Reviews (5)

He says it all himself....
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"If you're a CEO, Vice President, department head, or manager, I hope you're not just simply aware that your customers experience a countless number of clues that affect the total value they associate with your company, but also that you recognise the need to do something to begin to manage those clues with rigour. The systematic management of clues is fundamental to your future. Companies that lack it could perish, and those with it will flourish." ibid. page 236

And does Lewis Carbone tell you 'How' and 'Why', you bet he does.

An essential read for all companies that want to make it in the 21st centuary

Finally, true dedication to understandng consumers' emotions
We researchers and marketers always have known that the concept of "branding" was somehow incomplete; thankfully, Lou Carbone not only has identified the missing customer value building blocks for us, but also has given us a framework for how to put them together and ensure they stay in place. In doing so, he has succeeded at putting the customer first and foremost to an extent that never has been accomplished to date. Perhaps most importantly, Lou has demonstrated a deep commitment to understanding consumers' emotions, and to creating good feelings for them. For all of this, I applaud him.

The MUST READ Book on Customer Experience Management
Customer Experience Management is an emerging and vitally important set of principles and disciplines that should concern every enterprise, profit and non-profit alike. Until recently, however, systematic approaches to Customer Experience Management have seldom reached print. Those that have have either failed to make the case at a deep enough level to evoke change, or have failed to provide readily transferable principles.

"Clued In," by Lewis Carbone, meets both challenges brilliantly. First, as the head of a non-profit deeply concerned with the guest experience, I am well aware that the first and perhaps greatest challenge in managing the customer experience is managing change within one's own organization. "Clued In" comes to the rescue! Using compelling stories and real life case studies, Carbone illustrates why Customer Experience Management is so vital as a value proposition, and he does it in a warm and readable style that will appeal even to those who typically shy away from business books.

Second, many of the recent books and articles that discuss aspects of Customer Experience Management expect too much of the reader. Most tell stories and share principles. Yet often the stories are too remote and the principles -- when there are principles -- are too abstract to allow the reader to make immediate applications to his or her own enterprise. "Clued In" is the great exception. Carbone goes well beyond the success stories of his clients to share transferable principles that you can put to work immediately in your organization. I know, because that is precisely what we've done in ours. Within weeks of the book's publication, we were already putting "Clued In" to work within several of our teams, with inspiring results.

I have read literally everything I can get my hands on regarding Customer Experience Management. "Clued In" is the one MUST READ book in this vitally important area. I recommend it enthusiastically.

This should become a business best seller
There are so many business books with this or that approach to fixing what ails companies that it is hard to take them seriously and impossible to evaluate them all. What is sad about this is that good ideas tend to be seen in the same color of paint as the less than good ideas if they can be seen and heard at all.

This book is one of the very good ideas that should be seen, heard, and implemented. The main insight is that companies can compete more effectively by paying attention to how customers experience doing business with them. Too often companies measure what customers think about their company and its products. Mr. Carbone makes an effective case that what really matters is how the totality of the experience makes the customers feel of themselves. This is a big difference and a key insight. Companies that provide experiences that make customers feel good about themselves are going to have happy and repeat customers.

This book provides how companies can gather, measure, and use the clues customers provide through their interactions with the purchasing experience. The author discusses the methods necessary for implementing the steps necessary to take advantage of what was learned in the marketplace.

Mr. Carbone is wise enough to know that getting "Clued In" is not easy, nor is it a panacea. It is, however, an important tool for competing effectively. He also points out that what is a surprise and delight today may become the standard of delivery tomorrow and new clues must be gathered and implemented to gain a competitive advantage.

This isn't a long book, but it does offer substance for thought and action. I recommend it.

An Essential Guide To Customers' Motivations
This book is an introduction to the work of Lou Carbone, a man at the forefront of the exploration of customer experience as a value proposition. Carbone's big idea is that every business/organization creates customer experiences, either intentionally or unintentionally. And that those companies/organizations that take a structured and disciplined approach to creating positive experiences will have a huge competitive advantage over those with a haphazard approach. This book is easy to read, full of interesting facts and stories about how to do it right -- and wrong. I've had a business relationship with Carbone's company -- Experience Engineering -- which has a decade of success heping companies deliver value-creating experiences. This book, and the company's new website, are a great introduction to an important, exciting business discipline. Worth every penny! I'd give it five stars, but I'm saving that for Carbone's second book! ... Read more

Book Description

The exciting new edition of Marketing continues the established tradition of adding value far beyond the expectations of learners.Extensive research has been done to ensure this edition provides a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute introduction to the field of marketing.Key principles are illustrated by hundreds of fresh, new examples, while the latest concepts and theories are covered in detail with numerous illustrations. Organized around the marketing mix, this thoroughly revised text provides students with an exhilarating first introduction to the dynamic world of marketing. ... Read more

Book Description

• The first-ever book to show businesses step by step how to capitalize on advertising programs offered by Google, the world's #1 search engine, with more than 200 million search queries per day
• Written by a veteran For Dummies author working in cooperation with Google, which will help support the book
• From selecting the right keywords to crafting the right message, the book explains how to boost site traffic using AdWords, Google's hugely successful sponsored-link advertising program, which now has more than 150,000 advertisers
• Also details how to make money with AdSense, a Google program that funnels relevant AdWords ads to other sites-and pays those sites whenever someone clicks on them

Reviews (1)

Great AdWords and SEM Primer
This has got to be one of the best references I've seen that addresses what can be done with online marketing using Google AdWords. AdWords is a confusing but powerful program, and this book offers an excellent primer to becoming an effective AdWords user. That's the primary reason I bought it. There seems to be no end to the ways you can use Google to promote your business. This book helped me familiarize myself with several tools I hadn't looked into beforehand.

Also a good intro to search engine marketing. I purchased Search Engine Optimization For Dummies at the same time that I bought this book. Also an excellent reference. Both highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

Rainmakers make the big bucks. For their companies and for themselves. Here’s how.

The rainmaker is the person who brings big clients, big money, and big deals into an organization. How do they make the rain fall? Waiting for luck won’t do, a very particular human being must get involved. Successful rainmakers are among the highest-paid employees in every company in every industry. They operate under many titles—owner, partner, sales representative, CEO, agent, managing director, and fund-raiser.

Author Jeffrey Fox is a rainmaker who knows how to talk about his gift. He pursues revenues and, in his sharp, witty style, takes you along for the ride. This hard-hitting
collection of sales and marketing stories is packed with fifty smart, no-nonsense tips that show you how to succeed with any customer.

