Books

Average customer rating:

Ultimate Sales Model for Business to Business Selling
Great book
The sales Bible
Very Good selling techniques
Re-reading the Classics

SPIN Selling
Neil Rackham
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The SPIN Selling Fieldbook
Major Account Sales Strategy
Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets
Secrets of Question Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results
The New Strategic Selling: The Unique Sales System Proven Successful by the World's Best Companies

ASIN: 0070511136

Book Description

The international bestseller that revolutionized high-end selling!

Written by Neil Rackham, former president and founder of Huthwaite corporation, SPIN Selling is essential reading for anyone involved in selling or managing a sales force. Unquestionably the best-documented account of sales success ever collected and the result of the Huthwaite corporation's massive 12-year, $1-million dollar research into effective sales performance, this groundbreaking resource details the revolutionary SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy.

In SPIN Selling, Rackham, who has advised leading companies such as IBM and Honeywell delivers the first book to specifically examine selling high-value product and services. By following the simple, practical, and easy-to-apply techniques of SPIN, readers will be able to dramatically increase their sales volume from major accounts. Rackham answers key questions such as “What makes success in major sales” and “Why do techniques like closing work in small sales but fail in larger ones?”

You will learn why traditional sales methods which were developed for small consumer sales, just won't work for large sales and why conventional selling methods are doomed to fail in major sales. Packed with real-world examples, illuminating graphics, and informative case studies - and backed by hard research data - SPIN Selling is the million-dollar key to understanding and producing record-breaking high-end sales performance.

Customer Reviews:

Ultimate Sales Model for Business to Business Selling.......2007-06-25

I speak around the world on lead generation and SPIN Selling" to give you a roadmap on how to master business to business selling.

There is no other resource I can think of where you can "easily perfect" your selling approach and strategy.

Neil gives you step-by-step plan that anyone can follow in their quest to excel at selling their products or services.

The one caveat is I would adopt the "SPIN" Model to "SPAIN" with the "A" emphasizing "Agitate" to put more focus on what the problem is costing your prospect without your specific solution.

I would also add that the SPIN Field Book is a great resource.

Joe Heller, Trust Cycle Selling

Great book.......2007-06-09

Great Book. Good buy for any sales professional who has to use the phone at work.

The sales Bible.......2007-03-27

If you sell big ticket items B2B, this is simply the finest sales guide ever written. It can be summed up this way:

1. Ask Situation questions to understand the buyer's context
2. Ask Problem questions to uncover pain
3. Ask Implication questions to rub salt in the wounds (gently and lovingly)
4. Ask Need questions to show them how your product will make the pain go away.

The book has a few shortcomings:

1. There is nothing about finding out the client buying process (cycle, budget, etc.)
2. If the client has no pain, there is no sale. There are 2 ways to take a prospect - down the pain path, which this book outlines well, but there is also another way to lead the prospect - how your product/service is going to help them get to where they want to be. An example of this would be selling prime/exclusive office space.

ex 1: Clients buying high rent office space are not motivated by pain - they are motivated by vision and image - where they are now vs where they want to be.

ex 2: You are selling marketing services, and the client is already meeting or exceeding his sales numbers. There is no pain here, but the client may buy anyway because he wants to take his business to the "next level"

Very Good selling techniques.......2007-02-26

This is a great book with solid techniques for building relationships for selling to large accounts.

Re-reading the Classics.......2006-10-01

The canon of Sales Lit goes back only a couple of decades. In that canon, Neil Rackham's first "Spin Selling" takes a special place as one of the classics or founding texts. So, if you need help preparing a meeting with one of your largest accounts, take the time to re-read this classic text.
Sure, we all know how to ask questions, but Neil is the first to make the point that the wrong kinds of questions will more likely kill the deal than win it.
Neil's classic distinction between "implicit" and "explicit" needs -- what I like to call "surface" vs. "deeply-held" need -- will help focus any salesperson's line of questioning. With each deeply-held need uncovered, the likelihood of closing the sale rises exponentially.
For instance, I recently went into a meeting with one of my largest accounts knowing the company needed an easy-to-use storage software solution. If I based my proposal on this explicit need, the meeting would have gone nowhere fast.
But, during the meeting, I uncovered the deeply-held needs that the software needed to work with the Mac and Linux OS's, and be localized for Chinese and Japanese, as the company was preparing for the Asian market.
As I walked out of the meeting, I felt secure in the knowledge that I had uncovered more than three deeply-held needs. Confident of my line of questioning in that meeting, the rest of the sales process went swimmingly.
Anyone who manages large accounts needs to keep reading -- and re-reading -- Neil's classic text.

