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

Paco Underhill, author of Why We Buy, wrote the foreword to Retail Success! Here's how he describes the book.

If you look at the graduates of the five leading business schools in the U.S. over the past fifty years and look at the first job graduates took with their new MBA in hand, only a tiny percentage went to retail companies.

Retail for the last millennia has been something people discovered they had in their blood. Whether brilliant merchant or plodding vendor, retail demanded a special commitment. At any level the only thing guaranteed was hard work.

The point of entry, if it wasn't through family, was often by accident. A part-time job that turned full-time. Discovering a flair or talent for something that precipitated the need to trade. For many senior executives the retail job offer came as a sideways career move. For many small merchants the step into the retail abyss came from the desire to work for themselves. However, running a store or a chain of stores is harder than it looks from the outside. Giving good store means understanding layout and merchandising. It means being able to lead and inspire employees. It means delivering on your promise to the customer consistently day after day.

Being a good merchant has never been easy. The great merchants of the twentieth century learned the details of their craft the hard way--by doing it. They succeed by guts, instinct, and ability to stay focused. If they were lucky, they had a mentor. Someone who brought insight out of chaos. Someone who was willing to teach and help revisit the fundamentals. Someone who could look and listen. For every merchant or aspiring merchant who has missed having that personal mentor, there is George Whalin.

Unlike Columbia Business School professors, George never uses a twenty-five cent word when a nickel word would do just fine. There are no flow charts or fancy three-dimensional diagrams. George dispenses plain and straightforward good advice. From small comic book store owners to the CEO of giant retail chains, George has been a mentor, coach, and cheerleader. In person, George inspires calm and confidence. He's old enough and gray enough to inspire trust and yet he has an easy laugh and melodious voice that is a pleasure to listen to. In this new book, that sonorous and easy tone comes right through the printed words on the page.

If you are in retail, time never comes to you in big chunks. You get breaks, some when you are bone weary, others when you just need to hide for a few minutes. Believe me, George understands. To be honest, you don't have to read this book cover to cover. You don't have to start at the beginning. You can flip and surf, dip and sip. But if you have anything to do with retail, I do recommend that you get to know George and this book is a great place to start. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Should have read this a long time ago!
This was great. Good advice. Sensible. Logical. Would have avoided so many costly mistakes if I'd had this book when I first got into retail.

Attended Mr. Whalin's seminar and then reread his book!
I read this book when it first came out and really got a lot of ideas from it. Every now and again, I would go back and look something up or reread a chapter. Last week, after attending a seminar given by Mr. Whalin, I decided to read the whole book again. I can't say enough--I keep finding more good stuff that inspires me. And if you ever get a chance to go to one of the author's seminars, do it!

I bought this book for all my managers
After reading this book, I bought a copy for all my managers. We discuss various points in our monthly meetings. As an example, there's Chapter 13: Great Store Managers Make Great Stores. It tells what the best managers do and how they manage their stores. We use it as a guide for improvement and self evaluation.

Many of my managers also use the book to help with their sales associates. There are several chapters on sales, salesmanship, and even selling from a customers point of view. The fact that this book isn't as "technical" as other retail business books I've read is a great plus. I think it's the reason my managers have been so willing to embrace the concepts and pass them along to their employees.

I highly recommend this book.

Anybody who didn't like this book didn't read it!
If you are in the retail business and want to get good ideas, read this book...period!

I ordered this book, and returned it.
A lot of buzz words, no compelling arguments, facts or supporting data. This book is published with big font in double spaces, so not much information - like an article. ... Read more

Book Description

How to capture customers by learning to think the way they do

The most common complaint Bill Stinnett hears from his corporate clients is that would-be vendors and suppliers "just don't understand our business." In Think Like Your Customer, Stinnett explains why the key to landing corporate customers is to learn to think about the things executives and business owners think about and understand how they make complex buying decisions.

Drawing upon his years of experience as a Fortune 500 consultant, he offers sales and marketing professionals a powerful framework for understanding the inner workings of a business; knowing what motivates its executives and influences their buying decisions; identifying a company's organizational structure and decision-making psychology; and using that information to develop a winning strategy for influencing how and why the customer buys.

In addition, you receive:

• Solid marketing insights delivered in a fun, breezy style by a top corporate consultant and seminar leader
• Expert tips on how to maximize the value and profitability of relationships with corporate clients and customers

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

Advance praise for Developing Products in Half the Time Second Edition New Rules, New Tools Preston G. Smith • Donald G. Reinertsen "This is an exceptional book! Get a new highlighter before you start. There are so many ‘ah ha’s’ in each chapter you will never make it through with an old one." Don LaCombe, Ford Motor Company, Product Development Process Leadership "An excellent book with a strong treatment of the cycle-time consequences of overloading your development capacity. It provides powerful and practical concepts for dealing with this issue." Andrew Aquart, Director Product Development, Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson Company "This is practical, useful stuff for people competing in highly competitive fast moving business." Dr. Paul Borrill, Chief Scientist, Sun Microsystems "3M has absorbed many of the tools from the original edition, and this new one will be even more useful. The topic of incremental innovation is crucial to us, and I really appreciate its balanced treatment." Ronald H. Kubinski, Manager New Product Commercialization Services, 3M Company "As the authors correctly point out, the Fuzzy Front End is the least expensive place to reduce cycle time. This book is one of the only sources of concepts, methods, and metrics for compressing this critical portion of the development process." David M. Lewis, Product Manager, Eastman Kodak Co. "Using these tools we’ve more than cut our time to market in half. The new edition of this classic crystallizes the synergy of the fast-to-market techniques, and the icons in the margins highlight the opportunities and pitfalls." Mike Brennan , Vice President of Product Development, Black & Decker ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Excellent must-read for senior managers
I found that this book was packed full of common sense, which is rare in a development management book. Although it has a lot of examples of manufacturing of phsyical goods, I found it great as a software manager. There aren't many spare words in this book, either -- it's terse and well edited, so you get the raw facts and the necessary stories to back them up, but not a lot (or any, really) fluff.