Fox will explain the Rainmaker’s Credo, why customers don’t care about you, the six killer sales questions, why you should dare to be dumb, and why breakfast meetings bring rain. He’ll help you discover why you should never be “in a meeting,” why earthquakes don’t count, why you should sell on Friday afternoons, and other critical skills. If becoming a rainmaker is your goal—whatever your business—this program is for you.
... Read more

Reviews (41)

Making Clouds, not Rain
This short, easy read is a quick refresher course of the basic principals of selling. Mr. Fox breaks down the rainmaking, or sales execution, process into a number of sequential 'Killer Questions' designed to turn your sales target into a frienly decision maker.

As a former salesperson, I did find a number of the killer questions to be natural and direct, not pushy or canned. Mr. Fox also goes beyond simple client 'probing' and hammers at the importance of a hard days work, getting the appointment and pampering your clients once you have sold them.

I believe one should buy How to Become a Rainmaker. It is a quick read that offers enough unique material to help even the most seasoned salesperson. Will you become a rainmaker if you read this book? Nope...like every other rule in business, the rain will fall if you APPLY Mr. Fox's ideas.

Read once -- and then refer to it frequently
I was disappointed at first when I received this book. It was too small and slim to be useful, I thought. Wrong! It's full of good ideas and timely reminders for anyone who makes their living from causing and fulfilling other people's buying decisions.

As a consultant (rather than a product salesperson), some of the product-oriented advice wasn't applicable to my practice. The advice to "dollarize" customers' benefits are easier with "hard products" than they are with "soft services," but Fox does not address this challenge.

Those issues aside, I like the short but intense style, with each of the chapters taking little more than 2-3 pages (500-750 words). I remember watching a friend of mine, an antiques dealer, work with a customer. I thought, "He forgot to ask killer sales question number...," letting the customer leave the store even after expressing specific interest in purchaing an item. The book's style allows one to easily remember snippets like the six "killer sales questions" (each with its own chapter).

This is not a huckster's book, either. There's a heavy message of respect for the customer, fair dealing, not wasting time (yours OR your customer's), and attentiveness to the customer's wishes. Rainmakers thrive on relationships, not "quick kill" sales.

Fox also discusses this when addressing prospecting. He recommends prospecting a reasonably small number of targeted customers and investing time and effort in each one. PLan repeat contacts progressing toward a sale. Don't scatter your time and talents all over the board, mistaking effort for accomplishment.

"Rainmaker" is a valuable addition to my consulting library, and its compact size will make it easy to carry along with me for inspiration and recollection.

Simple minded and trite
I am sure that this book is handed out at many a company meeting. Too bad it does not have any substance to it. This book is merely a collection of stale and cliche ridden sales tips (though they have been changed enough to prevent any copyright lawsuits!). If you are looking for real sales tips, dont' buy this book. Rather, go to Google and search for sales tips. If you are a manager looking for a way to make your boss think you are motivating the troops, order this book. It might help your next review. This book is basically this year's "Who Moved my Cheese" or the fish throwing book.

just what I needed
I'm new to sales, so this book was great for me. I got a lot of help from it. I needed to sell my car among few other things, so i decided to go for this book because it didn't look like some sales bible filled with tons of information. I needed some fast information I could use right away, and this is exactly what I got from this book.

I'm guessing that to the seasoned, experienced seller this book would be waste of money and time, but for beginner who needs some fast, to the point information, it will be very helpful.

this is what you find in this book,
** customers don't care about you, but about themselves and their problems.
** Always plan your sales call, like a sports team plans their strategy. (He tells you how)
** Help them see money. Don't sell the product, sell dollorized value. People would select the product that yield lowest total cost. (I can't explain this, it'll take too much space, read the book, but this is one of the gems from the book.)
** He tells you few "killer" sales questions and explains them, very helpful.
** Don't make cold calls, don't go for "break the ice" introduction (he explains why)

get you into trouble water
Grabbed the old stuffs and merged them into a book. It was just a salad dish, not a melting pot. The segregation fully reflected Mr. Fox's inadequacies in sales. Anyway, broken pieces were broken pieces. Good needle-works could hardly conceal.

Using the words "Killer sales question" also disclosed Mr. Fox's real attitude towards customers. A sincere salesperson will not kill her/his customers with any probing question. Sales pro does mind the wordings and will choose them carefully.

Just another bogus guru. ... Read more

Book Description

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SOLUTION SELLING

The program that is revolutionizing highend selling, by showing companies how to "clone" their top sales performers

CEOs would pay anything to replicate their best salespeople; CustomerCentric Selling^TM explains instead how to replicate their skills. It details a repeatable, scalable, and transferable sales process that formats the questions that superior salespeople ask, and then uses the results to influence and enhance the words and behaviors of their colleagues.

CustomerCentric Selling^TM shows salespersons how to differentiate themselves and their offerings by appealing to customer needs, steering away from making one-way presentations and toward having meaningful and goal-oriented conversations. Currently offered in workshops and seminars around the world, its program provides step-by-step directions to help sales professionals:

• Transform sales calls into interactive conversations
• Position their offerings in relation to buyer needs
• Facilitate a more consistent customer experience
• Achieve shorter sales cycles
• Integrate sales and marketing into a cooperative, cross-functional team

CustomerCentric Selling^TM details a trademarked sales process that incorporates dozens of elements, skills, and sequences into a coherent and proven methodology. By teaching a specific yet innovative model for selling big ticket, often-intangible products and services, it shows sales professionals and executives how to make the seller-buyer relationship far less adversarial, and take selling to a higher level.

Reviews (14)

Diagnose Before You Prescribe
The concepts contained in this book are not new. Their presentation, however, is.

The authors outline why people buy -- and when and from whom. It should be required reading prior to the creation of any business plan. Although the word "selling" in the title, but this book more of a business manual is a really a business book more than it is a sales manual.

There are no clever opening lines, or guaranteed PowerPoint templates. If you spend time with the book you will gain much more-an understanding of what you sell, to whom you should be selling it and where to go to find them.If your managers read it, they will develop a new a concept of how to message and manage their sales process.

Bosworth and Holland believe customer centric selling contains seven basic concepts:
1. Sales are based on conversations, not presentations.
2. Asking relevant questions versus rendering opinions.
3. Solutions rather than relationships earn buyers' respect.
4. Target businesspeople versus users.
5. Sell usage, not reliance.
6. Salespeople manage managers rather than needing to be managed.
7. Enable buyers rather than selling them.