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Average customer rating:

Brilliant
Misses Long-Term, Green, and Bottom of Pyramid, Superb Otherwise
A book that is a marketing gimmick itself
An interesting analysis of the creation of new markets - Blue Ocean Strategy
Great Resource

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
W. Chan Kim , and Renée Mauborgne
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
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Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change

ASIN: 1591396190

Book Description

Winning by not competing: a fresh approach to strategy Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”: untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves—which the authors call “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2007-06-22

An excellent book and an inspiring piece of work. A valuable resource for anyone in business.

Misses Long-Term, Green, and Bottom of Pyramid, Superb Otherwise.......2007-06-22

I am not deducting one star for the gaps listed above, because on balance the book is one of a handful of business books that is serious as opposed to the pap that one generally sees.

There are other in-depth reviews, so I will summarize only what mattered to me. The bottom line here is create new markets and woo new customers, rather than compete. With this in mind, I am stunned that they do not examine more carefully C.K. Prahalad's wisdom as communicated in The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. He teaches us that capitalism (never mind the immoral predatory part) focuses on the billion at the top who can afford new sub-zero refrigerators and disposable goods. He teaches us that unlike this group, worth one trillion a year, the five billion at the bottom of the pyramid represent four trillion a year, but their refrigerator needs are different: for $2, an African "refrigerator" is two ceramic vases with broad bases and necks, one inside the other. Buried in the ground, they keep meat fresh for five days.

Their key principles:

1) Reconstruct/cross market boundaries

2) Focus on big picture not numbers

3) Reach beyond existing (and I would add, illiterate) demand

4) Get the strategic sequence right

The heart of their book is "first to market" and "create new markets."

They address three customer groups for study:

1) Soon to be customers (e.g. young, international)

2) Refusing customers

3) Non-customers for whom new attractive value can be created

I especially like the discussion, two thirds of the way through the book, on six blocks to buyers utility:

1) Customer Productivity

2) Simplicity

3) Convenience

4) Risk (reduction)

5) Fun and image

6) Environmental friendliness (a scant mention).

This is a seriously useful book, a fast read, and worthy of note. The books below will provide additional context and insight as we all begin to demand an end to corporate "personality" and a restoration of public ownership and public accountability and utility.

The Corporation
Manufacture of Evil: Ethics, Evolution, and the Industrial System
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
The Politics of Fortune: A New Agenda For Business [[ASIN:0865475873 Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make ThingsLeaders]]
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons (Bk Currents)
Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications

A book that is a marketing gimmick itself.......2007-06-03

Much of the theories and methods described in the book have been covered in listless marketing books.

The line graphs that the argument is based on is based on an arbitrary positioning of the different factors along the chart. You can make any companies look like one that has opened up a so-called "blue ocean of uncontested market space" on the line graphs by simply moving the factors along the line.

Secondly, the survey / research cited never offers clear definition of key terminologies used, no clear explanation on how the research sample was chosen and no clear list of when or where that research actually took place.

It is a book that is written to wow readers with a pleasing visual image with contents that are recycled from past marketing books and arbitrary use of statistics that will not even hold on an academic level.

A total waste of money.