I am putting it on my bookshelf for software engineers, right next to Writing Solid Code and Debugging the Development Process, two classics for software engineers and team leads, respectively.

Buy and Read
Absolutely the best book there is on the subject of new product development. Of particular import is the discussion on market and pricing dynamics, which may be new to technical-types. Choosing the right product to develop is critical to avoid "The Innovators Dilemma". The book however needs to add more to the discussion of the importance (and risk) of rapid return of (partial) information to the team during the development cycle, as well as human (team) dynamics. I would therefore recommend "The Team Handbook" as a necessary adjunct.

very sophisticated tools for real life product development
While the first edition was a bit dry to read in the first four chapters, the second edition is more fun. The value of the content has not been reduced with rev 2.0, on the contrary.

The book is full of sound business theory which is well explained and put into real life context to help the non-MBA to transfer the message to their respective challenges.

Also invaluable are the hints towards common pitfalls. They show that the authors have really applied the theory and are aware of the human factor in change processes.

I read rev 1.0 and 2.0 and will probably buy 3.0 as well.

Keep going!

Great Reading for Software Managers
Over 14 years of software experience confirmed alot of what this book offered. It's well written, chalked full of great facts and gives you a perspective on the possibilities for software development. Let's face-it, software development has almost zero manufacturing issues. So, if your looking for the real reason to implement processes and methodolgies into your development processes, this book will take you there.

This is a must-read book for all development managers
This is a treatise on management techniques, not process improvement. The first two chapters detail the decision of which projects to speed up, implying that a manager can only speed up a project by overstaffing it and clearing its path of the usual bureaucracy. Therefore, there is no permanent process gain to be had. But it is a great guide for decision makers looking to cut some time off any (or every) project. The fundamental tenets are these:

1) Make the decision to develop a new product idea quickly.

2) Staff all functions to the project immediately and keep them on throughout (no ramp-up, no handoffs)

3) Specify it simply and quickly and do not change the spec (3 days, 3 pages).

4) Spend a little time on the product architecture, designing for modularity and quick development.

5) User overlapping development techniques (work on multiple modules simultaneously)

6) Make a successful transition to manufacturing to complete the project.

You can halve the development time of most projects just by changing the way you manage your projects, without doing a lot of overtime or increasing the cost of development. Many of the answers are in this book. Again, this is a must read book for all development managers. ... Read more

Book Description

This leading book in international marketing features comprehensive cases that cover consumer, industrial, low tech and high tech, product and services marketing.Specific chapter topics examine the global economic environment; the social and cultural environment; the political, legal, and regulatory environments; global customers; global marketing information systems and research; global targeting, segmenting and positioning; entry and expansion strategies: marketing and sourcing; cooperation and global strategic partnerships; competitive analysis and strategy; product decisions; pricing decisions; channels and physical distribution; global advertising; promotion: personal selling, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, trade shows, sponsorship; global e-marketing; planning, leading, organizing, and monitoring the global marketing effort; and the future of global marketing.For individuals interested in a career in marketing. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The up to date Case
This book has easy to understand & have up to date case. The Harley Davidson case is one of the cases that showing us how's struggling US to face Japanese company offensive. This is the good case to picturing the dawn to earth marketing strategy compare to arrogant & not efficient strategy willing by US Company.

good service
the service is very good and efficient

clear, understandable jargon
Marketing concepts are explained within global marketing frame in an understandable manner using the jargon everybody can understand. The principles that each company must take into account both at home and abroad are revealed. Especially, I liked "18 Guiding Principles of the Marketing Company". Articles from the scholars at prestigious business schools are related to global marketing concepts in most understandable way. This makes the book richer. Another thing making the book richer is Global Income and Population estimates, that is both put inside the text and at the end of the book as appendix. These estimates give clear grasp to the reader about world demographics and economic structure, and helps reader understand the subject at hand and, in general, world dynamics better. Interesting and information & expertise-loaded cases differentiates the book from other boring textbooks. The future of global marketing section of the book gives the reader an invaluable horizon. I suggest that you read it carefully, you will get too many things from it.

Students found this to be informative but not presented well
Valuable, current information presented in a rather dull, uninteresting format according to MBA students. Very comprehensive. ... 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

This volume takes a broader approach than Advertising or Promotions surveys and gives readers an integrated learning experience by incorporating Internet exercises and a Building an IMC Campaign project, with free Advertising Plan Pro software in every copy. The volume addresses integrated marketing communications, corporate image and brand management, consumer buyer behavior, business-to-business buyer behavior, promotions opportunity analysis, advertising management, advertising design, both theoretical and executional frameworks, IMC promotional tools and integration tools. For marketing professionals and ad agency account executives.