Managers and Salespeople who spent time with this book will add value to their organizations. If you are responsible for moving product, this book is a must read.

Long awaited & satisfies!
I successfully relied on Mike Bosworth's methodology for decades as I sold "disruptive" technologies. Now a Sales and Marketing EVP, my staff, I and our customers are ready for a change.

The people who make the buy decisions now, the motivations, and every stage of the process has shifted. Buyers are more savvy. This is both a plus (it's no longer disruptive technology, but core) and a negative (because they've been burned).

These changes are met head-on in this book with practical advice that can be implemented immediately from my newbies to my seasoned reps and marketers. I'm making this text required reading for my whole staff. It helps us migrate from traditional marketing and selling to what works in today's more sophisticated environment.

Must-read for all sales & marketing people
When you know you're good and want to learn how to become great, drop what you're doing now and read this book. Co-authors Holland and Boswoth pull you up by the shorthairs to show you how to excel.

Refreshing approach to complex sales
In this book you can find a refreshing approach in order to create new opportunities to sell.
Showing how to detect the capabilities your current prospect needs in order to reach his goals you can advance in the sales process without the pain and stress that all profesional sales people suffer.
The steps that Customer Centric Selling offer can help you to clarify your real chances to close a deal and this way focus your time, efforts and resources in the prospect where you can add more value.

Required reading for execs
As reviewed in our January 6, 2004 issue:

Let's cut to the chase: This is the best book on sales we've read in many, many years.

"CustomerCentric Selling" doesn't break new ground with sales tricks and techniques; rather, its strength is in the fact that it ties sales, marketing, and business imperatives together in a way that has the potential to turn conventional selling approaches on their collective ears.

In fact, there's a bit of a paradox here: If you're a dyed-in-the-wool software sales rep with a quota to meet or beat, you may be disappointed in this book, because you won't find any magic bullets you can employ to meet your month-end number.

If you are that beleaguered sales rep, you may even find yourself annoyed with Bosworth and Holland, because their message is that your obsession with quotas is misguided. That's easy for them to say, right? They don't have a sales VP banging them on the head every Monday morning.

But that's exactly the point: If you're that rep, get your sales VP to read "CustomerCentric Selling" Better yet, get the company's CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, VP marketing, investors, and board of directors to read it.

"CustomerCentric Selling" does such a superb job of outlining why people buy -- and when and from whom -- it should be required reading prior to the creation of any business plan.

Yes, it has the word "selling" in the title, but this book is a really a business book more than it is a sales manual.

Bosworth and Holland won't give you 15 clever opening lines for telesales, or 12 terrific PowerPoint templates. But they will help you understand what it is that you're selling, whom you should be selling it to, where you should find them, and how you can refine and manage the messaging as well as the sales process.

In other words: Read this book when you're ready to stop screwing around. Read this book when you've realized that selling to early adopters isn't really selling, it's order-taking. Read this book if you're tired of acting as referee between marketing and sales.

Although "CustomerCentric Selling" isn't written specifically to software people, the fact that the authors have spent most of their lives with technology companies permeates every page. Because it applies a sales perspective to Geof Moore's chasm concepts, the relevance for software companies is very high indeed. ... Read more

Book Description

Market-defining since it was first introduced, International Business 5e by Charles W. L. Hill, continues to set the standard for international business textbooks. In writing the book, Charles Hill draws on his expertise in teaching, writing, and consulting to create the most thorough, up-to-date, and thought-provoking text on the market. Because many issues in international business are complex, the text explores the pros and cons of economic theories, government policies, business strategies, organizational structures, etc. Hill's: International Business goes beyond the often shallow explanations that other books offer, while maintaining a tight integrated flow between the chapters. Hill's book is practical in nature, focusing on the managerial implications of each topic on the actual practice of international business. The author's passion and enthusiasm for the international business arena is apparent on every page as he strives to make important theories interesting, informative, and accessible to all students. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent Textbook on Globalization of Business
Dr. Charles Hill has the rare combination of excellent subject matter expertise and writing skill. I purchased this textbook for an MBA course on Global Business and have been extremely impressed with Dr. Hill's work. It is organized, easy to read, the introduction and sidebars augment the text exceptionally, and the case studies are thorough and applicable. Unlike another reviewer, I found the depth of coverage to be appropriate for an MBA program and especially enjoyed the treatment of monetary systems and the weaving of economic theory throughout most chapters. This book is a keeper.

this book did NOT include the CD nor the map as stated
I ordered this book for a 6 weeks class I am taking and only ordered this one because it included the CD and the MAP that I needed. I could have ordered just the book for around $40, but I choose to pay the extra (almost to $90) because it this one SAID that it included the CD and the MAP - well guess what it didn't I was RIPPED off - the class is over a very short time period thus I have no time to return the book and get another
BUYER BEWARE!!!!!

WARNING
This is a third edition Book. Most classes that are now in session are looking for the fourth edition - I found this out the hard way. So watch out.

Excellent in-depth introduction
I found this book to be a well organized and stimulating. I have taken a course in Int Business as part of my undergraduate business degree. I discovered this book offered as part of an Int Business degree program at another institution and decided to purchase it. I found it to be so much better than the first go around that It was like I never learned Int business to begin with. Well written; I am very skeptical of typos and could only find one which was very minor. This book is a real eye opener and you will never want to stop reading it. It is one of my favorite text books! Thanks Charles Hill.

Most useful handbook
As a prescribed book for our MBA course (University of South Africa) I found this publication most enlightening. It is current and up to date, and addresses diverse topics which exert influences on business. Themes include national and cultural differences, global trade, politics and investment, the global monetary system, foreign exchange and capital market, strategic issues, and business operations.

I could find nothing wrong with the writer's style. References are copious and the text is fairly easy to understand. Although it could be argued that postgraduate students will grasp the contents easier, even an undergraduate friend of mine found the book fascinating and well written.

Whether for formal studies or personal interest I can highly recommend this volume. ... Read more

Book Description

What does it really take to succeed in business today? In A New Brand World, Scott Bedbury, who helped make Nike and Starbucks two of the most successful brands of recent years, explains this often mysterious process by setting out the principles that helped these companies become leaders in their respective industries. With illuminating anecdotes from his own in-the-trenches experiences and dozens of case studies of other winning-and failed-branding efforts (including Harley-Davidson, Guinness, The Gap, and Disney), Bedbury offers practical, battle-tested advice for keeping any business at the top of its game. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

BRANDING, FOR EXECUTIVES. READ IT FOR THE CASE STUDIES.
It is difficult to review a book that one has enjoyed reading and then say that it was not up to the mark (in terms, of course, of only my expectations.)

