Book Description

The interest in Business Continuity has gained significant momentum in the last few years, especially with the Y2K non-event, the increasing corporate dependence on computer systems and the growing levels of devastation associated with recent disasters. This book takes an organization interested in continuity planning through the processes needed to develop an effective plan.

"Jim Barnes has succeeded in providing us a much-needed tool, with which we can confidently face many of the day-to-day challenges of business contingency planning ... With this book, he has taken an important step in removing much of the guesswork and frustration from the business continuity implementation project." From the Foreword by Philip Jan Rothstein, FBCI, President of Rothstein Associates Inc., Publisher of The Rothstein Catalog on Disaster Recovery, 2001 ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Business Continuity Planning by James C. Barnes
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a training class by James Barnes and was provided a copy of Mr. Barnes's book as a reference and support tool. Since my attendance in his class, I've had an opportunity to read the book. I was very pleased to see that the tools provided in the book and in the class are a virtual roadmap with weighpoints along the way to help determine direction. I've been a Safety Engineer for over 30 years and have worked with critical path processes and procedures that were far less accurate and meaningful. While disaster planning has always been an integral part of Risk Management, the continuity aspect of the planning process was not well integrated. What we used to call disaster planning considered rebuilding a facility, it's interdependencies with other facilities, and business interruption. This book provides a outline and method for recovering each facility as an entity, from the facility's management critical necessity and contiunuity business point of view.
I highly recommend this book to "Top Management" and engineers who want to prepare their companies for any disaster.
Remember, it's not enough to have a disaster plan that gets you up and running. You need to have a plan that maintains the continuity for production, communications, and customer service, or business failure is imminent.
If your're fortunate enough to attend a seminar by this author, don't pass it up. If you can't attend a seminar, the book is worth every penny to business survival.

Boiler Plate Consultant Material
Business continuity planning needs to be tailored to the organization and its needs. This book does not present a methodology which can be tailored as such. It, instead, provides boiler plate questionnaires and checklists which limit the user and the organization to the author's interpretation of what an organization needs. Basic stuff and not particularly useful.

Everything You Would Ever Want to Know About BCP
Highly recommended for people in the BCP field and those contemplating entry into the field.

This thin book provides the framework for a comprehensive business continuity plan. The author has taken the no-nonsense approach of using lists rather than blabbing a lot of text. As I read these lists, I said to myself "of course ... that's the way it should be done".

One little nitpicking: some of the lists are obvious. E.g., the author did not need to list five pages (!!!) of expendable supplies. A few ellipses on some of the longer, more obvious tables would have done the trick.

I used this book as a (secret) foundation for BCP work completed last spring. Now, with the phone ringing off the hook, it is more invaluable.

Real-life experience
I have personally used this book as the model for evaluating business continuity in a billion dollar annual revenue company. The book offers excellent models for conducting the necessary business impact analysis (BIA) and analyzing the results. The book provides guidance for the entire process from consultant engagement to management strategic direction setting.

During the BIA process for my company, I worked with the book's author during a consultant engagement. I found the author to "practice what he preaches". The book's guidance comes from real-life experiences and results in practical and quality results. My company received a most rewarding product from the impact analysis, which provided the appropriate guidance to develop a comprehensive business continuity program.

The book is highly recommended if a company wants to be prepared to survive an extraordinary disaster event. ... Read more

Book Description

Creating a financing proposal, describing the business's operations and goals, forecasting markets and sales, creating marketing and operating plans, obtaining financing from primary and secondary sources, and much more. This new edition also features a list of names and addresses of business and library resources, as well as web site addresses that are especially useful to small business owners. Titles in Barron's Business Library series are currently being revised and updated, and re-set in an attractive new paperback format. They are written especially for men and women starting a company or managing a small-to-medium-size business. Emphasis is on practical problem solving, and examples cited in these books are based on realistic business situations. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Excellent.
As a CPA/Attorney who has both written and reviewed a lot of business plans, I have seen both some very good ones and some awful ones. Too often the preparers of the bad ones confuse a business plan with an offering circular, hoping to convince an unknown investor or venture capitalist to provide financial backing for their ideas. The resulting "Business Plan" is an incomplete, poorly researched, turgid description of their idea, with lots of spreadsheets attached (detailed monthly financial projections for the next ten years).

What is overlooked is the fact that a good business plan serves as a road map for the operators of a business. The process of systematically analyzing your business and stating your plans simply in writing will force you to think through how you are going to deal with the various problems you are going to face.

Like another reviewer of this book, after reading the descriptions of various books on the subject, I purchased three of them. This one is far and away the best of the three and of all those I've read in the past. It systematically takes you through the planning process (industry analysis, marketing and sales, the operating plan, the organization plan, and the financial plan) and provides useful and intelligent checklists at each stage.

If you follow its guidance, you will end up with a useful plan for running your business. And if you decide to seek outside investors, you will be far more likely to raise money.

Must Buy
Very good book, has sufficient details regarding all aspects of business planning, it also provides some leads to look up secondary sources of information that will be helpful to anyone attempting to write a business plan. "High tech start up" and "Entrepreneur America" are also good buys.

Well Done!!!
I purchased three books from amazon.com and this was one of them. It is very well written. The writers are short, concise and to the point. This is a step-by-step guide in helping you write out your business plan. The other two books I purchased were thrown aside, but were of use when I needed to reference something else. Before you spend your money on other books, buy this one first and if you need additional help purchase another.

Buy this one first
This book should be within arm's reach the entire time you begin to think about and write your business plan. It is well organized, tightly written, and most importantly, it prompts you to analyze and to answer the critical questions. I've read at least 10 other books on business plans, but this one gets to the heart of the matter better than the others. Many of the questions and topics covered would never have occurred to me if I hadn't read this book. Buy others, but get this one first.

A concise,comprehensive,detailed roadmap to writing a plan!
The book provides extraordinary insight into writing a business plan! Every detail is laid out step by step, and includes addresses and phone numbers to organizations that provide crucial research that a person will need for any business research. Every aspect of the business plan is presented concisely and is well organized, leaving nothing for the reader to question. Not one question you may have will go unanswered! Unequivocally, the best book on writing a business proposal! (And I have purchased several books!) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Another winner from Donald
I have to disagree with the reviewer that said this book could have been written by anyone. Yes it true anyone could have written a book, but how many could relate the actual impact of that knowledge than Donald himself?