Book Description

All companies must grow to survive-but only one in five growth strategies succeeds. In Profit from the Core, strategy expert Chris Zook revealed how to grow profitably by focusing on and achieving full potential in the core business. But what happens when your core business provides insufficient new growth, or even hits the wall?

In Beyond the Core, Zook outlines an expansion strategy based on putting together combinations of adjacency moves into areas away from, but related to, the core business, such as new product lines or new channels of distribution. These sequences of moves carry less risk than diversification, yet they can create enormous competitive advantage, because they stem directly from what the company already knows and does best.

Based on extensive research on the growth patterns of thousands of companies worldwide, including CEO interviews with twenty-five top performers in adjacency growth, Beyond the Core (1) identifies the adjacency pattern that most dramatically increases the odds of success: "relentless repeatability;" (2) offers a systematic approach for choosing among a range of possible adjacency moves; and 3) shows how to time adjacency moves during a variety of typical business situations.

Beyond the Core shows how to find and leverage the best avenues for growth-without damaging the heart of the firm.

... Read more

Reviews (11)

Standing Tall
Standing Tall among Business Books, Chris Zook has indepth research examples of Companies portraying picture of today's business times. Numerous CEO reports, charts and graphs with real practical illustrations are varied. Outside a core business, the expansion is detailed in this book - on how to go ahead framing and practically applying the ways and means so as not to harness the existence levels. The books offers nurturing roots of business, examples on adjacency expansions with pros and cons of success and failure measures. The name itself speaks big 'Expand market without abandoning Roots' and the rule of the game lies in effective management. The author pin points steps to leverage best avenues and the possible adjacent moves so as to reach competitive edge and pooling profit without harnessing the roots of main frame business. In today's time, with diversifications, 'Beyond the Core'- the book serves a Good Reference and as I read on Chris zook's comments, I feel this is a 'Grab Pick' and Must for all Big Company Executives.

Not All Adjacencies Are Appropriate
Perhaps you have already read Profit From the Core: Growth Strategy in the Age of Turbulence which Zook co-authored with James Allen. It was based on rigorous research which revealed the key strategic decisions that most often determine growth or stagnation in business. They note: "Central to our findings are three ideas: the concept of the core business and its boundaries; the idea that every business has a level of full-potential performance that usually exceeds what the company imagines; and the idea that performance-yield loss occurs at many levels, from strategy to leadership to organizational capabilities to execution." In the five chapters which follow, Zook (with Allen) examines "the types of strategic business decisions that most often seem to tilt the odds of future success or failure." Zook correctly suggests in this book that many organizations cannot resist the appeal ("the siren's song") of "miracle cures" of their problems. Zook focuses entirely on what has been verified in real-world experience, on what is practical, and on what will reliably achieve the desired results of sound strategic decisions.

In the first chapter of this book, Zook discusses what he calls "the growth crisis" which many (most?) organizations encounter. He observes, "Finding or maintaining a source of sustained and profitable growth has become the number one concern of most CEOs. And moves that push out the boundaries of their core business into 'adjacencies' are where they are most often look these days." I agree with Zook that these strategies have three distinctive features: "First, they are of significant size, or they can lead to a sequence of related adjacency moves that generate substantial growth. Second. they build on., indeed are bolted on, a strong core business. Thus the adjacent area draws from the strength of the core and at the same time may serve to reinforce or defend that core. Third, adjacency strategies are a journey into the unknown, a true extension of the core, a pushing out of the boundaries, a step-up in risk from typical forms of organic growth." Much of the material in this brilliant book is guided and informed by what Zook claims is "the new math of profitable growth." Specifics are best provided by Zook himself.

Zook presumes that those who read this book already know what a core business is, and more specifically, what the core business is of their respective organizations. Given his objectives, that assumption is probably necessary so that he can explore the opportunities which (key word) appropriate adjencies offer. Fair enough. However, my own experience suggests that companies frequently extend the boundaries of a core business without fully understanding what that core business is. Railroads probably offer the best example. Only much too late (if then) did senior-level executives at major railroads realize that their core business was transporting people and cargo, NOT "railroading." Obviously, trains are confined to the tracks as are ships to the water and trucks to the roadways over which they proceed. Early on, what if owners of railroads and their associates had addressed questions such as those Zook poses in his Preface (Page ix)? Had they done so, presumably they would have recognized appropriate adjacencies which include taxi cabs, Super Shuttle, local delivery services, and "overnight" delivery services (e.g. DHL, FedEx, and UPS). While they're at it, why not own or forge strategic partnerships with over-the-road trucking companies and cargo airlines? Given the central locations of railroad stations in major metropolitan areas, it would have been easy enough to combine a full-range of travel services within an upscale retail mall.

The question to ask, therefore, is not what an organization's core business is. Rather, what could AND SHOULD it be? The correct answer to that question is important, of course, because without a proper core, there can be chaos. Also, the correct answer suggests appropriate adjacencies by which to achieve and then sustain increasingly more profitable growth.

In the Afterword, Zook imagines himself engaged in what he calls the proverbial "elevator" conversation during which he reviews the "key messages" contained within his book. It serves no good purpose to list them here because each must be carefully considered within a meticulously formulated context. However, once the book has been read, I strongly recommend that all of these "key messages" be reviewed on a monthly (if not weekly) basis. For decision-makers in at least some companies, this may well prove to be the most valuable book they have read in recent years.

