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Business Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Business
Sell It, Baby! Marketing Angel's 37 Down-to-Earth & Practical How-To's on Marketing, Branding & Sales
Published in Paperback by Booklocker.com, Inc. (2003-08-28)
Author: Kimberly L. McCall
List price: $14.95
New price: $12.01
Used price: $4.43

Average review score:

Wonderfully refreshing--a pocket-sized guide to marketing
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-14
Kimberly McCall's book, Sell it, Baby! is wonderfully refreshing--a pocket-sized guide to marketing your business from A to Z.

Sell it, Baby! includes chapters on marketing, branding, and sales, all written for small-business owners and marketing professionals. I especially like how it's fun to read. McCall also interviews other marketing experts and professionals.

Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," author of Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.

Intelligent, informative, engaging and fluff-free
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-01
"Sell It, Baby!" has something for every small business owner or marketing professional. Pick and choose from a menu of sales and marketing offerings, everything from "Born Again: How Brands Get a Second Shot at Consumer Love" to "Top Five Traits You Gotta Have to Sell" (my favorite and not just because I'm quoted!)

"Sell It, Baby!" can be read in tasty bites. Pick it up, read an article for information, inspiration or simply because it's well written, then go back to whatever you were doing before. More than likely, however, you'll find yourself quickly returning for another bite!

Wendy Weiss
"The Queen of Cold Calling"

A quick & enjoyable read filled w/practical advice
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-02
Sell it, Baby! is a quick and enjoyable read filled with real world, practical advice on marketing, branding and sales. It is particularly strong in its sales management advice, clearly drawing from Kimberly's sales management experience. This book addresses the real issues that sales and marketing professionals face day-in and day-out versus the academic theories or models on which many sales and marketing books seem to focus. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in sales management or aspires to be. I also recommend it for marketers. You will enjoy the read and will learn something that you can apply to your own career success.

Brad VanAuken, author, Brand Aid: An Easy Reference Guide to Solving Your Toughest Branding Problems and Strengthening Your Market

Solid information and an enjoyable read
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-13
This book is a must for anyone interested in selling, marketing, and/or branding. It provides a structured step-by-step process for applying total brand management to your own product, no matter what it is. The language is clear, the examples get right to the point--and best of all, the book gets right to the point. I personally can't stand books where you have to weed through pages of fluff to get to the part you want to read.

What I also liked is that Kimberly doesn't talk down to the reader. Some people flaunt their expertise, and sound arrogant as they try to give their readers advice. It's grating, and those are the books I usually put down after a few pages, no matter how knowledgeable the author is. But Kimberly has a lively writing style, and appears to enjoy sharing her expertise--without that arrogance or tone of superiority that is often prevalent in these types of books.

A breezy book packed with valuable nuggets
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-10
It's an unfortunate irony that the field of marketing and communications is littered with so many "how-to" books that are unfocused and unclear. "Sell It, Baby!" provides an antidote - it's a concise collection of marketing tips and tricks that's divided by subject and easy to read. McCall calls herself a business cynic - "think Andy Rooney with lots of hair and a great handbag collection," she says - and how can you resist a writer like that? Her breezy book is packed with valuable nuggets for the novice and expert alike.

-Marc Nathanson, Executive Producer, NY1 News

Business
Soft Selling in a Hard World: Plain Talk on the Art of Persuasion
Published in Hardcover by Running Pr (1993-10)
Author: Jerry Vass
List price: $12.95
New price: $2.00
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $12.95

Average review score:

Great book, great audio
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-23
I read the book years ago and loved it. I recently had my husband read it when he started selling our new business, and he loved it so much he bought the audio version to drive around with. We now have given it to someone else who is going to start selling our now-thriving business.

Excellant sequencing and explanation
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-31
I am a Purchasing guy, and am always dealing with sales guys. Have been for 25 years. 5 years ago I crossed over to Consulting. In my new line of work, I am finding it necessary to sell, not just buy. This book explains how to do that successfully and is a must read for ANY professional, regardless of whether you are a buyer or seller of goods or services, as we are all truly in the business of selling our ideas to somebody, every day.