An interesting analysis of the creation of new markets - Blue Ocean Strategy.......2007-06-03

Blue Ocean Strategy is described as the creation of new markets; where market space is uncontested; where the competition becomes irrelevant; and where the tendency to engage in value-cost trade-off is broken. It was written by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.
The book takes the reader through a descriptive analysis of the Blue Ocean Strategy. However, I feel it fails to make a convincing case for maintaining a competitive advantage in the long run, even though it attempts to do so in its conclusion "The sustainability and Renewal of Blue Ocean Strategy". For example, it defends the Blue Ocean Strategy by demonstrating how CNN and its 24 hour news business model, was ridiculed by the major networks as an unsustainable business model. The authors point out that "ridicule does not inspire rapid imitation". Perhaps they are right, but for how long? A few years later we now have MSNB, CNBC and the new ratings king, for now anyway, Fox News. You could make a point that Fox News actually benefited from NOT being the Blue Ocean innovator.
Also, the risks of the Blue Ocean Strategy are not discussed extensively. There is something to be said about joining a crowded market (red ocean) and competing by improving the value proposition minimally. Most business people dream of creating this elusive "Blue Ocean" where there is no competition, however, I would venture to speculate that for every successful blue ocean strategy there are hundreds of failures that could have had a better result had they decided to compete in an established market.
We all admire the Blue Ocean creators for their vision and value to the marketplace and this book describes some of the advantages of creating such an enterprise quite well. The authors do get you thinking creatively and they do a fabulous job analyzing their Blue Ocean companies and how they broke from the status quo by their focus on value innovation.
Blue Ocean has made it into the vernacular of the business world. I am surprised how often I have heard and used this term to describe the creation of a new market.
Enjoy!

Great Resource.......2007-06-01

This book is a very accessable tool for devleoping strategy in the new economy. It is worth every penny!

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage

Average customer rating:

too much 'flowers' in conveying the message
Top Notch
Used for Designers
New Views of the Tried and the True
What is your business's offering?

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage
B. Joseph Pine , and James H. Gilmore
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0875848192

Amazon.com

Sometime during the last 30 years, the service economy emerged as the dominant engine of economic activity. At first, critics who were uncomfortable with the intangible nature of services bemoaned the decline of the goods-based economy, which, thanks to many factors, had increasingly become commoditized. Successful companies, such as Nordstrom, Starbucks, Saturn, and IBM, discovered that the best way to differentiate one product from another--clothes, food, cars, computers--was to add service.

But, according to Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, the bar of economic offerings is being raised again. In The Experience Economy, the authors argue that the service economy is about to be superseded with something that critics will find even more ephemeral (and controversial) than services ever were: experiences. In part because of technology and the increasing expectations of consumers, services today are starting to look like commodities. The authors write that "Those businesses that relegate themselves to the diminishing world of goods and services will be rendered irrelevant. To avoid this fate, you must learn to stage a rich, compelling experience."

Many will find the idea of staging experiences as a requirement for business survival far-fetched. However, the authors make a compelling case, and consider successful companies that are already packaging their offerings as experiences, from Disney to AOL. Far-reaching and thought-provoking, The Experience Economy is for marketing professionals and anyone looking to gain a fresh perspective on what business landscape might look like in the years to come. Recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

Book Description

You are what you charge for. And if you're competing solely on the basis of price, then you've been commoditized, offering little or no true differentiation. What would your customers really value? Better yet, for what would they pay a premium? Experiences. The curtain is about to rise, say Pine & Gilmore, on the Experience Economy, a new economic era in which every business is a stage, and companies must design memorable events for which they charge admission. With The Experience Economy, Pine & Gilmore explore how successful companies-using goods as props and services as the stage-create experiences that engage customers in an inherently personal way. Why does a cup of coffee cost more at a trendy cafe than it does at the corner diner or when brewed at home? It's the value that the experience holds for the individual that determines the worth of the offering and the work of the business. From online communities to airport parking, the authors draw from a rich and varied mix of examples that showcase businesses in the midst of creating engaging experiences for both consumers and corporate customers. The Experience Economy marks the debut of an insightful, highly original, and yet eminently practical approach for companies to script and stage compelling experiences. In doing so, all workers become actors, intentionally creating specific effects for their customers. And it's the experiences they stage that create memorable-and lasting-impressions that ultimately create transformations within individuals. Make no mistake, say Pine & Gilmore: goods and services are no longer enough. Experiences are the foundation for future economic growth, and The Experience Economy is the playbook from which managers can begin to direct new performances.

