do not establish such relationships. His description of the attributes of extraordinary advisors is a must-read for leaders of professional services firms."
–Steven B. Pfeiffer, Chairman, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Very Useful Wisdom
This is a subtle book which contains a lot of wisdom about building client and customer relationships. It's a well written and engaging read. The premise is that traditional "sometimes wrong but never in doubt" rainmakers are increasingly dysfunctional in service organizations, whose clients demand value-added in the very first meeting. They are too sales-focused, they are in-and-out, and they don't bring enough content or client knowledge to early client meetings. The alternative is to teach every professional to make a bit of rain every day or every week. Each chapter looks at a different skill or strategy which will help readers "make rain" with their
clients. Chapter three is useful because it summarizes the advisor skills which are set out in Sobel's superb first book, Clients For Life. Other chapters cover topics such as rapidly building trust; adding core, surprise, and personal value to relationships; exercising the mindset of independent
wealth; and developing institutional mechanisms to "make rain" at the firm level. I think Making Rain appeals to a sophisticated reader, with its engaging anecdotes about client relationships and several chapters about historical figures who were great makers of rain (for example, Benjamin Franklin and the Welsh mystic, Merlin). This is an excellent read.

Practical and refreshing
There are very few worthwhile books about building client relationships, and this is definitely one of them. Sobel's main focus is how you de-commoditize yourself in increasingly competitive service markets. What I like is that he doesn't pretend to offer a grand strategy or one-size-fits-all prescription, but rather a series of thoughtful ideas for distinguishing yourself from the pack. These include thinking holistically about your "relationship capital"; the seven attributes of client advisors; the mindset of "independent wealth"; and some interesting history about great client advisors. The case studies/anecdotes are educational and often funny, and the writing is excellent. The chapters are short and easy to read.

Very boastful title; little new substance
While Mr. Sobe's premise is interesting -- client relationships are developed through the sequence: expert-inner circle-trusted advisor; his approach to following that path is filled with clichés (e.g. client loyalty = value + trust + going the extra mile) and generic terms (e.g. becoming an expert requires you to: (1) do it faster; (2) do it better; (3) be different; (3) be better prepared ...). He continuously uses terms such as trust, integrity, rapport, but fails to put them together into coherent algorithms or work programs to allow the reader to understand how to work through the author's "expert-inner circle-trusted advisor" paradigm.

Nothing new here.

Much-needed guidance
I just received this book and I've already read some of the chapters twice. Making Rain is full of practical ideas for how to increase your effectiveness at building client relationships and keeping clients for life. Sobel's concepts are fresh and highly original, and they are supported by client interviews, contemporary anecdotes, and fascinating historical profiles of people like Ben Franklin, who used humor to disarm and influence both his friends and adversaries. In my own business I've worked with clients for many years, and virtually everything in this book rings true for me. What's particularly valuable is the "how to" and the detailed ideas and strategies that Sobel sets out. Making Rain is well-written, easy to read, and quite funny in places. Anyone in business could pick up a handful of powerful tips on improving client retention from this book (one of the last chapters is "Managing Clients in Uncertain Times," which has a lot of useful reminders in it). If you work with either individual or corporate clients, Making Rain provides much-needed guidance.

Useful and Practical Information
The secrets of making rain or client loyalty consist of three factors: the value you add, the degree of trust you develop, and the extra mile you are willing to go. Most of the information is helpful but some important considerations are omitted.

Positives
He provides an excellent overview of the issues that affect client loyalty. His examples, past experience, and clear style of writing are helpful. He also focuses on interpersonal relationships as the key to success. For those trying to improve, it answers the question "what do I need to do to become more proficient?".

Negatives
Interpersonal relationships are formed by exercising a variety of skills. Skill acquision and practice are vital to improvement. He is not clear about this and does not prescribe how to acquire the needed skills. He also fails to show how his approach will "lock in" a client. For example, what if you and your competitor across the street read the book and follow all the suggestions. Why would the client stay with you? The client can recieve comparable services without crossing the street. He tries to make the case of using persuasion techniques but his argument is not compelling. Any complete system needs a "hook" for keeping a client. Making the provider irreplaceable is a requirement and he falls short of accomplishing this goal ... Read more

Book Description

More than 15 million people in this country earn their livings by serving clients, and their numbers are growing every day. Unfortunately, far too few develop the skills and strategies needed to rise to the top in a world where clients have almost unlimited access to information and expertise. Supported by more than one hundred case studies and wisdom gleaned from interviews with dozens of leading CEOs and prominent business advisors, Clients for Life identifies what clients really want and lays out the core qualities that distinguish the client advisor -- an irreplaceable resource -- from the expert for hire -- a tradable commodity.