Buy it, read it, benefit from it. It is a great great book.

Selling tactics
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-01
I found this to be a great book about selling tactics. Written in an easily accessible style with few wasted words. This book gets to the point quickly and provides a roadmap to easily and quickly create a sales handbook that is customized for your business. I created and continue to refine my own sales handbook thanks to this book, and I find it very useful preparation for sales meetings. I handed my sales handbook to someone who didn't really understand what I did, and after reading it she knew exactly how and why. One of the best books on selling tactics that I've read.

Good Material but Dry Delivery
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-24
I purchased this program and others to review before deciding wich to use in a training program for my salesforce. I personaly enjoyed it, but do not feel it would be as widely excepted as other programs I reviewed. It requires more decipline to stick with it than other programs and I believe this is so because of the delivery or reading of the material. I am glad I listened to it but it did not make the cut for my training material.

WOW! Wish I'd Had This 20 Years Ago Myself!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-10
Thank you Jerry for a no-non-sense aproach to the "art & science" of selling. I picked up the 4 cassette tape set on "Soft Selling in a Hard World" on Ebay and put the tape set away for 6 months. Unpackaged it the other day and have been kicking myself ever since. Powerful, easy to understand principles and systems, that make selling "fun for me again".

I've always loved people and the interaction I have with them. And I'm a pretty accomplished sales trainer as well. When I listened to Jerry's tapes, he put me "back in sales training school" for which I'm grateful.

Selling isn't rocket-science but it is a science. Do this...get this. The value of preparation comes through in Jerry's presentation. The 90-second close and Mission Statement sections have changed my approach to selling TV advertising, and selling is "really fun again".

Thank you Jerry. With the salespeople I manage, we'll be calling you for your in-depth Executive Training Program with our sales folks.

Business
Start & Run a Copywriting Business
Published in Paperback by Self-Counsel Press (2005-06-30)
Author: Steve Slaunwhite
List price: $17.95
New price: $14.39
Used price: $15.47

Average review score:

Recommended Seller Thank you.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-09
Thank you! Prompt ship, item in perfect condition communication could be better but overall a terrific seller.

Very helpful book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-26
If you're looking to get into the copywriting business, this is one of the books you should read.

A good business bible from Steve Slaunwhite
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-02
I had the good fortune to take a course given by Steve Slaunwhite, and he covers the B2B market quite well. His website is quire well organized, and I brought this book, not knowing he was the same author of the course I took. This book is very practical, and I recommend it, for its down-to-earth approach. Steve made a successful career transition
From being in sales to becoming a top B2B freelance copywriter. He inspired me go plunge into the freelance copywriting world, after being downsized by a major corporation.
Randy Kemp
http://www.randykempcopywriting.com

Honest, Helpful Advice for a Copywriting Business
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-24
This is a very well written, entertaining, informative, and helpful account of what it takes to start a freelance copywriting business. Everything from suggestions on how to write different types of marketing copy to advice about how to manage money and run the business is included. This is probably the best single volume on the subject.

The best I've read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-02
I've read quite a few books on writing over the years, but I have found this to be one of the best I've read yet for freelance copywriting. It's full of great information and he even gives you details on how to complete many different projects. The cd it comes with is also a great benefit. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in freelance copywriting or writing. Well worth the money. I was not disappointed on this one, it's a keeper!

Business
Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Control, Confrontation & Corporate Culture
Published in Paperback by Ravel Media, LLC (2006-01-15)
Author: Wayne McVicker
List price: $18.95
New price: $3.99
Used price: $4.99

Average review score:

Good Start Up Story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-01
This is a good example of a start up and how much work is involved. By highlighting the ups and downs, it paints the real picture of a start-up, not just the glam.