An Outstanding Growth Guide for Global Business Leaders
As a second year MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management and a future corporate strategist for a global financial services firm, I found reading Beyond the Core to be one of the best time investments that I've made over the last few years. Chris Zook seems to have a knack for writing great books that not only stand the test of time but that are also highly relevant to the current business and economic environments. Specifically, his first book, Profits from the Core, which focused on maximizing the value of the core business, was launched when businesses needed it most - during the economic downturn. Now, Beyond the Core is perfectly timed since, from what I and other MBA's are observing in the market, most businesses are remobilizing for growth.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Beyond the Core - it's a relatively quick read that is focused, insightful and well structured. More specifically, I think there are three key things that make this book stand out in comparison to many other business books I've read: 1) it takes a global perspective 2) it is highly data driven and has great examples and 3) its very actionable and offers lots of insights on implementation.

To elaborate, the first thing I really liked about Beyond the Core is that it takes a truly global perspective with examples from Europe, Asia and Latin America. As an MBA student majoring in International Business Strategy who will be working in a global firm after graduation, it was great to read about the strategies that firms such as Li & Fung (HK), Ambev (Brazil), Lloyd's Bank and Vodephone (UK) and STMicroelectronics (Italy). Overall, I also liked that the book mixes an array of fresh case studies (Tesco, Biogen, Ambev) with more traditional ones (Dell, Nike, American Express).

Secondly, Beyond the Core is highly data driven and the recommendations are based on empirical evidence, not conjectures. As a student of business strategy, I too often come across books or theories that are supported by nothing other than a few select examples that prop up the author's hypotheses. Beyond the Core, in contrast, is supported by an enormous amount of financial, competitive and market research and by many CEO interviews and studies by Bain & Company. This is extremely insightful as it helps the reader understand the odds of success and failure across the business world and thus leads to much more informed strategies.

Finally, Mr. Zook has focused nearly a third of the book on implementation and execution strategy. This makes the book and its recommendations highly actionable instead of leaving the author asking "so what?" The book sets out a systematic and understandable road map for adjacency expansion. More importantly, it discusses issues that are critical to growth initiatives such as: organizational structure, decision making processes, staffing, accountability and reporting, etc.

In sum, I highly recommend Beyond the Core, especially to global business leaders looking for a practical guide for profitably growing their businesses. Enjoy!!

Questionable Choice of Examples and Lack of Definitions!
Many people who have been burned by going into new areas will grade this as five-stars for encouraging caution in expanding a company's scope. If that's all you want from a book, this is a five-star book. If you want to learn what the exact lesson is, and why that lesson is true, you'll have to look elsewhere however. If you want to learn how to beat the odds in this area, you will also have to look elsewhere.

I found Profit from the Core to be a directionless mishmash of data without firm definitions that repeatedly espoused the idea of "stick to your knitting." As a result, I took up Beyond the Core with great trepidation. At first blush, Beyond the Core seemed to cure some of the peripheral problems of Profit from the Core . . . until I began to notice how almost all of the important examples of continuing business model innovation had been excluded that seemed to fit all of the criteria (except perhaps being willing to be interviewed by the author). Mr. Zook continues to avoid defining what "the core" is, so that basic problem continues.

The book's message is "stick to your knitting . . . unless you have not choice . . . then don't go away from your cost advantages and knowledge." If you want to know a little more about that message, you can read all of the key points in the book summarized in the Afterword on pages 189-192 in less than five minutes.

The book will mainly be helpful to those who are thinking about making unrelated acquisitions. The advice: Don't do it! The odds are way against you . . . but even the most unrelated acquisitions sometimes work (GE bought NBC and has done well with it, for example). The book lacks clear direction for how some overcome the odds.

The book was also curiously silent about how companies can use small experiments to test their way into new areas. That's the way that most firms expand beyond their core.

The methodology looks very much like those employed in Build to Last and Good to Great . . . but don't believe it. Cases were selected in part based on whether Mr. Zook could interview the companies. So it's really a subjective sample. So take the conclusions with a selective grain of salt. Here are some of the cases of those who have prospered with expanding into new areas that seem to fit the Zook criteria but don't appear in the book: Beckman Coulter; Berkshire Hathaway; Clear Channel Communications; Education Management; GE; Iron Mountain; Nucor; Paychex; Sony; Virgin Group; Xilinx; and Zebra Technologies. It's not surprising that the book fails to describe the discipline of continual business model improvement as a best practice . . . a serious omission for this subject.

Ultimately, I think the flaw behind the book is to look at moving "beyond the core" separately from looking "at the core." If the two books had been combined into one that looked at how to outperform the competition, there would have been the basis of helpful insights. Or, this book could have been scoped down into how to grow into new areas with internal development activities versus acquisitions. That would have been helpful. But with the focus of "beyond the core," you are left in a never-never land that you may not want to be in. The other interesting question that could have been addressed is how companies prospered by eliminating the old core and replacing it with a new one through acquisition as a number of companies have.

As I thought about why the author might have chosen this direction, I realized that it may be an unconscious use of the older ways of strategic thinking. Those analytical schemes separated thinking about existing business areas from entering new ones. For some time though, most strategic thinkers have emphasized seeing the questions as connected. You should, for example, be pursuing your best opportunities. That means comparing all choices in some manner at the same time.