I read How To Get Rich and loved it. This book is also highly recommended.

Thank you Donald for another great book.

What¿s the best business advice you¿ve ever received?
Donald Trump is an Optimal Thinker. He makes the most of his thinking and resources. The question: 'What's the best business advice you've ever received?' is the basis of this first-rate book, and is an example of Optimal Thinking.

Trump is a genius!!!
You can not deny that Donald Trump is a genius-he is able to make money in television with "The Apprentice", real estate deals,books, and the most important asset-the Trump name.
This book, which is not as impressive as his last(How To Get Rich)could have been written by anyone. It is simply a compilation of advice from other business super-minds, skimping on advice from 'The Donald'. It is a very good read, but will only be on the bestseller list because of his most valuable asset-the Trump name. ... Read more

Book Description

Advance Praise for Willie Pietersens Reinventing Strategy

"With today's uncertainties, a sound strategy is not enough for business success. Effective, dynamic leadership is more important than ever in piloting an organization through a constantly shifting environment. In this timely book, Willie Pietersen reveals the profound connections between strategy and leadership, and offers a proven method for strengthening both." –Jim Copeland, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

"The companies that win tomorrow will be those that generate superior insights today. Willie Pietersen is a master of the process, and in Reinventing Strategy he teaches you how to make it work for your business." –Faith Popcorn, founder, BrainResource Inc., author, EVEolution: The Eight Truths of Marketing to Women

"Take the business savvy of a former CEO, mix in the leading-edge insights of a faculty member at a top business school, garnish generously with crystal-clear writing, and what do you have? Willie Pietersen's Reinventing Strategy–a must for executives in these turbulent times." –Donald C. Hambrick, Samuel Bronfman Professor of Democratic Business Enterprise, Columbia University Graduate School of Business

"Finding ways to transform companies into adaptive organizations able to respond intelligently to an ever-changing environment has become the top priority for business leaders. Reinventing Strategy offers a proven process for doing just that. It is a wonderful mix of theory and practice, plus commonsense reasoning that works–for all the right reasons." –From the Foreword by Bob Johansen, President, Institute for the Future ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Willie Pietersen gives us great strategy AND great practice
Willie Pietersen's Reinventing Strategy contains the basics of strategy, i.e., how to win, how to align the organization behind the chosen strategies, how to be sure that superior insights drive the strategic process. If that alone were his contribution, this book would be a significant contribution to the strategy literature.

But Pietersen goes much further than that. He shows us how, exactly, to develop these strategies, how he himself developed such strategies and what he learned about leadership in the process.

This book is about strategy, implementation and one man's journey as a leader and life-long learner. The result is an immensely human business book. The singular voice of the author comes through with clarity and humility. I know of no other business book that combines theory and practice with such a strongly personal view. Pietersen talks about the value of developing a leadership credo in his book. This book is, in essence, his own credo from a lifetime of leading and learning.

Every Manager Should Read This Book
I am VP at a large consumer products company in Ohio and I found this book very insightful in the areas of creating strategy and leadership. I read a lot of business books and most are very slight in what they have to offer -- a few thoughts, old stories or worn out sayings. However, "Reinventing Strategy" is a real how-to-book and goes through running a successful business step-by-step. This book will definitely help my division be more profitable! In fact, I would love to go and take one of Prof. Pietersen's courses at Columbia University.

A survival guide for business
Willie Pietersen has managed to pull together what's really important to achieve breakthrough performance. He's done this by telling clearly and convincingly the lessons learned from his years as a chief executive, but explained them from his new role as a Professor of the Practice of Management at the Columbia Business School. I've had the personal pleasure of watching Pietersen in action with business leaders from around the world who have participated in Columbia's Executive Education programs. The overriding comment from these executives is "this guy makes sense and has shown we how to face up to the challenges to my business' survival." Reinventing Strategy: Using Strategic Learning to Create and Sustain Breakthrough Performance is the next best thing to the live program.

If you want to move from Strategy theory to action and have your business survive in the process, read this book.
William M. Klepper, Ph.D.
Academic Director, Executive Education
Columbia Business School

Business strategy as it should be written
Here is book that takes a practical look at business strategy and helps the business person to streamline his/her thinking.
Written in Willie Pietersens highly readable style,it has heft as well as humor, theory as well as practical examples. Oh that our Business School text books had been written thus!
I would recommend this book to anyone who sells anything.
Read the introductory chapters,grasp Pietersen's premise the go to any of the rich chapters. Concepts are clearly tagged, each making for a delicious informational meal that forces reflection. ... Read more

Download Description

"Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures" is the third book of a four-part series on policies and procedures. This exciting new business book focuses on a subject that fills a major void for those individuals who are responsible for the life cycle of business processes, policies, and procedures. This 359-page book is all about change and continuous quality improvement as it applies to policies and procedures. A real-life case study is used to help explain the principles of this book. The reader is led from a labor-intensive system (procedure, procedure flow chart) through the necessary steps, including a cost-benefit analysis, to accomplish compliance and continuous improvement, resulting in a business process/procedure and a $2 million dollars savings. This book is about improvement and metrics and contains five quality tools for measuring policies and procedures. As the title suggests, the goal is to achieve 100% compliance, or complete acceptance by the customer. While a compliance goal of 100% is ambitious, you'll find the process of achieving the goal is just as important as achieving it. Through plans and goals, you'll increase productivity, profits, and customer satisfaction; as well as minimize process variation, enhance quality, reduce cycle and response time, and help the organization become receptive to change and develop a proactive (forward thinking) outlook. This book is a necessary addition to any procedures writer's reference library as it helps to ensure that the policies and procedures infrastructure remains stable by demonstrating to the reader how to write effective policies and procedures that can be measured, communicated, trained, mentored, audited, and improved. There are more than 75 illustrations, examples, tables, flow charts, and written procedures using the standard writing format introduced in my first book, "Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures." Most readers will find something useful in this book. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Awesome books!
I bought and used all four of Stephen Page's policy and procedure books. From the very first day, I was able to get up and running on a project that was very demanding and challenging. Not only did he provide examples, but he was always there for advice when I hit a rough spot.

I HIGHLY recommend these books!