If you are in start-up and looking for something big, read this one!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-16
If you wanted to read a definitive true story about pre dotcom, bubble and post bubble trials and tribulations, this is the one, sinc eat the end they built a solid profitable company. I chuckled at all the characters that McVickers met with the language that was used when reason left the industry to be totally replaced/driven by greed. . For those of us lucky enough to enjoy that whole wild ride, this book brings it all back. The start-up struggles and financing on debt. Placing bets on directions with your own well being/family. The people are all there, reluctant angels, greedy guys, lazy guys, arrogant amd humble types, disaster hires, reluctant hires wanting a big piece of the action, VCs, investment bankers, handlers, hold-up artists, PR pros, Barney deal makers, aggressive Competitive cos and their VCs, Take no prisoners sales guys/CEOs. This is all played out from the point of view of a fairly humble technical guy who just wanted to do something good. And the money stories, they all were happening. This is well written, easy to follow and a good pleasurable read. If you are in start-up and looking for something big, read this one!

Entrepreneurial Understanding
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-27
This book covers many aspects of the entrepreneurial process. Written in a journal-style, the book takes on more the form of a dramatic novel, covering the growth of McVicker's company, Neoforma, from their beginnings as a poor internet start-up, all the way to their IPO. McVicker navigates through the convoluted process of starting this business, and provides a tremendous amount of insight into his experiences. The names in the book take on life as McVicker describes them interacting in the start-up process. Well written and packed with information, this is a good read for anyone interested in starting their own business.

Reading Between The Lines
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-18
Starting Something captures the rocket ride to IPO in a truly remarkable way that makes the reader feel he's riding co-pilot. I found the discussion about their venture investor, Venrock Associates, to be of particular interest because it appears that "Bret," the Venrock Partner, was given additional equity in Neoforma after Venrock's investment (pp. 308-310). The problem with this kind of thing is that Bret works for the limited and general partners of the firm, not himself, and he took equity right out of their pockets.

Is there any way to justify Bret's actions here? Please, tell me that I'm missing something here.

Misses the point?
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-27
I fully admire the guts it took for Wayne to start a business, I fully admire the hard work he and his employees put in, and I fully admire his candor, since there was a lot in his book that deserved to be told, especially on the company-investor relationship side. But I couldn't help noticing that whenever he spoke glowingly of the company's progress and achievements, he measured them in terms of employee growth and fundraising stats, rather than REVENUE or PROFIT.

Here's why:

1999 - $1 million revenue, operating loss of $51 million
2000 - $10 million revenue, operating loss of $219 million
2001 - $3 million revenue, operating loss of $273 million
2002 - $4 million revenue, operating loss of $81 million
2003 - $11 million revenue, operating loss of $65 million
2004 - $13 million revenue, operating loss of $62 million
2005 - revenues finally started growing for real, because they bought some with their own stock, and then were acquired by another company end of 2005/beginning of 2006

Total for the six full years:

Revenue = $42 million
Losses = $751 million

That basically means the company spent $793 million in order to get $42 million of revenue. Think about those numbers for a second. If you're providing a service, and people are paying you 5 cents for every dollar you spend, well, maybe that's not such a great business to be in.

This book's an engaging and well-written chronicle of one of the shining examples of bubble era craziness. I'm not at all downplaying the truth or value in the general lessons, in the growing pains & emotional reversals of fortune Wayne goes through, and I'm not trying to pin the blame on him for all the missteps. I just hope that aspiring entrepreneurs who read this book balance it out with one on a business that worked, because there are a lot of those that make for interesting reading too, and luck isn't the only thing that distinguishes their trajectory from this one.

Business
Street Smart Franchising
Published in Paperback by Entrepreneur Press (2006-06-12)
Authors: Joe Mathews, Don DeBolt, and Deb Percival
List price: $19.95
New price: $11.36
Used price: $8.99

Average review score:

A Quick Education
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-11
Anyone looking for a quick education on franchise opportunities should take a few hours and read Joe's book. Extremely informative and worthwhile!

Considering Franchising - This is a must read !!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-08
This is an excellent book and a must read for anyone considering going into franchising. This book helped me eliminate many concepts which I initially thought were good. But after reading this book, I learned what great franchise companies are all about. I finally bought into one and am very happy.

A Must Read for Anyone Interested in Franchising!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-17
Definitely a must read BEFORE you buy a franchise! This book provides food for thought and makes you truly think long and hard about the whole franchising business.