The other problem with data-heavy studies like this one is that you are relying on backward impressions (with 20-20 hindsight). Studies of best practices are best done by looking at the decisions and actions when they are made . . . and then measuring the results to see what happens. Interviews taken at such times reveal much different information than the neat success stories spun after the fact. Clayton Christensen does a good job of explaining this issue in chapter one of his new book, The Innovator's Solution.

As I finished the book, I began to think about the many unsuccessful unrelated acquisitions that I have run into among companies. In almost every case, I remember reading a thick book by a name consulting firm that had explained at the time of the purchase why the acquisition could not miss. Perhaps a follow on for this book would be how to avoid bad advice in evaluating acquisitions.

A great lead-on to Profit from the Core
A very well documented lead-on to Profit from the Core, with practical real life examples on adjacency expansions, including successes, failures and comparisons of companies that started with similar points of departure but went different ways. It comes as no surprise that the book was rated by The Economist among the top 5 business books of the season. The book and its thinking are highly relevant to today's business climate in Europe. ... Read more

Book Description

First published in 1995, The Nordstrom Way is a classic guide to great customer service. This new book replaces The Nordstrom Way with an even more practical guide to becoming the “Nordstrom” of your industry. Designed for customer service managers and trainers, as well as business owners, it’s an invaluable resource for designing your own programs and initiatives. The authors not only explain the principles of the world’s best customer service company, they also show you how to implement them in your own organization. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence will help your business make customers its number one concern, and help make your business number one in your industry. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Seth Godin, one of the world's foremost online promoters, offers his best advice for advertising in Permission Marketing. Godin argues that businesses can no longer rely solely on traditional forms of "interruption advertising" in magazines, mailings, or radio and television commercials. He writes that today consumers are bombarded by marketing messages almost everywhere they go. If you want to grab someone's attention, you first need to get his or her permission with some kind of bait--a free sample, a big discount, a contest, an 800 number, or even just an opinion survey. Once a customer volunteers his or her time, you're on your way to establishing a long-term relationship and making a sale. "By talking only to volunteers, Permission Marketing guarantees that consumers pay more attention to the marketing message," he writes. "It serves both customers and marketers in a symbiotic exchange."

Godin knows his stuff. He created Internet marketer Yoyodyne and sold it in 1998 to Yahoo!, where he is a vice president. Godin delves into the strategies of several companies that successfully practice permission marketing, including Amazon.com, American Airlines, Bell Atlantic, and American Express. Permission marketing works best on the Internet, he writes, because the medium eliminates costs such as envelopes, printing, and stamps. Instead of advertising with a plain banner ad on the Internet, you should focus on discovering the customer's problem and getting permission to follow up with e-mail, he writes. Permission Marketing is an important and valuable book for businesses seeking better results from their advertising. --Dan Ring ... Read more

Reviews (110)

Finally focused marketing on customer needs does exist...
Everyday your letterbox is full of leaflets you never read, your banker send you a new financial proposal you already have in your portfolio... All these papers will go directly to the trash can, but interrupt your customer's life: time, privacy and peace of mind. This is the waste created by the "interruption marketing", which is not using correctly customers' databases or is bombarding TV spots you do not watch during film breaks.

Is this time over? Not sure when you see all e-mails or phone calls you receive to promote products of no interest for you. How to get your Attention in the middle of this information overload? Simply by asking your permission.

Seth Godin, who created Internet marketer Yoyodyne and sold it in 1998 to Yahoo, where he is a vice president is explaining to us how to do it in "Permission Marketing". With practical examples he shows us how to start a relationship with a customer by offering added value. Main ideas are around personalization, long-term relationship and truth building. Customer then is expecting information from you focused on his own needs. The challenge is to move from market share to customer share.

But how is this possible? The use of New Information Technologies and Internet allows a one to one communication with a customer with focused information and at a low price. This is really the contribution from "New Economy" and Permission Marketing is giving the keys to understand how these New Information Technologies allow focusing on a customer more and more demanding. The traditional marketing is moving quickly to One to One marketing.

Do not read Permission Marketing if you want to lose your customers to the profit of your competitor knowing how to build long-term relationship with them. If you add One to One from Don & Martha Peppers to your readings, you will be well prepared to succeed in front of the marketing shift arriving with the "New Economy".

A watershed book--I recommend all my clients read it
Internet marketing and relationship marketing are the subject of numerous books, but Seth Godin's Permission Marketing does a better job of explaining the concepts better than any other single volume.

Permission Marketing explains the differences between Interruption Marketing (old-style newspaper, TV and radio ads) and Permission Marketing--where visitors ask to be kept informed and willingly share information about themselves and their purchasing needs. It reinforces the successes I've enjoyed in over twenty years of marketing and shows how customer relationship-building techniques that were previously inefficient and, thus, unaffordable are now within the reach of all.

Permission Marketing cuts through the clutter of marketing theory and web technology and provides a highly readable, jargon-free conceptual framework for viewing web marketing in an new light. Throughout, Permission Marketing emphasizes integrity and customer respect--in contrast to books which are often subconsciously predicated on an adversarial relationship with prospects and customers.

Permission Marketing will change the way you think about advertising and marketing and suggest a whole new approach to your web site. It will inspire you to break out of the mold of price advertising.