Dana Rosenboom

Processes, Procedures, and Quality
I was impressed with the amount of useful information included in this book; everything seems to have been well thought out. It would appear that the author has "lived" his words and this is what makes this make book so useful to me. Because I know that when I implement his ideas that they will probably work. His case study is also very meaningful as he very carefully explains how to go from a labor-intensive procedure and go through process improvement, metrics, and arrive at a streamlined, high cost saving, new procedure.

I have bought all four of his books on procedures and this book is what makes it all worthwhile. Though I found that each book is unique in its own way and that you really need all four to write a good system of policies and procedures.

I would definitely recommend this book. He has a 40-step plan of action at the front of the book that gives you an A to Z approach to the development of any policy or procedure or process. I have printed this list and I keep it tacked on my walls.

Jim T. Armstrong

Good book for quality professionals
Of Steve Page's 4 recent books, I found this one to be the most interesting. It contains all kinds of ideas for projects.

A communication strategy is obviously Steve's speciality. He knows how to use the various methods to the most advantage.

His idea for a compliance plan is a clever take-off on process control plans. He also adapts other quality tools, such as scatter and pareto diagrams to use with documentation. However, you would need another book for more details on the tools themselves.

Auditing is another of Steve's specialties which he shares with his readers.

I wish he had gone into more detail on determining the cost of documentation. He no doubt knows how to calculate it, as best as one can. He gives a detailed example on how a new (purchasing) procedure saved a company money, but not enough on the cost of producing the document itself.

I would definitely recommend this book to all who work with ISO 9000 compliance.

Essential for TQM, ISO 9000 and GMP organizations
Of the three books that the author has published on policies and procedures this one is a masterpiece, and is essential to anyone who works for a company that employ TQM, ISO 9000 or FDA GMP.

Where his first book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, provides a roadmap for new policy writers, this book takes the subject to a much higher level by providing a process that encompasses communications and training strategies, a compliance plan, and continuous improvement. These align seamlessly with ISO 9000, as well as FDA GMPs, and is consistent with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. In addition, the self-assessment and auditing approaches set forth will assure policies and procedures that reflect a mature organization that is focused on quality and continuous improvement.

Among the highlights of the book are the numerous checklists, real-life examples, and an underlying strategy for the development of a comprehensive and complete system of policies and procedures, and a means to assure compliance. I particularly liked Appendix C, Cost of Quality, and the succinct description of tools and techniques in chapter 11.

Another strong point is the complexities of marrying policies and procedures writing with a continuous improvement cycle and auditing are handled in a structured, logical sequence. This is no small feat for a writer, and it is one of the reasons this book is so valuable. This book sets a standard in the field and is one that I'll always recommend to colleagues and clients.

TQM-Based approach to implementing and ensuring compliance
This book is one of the most eye-opening, practical and insightful books I have read in a long time. It's one thing to write effective policies and procedures, it's quite another to implement them, and more difficult still to ensure compliance. The author's approach addresses the implementation and compliance challenges head-on.

The key strength of this book is the continuous improvement approach. I am familiar with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle because I use a similar approach called Entry Criteria-Task-Validation-Exit Criteria (ETVX)when I am developing processes that are governed by policies and executed by procedures. What I had not thought of before reading this book was how to best implement and enforce policies and ensure procedure compliance. This book showed me how to superimpose the PDCA or ETVX cycle on communicating, measuring and continually refining policies and procedures by starting with writing policies and procedures that can be measured. I found the 40-step plan provided in this book to be straightforward and easy to manage. Do not let "40 steps" deter you because the steps are small and build upon one another. This is reinforced by a case study that completely illustrates how the 40-step plan is applied to a realistic example.

How to implement your policies and procedures is covered in the chapters on communications and training strategies, which are exhaustive and filled with tips and guidance. These chapters are fleshed out with a chapter on creating a review and communication control plan, which is essential for keeping your policies and procedures up-to-date and ensuring that they are living documents that are meaningful to your organization. Outdated policies are often ignored, which is worse than having no policy at all. Ignored policies undermine authority, which is the foundation of a policy. Outdated procedures can result in technical and cost risks at best and unsafe working conditions at worst. The next chapter on establishing a compliance plan is excellent. It incorporates measurements and validation, and shows how to develop and use the compliance plan. This is augmented by an invaluable chapter on developing self-assessment checklists, and how to evaluate the results of an assessment and how to rectify gaps.

Among the most valuable (to me) chapters in this book were: preparing an organization to be receptive to change (a major implementation barrier), conducting audits (key to compliance assurance), and conducting continuous improvement activities (keeping the policies and procedures relevant and aligned to changing requirements and business imperatives).

The information and approach given in this book will make the difference between policies and procedures that are "shelfware" and those that provide real guidance and are meaningful to an organization. I personally think this is one of the most important books on the topic, and the only one that I have come across that actually shows how to implement them and ensure compliance. ... Read more

Book Description

A short, up-to-date, practical and readable guide to strategy formulation, this book is designed for practicing executives who are getting ready to assume broader responsibilities. By focusing on strategic thinking and using real-life examples and historical references, this book is a must-read for the serious executive strategist.The first chapter defines strategy and its effect on a corporation's effectiveness; and then in subsequent chapters covers the external strategic environment, the analysis of a firm's physical assets, the development of a competitive strategy, different industry environments, corporate strategy and competition, different strategy choices, global strategy, and implementing and controlling a chosen strategic direction.For CEOs, senior executives, general managers, vice-presidents, divisional managers, and consultants. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good reference for modern strategy theories
Thin (140pages), but comprehensive introduction of strategy theories from SWOT to Porter's thoughts. Best to capture the concept of Strategy. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The Secret Weapon in my MBA
I lucked out a few weeks ago when I happened to find this book during a search I was doing in preparing for a take home case exam final I had in my MBA program. Our professor wanted us to provide solid analysis of the case, a large Harvard Business School job covering a well-known multinational business, and, as usual, hadn't given us much background as to what he meant by this. This was both good and bad for me. Fortunately, I figured he expected us to use one of the many methods we had covered during the two years I've been sweating through this program. Unfortunately, I had already sold most of my books to our bookstore during buybacks and didn't really know where to go to remind myself of the techniques I've learned, and mostly forgotten. Then I found this gem!