Good choice
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-06
This book was easy to read, but made it clear the process of being approved for a franchise and looking for an appropriate franchise. THe book put the process into perspective and helped me from becoming overwhelm with the amount of information.

Waste of Money -- Suspicious of Other Reviews
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-11
I have read four or five books on purchasing a franchise and this is clearly the worst. The books from Nolo are the best and the Better Business Bureau are second. This book is mostly hype about how great the franchise experience can be with pep talks and nonsense about how you are good enough to be in the 1 percent of successful franchise buyers. The information is neither objective nor balanced. I encourage people to always look at who the writers are to see if the source can be trusted. In this case it is consultants who make their money training people who sell franchises, helping people franchise their existing business and selling coaching services to existing franchisees. They have no vested interest in discouraging you from buying a franchise. Spend your money on a different book. I am suspicious of the other rave reviews, it looks like a marketing campaign to me. It is hard for me to believe real people found value in this book.

Business
Streetwise Relationship Marketing On The Internet (Streetwise)
Published in Paperback by Adams Media Corporation (2000-06-01)
Author: Roger C. Parker
List price: $17.95
New price: $4.88
Used price: $2.05

Average review score:

Streetwise is a bounty of information
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-25
What a great resource. For a small biz like myself, it gives simple, concrete "growth" advice and direction. It should be in new print...not relegated to the used marketplace. With so much fodder out there, this stands way above the pack!

Excellent Treatise on E-marketing!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-12-26
I've been marketing and selling on the internet since 1995. There is one specific idea in this book that IF you actually use it, you will almost certainly triple your business. (No kidding) I definitely wish I would have had this book 5 years ago. However, I have it now and the fundamentals are superb. Parker takes you through the strategies that bring people to your web site and develop a web site that gets people to come back again and again.

I absolutely love this book and strongly suggest you pick it up. ...Isn't it worth it to gain some powerful, usable and workable strategies that will make you 1000 times the investment?! It's a no-brainer!

Kevin Hogan...

Indispensible
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-25
I keep referring to Parker's book over and over again. Even someone who has been marketing via the Net for several years will find this text a cogent, insightful and organized source of help. I can't imagine my Web-based efforts without its guidance.

Still good as gold
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-28
Most books published this long ago look incredibly dated by now. This one isn't. Everything in it still rings true, and it's a shame more websites don't heed this man's advice.

The Book is not as great as the review says...
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2001-06-15
I bought the book because I saw a lot of great reviews about it on amazon.com. But after reading the book, it's really disappointing because the book is just very shallow about web marketing... It's also very repetitive and all it says is very general, it doesn't really cover much on strategic web marketing. A lot of the articles on the many web marketing sites or newsletters out there are much more helpful than that book. It doesn't tell much except for mentioning repeatedly how good content, customers registration and email newsletters are important for relationship marketing... It doesn't provide any resource at all for the readers to create good content, to build a customer email database or to launch an effective promotion or marketing campaign, i don't recommend this book at all.

Business
Succeed on Your Own Terms
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill (2006-05-16)
Authors: Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney
List price: $21.95
New price: $1.12
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $24.95

Average review score:

OK book, and OK test
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-11-16
This book is OK, but not great. The test is a combination of a personality and IQ test that is not all that useful. If you already know your Briggs Myers type and IQ score this test will add very little to what you already know. It's not as good as StrengthsFinder 2.0. But if you like spending money to take tests, it might be worth a try.

[...]

Review of Succeed on Your Own Terms
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-02
When I picked up "Succeed on Your Own Terms" I was expecting some gems of life experiences because the sub-title is "Lessons From Top Achievers Around the World on Developing Your Unique Potential." I was not disappointed as I found each short chapter to be bring me a very good example of how an individual used and demonstrated a personal characteristic or trait. The book is easy to read and you feel well connected to what happened. You don't have to dedicate a block of time to go through this one. You can read it little blocks at a time and it goes just fine. Definitely take the time to do the online evaluation. I found it to be very worthwhile. Enjoy!