Download Description

Future economic growth lies in the value of experiences and transformations--good and services are no longer enough. We are on the threshold, say authors Pine and Gilmore, of the Experience Economy, a new economic era in which all businesses must orchestrate memorable events for their customers. The Experience Economy offers a creative, highly original, and yet eminently practical strategy for companies to script and stage the experiences that will transform the value of what they produce. From America Online to Walt Disney, the authors draw from a rich and varied mix of examples that showcase businesses in the midst of creating personal experiences for both consumers and businesses. The authors urge managers to look beyond traditional pricing factors like time and cost, and consider charging for the value of the transformation that an experience offers. Goods and services, say Pine and Gilmore, are no longer enough. Experiences and transformations are the basis for future economic growth, and The Experience Economy is the script from which managers can begin to direct their own transformations.

Customer Reviews:

too much 'flowers' in conveying the message.......2007-06-20

When I bought this book, I hoped Mr Pine will more describe about the ultimate power of new era, the experience economy, and how that change should be adapted quickly for many variety industries settings to get survive. Meaning, I expect to find a practical guidance to overcome the battle.
I found many ideas poured into this book mostly already existed in some other books (not written by Joseph Pine, for sure), for instance putting the experience as value added in consumer goods to increase consumers' emotional benefits. In doing so, the manufacturer can have premium price to outdo the competition. I've heard of it as many as the idea of how to serve consumers in a new different way by using internet as interactive tool to preserve their satisfactions and to use it as new channel of distribution. I really hope he came up with new striking and distinctive ideas, not those hackneyed ones.

I somewhat think this book a little bit hard to understand. Mr Pine used and picked up some unusual vocabularies to convey his message. I always fall asleep everytime reading it. Surprising that it takes me a week to consume 2-3 pages whilst I spend a week to finish Harry Potter - Goblet of Fire in English version.

However, I thank to Joseph for inspiring me some new vocabs.

Top Notch.......2007-06-01

Rarely do we get a truly new model to work with. This book provides a genuine breakthrough in how our life experience can be designed.

Used for Designers.......2007-03-30

I am a college instructor in Web and Interactive design and development. I have used this book and the audio version as the cornerstone of my opening lectures each semester. All the concepts and tenents put forward apply to user Interface design that I use this book as part of my UX-User Experience driven courses. Understanding how we got here and having an idea of where we are going allows tommorrow's designers to create "experiences" today.

This should be on every design students required reading list....

New Views of the Tried and the True.......2007-01-29

'Sell the sizzle and not the steak' was originated by legendary salesman and motivational speaker Elmer Wheeler way back in the 1930s and brought up to date with current examples of what companies have done to create an 'experience' is the theme of this book. Is the content new? Well, YES! And Well, NO!

I went out to dinner Friday night. I met with friends at a local restaurant, we had a couple of drinks in the lounge and then moved into the restaurant for dinner. I had a steak, just like in the phrase. It was no better than the steak I could have bought at the local supermarket for a third or less of the cost. It wasn't prepared any better than I can do on my grill. But the experience of ending the work week with friends, drink, good food made it worth the money that I spent.

In recent years this has been termed good service. And it is. But it's more than that, it was a nice evening, a good experience.

This book uses theatre terminology and stories from various companies to explain and illustrate how to take almost any business and convert it to 'experience' orientation rather than just providing a product or service.

Is it new and different, YES! But it is based on the tried and true.

What is your business's offering?.......2007-01-09

The Experience Economy is truly a work of art. It is one of those rare books that provide insight, perspective, illumination, and rich content together in a unified framework. The book thoroughly explains the nature of an experience offering, clearly differentiating it from a service. Understanding your business as an experience provider can radically shift your thinking about the value of your economic offering... and your understanding of what your customers value.