Excellent
I "stumbled" in to Search Engine Marketing and now "do it" for a living with car dealerships in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This book, in it's first few pages, helped me. NO I don't know the author :)

David Saunders, Concord, CA

Want to learn about true, effective marketing...read this!
Mr.Godin is an excellent teacher of how to market effectively. Before reading this I thought of marketing probably like most do. I thought to be successful in marketing and advertising, that big was the way to go...big magazine ads, t.v. spots, target a large audience and you're sure to get lots of customers, etc. WRONG!

Mr. Godin hits the bull's-eye on the type of marketing that it takes to acquire and keep customers in your business. It is not mass marketing to anyone and everyone that's going to do it. But rather, Mr. Godin shows you how to set up a specific strategy, a clever method in which to acquire the type of customer you want to your particular business. If you own a sports shop, then your ideal customer wouldn't be a chef or a construction worker who just happened to walk into your store...it would be the die-hard, sports enthusiast that you want to attract. Mr. Godin shows you how to attract your "ideal" customer; He teaches you how to get your ideal customer to come to you.

I didn't fully understand all that "Permission Marketing" was really about until Mr. Godin broke it down and explained it to a tee. If you can get a potential customer to say "yes" to you prior to the sale, your chances of acquiring them as an actual customer dramatically increases. This is what Mr. Godin shows you how to do. He is a wise marketer and you can be too! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

read this review
So there are steps in every transaction. The whole point of this book is that you don't create lifelong relationships with strangers. Every sale consists of multiple mini sales.
turn the page
click the link...

You go to amazon
browse through books
see related books
browse through reviews
buy the book

While some of the data relating to the internet is outdated, the fundamental message of the book is still strong. Those who think traditional media outpace targeted ads are dead wrong. ... Read more

Book Description

"An excellent 'ready reference' both for copywriters and for those entering the field." -- Robert Goldsborough, Special Projects Director Advertising Age"Holy smoke! This is amazing! A thesaurus for advertising copywriters. Where has it been all my life?" -- Denny Hatch, EditorTarget MarketingSix seconds. That's all you have to grab your prospect's attention and make a sale. Use the right phrase or slogan, however, and you've made your sale. Use the wrong one, and you've lost your opportunity . . . maybe forever. Choosing the right phrase or slogan is vital to your success. And so is Phrases That Sell. It's the ultimate resource for anyone needing hands-on, instant access to the key phrases, slogans, and attention grabbers that will gain more attention and sell more product. Organized by category . . . indexed and cross-referenced for ease of use . . . loaded with expert advice on how to write copy that sells, Phrases That Sell covers everything, including those hard-to-describe product and service qualities and those product/service attributes that are subtle or abstract. It has 143 selling phrases to describe service, 153 for fun, 341 covering style and design, 180 phrases related to price, and much more! In this book you'll find:

• 5,000+ sales phrases for consumer and business-to-business products and services
• a copywriter's primer called "10 Basic Rules of Copywriting," with insider's tips on usage
• a special section on the seven steps to writing winning slogans
• Expert advice on how to target your message to specific audiences

Reviews (6)

Awful and depressing
Anyone who's watched TV or looked at newspapers or magazine ads an average amount during their lifetime could put together this list of cliches and hackneyed, mendacious phrases. Could be useful as a guide to what to avoid, but I would die before using it in the way intended.

Excellent Help for the Writer
As a professional copywriter I will tell you that this is an excellent book and you would be well advised to have it at hand every time you write anything that is important to you --- especially sales letters and advertising material.

Is Perfect Too Strong of A Description?
I have used the previous book "Words that Sell" as one of my secret copywriting tools for years.

This is the perfect companion. I can't imagine anyone who writes not finding this a gold mine of idea starters.

It works.
It saves you time, stress and heartache. While not the most original phrases you'll hever hear, it's a great source of inspiration.

Wordsmithing? Not a problem!
This book and it's now out-of-print companion, Words that Sell, are a must for anyone who writes corporate sales education. The information is logically arranged and easy to access. As the book would say, it simplifies your life and makes your job easier - kiss your hassles goodbye! ... Read more

Book Description

There now exists a wealth of tools and techniques that can determine if and how a Web site is providing business value to its owners. This book is a survey of those metrics and is as important to IT executives as it is to marketing professionals.
* Jim Sterne is recognized worldwide as a leading Internet business expert and is the author of several Wiley books, including WWW Marketing, Third Edition (0-471-41621-5)
* Explains the criteria for building a successful site, surveying the tools, services, techniques, and standards for Web measurement, and fully integrating those metrics with the customer experience
* Companion Web site contains links to online tools, resources, and white papers ... Read more

Reviews (7)

I'm sure there's some good information in here somewhere.
Jim Sterne clearly knows his stuff, but he has such a disconnected, rambling style that it is hard to figure out what he's trying to get at in this book.

For example, early in the book, he's just starting (in an unusually oblique way) to explain how log files work, then changes gear and reprints a long email from someone else about an application fault management tool, TraceBack. Helpful for some, I suppose, but off track.

This is one of those books, like "3000 Tips for Better Golf" that is probably best read in small random bits while on the john. Best used as a treasure trove by those who already are famililar with the landscape.

Excellent Resource
This book provides an excellent overview of how to run a Web site like a real business. If your mandate is to improve the success of your company's online presence, and you're unsure of where to start, you'll find value in each chapter. Sterne does a nice job of connecting Web metrics to traditional business concepts.