Under the Business Microscope
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-10
In the business world, self-help books grow on trees. When you see through their poser disguise and words, you find the authors often got rich TALKING about how to do X, but they themselves didn't actually succeed at the particular field. This title is an exception, and filled with wisdom. Herb Greenberg is quite an authority, and his book speaks here volumes. It has dozens of great biographical stories dissecting the mental thought processes from people who overcame extraordinary odds to become overachievers. People from all walks of life.

It contains an efficient, possibly eye-opening test to define your strengths and areas that need a little push. Great stuff!

A book I'll often want to revisit!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-11
SUCCEED ON YOUR OWN TERMS by Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney is a book I'll want to
revisit often, if just to again read the story of Mugsy Bogues--the
shortest NBA player of all time.

He is just one of the many accomplished individuals interviewed
by the authors . . . they also spoke to actor Ben Vereen, Senator
Barbara Boxer, architect Michael Graves, and a wide range
of others from a variety of fields.

In addition, they then conducted a comprehensive personality
assessment on each person, attempting to uncover the defining
qualities that made them unique . . . all totaled, they came
up with a total of 19 qualities--including such ones as optimism,
resilience, empathy, persuasiveness, courage, creativity, and
self-awareness.

I enjoyed the in-depth interviews, as well as the many tidbits
of information that were shared . . . among the many
that caught my attention were the following:

* If two people are climbing a mountain together, what is the
most important thing they need to get to the summit? Teamwork?
Cooperation? The right equipment? Training? All those things are
required. But what' most important is the mountain itself. You
must have a goal.

* Once, late at night, he was crying because the result from one of the
surgeries was worse than expected. Jose Luiz recalled, "An old man at
the hospital called me over and said, 'Boy, why do you cry? Look
around you. There are patients here who will only live a few days more.
Don't just sit here and cry. Go and see them. And see what happens.
Maybe you can help them by just being there.' It was a very simple
message, but it changed my life and I carry it with me."

* [Gov. John Corzine of New Jersey] "The simple answer is that
if I made another dollar, another hundred million dollars, or whatever,
it would not change any aspect of my life. I wouldn't feel better about
myself," he said.

Perhaps the most valuable part to SUCCEED ON YOUR OWN TERMS
was the offer that came with it . . . readers are offered the opportunity
to take a free, in-depth personality assessment that will then be
scored . . . the results can be used to discover unique potential and
strengths with the idea being that they can then help locate situations
that play to these natural abilities.

A Collection of Inspiration and Motivation
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-10
There is a lot to like about the book, SUCCEED ON YOUR OWN TERMS, by Herb Greenberg and Patrick Sweeney. This is one of the best "success" books of 2006. Greenberg and Sweeney of Caliper, an international consulting firm, share their findings from countless research interviews of successful people, many famous and familiar, many others you've probably never heard of, but all who have obtained a high level of achievement in their respective fields.

The book is presented in four parts and twenty-eight chapters. Part 1 introduces the authors and helps give an appropriate definition of "success" and how everyone's expectations of success are different.

IN Part 2, the reader finds individual profiles of people and how they have found success in their lives. This is some very interesting reading and really helps to illustrate the many facets of success. I would consider this chapter the "meat and potatoes" of the book.

Part 3, for me, fell a little short. It starts off in chapter 23 pretty well, giving yet further insight into personal obstacles of interviewees and what they learned from their respective journeys. Chapter 24 really becomes filler material and really detracted from the overall accomplishments of the work here, but the pace soon returns in Part 4, "Defining Moments, Lessons, and Qualities and What They All Mean". I found this chapter to be the best reading of the entire book.

In summary, a valuable book that was overall, very enjoyable. There were, however, a few disappointments. The book has an overabundance of profiles of politicians, which was a huge distraction for me. It's difficult for me to find inspiration from people like Jon Corsine, Charlie Rangel or Barbara Boxer. Nonetheless, gloss over the parts that don't interest you and just read the rest. It's well worth the price of the book.