Work is theatre. Every time an employee is in front of a customer they are acting...whether they know it or not.

As the higher value economic offerings of experiences and transformations come to dominate the economy, the understanding of experiential and transformational offerings becomes more critical. As individual buyer's needs are targeted by company offerings, the notion of a market of fictional average people gets replaced by individual buyers. The elimination of customer sacrifice requires the customizing of each offering to a specific customer's needs. Customizing goods turns goods into services, customizing services turns them into experiences, and customizing experiences turns them into transformations.

Though the book focuses on "experiences" as a distinctive economic offering, it also provides a comprehensive framework for understanding all economic offerings. The insights from the progression of economic value and the characteristics of each offering provide a frame of reference for assessing your current business and stimulating strategic discussion of what it might be.

Pine and Gilmore take great care in defining the five economic offerings -

* Commodities
* Goods
* Services
* Experiences
* Transformations

Each level is of greater value than the prior level. Tailoring offerings to reduce customer sacrifice adds value and moves the offering up the progression of value. At the same time, offerings are continually commoditized to bring greater value going the other direction.

The distinguishing factors of each offering are explicitly defined and reinforced throughout the text. These offerings are a progression. They build upon one another. For example, at the transformation level where the customer is the offering, guiding transformations can be explained in three basic steps:

1. diagnosing aspirations, with characteristics of a service,
2. staging experiences, to bring about the transformation, and
3. follow-through, to sustain the transformation.

Towards the end a terrific thought provoker -- "Who or what does your business glorify?" What a thought provoker!

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably (4th Edition) (Pie)

Average customer rating:

Looking for guidance/framework on how to price our products ...
Great Book
Excellant.
The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably (4th Edition)
Great condition, fast service!

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably (4th Edition) (Pie)
Thomas T. Nagle , and John Hogan
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0131856774

Customer Reviews:

Looking for guidance/framework on how to price our products ..........2007-03-08

We have the challenge of taking new products and services to the marketplace and really were looking form some guidance on a place to start. The area we are working in is really developing a new market as well. So we were wondering "What Price do we place on these product and services?"

We could not afford the experts on pricing (aka Strategic Pricing Group now part of The Monitor Group). And were looking for a place to start. All research including reviews from Amazon pointed us to start with this book. To myself and our endeavor, it the first 3 weeks of owning the book, I have read several chapters multiple times and the foundation framework on pricing is shares has already proven to be worth many times the price of the book.

On top of it, it is easy to read. Thanks to the people who took the time to make this book.

Great Book.......2007-02-18

This book is a great guide to the topic of pricing. I'm an MBA student and I believe students as well as professionals can benefit from reading this book. It contains structures and frameworks to work out a tailored pricing strategy and they all make sense. Lots of good examples from business practice illustrate the application of the theories.
The book is relatively quantitative for a marketing book, which I find great because there is no argumentation based on psychology and belief, but on quantifiable parameters - one can see the consulting practice of the authors.
What the book pretty much lacks is a citing of new academic research studies of the topics discussed. There are extensive references, however.
All in all a great book to newcomers in pricing as well as experienced pricers.

Excellant........2007-02-11

This is one of the best books in pricing. My Pricing professor recommended that I buy this and said that marketing managers regularly refer to this book in practice. This is a great buy.

The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably (4th Edition) .......2007-02-06

Worth buying it. Good and useful material.

Great condition, fast service!.......2007-01-31

I received the book in the condition I expected and in the time I expected.

The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation

Average customer rating:

"Keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow."
Easy Reading
Interesting but little new insights
Broadly applicable insight into Toyota's innovations
Helpful, but Incomplete

The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation
Matthew E. May
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Strategy & Competition | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0743290178

Book Description

"Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success."

-- Fortune, February 2006

For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda combined). In a rare look into Toyota's ability to consistently achieve breakthroughs that outperform the competition, The Elegant Solution explains what Toyota associates have known all along: it's not about the cars. Rather, Toyota's astounding success is just the visible result of a hidden creative process that begins with a seven-digit number.