No doubt that Scott Bedbury's work is a fast paced read, his writing is lucid and quite frequently quotably light-hearted. There is a lot of material here for people in larger corporations or even general marketing folks. And where Bedbury truly shines is in the case studies he presents in the 8 chapters.

But if, like me, you set off on this book looking for some newfangled insights into the world of branding, then this is not the book for you. The title claims to proffer "8 principles". Let's face it, at the end of the day, principles are not that hard to create and this becomes quite painfully clear when you reach the end of this book and wonder if you have learnt anything new.

But I am being unfairly critical. From his style, it seems an approachable business book was precisely what Bedbury's intended?

As a comprehensive introduction to the field of branding, I'd still recommend "Strategic Brand Asset Management" by Keller. For a discussion of some innovative yet reasonable forms of brand creation, especially on a shoestring, I'd usually point to a PR related book, or perhaps the rapier wit "60-minutes Brand Strategist."

But as a gentle introduction for executives in to the nebulous world of branding, or as a non-technical business book for business folk in general who place less emphasis on a structured analytical framework and are more interested in a soft springboard into the field, then "Emotional Branding" and this book from Bedbury are pretty near the top of my list of recommendations.

Very accessible and insightful stuff, if you aren't expecting a summary of last decade's JCR.

Pure Genius Strikes Again
Scott Bedbury, the architect of building the Nike and Starbucks brands, invites us into the inner sanctum of building statement brands. For someone who loves both business biographies as well as strategy, I found this book as entertaining as I did informative and useful. It is no wonder to me why Scott was able to navigate two distinct brands to a lasting impression in America. As someone who is building my own brand (TotallySoccer), I found that Scott is right on: you must have the vision and the imagination as well as the ability to execute. A great and entertaining read.

Interesting information, but it gets old
This book was interesting and had some good information in it, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to read a book on Starbucks and Nike. I found myself dreading another story about how wonderful Starbucks or Nike are, and how great a manager the author was. It really starts to get old.

The principles are good, but you can read about most of them in any college marketing textbook.

Shows how brands are of financial importance to businesses.
There is no shortage of books on this subject and I've probably read three-quarters of them. This one comes closest to cracking the code. In fact, the author uses that exact word in describing how marketers must go about cracking a brand's genetic code.

While some may find the heavy reliance on Bedbury's experiences at Nike and Starbucks limiting, I think they're quite instructive. Mainly because while one of these brands, Nike, was created largely using traditional mass media, the other achieved its preeminence doing exactly the opposite.
In either case, Bedbury does a great job of defining what a brand is, why it is of such financial importance to a business, how to go about discovering its genetic code, and how to maximize a brand's value and ubiquity. And he does it in a very readable fashion. Definitely something anyone who places any stock in branding will want to read.

Microsoft Comments destroy his argument
Scott has some great experience to relate but while they are a small part of the book, his diatribes against Microsoft and its nascent branding efforts in 1994 undermine his arguments and make me question his credibility.

His bias is clear. Microsoft parted ways with Scott Bedbury's favorite ad agency, Weiden & Kennedy, with whom Scott spent untold millions of dollars -- perhaps hundreds of millions -- as a Nike exec, convincing urban American youth that his shoes built with child labor at poverty wages were worth hundreds of dollars.

Bedbury says that W&K "resigned" Microsoft but my understanding was that Microsoft didn't like W&K's work.. nor did the consumers watching it. Contrary to Bedbury's comments, Microsoft's campaigns were not watched over by clueless engineers but by a career Procter & Gamble man, Bob Herbold.

Bob and P&G are not fools when it comes to advertising, handing over cash to glitzy agencies and fawning over their results. He followed each campaign with rigorous testing. The W&K ads tested poorly with consumers and really looked cold and impersonal. As I recall, they looked a lot like... tiresome Nike ads. Perhaps W&K is a one-trick pony or maybe they're just more comfortable selling shoes.

Bedbury suggests that Microsoft is the laughing stock of the advertising world and "couldn't buy" good advertising if it wanted to.

Really? Visit the latest Interbrand brand rankings at BusinessWeek's site ( August 4 edition) to view the top 10 most valuable brands. Microsoft is #2 behind Coca Cola (and would have beaten Coke had it not been for antitrust issues eroding the brand value). Curiously, I don't see Nike or Scott's Starbucks anywhere on the top ten list. Nike is in the 30s, and Starbucks almost at the bottom of the top 100.

Clearly Microsoft has figured out how to build a brand without spending all their money on television advertising or employing small children. Perhaps that's threatening to ravenous advertising agencies and execs like Bedbury who spent so much of the shareholder's money on television advertising aimed at kids who have very little money to spend. ... Read more

Book Description

Would you like to increase your own selling results, or the performance of your entire sales team? The concept of Secrets of Question-Based Selling is founded on the idea that an effective salesperson knows what his or her prospect needs, then offers solutions--and the only way to find out what someone needs is to ask!

With more than 17 years of experience in sales and management, Thomas A. Freese has taken the approach that consistently empowered him to exceed, at times even double, his selling results, and has packaged it into the sales methodology he calls Question-Based Selling. This book serves as an explanation of this technique, as well as a reference guide that can be used over time by both salespeople and sales managers to exponentially increase their productivity. You will learn to:
• Penetrate more accounts
• Establish greater credibility
• Generate more return calls
• Prevent and handle objections
• Motivate prospective customers
• Close more sales faster
• And much, much more! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

WOW, what a breath of fresh air!
In this day and age where everyone is too busy to even talk to themselves, let alone a salesperson, this book takes a refreshing new approach to selling. Thomas leverages the simple concept of getting people to want to have a conversation with you by earning the right to ask more questions. Most sales books and training teach that you need to ask questions, Thomas goes to the next step by developing questions that narrow your focus so that customers will want to engage with you.

This is a MUST read for any salesperson with all levels of experience. Good selling....

Totally fresh ideas on successful selling relationships.
I've read many of the popular sales books throughout the last 15 years and frankly, there's nothing new out there. This book takes a totally fresh approach to selling which anyone can use starting tomorrow, and packages it into "Secrets" that help anyone understand the fundamentals of successful selling and personal relationships. If you're tired of rehashed "Sales 101...", this is a must-read!