Business
Think Like Your Customer: A Winning Strategy to Maximize Sales by Understanding and Influencing How and Why Your Customers Buy
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill (2004-10-25)
Author: Bill Stinnett
List price: $16.95
New price: $10.38
Used price: $8.57

Average review score:

I am just blown away at the thoroughness, quality of process and thought that has gone into this book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-16

I am always looking for what I think is the best sales book to recommend. This is the book for B2B sales this year. A very high sales performer, Bill Stinnett has really hit the mark with this book. If you coupled the strategies and methods of Stinnett with the strategies and tactics used by Bill Freese, (Question Based Selling) you could build the ultimate sales machine in your company. I am just blown away at the thoroughness, quality of process and thought that has gone into this book. When I asked Bill for a review copy he arranged to call me to find out where I was coming from and what I did with the reviews. This gentleman dots the i's and crosses the t's.

Buy it, read it, and keep it on your read often, do not lend bookshelf. Of course if you are content with the status quo, this book will only make you realize how much more there is out there. I am really pumped by Stinnett!

An Invaluable Resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-11
If you want to improve your sales and connect better with your customers, buy this book! Each chapter is full of "aha!" insights that will enhance your understanding of your customer's needs.

Stinnett is an apostle of the "diagnostic approach" to selling, in which the seller undertakes a process of discovery to identify what results the customer is trying to achieve. The focus is always on the customer--his motive, the urgency of reaching the objective, the consequences of doing nothing and remaining where he is, the expected payback from attaining the objective, the resources the customer has available to devote to the effort, and the risks he will face in moving in a new direction. These "Action Drivers," Stinnett explains, govern and control just about every buying decision. If a sale falls through, chances are that one of these "Action Drivers" was missing.

In the first half of the "Think Like Your Customer," Stinnett analyzes how buyers evaluate their options and assess risk. Weeks after reading the book, I still open it up and turn to the chart on page 49, where Stinnett lists the eight major types of value your customer may be attempting to derive from a relationship with you and your company. They are:

Economic Value (increasing revenue, reducing costs, better utilization of assets)
Emotional Value (need for recognition and security)
Simplicity Value (making the easy choice and reducing headaches)
Relational Value (repaying loyalty and commitment; avoiding potential conflict)
Political and Image Value (looking good to others)
Guidance or Advice Value (access to expert advice)
Quality Value (reducing product defects; better service)
Time Value (shorten time to market; free up time for other things)

Stinnett points out for each of these denominations of value, there is a corresponding denomination of risk. Since value and risk are two sides of the same coin, a seller can increase the perceived value of his offering--and overcome prospects' perennial objections about price, by focusing carefully on the customer's concerns and reducing risk in the areas of value that are important to that particular customer.

In the second half of the book, Stinnett dissects the anatomy of the customer's buying process. Instead of focusing our attention on how we sell, Stinnett says we should concentrate on how the customer buys and--more importantly--what affirmative steps we can take to help the buyer move through each stage of the buying process that the buyer needs to traverse in order to buy from us.

Nothing in "Think Like Your Customer" is startlingly new; rather, Stinnett teaches how we can turn our thinking inside out and look at a transaction from the perspective of the buyer.

This book is well organized and highly readable; the reasoning is persuasive, and the advice is immensely practical. Immediately after reading "Think Like Your Customer," I began to conduct conversations with my clients using the tools and skills Stinnett provides. The difference in the quality of the communication was nothing short of amazing. Buy this book and profit from its wisdom!

Valuable tools to use right away
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-02
When I read books on persuasion, I'm looking for effective tools. One of the reasons I like this book is that it has valuable information I don't remember seeing elsewhere.

The chapter on what customers really want is worth far more than the price of the book. It identifies the factors that must exist for a customer to buy from us. And it teaches how to weave key questions about these factors into our informal conversation with the customer.

Another example: The book teaches how to learn what specific results a customer really wants and how to tie that to our product or service. The specific "result" a customer wants may differ greatly from the generic benefits we assume our product or service's features provide.

I've found that using Stinnett's tools to focus even more on how the customer thinks increases sales and the number of satisfied customers.