If you have a strong understanding of the value of Web metrics, or if your company already takes a serious approach to analyzing site data, setting specific business goals, and carefully measuring success, then you're better off selecting a more targeted book that delves deeper into your area of interest. Sterne covers a lot of ground at a macro level across a wide range of subjects. The table of contents provides a detailed overview, I recommend looking it over.

I read this book in 2004 and still found it current and informative. A few sections are a little behind from a technology standpoint, but don't let that deter you. This book gets full marks for making it easy to understand why tracking and analyzing Web metrics is critical in today's online business environment.

Excellent Book For Those With SEO Responsibilities
As a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist I found this book to be an excellent resource to clarify the differences between website traffic analysis, search engine optimization and tracking business success metrics. I like to drive home to my employer that we need to focus on the goals of our sites and define our own metrics as to what success means. My interest is always, "How will this increase sales?"

This book makes very clear which numbers matter and why, including web traffic, sales and marketing. I especially like the focus on "actionable" intel: metrics are great but what do they tell us to DO differently? How will this give us a competitive advantage? What does it tell our sales people?

I recommend this book for newbies as well as pros. If you're a pro there is so much in this book that there has to be something new that will help you compete. If you're a newbie you will soon be talking like a pro. Career advantage. It is written so anyone can understand it in a kind of Dr. Phil tone. I also like that it uses examples from all sizes of companies instead of just telling me how Amazon and EBay did it - like we're all in that league.

There is a lot of information here, it will take you a while to read it. No I did not find every chapter riveting but I seldom find that in any non-fiction book. Many times however I put the book down, weighed the insights provided against how we do things presently and pondered how I could convey the points to the marketing department. If I can give the sales force an edge we all win.

insightful and informative
Sterne does a good solid job of presenting material nicely. He also talks about the important stuff. Sterne explains What to measure, how to measure it, when to measure it, but not why (i.e. what is the significance of measuring this particular metric?). Overall a real eye opener regarding web metrics and their importance in the overall value chain of the internet experience and success of the site.

Everything You Need to Know
A complete how-to book to determine the success of a Web site. Sterne clearly explains how to use metrics to quantify business goals. The tools, services, and techniques for measurement described in the book will be helpful for any e-business or other company with an Internet presence. A must-read. ... Read more

Download Description

"It's more important than ever for companies to objectively assess the value of their customers. But conventional measures of ""customer lifetime value"" haven't been linked to overall business value and haven't been useful to senior managers. Managing Customers as Investments overcomes both shortcomings.

Through practical examples and case studies, you'll learn a rigorous yet simple approach to estimating the lifetime value of your customers¿and how you can use that information to make better tactical and strategic decisions. You'll learn how customer value calculations impact customer acquisition, service, retention, and segmentation¿as well as strategic M&A and alliance decisions.

Whether you're a CxO, line-of-business manager, marketer, analyst, or investor, Managing Customers as Investments will help you focus your resources where they'll deliver maximum value.

Key takeaways include

• Customers are assets
• How to calculate the value of customers in a simple way
• How the value of customers provides the basis for marketing strategy and planning
• The importance of balancing the value of the customer to the firm with the value the firm provides to the customer
• How to use the value of the customer as a basis for firm valuation and M&A decisions
• The implications for organization and incentive structure and the limitations of product and brand management
• How to link customer value to business value
• Practical techniques for CxOs, line-of-business managers, marketers, financial analysts, and investors
• How to make better decisions about marketing, partnerships, and organizational structure
• Easy-to-use metrics and real-world case studies

What your customers are really worth: crucial knowledge for better strategic and tactical decision-making

How can you find out, without endlessly complex modeling? And after you know, what should you do with that knowledge?

Managing Customers as Investments has the answers¿and they may surprise you.

You'll learn surprisingly simple ways to get reliable customer value information...and get it in a form you can use.

You'll learn how to use it to measure your marketing effectiveness more accurately than ever before¿and drive improvements throughout your entire customer relationship lifecycle.

You'll learn how customer value can bring new clarity to decisions about M&A and firm valuation.

Everyone tells you to manage your business around customers. This book gives you the tools to do it.

" ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Do It Smarter Book
Understanding that a businesses customers are one of it's greatest assets is not a new or novel idea.After all these are the people that pay the bills.But how can you fairly asses what the true value of any one customer is?Is it all based on total revenue, profit margin or market share?Questions that are difficult to answer and not really a black and white issue. This book teaches the readers how to see the link between customer value and firm value.It also does a great job of showing you which aspects of customer management are the most critical.One of the rules they want you to look at is long term relationships and strategies and not just the short term fix.

There were two great aspects of the book that made it one that can easily be used.First the authors made the decision to keep the approaches simple.You did not have to work through some multiple step process with NASU like calculations.The authors theory is that simple and intuitive concept can be implemented by almost all management thus insuring a better adoption rate.The second aspect I felt was valuable was that the book was full of real life examples.It was far easier to see how the process worked when you could relate to the examples provided.Overall I really enjoyed the book.It was informative, had great ideas and is one that can make a difference in any organization.

The marketing book of the year 2005?
This is a particularly thought-provoking book which, as have so many others, came from Wharton School Publishing. Columbia professors Sunil Gupta and Donald Lehmann have written regularly on the subject of Customer Value and Marketing over the last 20 years. Their articles and books have been standard texts for many MBA students interesting in customer value management for some time. Sunil and Donald have produced a jewel: it is so well written and convincing that, after reading it, you will rethink your customer relationships in terms of value creating opportunity and not in terms of expense.