What luck for me as it covered many of the methods I knew, and some I honestly had never heard of. This struck me as strange since I am in a perennial top rated Ivy League MBA program. I brushed up on the old standbys like SWOT, Porters and ratio analysis, and also reviewed some other useful ones like strategic group analysis and STEEP. I ended up using about a handful of these on the exam. And it worked! I got the highest mark on the exam and the prof remarked that my solution was the best one he had seen in terms of being backed by solid analytical support.

I only wish I had this book several semesters earlier. It would also have helped me on several other courses I took. I won't be selling this book too quickly though. Instead, I'll be taking it with me to my new job as a management consultant for one of the large strategy boutiques in nearby Boston. I've also let a few of my first-year friends know about it since it will give them a leg up for their next year in our program.

The only problem now is that the word about this book is getting out and it will no longer give us a competitive advantage! Maybe my profs were right when they said that advantages weren't really sustainable after all! Still, I'd rather know and use this stuff well. I'd recommend this book for any MBA student who needs to provide analytical support for their course or project work. Just don't tell every other student about it, okay?

Excellent coverage of management analysis tools
This book fills a niche that should have been done by somebody a long time ago. It includes most of the popular analysis techniques that a management consultant would normally use, and provides a common process description for employing the method. It makes an excellent complement to Porter's series of books and can be nicely combined with more conceptual treatments in the strategy field. I have already bought several copies for my office colleagues as it will be useful for them in their consulting work as well. I can see why it has gotten many good reviews and I'd concur with these. It is worth having this one on your book shelf although, like me, you may find yourself pulling it off the shelf to refer to on a frequent basis.

Selected as "the" text for government all-source analysts

Rather than outline the wonderful aspects of this book, which other reviewers have done so ably, I will just say that I rank the authors up there with Ben Gilad (Israel), Mats Bjore (Sweden), and Jan Herring, Dick Klavens/Brad Ashton, and Leonard Fuld (USA), and we have made this book "the" text for the annual government all-source analysis training that centers on Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

This book, in combination with Ben Gilad's "Early Warning", the Leonard Fuld's "New Competitor Intelligence", Dick Klavens and Brad Ashton's "Keeping Abreast of Science & Technology", and Mats Bjore forthcoming book, are the essential five books for any business intelligence professional or anyone seeking to understand best in class business intelligence.

Outstanding one stop source for techniques and "how to"
It is rare to find a text that pulls together the many quite different techniques that can be used to analyze a business and the competitive environment in which it operates. This book does that, and more!

The authors have addressed their personal needs as much as the needs of those who will use the benefits of their labours. Now, when asked about a technique or asked for a recommendation as to how to attack an issue, one can turn to this one text and extract the most appropriate tool(s) and make sensible assessments of which of the various analytical tools is most appropriate.

The authors have gone one better - and I suspect that more than one MBA student will appreciate their efforts - they have included a very useful and quite comprehensive outline of financial analytical tools that add to the more "marketing" oriented techniques detailed in the core of the text. The various financial ratios are now at your fingertips. The financial analysis can be woven into the market and environmental competitive analysis.

Oh to have had access to this at an earlier stage of my career.

One of those indispensable tools. A "must have" in the office.

Effectively covers the key bases
As a strategy consultant, I am often asked to provide my clients with well analyzed recommendations and findings. My biggest problem always has been to justify the methods I choose to reduce a wealth of data into something meaningful. For years now, I have relied upon Porter's classics and my strategy texts from my MBA program, but they usually aren't practically oriented. This book, better than any other I have seen, provides a straight forward set of instructions and directions, along with enough examples and charts, to keep me on the straight and narrow with my analyses. I do have a few beefs eith this book - as I do most of the others on my shelf. Unlike my strategy texts, the text isn't the most colourful, and it could have benefitted from even more samples although it is already quite large in size, and you cant read through the book from cover to cover, but I keep it handy anytime I'm applying a strategy method and it works great in that way. The other thing I would have liked is even more coverage of some of the newly evolving technology-focussed methods. These minor shortcomings aside, I'd recommend it to others who, like me, have to rely upon the application of proven methods to regularly produce findings for our business clients. ... Read more

Book Description

"Jeff Thull’s Prime process plays a key role in helping companies and their customers cross the chasm. It has built into its core the high-integrity communications and depth of commitment necessary to ensure customers succeed with game-changing initiatives."
–Geoffrey A. Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Living on the Fault Line

"There’s a powerful message in this book for senior executives: If your margins are eroding and your organization is trapped in the conventional sales paradigm, Mastering the Complex Sale has the road map and Jeff Thull is an excellent guide.He has captured the essence of selling in today’s turbulent times. A must-read for your entire organization."
–Mario Concha, President, Georgia-Pacific Resins, Inc.

"The Prime Process cuts across all trading entities, multiple cultures, geographic borders, and functional disciplines. Mastering the Complex Sale is a clear approach to successfully bringing together the multiple perspectives of sophisticated sales processes. It is required reading for any complex business, whether local or global."
–Gerhard D. Meese, Executive Vice President, Dover Technologies International, Inc.

"Mastering the Complex Sale is a masterpiece! It’s street smart and research backed and full of real-life practical advice on how to move all the chess pieces in the complex sales game. You’ll walk away with not only the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ of the complex sale, but also discover how to build the mental stamina it takes to compete at the top."
–Donato Tramuto, President and CEO, Protocare Sciences

"Mastering the Complex Sale lays out the most significant business and sales strategy to come along in years. It is clearly leading-edge thinking. As a technology innovator, we see it as a must. Read it and win!"
–Tim Klein, CEO, ATTO Technology, Inc.