How to understand the high-probability customer's purchase process
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-31

Bill Stinnett concludes the Introduction to this book with a remarkable statement: "Now let me be clear: I don't take credit for any of these truths [culled from a variety of other sources]. I didn't make them up. They have been there all along, waiting to be observed. My life's work has been to recognize them and organize them in an effort to advance my own career and yours." Stinnett refers to popular sales methodologies which include Strategic Selling®, Solution Selling®, and SPIN Selling®. Whatever the given methodology, its ultimate outcome is an increase in revenue which, Stinnett duly acknowledges, can be accomplished in three ways: maximizing sales velocity, increasing average "deal size" or the "wallet" share, and increasing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

Throughout Stinnett's narrative, his emphasis is on presenting and then explaining "a winning strategy" (actually an aggregate of several strategies) to increase his reader's understanding of how and why customers buy. The chapter titles for Part 1, "Why Customers Buy," correctly indicate how practical his approach is: What Customers Think About, What Customers Really Want, How Customers Perceive Value and Risk, The Cause and Effect of Business Value, and The Value of Customer Relationships. It should be noted that, along the way, Stinnett also offers excellent advice with regard to all manner of "how not to's" and "why nots" when formulating and then implementing what should be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective game plan to increase revenue.

To me, some of the most valuable material in the book is presented in Chapter 8 as Stinnett explains how to reverse-engineer the buying process. That is, in Stephen Covey's words, "begin with the end in mind." This is a process by which to identify what must happen before a given customer is ready to buy. Previously in Chapter 2, Stinnett introduced what he calls his "Customer Results Model" which involves a process that begins with fully understanding the prospective buyer's current situation. I agree with Stinnett that there is no inherent value (as perceived by customers) in the solution offered by a given product or service unless it will achieve the prospective buyer's desired outcomes or results. As the former CEO of Home Depot once observed, people don't buy a quarter-inch drill; they buy quarter-inch holes. In this context, the quarter-inch drill fills a gap between a current, often an urgent need and filling it.

One of this book's several reader-friendly devices is the isolation of key points presented in bold face. This facilitates and accelerates frequent review of those points later. For example:

"It's a lot easier to sell somebody something if it's positioned as a way to help them achieve a goal or an objective that they already want to achieve." (Page 15)

" Far more critical than what is valuable and important to your customer is why it is valuable and important to them." (Page 65)

"A deep, meaningful, high-trust relationship with a client who has no business disparity [i.e. compelling need], no motive to take action, or no means to take action even if they did have a motive, equals no sale. It's just a relationship." (Page 105)

"It's not what we do in our sales process, but what the customer does in their buying process, that really matters." (Page 135)

"We should spend 80 percent of our time and effort on the 20 percent of our opportunities that carry a strong urgency, motive, and consequence, because these are the deals that can close." (Page 179)

None of Stinnett's key points is a head-snappy revelation, nor does he make that claim. However, all of them - preferably reviewed in the sequence in which they are presented - offer valuable reminders of where the proper focus and emphasis should be during a high-probability customer's purchase process.

There are dozens of excellent books on the art and science of sales, and this is one of the best.

Well-done!

Pack the sales punches
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-19
This is one of the best books on selling I'd read in years. In the software world, hard-sell is dead. Try consultative selling the Bill Stinnet way. I used some of the ideas in the book eg., mapping out the buying process and offering it as as part of an important visual information to the gatekeeper to reach the decision maker - and it works! I have used the concept of getting the buyer to think about destination "C" with us rather than trying to be too focused on the offer in "B". There is also a section on how to qualify a prospect with ideas that are worth committing to memory. A combination of Bill's ideas and my experience has turned many of my well qualified prospects into paying customers today.

If you are a career saleperson then this one is definitely for you.

Business
To Market to Market
Published in Hardcover by Harcourt (1997-10)
Author: Anne Miranda
List price: $16.00
Used price: $34.30

Average review score:

Great Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-11-03
I saw this book at a friend's house when my daughter was 6 months old and fell in love with it. I bought a copy for us and regularly buy copies for friends. My daughter, now 2 years old, loves to be read to and won't go to bed without six or seven or eight books. To Market To Market is still a favorite.