Nothing could be better
I am glad to see this book at the top of the sales chart. When I bought the book, it was ranked at the lower end of the top 50 best sellers in sales. When I was half way through the book, I thought this should rank at the top and deserve a classic status. Everything is fresh and the book teaches you how to approach a sales from any industries. I am testing the concepts in my work and immediate see result from my adoption. Most sales books out there are more geared towards big corporate sales which is not relevant in my financial industry. I find this book to be exceptionally easy to borrow its ideas for my financial industry. Anyone who is serious in sales should not miss this gem. I can guarantee you that you will learn a lot from it.

Who Else Wants All the Appointments They Can Handle?
If sales books were music, most would be useless light pop like the Backstreet Boys. QBS is like the Dave Matthews Band- something for the more advanced salesperson. Music that is so masterful, sophisticated, enticing and interesting that it pulls you in. That's the way this book comes across to me. I had left 100 voicemails and got ZERO returned calls, and therefore ZERO appointments. Then I bought this QBS book. Since then, I have seen my callback rate skyrocket to 40-60%. The author shows you how he gets a 95% call back rate (see p. 95). He also explains the 5 techniques that helped him. I then use the 5 QBS techniques to turn these callbacks into appointments: questions, curiosity, reverse the positive, credibility, and momentum. Nowhere to resist me. WOW!! This stuff works. I am literally setting all the appointments I want to, with any company, regardless of their size. If you have suffered with call reluctance, let me ask you a question: Could you make those calls if you knew that 40%-60% of your calls would all be returned same day? What if you knew how to get appointments with any size company you wanted to- would that change your perspective? If you want to be happy, GET THIS BOOK!

This is a "7" on a 1 to 5 scale: important material
This is a truly great book. There's so much important material that it could be broken down into 2 or 3 books. The book is not that long, and it is very easy to read. But each page is packed with lots of new and interesting insights to the sales process.

I highly recommend it to anyone in sales. That includes high school guys getting ready to ask girls out on their first date. Freese addresses this sales dilemma.

His analogies, like the one to the Hunt for Red October for these high schoolers, were excellent.

Can't say enough about this book. I have underlined this book quite heavily.

John Dunbar ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fans of Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado will certainly be attracted to The Chasm Companion, a step-by-step manual by longtime Moore associate Paul Wiefels that lays out specific ways to apply his popular tech-oriented business principles in our fast-changing world. But even those who never warmed to the earlier works--which proposed a pragmatic path for successfully navigating the ever-moving environment of "disruptive technologies that force changes in both strategy and behavior"--could find this book appealing. Designing The Chasm Companion as a hands-on field guide, Wiefels opens by explaining six "inflection points" in high-tech market development (the Early Market, the Chasm, the Bowling Alley, the Tornado, Main Street, Total Assimilation) that he and Moore insist everyone must carefully watch and properly react to as internal and external conditions evolve. He then outlines models and tools developed in the consulting practice he co-founded with Moore that enable individual corporations to carefully craft relevant strategies that they can align correctly with the appropriate market phases defined earlier. Finally, he presents initiatives (strategy validation, whole product management, marketing communications planning, and field engagement strategy) to help these firms actually implement their plans. Graphics and sidebars help Wiefels drive his points home clearly. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Extends beyond high tech
Wiefels get to the heart of high tech marketing. Nothing I have read has more insights or is more useful in the practical application of marketing constructs for high tech. Anybody in high tech, indeed in marketing of any sort, can benefit from these concepts.

THE guide for tech marketeers and managers
It's a very simple and clear framework to keep in mind, with VERY practical results in day-to-day activities of product management (specially for those, like me, come from "techies" backgrounds). It's reccommended to read the other 5 books of Chasm Group to fully understand the concepts, but to start using as product manager, this is THE guide.

Tough Marketing Decisions Made Easier
Paul Wiefels has given a gift to marketing and technology executives by doing an extraordinarily difficult thing: adding yet more value to some of the most valuable marketing strategy books ever written (Geoffrey Moore's). For both readers and non-readers of Moore's books (Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and others), The Chasm Companion is an immensely useful how-to guide to successfully marketing technology products and services. It provides thoughtful and provocative connective tissue between Moore's books for those who are already Chasm devotees, but doesn't rely on the reader already having familiarity with Moore for this book to be completely understandable and immediately actionable. The author's intimate experience with difficult technology marketing decisions saturates each chapter with a pragmatic perspective often missing from consultant-authored books. The "field guide" format insures that theory consistently supports rather than trumps practice and execution. As a strategy consultant and former Fortune 100 marketing executive, I highly recommend reading The Chasm Companion before your competitors do.

For converts of The Technology Adoption Life cyle
I have been a keen student of the Chasm Group publications for a number of years and this book starts to bridge the gap between the theory of visionaries, tornados, gorillas etc and the application of the concepts in practice. The style is very readable and filled with good "common sense". I have already started using it in earnest ... Read more

Book Description

Significantly revised, restructured, and updated to reflect the challenges facing service managers in the 21st century, this book combines conceptual rigor with real world examples and practical applications.Exploring both concepts and techniques of marketing for an exceptionally broad range of service categories and industries, the Fifth Edition reinforces practical management applications through numerous boxed examples, eight up-to-date readings from leading thinkers in the field, and 15 recent cases.For professionals with a career in marketing, service-oriented industries, corporate communication, advertising, and/or public relations. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Synthesizes all the best practices and leading edge thinking
This is such a well-written and well-organized book that you can simply read from cover-to-cover or jump into your interested chapters right away.

Not only does the authors present you with their in-depth coverage of the various services related topics, supplementary materials (papers, cases) from other excellent sources/authors make this an absolute encyclopedia of services marketing and a coherent contemporary literature for both novices and seasoned practitioners.

This is THE book for this very under-written and immensely critical topic of services marketing and an essential reading for the 60-80% of the workforce who are involved in the ever growing services sector.

An Excellent Insight Into the World of Services Marketing
With its comprehensive content, the book gives a fantastic overview of the important issues in services marketing today. There are many interesting and practical examples demonstrating the learning points. Well-balanced perspective. Besides giving readers the foundations of concepts and tools to use as services marketing managers, it also gives readers interesting tips on how to get around or leverage on current services strategies used by companies as customers.

Review by Venkat
Its a very useful book covering all aspects of services marketing. Contents are well organised with real world examples, frameworks that you can apply to practical issues etc. I have read through all the chapters in the book and a few headings very interesting
1) Loyalty
2) Managing services people
3) Understanding service quality
4) Power of service guarantee
I strongly recommend anyone interested in services marketing to buy this book.