"Jeff Thull’s leading-edge thinking has contributed to a change in our fundamental approach to sales and marketing and has had a significant impact on our bottom line. Mastering the Complex Sale and the Prime Process is a prescription for global success!"
–Dr. Richard M. Brooks, Vice President–Worldwide Marketing,
Waters Corporation

"Thull’s clear and distinctive advice provides the reader with a real-world road map for maximizing results in high-stakes sales. Diagnostic Business Development takes today’s consultative salesperson’s game to the next level. This book is mandatory for those looking to gain a true competitive advantage and distinguish themselves from the competition."
–Donny Holender, Vice President–Sales, Universal Computer Systems, Inc. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

How to Achieve Superior Results in Sales and Profits
Complex sales are those which involve a lengthy process of cultivation and solicitation, a "circle of influence" within which the purchase or pass decision is made, a product or service whose functions/features/benefits/ etc. require technical verification, and a substantial purchase price. In this volume, Thull focuses on the process by which to "compete and win when the stakes are high." To understand how to master the complex sale, one must first understand how and why the role of the salesperson changed throughout the last half of the 20th century. Thull respectfully but clinically explains the inadequacies today of sales strategies, processes, and skills which were effective from the early-1950s until about the early-mid 90s. How well I recall the advice I received from various sales managers when I earned my way through college by selling automobiles and smaller trucks in the Chicago area during summer vacations. Never take "no" for an answer, for example. "Selling begins when the prospect says 'no.'" Another chestnut was flattery: "You look great behind the wheel! This car was built for you!" Times change, of course. One paradigm inevitably gives way to another. I agree with Thull that, today, "It's not about selling -- it's about managing [a prospect's] quality decisions." Actually, I view that approach as the purest form of selling: to serve as advisor, concierge, consigliere, consultant, etc. when collaborating with a pre-qualified prospect to make the most appropriate purchase decision.

Thull carefully organizes his material within ten chapters which range from the first, "The World in Which We Sell" (almost worth the price of the book all by itself) to the last, "A Complex Sales Future," in which Thull agrees with Jack Welch that we must either control our destiny or someone else will. Given what I now do to earn a living, Chapter 6 ("Designing the Complex Solution") was of special interest to me. In it, Thull suggests that "Prime professionals approach [Thull's] solution design phase of the complex sale as an exploratory process. The aim is to equip the customer to make the best, most effective choice among the solutions competing in the marketplace." By taking precisely the same approach, the IBM sales force was able to recapture most of the customers it had lost while improving its chances when cultivating and then soliciting prospective new customers.

As Thull explains, the process built during the Diagnosis, a precise agreement on what a customer is experiencing in the absence of the needed solution and it's financial impact, with a collaborative discussion that determines precisely what a customer's desired outcomes are. "The easiest way to begin to define the parameters is to ask customers how they expect their situation to look after the problem is solved." For me, Thull then makes an especially important point when alerting his reader to the "trap" of unpaid consulting which begins "when we cross the line between defining parameters of a solution and creation of the design of the solution itself." Please consult the book for Thull's complete explanation of each phase of The Prime Process.

Given the importance of winning in sales, especially "when the stakes are high," it would obviously be a mistake to assume that Thull (or anyone else) has all the right answers or is even addressing all of the right questions. My strong recommendation is that each reader rigorously evaluate available sources of relevant information and counsel (including this book), using the same process Thull proposes: Discover what those sources are, Diagnose their relative advantages and disadvantages, Design (or Re-Design) a sales program which is most appropriate to one's specific needs and objectives, and then finally, Deliver satisfactory results through effective implementation of that program.

It would also be a mistake to assume that the relevance of the strategies and tactics which Thull endorses is limited, literally, to the buying or selling of a product or service. Many complex "sales" can also involve effective persuasion to obtain funds from financial sources, for example, or to convince the best-qualified CEO candidate to accept the position offered. If used effectively in situations such as these, the same strategies and tactics can also be invaluable.

In today's increasingly more competitive marketplace, Thull observes, "There is no Magic! -- Spectacular success is always preceded by unspectacular preparation" as well as by a better system, sharper skills, and "above all" discipline. The Prime Process is not for every organization, nor does Thull make such a claim. Carefully consider what it involves and, especially, what it requires.

I presume to add a final observation of my own, that there is both "good news" and "bad news." First the bad news: Very few organizations have as yet mastered the complex sale process. Now the good news: Very few organizations have as yet mastered the complex sale process.

Yup, the author nailed it
Excerpt:

"When you follow the conventional sales process in a complex sale, you run head first into a series of traps that grows progressively more difficult to avoid and that makes a positive outcome for the sale less likely. This downward spiral starts with a fundamental and, as we soon see, erroneous assumption of the conventional sales paradigm--that your customers have a quality decision process with which to diagnose their problems and evaluate your solution."

'nuff said. Buy it, read it.

No substance... None.
I purchased this book on the strength of all the five-star amazon.com reviews. And having struggled through it, I can only imagine that the author wrote most of those reviews himself. I suppose readers who never studied the sales processes developed by Bosworth, or Miller and Heimann, or Rackham, may be able to squeeze enough value out of this book to rate it as high as two stars. But probably not.

Packed with Knowledge!
This excellent guide explains a methodology that can help anyone in sales. This sales approach depends essentially on seeing the sale through the customer's eyes, and involving the customer in designing a solution to his or her own problems. This approach goes against some standard practices in sales, but those standard practices antagonize customers and build distrust. Author Jeff Thull offers helpful reminders on the value of researching individual customers, picking the right entry point to an organization and other best practices. However, he sometimes seems over-enthusiastic and over-optimistic about his system's infallibility. After all, in some organizations, sales people who tried to follow this methodology would be criticized for failing to meet more conventional targets, such as number of calls per week. This detailed method for conquering many-level, multi-step sales is time and research-intensive, but highly effective. We applaud his emphasis on the value of asking and listening instead of speaking. Highly recommended.

Regurgitation of Sandler and Heiman
Thull has taken Sandler's system, added some bits of "New Strategic Selling" from Heiman, and called it his own. Please don't get fooled, even if he did persuade some notable business authors. I've also been to his seminars, and have needed a sales process for a complex sale, and he added no value. I learned nothing new. I tried to use his style of "diagnostic" line of questioning, and customers saw right through it, and it even confused sales calls. Went back to my own hybrid system, and started closing deals again. Save your money and time, and use the originals. ... Read more