One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization implements every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization -- from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how it's done. Now senior University of Toyota advisor Matthew May shows how any company can achieve an environment of everyday innovation and discover the kinds of elegant solutions that hold the power to change the game forever. World-class benchmarks like Lexus, Prius, Scion -- even Toyota's vaunted production system -- are simply shining examples of elegant solutions.

A tactical playbook for team-based innovation, The Elegant Solution delivers powerful lessons in breakthrough thinking in a provocative yet practical guide to the three core principles and ten key practices that shape successful business innovation. Innovation isn't just about technology -- it's about value, opportunity, and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around tapping ingenuity in the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the universal power and applicability of these concepts. A unique "clamshell strategy" prepares managers to successfully lead and sustain the innovation effort.

At once a thought-starter and a taskmaster, The Elegant Solution is a vital prescription for anyone wanting to truly master business innovation.

Customer Reviews:

"Keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.".......2007-05-22

The subtitle of this book ("Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation") is not inaccurate but somewhat misleading. Although, yes, Matthew E. May has much of interest and value to say about the Toyota Production System, his attention is by no means limited to it and to the remarkable organization within which it was developed and within which it continues to flourish. Today, Toyota is one of the ten most profitable companies in the world and worth more than General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda...combined. Obviously there are reasons for such extraordinary success but it would be incorrect to assume that other organizations can achieve the same success once they know what Toyota's "formula for mastering innovation" is.

What about this book's title? According to May, "Elegance isn't about being hoity-toity. It's not about lofty concepts and grand designs. It's not about beauty or grace, or anything to do with aesthetics - ugly is okay. Elegance is about something much more profound. It's about finding the `aha' solution to a problem with the greatest parsimony of effort and expense. Creativity plays a part. Simplicity plays a part. Intelligence plays a part. Add in subtlety, economy, and quality, and you get elegance...Elegant solutions relieve creative tension by solving the problem in finito as it's been defined, in a way that avoids creating other problems that then need to be solved. Elegant solutions render only new possibilities to chase and exploit. Finally, elegant solutions aren't obvious, except, of course, in retrospect."

Elegant solutions include library, paper money, pencil, wallet, wristwatch, icebox, mortgage, Social Security, credit card, cell phone, and auto leasing. These and other elegant solutions, as May correctly points out, "universally change the world's attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and habits." Efforts to formulate elegant solutions are guided and informed by three principles: ingenuity in craft, pursuit of perfection, and fit with society. "They're the raison d'etre at Toyota, and nonnegotiable."

Earlier, I suggested that this book takes a close look at the mindset and the process by which Toyota continues to formulate elegant solutions. In fact, the Toyota organization implements a million ideas a year. May also includes within his narrative dozens of non-Toyota cases that indicate that none of the individual concepts are new, or even unique to Toyota. All organizations that formulate elegant solutions have people at all levels and in all areas of operation who possess both an ability and a determination to collectively and completely master all of the concepts as "a way of life, not a program centered on select teams led by specialists with artificial agendas."

But what about much smaller organizations, especially those with severely limited resources? Decision-makers in those organizations will be delighted (and perhaps surprised) to find that May provides a wealth of material that they can immediately put to use, once they understand the "deeper principles" that he discusses in Part I and the "ten key practices supported by tools and techniques" that he discusses in Part II. Then in Part III, May explains "how to put the practices and tools together well to achieve a [desired] result." He helps his reader to track the course of an exemplary team through a day of searching for the elegant solution.

For me, some of the most interesting and valuable material is provided in Chapter 12, "Make Kaizen Mandatory," as May poses again (as he does in other chapters) a combination of Problem, Cause, and Solution:

Problem: Innovation is hit or miss.
Cause: Creativity is misdirected and mismanaged.
Solution: Embed the kaizen ethic.