An excellent book on Services Marketing
a) The subject content is very good and is quite informative with the relevant examples of the best practices and cases. Gives good insights into the various aspects of Services Marketing and changes your perspective.
b) The paper used is just perfect (not a glossy) which gives a great reading pleasure.

A must-read for a good grounding in services marketing
Services Marketing by Lovelock and Wirtz is a down-to-earth practical textbook that covers the myriad facets of services marketing. I like it because it showcases real-life examples, and ties theory and models neatly in with practical examples that MBA students can easily relate to. ... Read more

Book Description

Sales call reluctance is the "social disease of the sales profession."The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance offers practical, field-tested and well-researched technologies to diagnose and overcome career-limiting emotions that keep talented, capable people from earning what they are worth. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

One of the best sales books I have ever read.
I have to admit that I ordered this book on an impulse from Amazon.com a couple of weeks ago. I teach some sales courses professionally myself and have managed sales people for 30 years. I presently have 158 consultants selling high tech consulting and business solutions for a full package consulting company. I half expected to send this book back and never expected to write an endorsement! First, this book is a true original. Second, it is written really well and its smash-mouth science approach is more fun to read than most books for sales people. Third it has more credibility and class than the feel good brain candy you get in Personal Selling Power magazine or Zig Ziglar seminars. If you think selling is for dummies pass over this one. But if you want some of the best return for effort invested in reading a sales book, give this one a try.

One of the top books for sales people
A selection test guy I think his name was Donald Barnett came to our company meeting over a year ago and gave a talk that ranted against this book. Somebody that says he knows him said several of the rants here on amazon were written by him using different names. He seemed so passionate I believed him so I never bought it. Then I heard Tony Parinello interview the authors on his radio show a couple of weeks ago. Hold the phone! Tony gave it a glowing endorsement so I bought it. Tony has my respect for writing Selling To Vito and he has my thanks for telling us about this book. Like Tony said, it's one of the best books he's ever seen for salespeople and people not in sales. I think people should read all the rants in the reviews and make up their own mind by opening the first pages right here on amazon and look at the table of contents to see what the ranters are leaving out. It doesn't make salespeople feel like idiots. It's more than just the author's giving their opinion. It's backed by scientific facts not just war stories from personal exerience. Boring? I don't think so. It's downright funny unless you are one of those self-glorious sales gurus. I wish I read the part on how to pick out unethical people when I started my career. To get into what this book teaches you have to want to make more money. If you do, this is the cheapest ticket in town. I guess that steams some people.

Critical to success!
This book stands alone in offering REAL SCIENCE to explain, support and correct a frustrating and costly problem that knocks some talented people from the selling profession. Sales professionals tired of the jokes about the fear of rejection or psyche-em-up speeches will find real answers that they can customize to their own situation. Sales Managers will find alternatives to standing over their reps to enforce prospecting calls. Does it work for everybody?-no. Anyone determined to keep doing it their way can keep fighting the battle. But anyone motivated and serious about real success will find answers within these pages. I've added another "Bible" to my bookshelf with this volume

Fuzzy, Flabby, Foolish, and just plain a waste of time
Looking at the other reviews on Amazon, I can only believe that they were written by the author, the publisher, their wives, children, and other close associates. I can't believe that those people read this book.

Before I launch into my review, I have to say that this book seemed so useless that I quit reading after about 50 pages.

The parts I read were choked with such vague generalities as to be totally useless. For example, a large chunk of the book involves categorizing the nature of a person's sales call reluctance. Some of the attributes they say to look for one of their reluctance types are:
* Over-concerned about making strong, favorable first impressions
* Women tend to wear designer clothes and flash - not just wear - pretentious jewelry
* Men tend to wear monogrammed shirts, designer suits and maintain a neat, fussy appearance

That's a literal quote. Take my word for it, I picked a page at random to illustrate the kind of "wisdom" you can expect to find here. Packed in between these little gems of insight are many many sidebars whose only purpose is to tell you how great the authors are.

Having said all that, it does take the time to think about what factors impact sales call reluctance. Just considering the subject may be useful to somebody - I guess you can read it yourself and find out.

One of the best of the best
I heard Tony Parinello on his radio show tell everyone how he read this book in a monastary in Nepal. How could it be that good? I have probably browsed through hundreds of sales books from Tom Hopkins to Miller and Heiman, so I didn't think this one could add much to what I already know. Tony was right and I was wrong. This is not a good book for salespeople, it's a great book every sales person should read at least once. Sales managers should read it five times. ... Read more

Book Description

Judging by all the press it's received lately, account planning must be the biggest thing to hit American advertising since Doyle Dane Bernbach's Volkswagen campaign. Agencies are falling over each other to establish account planning departments and arm themselves with what Jay Chiat of Chiat/Day once described as "the best new business tool ever invented."

Despite this enthusiasm, account planning remains shrouded in mystery. Is it, as Chiat suggested, merely a tool for attracting new clients? Or is it, as many critics have suggested, no more than traditional consumer research dressed up in new clothes? In the first book devoted exclusively to the subject of account planning in the United States, Jon Steel, Vice Chairman and Director of Account Planning for San Francisco advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, argues that it is neither of these things.

Account planning exists for the sole purpose of creating advertising that truly connects with consumers. While many in the industry are still dissecting consumer behavior, extrapolating demographic trends, developing complex behavioral models, and measuring Pavlovian salivary responses, Steel advocates an approach to consumer research that is based on simplicity, common sense, and creativity—an approach that gains access to consumers' hearts and minds, develops ongoing relationships with them, and, most important, embraces them as partners in the process of developing advertising.

A witty, erudite raconteur and teacher, Steel describes how successful account planners work in partnership with clients, consumers, and agency creatives. He criticizes research practices that, far from creating relationships, drive a wedge between agencies and the people they aim to persuade; he suggests new ways of approaching research to cut through the BS and get people to show their true selves; and he shows how the right research, when translated into a motivating and inspiring brief, can be the catalyst for great creative ideas. He draws upon his own experiences and those of colleagues in the United States and abroad to illustrate those points, and includes examples of some of the most successful campaigns in recent years, including Polaroid, Norwegian Cruise Line, Porsche, Isuzu, "got milk?" and others.

The message of this book is that well-thought-out account planning results in better, more effective marketing and advertising for both agencies and clients. And also makes an evening in front of the television easier to bear for the population at large.