Download Description

This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 94403, originally published in July 1994. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts. Is your company a rule maker or a rule follower? Does your company focus on catching up or on getting out in front? Do you spend the bulk of your time as a maintenance engineer preserving the status quo or as an architect designing the future? Difficult questions like these go unanswered not because senior managers are lazy--most are working harder than ever--but because they won't admit that they are less than fully in control of their companies' future. In this adaptation from their upcoming book, Hamel and Prahalad urge senior managers to look toward the future and ponder their ability to shape their companies in the years and decades to come. Creating the future, as Electronic Data Systems has done, for example, requires industry foresight. Since change is inevitable, managers must decide whether it will happen in a crisis atmosphere or in a calm and considered manner. Too often, profound thinking about the future occurs only when present success has been eroded. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Largely an academic waste of time
If your really want to understand how to compete for the future, read Crossing the Chasm, following by Inside the Tornado (Geoffrey Moore). Competing for the Future will largely waste your time. It is a 100 page book crammed into 300+ pages. The authors spend lots of time repeating fuzzy feel good ideas, and criticizing current managers, but say little that would actually help you compete for the future. They continually cite Apple as the poster child for Competing for the Future (ignoring the fact that the Mac was created in a skunkworks -- a concept they poo-poo.) Yet you can see from Apple's plight today that Hamel and Prahalad have certainly not found the most important thing for long term success. Companies that spend too much time looking 20 years out will never see it, as Apple will not. The truth is that top management can certainly ask themselves "What will competition mean in 20 years?", but they will most certainly be wrong. We live in chaotic times, and the best companies know how to turn on a dime and exploit current emerging markets (Microsoft is great at this). Hamel and Prahalad's books is destined to sit on many shelves, looking very impressive but doing nothing for its readers.

Competing for the Future
The Business Strategy text written by Hamel and Prahalad delivers mind opening advice and insight that I consider to be helpful for all managers and professionals services consultants.

The text describes and recommends a shift in business strategy. More importantly, the negative impact of not shifting is illustrated by an abundant sample of real life situations (i.e. Xerox, General Motors).

In the past, and even still to this very day, senior managers in the U.S. are betting the ranch on reengineering and restructuring efforts as a means of staying competitive in the future.

Hamel and Prahald disagree with the continued touting of such efforts. While not completely against reengineering efforts, the duo write a convicing argument detailing that managers must shift from the old tools and invest more time and resources into innovation. The value of a company will not reside in how lean and efficient the operations are, it will reside in the company's capability and resources to create new businesses and get to the future first.

Resouces, capabilities, and processes under the new paradigm must and will operate in a state of constant change. Grasping on to the old business model will represent the company's death blow.

Companies under the new paradigm must develop an open environment by which the company can easily exploit new busineses quickly; hence, taking full advantage of the benefits of being first to market (dictating the market in contrast to following the market represents substantial profits).

Ronnie O'Dell

Division Marketing Executive Canon Astro Business Services, CANON USA Calabasas, CA

An important book to read
Few companies that began the 1980s as industry leaders ended the decade with their leadership in tact and undiminished. Many household name companies saw their success eroded or destroyed by tides of technological, demographic and regulatory change and order-of-magnitude productivity gains made by nontraditional competitors. "Do you really have a global strategy", the first HBR article by Hamel and Prahalad, developed the theme that small companies could prevail against larger, richer companies by inventing new ways of doing more with less. Differences in resource effectiveness could not be explained by efficiency, labor or capital, but by amazingly ambitious goals that stretched beyond typical strategic plans, raising the question how such incredible goals could get past the credibility test and be made tangible and real to employees? Frequently the small challengers rewrote the rules of engagement; flexibility and speed were built atop supplier-management advantage, built atop quality advantages. Companies made commitments to particular skill areas a decade in advance of specific end-product markets. How did executives select which capabilities to build for the future? Some managers were foresightful, others imagined and gave birth to entirely new products and services. These managers created new competitive space while laggard companies protected the past rather than creating the future. Existing theory throws little light on what it takes to fundamentally reshape an industry and the gap provoked this book in which the goal is to enlarge the concept of the industry and not just the organization. Being incrementally better is not enough because a company that cannot imagine the future won't be around to enjoy it. This book is about strategy and how to think by drawing on the experience of companies that have overcome resource disadvantages to build positions of global leadership. It is about companies that escaped the curse of success to rebuild industry leadership a second or third time. It has been written for companies that believe that the best way to win is to rewrite the rules; it is for those who are not afraid to challenge orthodoxy, for those who prefer to build rather than cut, for those committed to making a difference and staking out the future first.

We need to ask ourselves eight questions:
- does senior management have a clear and broadly shared understanding of how the industry may be different in ten years time? Is management's view of the future clearly reflected in short-term priorities?
- How influential is my company in setting the new rules of competition within the industry? Is it regularly defining new ways of doing business and setting new standards of customer satisfaction?
- Is senior management fully alert to the dangers posed by new, unconventional rivals? Are potential threats to the current business model widely understood? Do senior executives possess a keen sense of urgency about the need to reinvent the current business model?
- Is my company pursuing growth and new business development with as much passion as it is pursuing operational efficiency and downsizing? Do we have a clear view of where the next revenue growth will come from?
- What percentage of our improvement efforts focuses on creating advantages new to the industry, and what percentage focuses on merely catching up to our competitors? Are competitors as eager to benchmark us, as we are to benchmark them?
- What is driving our improvement and transformation agenda - our own view of future opportunities or the actions of our competitors? Is our transformation agenda mostly offensive or defensive?
- Am I more of a maintenance engineer keeping today's business humming along or an architect imagining tomorrow's businesses? Do I devote more energy to prolonging the past than I do to creating the future?
- What is the balance between hope and anxiety in my company; between confidence in our ability to find and exploit opportunities for growth and new business development and concern about our ability to maintain competitiveness in our traditional businesses; between a sense of opportunity and a sense of vulnerability, both corporate and personal?

These are not rhetorical questions. We are told to get a pencil and rate our company because these questions go unanswered in many cases. Such questions challenge the assumption that top management is in control or even that their knowledge and experience may be irrelevant or wrong-headed for the future. The urgent drives out the important and the future goes largely unexplored; the capacity to act is considered to be more important than the capacity to imagine. A capacity to invent new industries and to reinvent old ones is a prerequisite for getting to the future first and a precondition for staying out in front. Gaining an understanding of how to accomplish this most difficult task is the central mission of this book.