Cool approach to help you better understand your company
This book argues a customer based metric to understanding not only firm value, but for making more realistic decisions about investing in new customers or even company acquisitions.The authors are quite frank about the vague nature of some of the components of the equations they develop because you have to make some assumptions about the future.I really like their statement that it is better to be vaguely right than precisely wrong.Upon close examination that statement actually sounds better than it really is, but it gets the point across.

The basic idea is that your customers represent a series of cash flows.Using the tools provided in this book you can make reasonable assumptions and make an estimate of their value to your firm.This can help company executives make better decisions about marketing spends, acquisitions, and in targeting customer segments.It can help investors and analysts double check company predictions and market valuations.

Since we have been through a period of corrupted financial reports by too many companies, it is great to have another tool to check the value of a corporation, no matter how rough.In fact, the measure is so easy to run, it would be great to make a range of assumptions to create a bounded "realities check" in order to see what would need to occur for a given investment or management scenario to be a good decision or realistic outcome.

The one tiny area where I think the authors head off into the world of making the whole world a nail for their new hammer is their idea of a CMO, a Chief Marketing Officer.There are too many Chief whatevers in companies nowadays.I think the reality is that if this turns out to be a useful and predictive tool that executives would be foolish to not use it.The role of marketing within a corporate structure has more to do with the role of marketing in the nature of the product.For example, Proctor & Gamble is a marketing firm and has to emphasize it much more than a captive auto supplier.It is not something that can be uniformly prescribed.

Far from being an abstract exercise in quantification, this is a lively and concise book with many case studies to illustrate the authors' points.Just beware that every new idea cannot really be proven with past data because of the danger of fitting the data to the needs of the tool.You will have to work with these ideas and see how they work in your organization.My guess is that these ideas will yield good results if used well.

Good business book. ... Read more

Book Description

Fill the Empty Suit (or take it off completely!)This is a book of Simple Strategies For Providing Outstanding Service to Advertising Clients.

Account executives, and anyone else who deals with clients, will find themselves flinching, laughing, and committing to memory this sound advice, presented through real-life stories of satisfying success and embarrassing failure along the total spectrum of client service. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Don't miss out on this great book
Whether you are just starting your client service career or are looking to refresh your skills, reading this book should be at the top of your "To Do" list.

Every chapter is a gem! Full of actionable advice along with healthy doses of humor and wit for good measure.

A thorough study of this book is like having Robert Solomon as your own personal mentor as you navigate your way through the "gray areas" of account management.

It's not only a great read, but an outstanding re-read.It stimulates new ways of thinking about your job every time you pick it up. Robert's common sense and wisdom are invaluable to anyone whose success depends in large part on client relationships-not just advertising, but other service businesses.

Robert's solutions to real world business challenges will have a lasting impact on you; you will be able to easily recall them when you are in a "sticky" situation. You'll conduct your client relationships in a thoughtful, professional manner and learn how to really enjoy your business life at the same time.

Better than Brain Surgery!
"The Art of Client Service" is a new, greatly expanded, and improved version of Robert Solomon's first book, "Brain Surgery for Suits."

Solomon added color to the material by telling stories of his "adventures" in account management, and depth by adding an essay -- "What Makes A Great Account Person" -- that crisply summarizes what it takes to succeed in client service. The author also wrote new chapters that didn't appear in his first book, including "Avoid the Dark Side," "We Are Smarter Together Than We Are Alone," and "Be Multilingual," all of which add to a body of counsel that is of great value to anyone who works with clients in a service business.

There also is a thoughtful, well-chosen, and well annotated list of books every account person should read. And some great cartoons drawn from "The New Yorker."

Even if you read "Brain Surgery for Suits," you will benefit from this book. If you didn't read "Brain Surgery," read "The Art of Client Service." You will learn, and you will laugh.

Mediocre Writing, supplemented by obvious advice
Though Solomon manages to hit on a few advertising axioms that will aid an account executive in the business world, the majority of the advice is something that one can figure out without having to purchase the book. It becomes clear that Solomon is a great business man, yet his writing skills leave much to be desired, as they are very bland and often sophomoric. The book does get much better towards the end, for not only does it drag in the beginning but it also gives the impression that Solomon holds himself up on a pedestal. Overall, I would only recomment this book to newcomers in the advertising/account management field--any veteran would find the advice useless.

beyond 'must read'
Robert Solomon's book is 100% common sense, expressed simply, proudly, directly, clearly. Interestingly, his common sense is so uncommon in the agency biz. Every account person should read this book over and over. Not just once. Even the great account people need a clear reminder on how to excel at their jobs. While reading, there were so many times I said 'ok I'm guilty as charged' and now must set about to improve. That's the sign of a great book- it evokes real change, not just bookshelf filler.

There's no better book for AE's
For all of those young account coordinators and account managers working in the Ad biz, this book is your official textbook. And it is required reading!

As you know, the days of training are over. The good news is that everything you need to know to be a great AE is in this little book. It's a quick read so you have no excuse. And once you've read it, you'll know what it takes for your clients to love you, and for the creatives to respect you.

Don't just read this book. Live by it.

Matt Neren
Director of Account Service
Cultivator Advertising & Design ... Read more