• Experts are specialists; advisors become deep generalists who have broad perspective.
  
• Experts are for hire; advisors have selfless independence, balancing client devotion with objectivity and detachment.
  
• Experts have professional credibility; advisors develop deep personal trust.
  
• Experts analyze; advisors synthesize and bring big-picture thinking to the table.
  
• Experts supply expertise and information; advisors are educators who provide insight and wisdom.
  

Portraits of history's most famously successful advisors, including Machiavelli, Sir Thomas More, and J. P. Morgan, underscore these timeless qualities that modern professionals need to develop to excel in today's competitive environment. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This Book is a Classic
Clients for Life sets out seven key attributes or skills needed to evolve from an "expert for hire" to a client advisor. It is based on extensive interviews, conducted by the authors, with corporate executives and top CEOs about their most valuable outside professionals. The authors nicely contrast the expert for hire and the client advisor. For example: Experts tell, advisors ask great questions and listen; experts are specialists, advisors are deep generalists who have both depth and breadth; experts have professional credibility, advisors go further and build personal trust; and so on. There is a chapter on each of these attributes and transitions. I've worked with
clients for many years, and everything in Clients for Life rings true. I'd go further and say that this is one of those paradigm or mindset-shifting books. You cannot think about yourself in the same way after reading it. It raises a lot of questions about how we position ourselves with clients, and provides some good answers. Clients for Life is beautifully written. It is
honestly a must-read for anyone in fields like financial services, professional services, or who even manages large accounts in any industry.

AMAZING!
i love this book, i recomend it to every single one of my employees. This book got my buisness and life back on track, now my buisness is exactly where i want it to be and my clients are very pleased too!

Valuable guidance on an important topic
I am responsible for managing large corporate accounts, and this book has dramatically changed my perspectives in terms of how I view my role with clients.In Clients for Life, the authors have succeeded brilliantly at a difficult task: defining the essence of long-term, value-added relationships and the characteristics of professionals who succeed in developing them. This is by far the best and most sophisticated book I have read on the subject of client relationships. It is genuinely insightful, beautifully written, and full of entertaining, relevant anecdotes about working with and advising clients. Sheth and Sobel organize the book around the key attributes of professionals who are able to become great advisors to their clients and develop lifetime relationships with them. They describe these qualities with depth and freshness, and their model rings true. Many people talk about "big picture thinking," for example, or "integrity," but the authors actually define these things in a meaningful way and clearly demonstrate how you can improve yourself. Each chapter profiles a famous historical advisor who was especially skilled at dealing with clients. Much of what I have read on client relationship management has tended to be either simplistic and focused on "techniques" or else overly academic. Clients for Life, in contrast, is a breezy read yet very rich and thoughtful in its approach-it'll make you think hard about your own personal and professional development. I highly recommend this book to anyone who manages clients (corporations or individuals, for that matter) or large customer relationships.

Rock-solid advice
Don Mitchell's review is first-rate. I agree completely with his reasons for praising this book, and, I agree completely with his (and Drucker's) comments about so-called "lifelong relationships." If you are looking for some rock-solid advice to achieve "breakthrough" relationships with clients, Sheth and Sobel provide it. But as Mitchell and Drucker correctly point out, it is possible but highly unlikely that those relationships can be sustained indefinitely, especially now when change is the only constant and occurs at ever-increasing velocity. Give careful thought to the word "breakthrough" because it has so many relevancies to today's competitive marketplace. When in pursuit of a prospective client, first you have to break through clutter to become visible; then you have to break through other clutter to differentiate yourself from the competition; then overcome other clutter to begin the new relationship; finally, you have to break through still more clutter to sustain that relationship. (Think about juggling handgrenades in a minefield at 2 AM...during an electrical storm...while wearing a blindfold.) Sheth and Sobel offer a wealth of information as well as sound guidance. Much of what they share can also help with the formulation of customer recapture strategies. But take no one and nothing for granted. The "life" of a customer relationship should not be measured in terms of years; rather, in terms of how effectively you nourish that relationship while you have it. ... Read more

Book Description

Branding reached its zenith in the dot-com era, when as much as 90 percent of the venture capital raised by start-ups was budgeted simply to establish corporate identity and earn a spot in the public's awareness.Since then, however, it has become increasingly clear that companies were approaching things backwards.And so the time has come to adopt a new set of objectives to move Beyond the Brand.In this book, learn what some of the most forward-thinking companies today do to develop aggressive, innovative growth.