What must we do to ensure that the industry evolves in a way that is maximally advantageous for us? What skills and capabilities must we begin building now if we are to occupy the industry high ground in the future? How should we organize for opportunities that may not fit neatly within the boundaries of current business units and divisions? The answers are to be found in this book. Armed with this information, a company can create a pro-active agenda for organizational transformation and can control its own destiny by controlling the destiny of its own industry. No company can escape the need to reskill its people, reshape its product portfolio, redesign its processes, and redirect its resources. There is not one future but hundreds; there can be as many prizes as runners; imagination is the only limiting factor. In no way does the success of one preordain the failure of another. What distinguishes leaders from laggards, and greatness form mediocrity is the ability to imagine what could be. If your senior management did not do well on the eight questions, then your company may not be around a decade from now. There are few who would not profit from reading this book.

1990s thought leadership
Hamel and Prahalad brought two ideas to the forefront of management in the 1990s: Creating a strategic intent that dominates corporate thinking, and then understanding the core competencies that the organization requires to get there. Rather than create numerous 5 year plans, communicate the direction and insure you have the skills to get there.

The impact of this was felt across corporate Americas. As companies struggled in reacting to changing times, they would talk more of core competencies instead of certainy of the future. Well run companies could also articulate their vision and what they're good at. (Example GE: "We are #1 or #2 in every business we run. We get there by rigorous management and continuous improvement.") These ideas are here to stay.

Is it all so simple? In Consulting Demons, Lewis Pinault takes issue with Prahalad and his consulting practice at Gemini. He asserts that the ideas can be misapplied to fuel a consulting boom, and that Prahalad's missionary zeal was better for generating consulting fees than for corporate bottom lines.

Bottom line - the book is a good introduction to some important strategic concepts. Although it is no longer required reading at top consulting firms, it is still relevant and important. Just take the ideas (like all pop management ideas) with a grain of salt.

A retrospective on a 1994 breakthrough management guide
Corporate strategy texts are notorious for their short shelf lives, but it is instructive to revisit them during business downturns and understand what they contributed and also where they fell short.

Now that the future has happened - nine years after this book was published - what would the authors say about the dot.com bust and the collapse of erstswhile visionary corporate giants such as Enron and Global Crossing?

In 1994, the authors wrote that the goal of competition QUOTE is not to simply benchmark a competitor's products and processes and imitate its methods, but to develop an independent point of view about tommorow's opportunities and how to exploit them. UNQUOTE By this criterion, how exactly did the dot.com dwarfs or giants of the late 1990s, many of which were hailed as exactly the kind of visionary enterprises the authors encourage, fail to leave a lasting legacy?

Certainly, other breakthrough management guides have not been exempt from the harsh judgment which the benefit of hindsight might impose only a few years after these books come out. Such a fate befell one of the renowned predecessors to this book, In Search of Excellence, half of whose most admired corporations ran into serious difficulties within a few years of publicaiton of the book.

None of this undercuts some important contributions this book does continue to make about how organizations should anticipate, manage and thrive amidst rapid change. The single most important idea in this book is that of leveraging core competencies, so that a business continually focuses on what it can do best and most profitably, rather than on what it is currently doing. If nothing else, the authors have left a legacy of language which remains helpful as a common currency among business leaders who need to understand the importance of industry foresight and to shed obsolete competencies.

And the authors did rightly suggest that appropriate public policies are also needed, althought this prophetic message was unfortunately given only a fleeting mention prior to the dot.com bust QUOTE We are not arguing for a set of policy measures that in any way discriminates in favor of large companies. The goal is not to keep dinosaurs alive at any costs. However, society pays a heavy price when, through , managerial malfeasance,a company richly endowed with resources and talent self-destructs. The goal is not to embalm dinosaurs throguh subsidies, protectionism and preferential procurement policies - as European governments have too often done - but to ensure that large companies don't become dinosaurs in the first place UNQOUTE ... Read more

Book Description

An Insightful Model for Understanding Industry Change

From Xerox to K-Mart to Sotheby's, great companies have failed to translate extraordinary innovation into better profitability. Why does this happen?

Anita M. McGahan argues that great companies fail to profit from investments in innovation when they break their industries' rules for how change can take hold. In this book, she shows how to develop a strategy that is aligned with the rules of industry change. By understanding and operating within the rules, executives can better appreciate the tradeoffs that are unique to each company's evolutionary path-and consequently improve performance by making smarter, more profitable strategic bets.

How Industries Evolve is based on extensive statistical studies of 700 global industries and more than twenty-five case studies. McGahan identifies four models of industry evolution-progressive, creative, radical, and intermediating-and shows how a company can diagnose which model most closely describes the trajectory of change in its industry. The book then explains how company strategists can use their understanding of this model to carefully coordinate choices about R&D, alliances, internal venturing, leadership style, compensation, modularization, and time-to-market.

By supporting executives' efforts to recognize and respond to shifts in industry structure, this book will ultimately help companies to achieve and sustain superior performance.

... Read more

Book Description

* Provides frameworks and methodology for solving problems as technology continues to advance
* Starts with the overall business problem, and then shows how technology can solve the problem
* Provides an in-depth applied understanding of the technology covered and is targeted to the IT employees who actually build the networks
* Business-oriented, problem-solving approach, including real business case studies stressing the business impact of data communications ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Best Pick
I read the third edition front to back. If the forth edition is anything like the third, you won't be disappointed.

Business Oriented
one of the best books in its field, gives details yet doesn't go deeper than what business students would like, its language is easy yet specific and use network jargons. in short, buy it.

local area network
i want to know more about local area networks

The book is focused on applying the material.
I just finished a course on data communications at a local college. Since I knew absolutely nothing about the topic. I had nowhere to go but up. Mr Goldman's book is very readable and is chock filled with charts, checkoff lists and such that I will use when I get into the IT field. His objective to get the reader to think in terms of applying the material rather than memorizing it. He suceeds. Does he have any other related works out there? I'll buy them. ... Read more

Book Description

A user guide written for project planners in any industry including building, construction, oil & gas and software development. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Learning to use Suretrak V3.0
Approximately 200 pages presented as a comprehensive step by step guide to setting up and getting the most out of Suretrak. I found many helpful tips that are not in the Suretrak's help files or manuals. A chapter is also devoted to the new features in Suretrak Version 3.0 and this allowed me, as an existing Suretrak user, to hone in on the new features. In all, 21 workshops re-enforced the material as its presented and made me reflect on the content. Readers will need access to the Suretrak software (the demo version will do) to get the most from this book.