"Jon Steel is one of the great practitioners in advertising today. This book captures the essence of how to understand and connect with other human beings—not just to sell them something, but to create strong, long-lasting brand connections. It should be required reading for all planners, creative people, and account people." — Lee Clow, Chairman of TBWA Chiat/Day, Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide

"A very smart, very funny look at what works, what doesn't, and why, in the sometimes maddening, sometimes inspiring business of advertising. One of the brightest books about the subject in a long, long time." — Geoffrey Frost, Director of Global Advertising, Nike Inc.

"Jon Steel is one of the top five account planners in the world. The depth and breadth of this book reflects his vast personal experience and exceptional talent. It's not just a great book about account planning, it's a great book about advertising." —Jane Newman, Partner, Director of Strategic Planning, Merkley, Newman, Harty.

"The beauty of this book is that it discusses the theories and practice of one of the brightest minds in advertising today, yet never loses its irreverent tone. It's a great book for the advertising industry and a must read for planners." —Rob White, Director of Planning, Fallon McElligott

". . . I was glued to Jon's book. Best practice, common sense, and extraordinary intelligence throughout." —David Wheldon, President, BBDO Europe.

"Jon Steel's book is the perfect insight into a discipline that for some time has been misunderstood, misused, and maligned by most agencies and clients in the U.S. So, run it up the flag pole, put it to groups, check it against the norms, the answer is the same—Truth, Lies, and Advertising should be read by anyone who has to make or approve advertising." —Rick Boyko, President, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather, New York. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

The perfect formula for brand-building
Although, there's no fail-safe formula for creating advertising that works, in Truth, Lies and Advertising, Jon Steel certainly gives us a dependable solution. Rather than relying on an individual's hit or miss ideas, Steel advocates a common-sense approach to creating advertising that involves consumers right from the development of the campaign and helps build lasting relationships with them. Add to this a dose of high-voltage creativity and you have the perfect formula for brand-building! With lively anecdotes and tongue-in-cheek humour, Steel presents his agency's award-winning campaigns for Polaroid, California Milk Processors and Norwegian Cruise Lines as testimonies to this formula. How does his agency (GS&P) conceive such memorable advertising campaigns? Through 'account planning', a new discipline which has now percolated into every modern advertising agency in the world. If you're in advertising, you must read this book. It's sure to change the way you view advertising today.

HighlyRecommended!
Successful ad campaigns are not linear developments where a business need meshes straightforwardly with an effective creative approach and actually produces successful tangible results. Instead, building memorable, provocative advertising campaigns is such a complex, political task, both rational and emotional, that a successful campaign is a wonder. Veteran advertising expert Jon Steel contends that building a good campaign is the common sense responsibility of the account planner - the new nexus of the consumer, agency creative staff, client and researchers. Steel shows the pitfalls of misguided research and creative arrogance as he explains that a good business-oriented account planner can help produce wonderfully effective, often simple, ad campaigns. His witty, erudite book concludes with its best case study: a look inside the successful "Got Milk" campaign for the California milk industry. We recommend this book to those who buy and sell advertising and to anyone working at an ad agency.

Best book on account planning we've seen yet.
Another Outsource Marketing firm favorite!

A great book about communication planning written by Jon Steel, the Brit who heads account planning for Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Steel and his agency are best known for developing the "got milk?" campaign.

Truth, Lies & Advertising describes the process of gathering consumer insights and turning them into potent communications.

It offers great advice about developing advertising objectives, using consumer research, and working with creative people.

Steel writes with enthusiasm and sympathy for the creative process, but he's also savvy about business realities and committed to results.

If you've ever struggled to reconcile the art of creative with the science of business, this book should interest you.

Connections That Will Surprise You
Anyone who's witnessed or participated in the generally rancorous discussions that go on between the creative people in advertising agencies and their research counterparts would do well to read this excellent book.
Mr. Steel admits that as an account planner he is very much a believer in consumer and advertising research. Yet, the agency where he practiced prior to writing this book is one of the most creatively-driven and award-winning in the business. So what gives? If creativity and research are such natural antagonists, how could he (and research) have flourished in that environment?
Well, as he patiently explains and clearly illustrates with many examples, the problem isn't with research per se. The problem is with how the research is conducted, by whom and to what purpose. Done wrong, it is, as he puts it: "the blind leading the bland". Whereas done properly, research can not only save the creative people's most unexpected and outrageous ideas, it can even make them better and more effective.
Naturally, this is a book any account planner will want to read, if for no other reason than the extraordinary chapter devoted to preparing a truly exceptional creative brief. But anyone involved in the ad agency/client loop will benefit from it because at the very least, it will help you determine if the account planning you're currently getting is real account planning or just tired, old research with a spiffy new name.

The only book on account planning
This was pretty good. I was annoyed with the first half of the book because the author wastes time with irrelevent tangents and self-indulgent anecdotes. But by the end, I'd gleamed a lot of general wisdom on the account planning. If you're looking into account planning, this is the only book on the subject... and it's definitely worth a read. If you're trying to learn more about advertising in general, read "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This". It's cuttingly insightful and perhaps the easiest-to-read non-fiction I've ever picked up. ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for Becoming a Category of One

"Becoming a Category of One shows what it takes to build a brand on something more than just product. This book inspires us to go for greatness, and to win by using our hearts as well as our minds."
–Ken Blanchard, author, The One Minute Manager

"If you want to be successful and you want a successful company, read Joe Calloway’s book.It’s as simple as that. It’s the how-to manual that every manager and every employee should be required to read."
–Dr. Dorothy Marcic,Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management, author Respect: Women and Popular Music and Managing with the Wisdom of Love: Uncovering Virtue in People and Organizations

"If you could have everyone in your company read just one business book, this should be it. Becoming a Category of One is very straight talk about how it’s everyone’s responsibility to help build the brand."
–Daniel Burrus, author, Technotrends

"Becoming a Category of One is simply an outstanding book. With a highly readable style that makes you feel like he’s talking directly to you, Joe Calloway provides valuable insights for anyone who wants to separate themselves or their business from the pack."
–Michael LeBoeuf, PhD, author
How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life and The Millionaire in You

"Becoming a Category of One will delineate how you can differentiate yourself from others who do what you do, how to become positioned in your marketplace, and how to make your customers love you and need you."
–Jeffrey Gitomer, author
The Sales Bible and Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless

"For anyone looking for the inspiration, the road map, or the reason to take their business to the next level, Becoming a Category of One is definitely it."
–Tony Alessandra, PhD, author
The Platinum Rule and Collaborative Selling

"Becoming a Category of One isn’t about theory or fads. It’s a real-world look at what will help your company create and sustain success. Buy it and start reading it today!"
–Tom Connellan, author
Sustaining Knock Your Socks Off Service and Bringing Out the best in Others! ... Read more

Reviews (11)

The Handbook of Definitive Differentiation
In today's intensely competitive world, being unique has value. Being positively unique has even more value. Leading your category in the marketplace builds business through the image of that coveted Number One status. Being so unique and so powerful that you're in a category all by yourself is the ultimate achievement. That positioning sets you apart from all would-be competitors because you're something pretty special...and people like to do business with suppliers that are something pretty special. If you want to achieve superlative success, your goal should be to become a Category of One.