Hilarious and animal-friendly !
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-14
The pictures in this book are HILARIOUS !!!! This is a very funny, upbeat book with a bit of a vegetarian theme in a light-handed way. After reading it, our 5-yo looked back through the pictures and said "I think she bought some pets !!!" We borrowed it from the library but I am going to buy a copy to own just because the pictures are so funny...and the way the lady looks at the end of her shopping trips is *exactly* how I feel after shopping with our kids !!!

Fun twist on the old nursery rhyme
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-29
We first saw this book at our local Children's Museum. After reading it, I had to have this as part of our home library. The illustrations are so original, as is the funny story. It makes us laugh each time we read it together. Plus, the final soup is made of lots of different kinds of vegetables--a great healthy meal reinforcement for your preschooler.

A great new version of an old standard
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-13
My grandmother used to tell me this story and now I can pass that on to my grandchildren who unfortunately do not live in the same state. It's a wonderful story (with lines I still quote as an adult!) and terrific illustrations that will make you laugh right out loud.

Our favorite
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-18
The juxtaposition of the photograph-like mishmashed black and white backgrounds with the colorful illustrations of characters and key items make this book fun and interesting to look at. The twist on the nursery rhyme is hilarious and easy for children to identify with. My child loves to point out the different animals and vegetables and always laughs throughout the story (a lamb hanging out in the diswasher, etc gets lots of giggles). Makes vegetables fun.

Business
Total Performance Scorecard: Redefining Management to Achieve Performance with Integrity
Published in Hardcover by Butterworth-Heinemann (2003-05)
Author: Hubert K. Rampersad
List price: $55.95
New price: $44.76
Used price: $43.53

Average review score:

Total Performance Scorecard: Redefining Management to Achieve Performance with Integrity
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-09
Dr Rampersad will need to refresh the content to cover his TPS framework is reflected in his website.

This is a fascinating concept
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
Dear Dr Rampersad, I completely read your English book - Total Performance Score card. This is a fascinating concept. The processes involved in implementing TPS have been explained very simply using simple language. It is indeed a revolution in thinking to keep the 'integrity' as the core area around which other processes are developed. This is an essential part of any management concept for without integrity and commitment any new initiative is bound to fail. -S. Ramachandran, Human Resources, Ramco Systems Ltd, Chennai, India

A desperately needed direction that management of organizations should adopt
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
"Total Performance Scorecard is a desperately needed direction that management of organizations should adopt. It stresses the importance and need of developing an organizational structure and philosophy that combines the goals and aspirations of the individual with those of the company. It is a melding process, which results in a corporate culture that is both individually and organizationally driven. The concepts embodied in this management concept
provide solutions to preserving and utilizing individual rights and capabilities while adjusting the organizational structure and philosophy to this new environment." --Edward H. Barker, Professor at University of LaVerne, CA

Ein integriertes Managementsystem
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
Äußerst systematisch aufgebaut, entwickelt Hubert Rampersad in einer stimulierenden und praxisnahen Sprache ein integriertes Managementsystem auf der gedanklichen Basis mehrerer erfolgreicher und äußerst aktueller Managementkonzepte, wie dem der Balanced Scorecard, dem des Total Quality Managements, des Wissens-, Kompetenz- und Performancemangements, des Changemanagements sowie dem der lernenden Organisation." --Professor Dr. Christian Schuchardt, Professor für BWL und Internationales Management an der School of International Business der Hochschule Bremen

Dr. Rampersad's processes bring organizations face-to-face with their own moral fiber
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
"Dr. Rampersad's book is just as timely an exhortation to American business as was In Search of Excellence. In this case, the survival of corporations depends on possessing an integrity that can both fuel their drive for performance
and keep it in check. Such integrity cannot be legislated by government or management. Fortunately, Dr. Rampersad's processes bring organizations face-to-face with their own moral fiber (and many other important issues). He couldn't have come along at a better time." --George Cline, MBA, President, VitalConcern, Tampa, FL


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