Makes an incredible program more incredible
When I reviewed the SureTrak program here last may I considered myself to be an experienced used who fully understood the features of that powerful PM application. After reading this book I found out that I was only using a fraction of the features that are built into SureTrak. For example, while I knew that it supported multiple calendars. This feature gives you absolute control and is especially useful when you're using subcontractors or multi-national resources. Until I was stepped through it by the book's lessons I didn't know how to fully exploit its power.

It was the same for reports. SureTrak includes reports for every conceivable management style and project type. The problem is there are so many that it's difficult to select the ones best suited to each project's unique requirements or your PM standards. This book clearly explained the reports and clearly explained how to create custom reports in the unlikely event that what you need isn't already included. I also learned a lot from the lessons on resource management, as well as the author's tips for project management in general.

If you're using SureTrak you should get this book because it's a safe bet that you're not using everything it has to offer for planning, scheduling and control - and this book will reveal them.

Fast start to using the power of SureTrak
Although SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 ships with adequate documentation and the program is intuitive, there are three good reasons to buy this book:

1. The product documentation covers every feature - the information about planning and managing projects using this powerful tool is scattered throughout, making it difficult to tap into SureTrak's power without wading through an overwhelming amount of nice-to-know, but non-essential detail.

2. Although anyone who has used Microsoft's ubiquitous MS Project will have no problem getting started with SureTrak, they will miss the true project management features of SureTrak that are not present (or don't correctly work) in MS Project. This book identifies those features and shows how to use them effectively.

3. The author goes beyond merely describing how to use SureTrak by showing you how to use effective project management techniques, many of which take years of managing projects to discover.

The book is structured as a series of 20 lessons (called workshops) that are designed to step you through setting up a project, and planning and scheduling it. If you follow them in sequence you will be able to not only set up a project using SureTrak's rich feature set, but will also pick up general project management techniques along the way. An example of one such technique is how the author classifies projects into four levels for planning and controlling. These levels are based on project complexity, with Level 1 being the simplest and suitable for short projects, to Level 4 for complex, high-value projects. You are given the planning and tracking criteria for each project type, which allows you to tailor your approach as well as ensure that you don't over-manage simple projects or under-manage the complex ones.

You are also shown how to use the more powerful features, such as the many project views (work breakdown structure, activity or resource), managing the sophisticated calendaring functions, and effectively using the resource profiles and reporting features. I particularly like the way earned value is treated. The author shows how to use SureTrak's facilities for managing to earned value, as well as explaining this essential technique (which, by the way, is now a part of the Project Management Institute's PMBOK 2000 version). Another bonus is the way scheduling is explained by walking through adding logic to activities. You'll not only be shown how to perform this task, but given reasons why you should use one approach from among four possibilities to establish relationships. In this example the choices are start-to-start, finish-to-start, start-to-finish and finish-to-finish.

This book is clear, concise and heavily illustrated with screenshots from SureTrak. The tutorial style and the way the lessons are sequenced will get you quickly up-to-speed with SureTrak and give you the knowledge and skills necessary to employ it with minimum reference to the manuals that come with the software.

Planning Using Primavera SureTrak Project Manager Version 3.
Planning Using Primavera SureTrak Project Manager Version 3 is a Training Manual introducing the features of the Suretrak Version 3.0 Software which is used for Planning and Controlling Projects. The Technical Services Group at John Holland has been using SureTrak since its introduction by Primavera. I personally use Paul Harris' manual in the delivery of training courses in SureTrak. At John Holland we conduct SureTrak training over a two day period, and within this time limitation I have found the manual provides comprehensive detail on the features of SureTrak and is easy to follow. As it is considered to be an excellent guide in respect of the use of the software, at the end of the training course attendees receive a manual for reference and as a 'memory jogger' when they start to use the software. The manual is divided into sections with a 'workshop' at the end of each section providing the ability to practice the points covered. Useful tips, for both experienced and new users are provided throughout the manual and are indicated with an 'i'. This is a manual that the user will turn to again and again. Particularly for new users of the Software, but even for experienced users who are trying to solve a particulasr problem it is a good guide into the features of SureTrak. This manual fills a slot in the market as an easy to follow guide in the use of the SureTrak Version 3.0 software, and I would recommend it to those wishing to learn how to use SureTrak or refresh their skills. ... Read more

Book Description

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

Reviews (20)

A great, non-preachy business book
While many authors of business books seem to be really just selling their consulting services, Mr. Reicheld paints a picture of what businesses need to do to retain customers while adding VALUE to those customer relationships. Reicheld talks about his experience as a consultant, but I never felt he was trying to sell me on his services. The Loyalty Effect is a must read for anyone who is mystified at why their profits aren't as high as their competitors while everyone seems to have about equal margin.

The most valuable business book I've ever read
Reichheld lays out both why loyalty matters, and why difficulty in measuring the impact of loyalty has made managers undervalue it in the past. He shows how loyal relationships with employees, suppliers, customers and investors all contribute to a company's long term success.

His insights are profound for anyone building a company. We have used his insights to build our business, and have benefited enormously from the viewpoints expressed in this book.

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

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

Peter Pick
(...)

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

Of course, Reichheld fully understands all this. In a brilliant essay which recently appeared in the Harvard Business Review, he shares new research which (again) shows that companies with faithful employees, customers, and investors (i.e. capital sources which include banks) share one key attribute: leaders who stick with six "bedrock principles": preach what you practice (David Maister has much of value to say about this in his most recently published book, Practice What You Preach), play to win-win, be picky, keep it simple, reward the right results, and finally, listen hard...talk straight. In this book, Reichheld organizes his material within 11 chapters which range from "Loyalty and Value" to "Getting Started: The Path Toward Zero Defections." With meticulous care, he explains how to devise and them implement programs which will help any organization to earn the loyalty of everyone involved in the enterprise. He draws upon a wealth of real-world experience which he and his associates in Bain & Company, a worldwide strategy consulting firm. Reichheld heads up its Loyalty Practice. In his most recently published book, Practice What You Preach, David Maister explains why there must be no discrepancy whatsoever between the "talk" we talk and the "walk" we walk. Reichheld agrees, noting that the "key" to the success of his own organization "has been its loyalty to two principles: first, that our primary mission is to create value for our clients, and second, that our most precious asset is the employees dedicated to making productive contributions to client value creation. Whenever we've