Marketing expert John Winsor makes a powerful case that consumers have developed a "brand immune system" that only magnifies the problems involved with branding today.Instead of focusing on branding efforts, he explains, companies must learn to use "bottom-up" tools to co-createnew products and marketing strategies with their customers.It's about getting out in the streets and spending time with right customers in their worlds, creating essential foundations for breakthrough innovation.

While many recent titles such as The Tipping Point, Crossing the Chasm, and The Idea Virus, have highlighted the importance of certain customers in the marketplace, Beyond the Brand takes readers one step further, providing case studies, as well as practical step-by-step methods to engage these key voices in a dialogue that can fuel real product and marketing innovation.

Readers will learn:
* The Eight Steps to develop a bottom-up strategy.
* How to identify and find new ways to listen to thekey voices in the marketplace.
* How to hone intuition and find inspiration to driveinnovation.
* How to find the company's center of gravity.

The tools John Winsor outlines in Beyond the Brand are the very ones his company, Radar Communications, uses to help some of the most forward thinking companies to develop more aggressively innovative growth. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good Solid Recommendations
As a new financial advisor, I was looking for a step-by-step book to get me going in this business. This book's two halves showed me what is involved in both the "Getting" and the "Keeping" business of managing people's expectations. The third section is on running a business.

In the "Getting" clients sections, the chapters are short but packed with useful information. They contain many sample letters, conversations, and approaches, both positive and negative - based on the 10 years of experiences of Dan's company "Marketing Solutions". He works with Financial Advisors to improve their business, so it stands to reason he knows from experience what works and what doesn't. I like this as "Why reinvent the wheel" - just follow what works...

In the "Keeping" clients section, the chapters are even shorter, 3 - 5 pages each. The message here is to continue to provide value to your existing clients so they don't leave. Again, there are many sample letters and options showing what works well and what works even better.

In summary, the central message and lesson to "getting" and "keeping", is that a successful Financial Advisor business is built on the trusting relationship you can develop with people, which they say will lead to more sales/commissions than the agressive Salesman out to pitch the latest product. This means your efforts often have little short term benefit (income!) but it will pay off down the road as your practice grows. Advisors short on time and cash will probably cringe at the costs this book suggests are necessary, initially and ongoing basis. I felt the upper limit on the number of clients/income is the hours you must invest nurturing the relationship. Can you imagine keeping up to date by personally phoning, mailing and meeting with 300 friends? 1000 friends?

I personally believe consumers these days see through the free seminars, lunches, golf games, newsletters etc that a new advisor bombards them with, as nothing more than an elaborate, lengthy sales pitch. The book carefully treads the line here, helping you NOT to appear to be selling when mailing letters for seminars, surveys, articles of interest.

The last section "Implementing" is very concise, telling you how to build and run an efficient business office, with the usual planning and control techniques : time management, business planning, goals etc. My book contained a CD-ROM disk with PDF files of all the recommended letters, surveys etc - a nice to have value to the book.

The book is masterfully crafted and edited. I would recommend it to other new advisors looking for a good, solid outline of what is required in this business. Since I am a new advisor, I don't know yet what is missing or could be improved.
DaveZ

What a book!
I read this book from cover to cover and dog eared nearly every page. Dan Richards thoroughly covers topics such as: target marketing, prospecting, putting the customer first, getting referrals, conducting evaluations of your service, networking, managing a large client base and even firing difficult clients; and of course, everything in between. There are so many magnificent and expertly covered ideas in this book, you might feel overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety after finishing the book. Never fear, Richards touches on how you can implement many of the ideas in his book one or a few at a time without going overboard.

I will advise that this book is geared more towards the advisor with a year or more in the business (e.g. it does not cover cold calling), however, novices will pick up many ideas that will be useful in dealing with clients from the outset and in growing a practice effortlessly.

As an aside but also important, the central tenet of this book is similar to the ideas covered in Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." Both are highly recommended.

Useful
Dan Richard helps you understand the evolving consumer, describing ways to attract new clients and how you can develop a trusting relationship. The book also talks about maximizing client referrals, doing bussiness with people you know and running effective seminars ... Read more