First step: Read Joe Calloway's book. Second step: Read it again. Why? You'll be so entranced on the first reading that you'll miss a significant amount of valuable advice. Step Three: Start applying what you've learned from this book. Step Four: Read the book again, going back to all those passages you highlighted. Oh, along the way, better buy copies for all your key people so they can also get the message. [Snicker. After reading this book, you may have difficulty limiting who fits in that vital category of "key people."

Calloway is a management consultant who specializes in branding and competitive positioning. Through his client interactions over the years, and his own personal experiences, he's accumulated a wealth of information and insight. He knows how to be so good that your would-be competitors can't even touch you. In a surprising self-effacing gesture, rarely seen from consultants, Calloway shares in the preface that he's not the expert; he's merely a reporter. I have difficulty believing that he doesn't have expertise, but he sure does a fine job of reporting what winning companies are doing.

Each chapter is filled with advice, anecdotes, and inspiration. Very quickly, readers will "get" the difference between organizations that are so good that they create their own category...whether they intend to or not. As you learn why, you'll become motivated to make some changes in the way you do business. You'll discover what branding really means. You'll appreciate the power of being close to the customer. And you'll gain a deep understanding of how people can make the difference-if their leaders inculcate the values and drive for consistency that must be energized to be a Category of One employer.

Note: while this book is intended for employers-owners, executives, manager, and everyone else on the team, there is also value for the individual who wants to make himself/herself highly attractive. Looking for the perfect job for you? Looking for the perfect mate? This book is not the end-all, but the principles Calloway teaches have wide application. Open your mind and open your wallet. This is a book worth buying, reading, absorbing, and applying.

Kudo's for this one-of-a-kind book
Joe Calloway practices what he preaches. The author is not content to rehash what others have written about the topic of branding. He offers innovative suggestions that can give you and your business top-of-the-mind awareness in your industry. Packed with fascinating, real-life examples and results-producing suggestions, this book should be required reading for entrepreneurs and CEO's because their success depends on their ability to distinguish themselves from competitors. Read it and reap.

Just small talk
Perhaps this book should not be considered a serious book at all, as it is full of anectodal small talk instead of sound analysis. No theory, no sound model, no serious cases. An insult to even a mediocre intelligence. Just avoid it.

Packed With Knowledge!
Any CEO would love to run a company that is regarded as truly in a class by itself. After all that's about as close to a monopoly as you can get without running afoul of the regulators. Some companies - such as Starbucks, Volkswagen, Southwest Airlines and Apple Computers - do come close to being in a class by themselves. Here, consultant and author Joe Calloway suggests that all "Category of One" companies share a common trait that explains how they achieved success. More than just a book of theory, this volume also offers practical case studies, information and interviews. Strong on concepts, it needs to provide a bit more guidance about how to push your company into its own category. That said, we very strongly recommends this book to business leaders and students of management who find marketplace excellence a never-ending pursuit.

HIGH ON WHAT, LOW ON HOW (IF ONLY IT WERE SO EASY)
Isn't it interesting to see preachers following their own advice! Calloway seems to be acting on his own theory here -- "Category of One" is nothing if not a shrewd construct to position his own work as separate from all that barrage of literature that already exists under the label of differentiation and competitive "Positioning".

Would have been remarkable indeed if this attempt had succeeded. Sorry to be the bearer of this news, but I'm afrait it hasn't.

Sure, we get eloquent case studies of trailblazing brands that have carved a very strong, and positive, niche for themselves: Starbucks, Volkswagen, Southwest Airlines and Apple Computers. Some of the lingo is also quotably quotable, and good for executives to toss off. The writing generally is fluent and the book is an easy read.

But the catch is that we never really move on from such a mellifluous stance of "So here is how these guys got to where they are." No model, or framework, or even so much as a instructive guideline is forthcoming.

In sum, recommendation-wise, interesting and readable book if only for the thought provoking case studies, but ironically doesn't make itself stand out from the pack. I still believe that in this genre, "Positioning" by Al Ries is the title to beat. ... Read more

Book Description

In the ever-changing world of complex international rules, laws, regulations, and customs, even seasoned export/import professionalsmay find themselves in unfamiliar situations.

Export/Import Procedures and Documentation puts reliable solutions to problems like wrong documents and procedural misunderstandings right atreaders' fingertips. This comprehensive answer book supplies ready-to-use forms and provides a clear view of the entire export/import process. This newedition has been thoroughly revised to include:

* New Shipper's Export Declaration forms and instructions * U.S. Customs Service "Reasonable Care" checklists * New Automated Export System (AES) procedures and documentation * Updated Customs Audit Questionnaires.

Also featured are 37 updated forms as well as 12 all-new forms, a section on e-commerce in international marketing, Websites for 94 export and importagencies and information sources, and listings for export and import software. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An outstanding practical reference for active exporters.
Our copy of this book is being used constantly by our consulting staff. It covers the complicated process of shipping products to foreign markets. We recommend it to our clients, especially those who handle their own international shipping, insurance and payment processing. John R. Jagoe, Director, Export Institute. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the first edition of this landmark book was published in 1962, Everett Rogers's name has become "virtually synonymous with the study of diffusion of innovations," according to Choice. The second and third editions of Diffusion of Innovations became the standard textbook and reference on diffusion studies. Now, in the fourth edition, Rogers presents the culmination of more than thirty years of research that will set a new standard for analysis and inquiry.

The fourth edition is (1) a revision of the theoretical framework and the research evidence supporting this model of diffusion, and (2) a new intellectual venture, in that new concepts and new theoretical viewpoints are introduced. This edition differs from its predecessors in that it takes a much more critical stance in its review and synthesis of 5,000 diffusion publications. During the past thirty years or so, diffusion research has grown to be widely recognized, applied and adm