After a brief review of the factors that came together to help embed the kaizen ethic in Japanese business ethic during the decade or so following World War Two, he goes on to explain that at companies such as Toyota, the key issue is that they view kaizen in terms of standards that are created by the individuals performing the work, and, that standards are dynamic, and not everything gets standardized. These companies establish a best practice, document the standard, and train accordingly. Then in the next chapter, May shares his thoughts about "the power of lean" thinking and execution that reduce (if not eliminate) inconsistency, overload, and (most important) waste. Here is another combination:

Problem: Too many, too much - of everything.
Cause: Assumption that more is better.
Solution: Start thinking lean.

Once again, when it comes to innovation and designing solutions, the emphasis remains the same: "whatever you do, keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow."

And that is what elegance really is all about.

Easy Reading.......2007-03-25

A must read for learning how to implement and sustain continuous improvement enabking lean to become part of the compny's culture

Interesting but little new insights.......2007-03-14

If you're trying to learn how to develop great products, this is not the book that you need to read. However if you're looking for a relatively entertaining book that has a lot of anecdotes of how Toyota and other world-class product developers have approached product development, this will suit you fine.

Broadly applicable insight into Toyota's innovations.......2007-02-02

Matthew E. May is so enthusiastic that he makes the case for innovation sound a bit too simple, easy and risk-free. He sounds, in other words, like what he is: essentially a committed convert to a specific perspective, an approach that has brought a great deal of genuine value to his life. As a result, we recommend his book to readers who can take it with a grain of salt. With that bit of leveling understood, let's hope he attracts many such readers, because his points about innovation and value creation are salient and important. He cuts through a lot of the overtheorized verbiage that the subject of innovation has generated, and he provides a clear, broadly applicable action plan. Whether your business is building cars, like Toyota - which provides many, but not all of the examples here - selling hats or even writing fiction, you'll find ample good suggestions about how to apply continual improvement to create innovative, elegant solutions.

Helpful, but Incomplete.......2007-01-26

"The Elegant Solution" presents convincing evidence that Toyota has a very effective continuous improvement process (eg. its corporate value exceeds G.M., Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, and Honda combined; Toyota makes at least twice as much money as any other; Toyota implements one million new ideas/year).

"NUMMI" (New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.) provides additional evidence - Toyota took over a problem G.M. facility, rehired most of the original workers, flattened the hierarchy from 14 layers to three (reducing interference from above), reduced job classifications from over 100 to just one (team worker -> greater flexibility), and cut defects from 12% to 1%, cut assembly time in half and improved productivity, and cut absenteeism from 20% to 3%. (One worker described the change as going from G.M.'s "just do your job" to "no one knows the job better than you" with Toyota - in addition, Toyota teaches you how to solve problems."

Additional important insights come with "Pursuit of perfection is 'the work,'" supported by teaching front-line workers where and how to dig for improvement, asking "What's blocking perfection," vs. "What can be improved," "Don't reinvent the wheel" (use standard parts, program routines, etc. - faster, and less error-prone), use "visual control (inventory locations and size parameters marked on the floor), find problems from one's customers, conduct reviews after major projects (eg. Army's "After Action Reviews," and "Morbidity and Mortality" hospital meetings, working to SIMULTANEOUSLY improve quality, productivity, and cycle time (any fool can improve just one - real improvement involves all three), push the limits of a system (eg. reduce inventory, cycle times), "Never try to design something without first gaining at least three years hands-on experience" - Sakichi Toyoda, Founder, "pursue perfection by starting with the ideal and then working backwards to remove anything that stands in the way," and pursuing problem "root causes" by asking "Why?" five times.

However, May does not put it all together - eg. define perfection, nor does he ever delineate the Toyota Production System for manufacturing or how to modify it for non-manufacturing. Readers must do this themselves, primarily via reading and reflecting on Tachii Ohno's "The Toyota Production System." There readers are introduced to the concept of "value-added work" (defined per the customer), learn that inventory, transportation, rejects, over-production, inspection, delay, and scrap or over-production constitute "The Seven Deadly Sins" (my terminology), and how to systematically find problems to improve processes. (Ohno uses the concept of underwater rocks hidden from a ship by high water levels - inventory; lower the water (inventory) and expose the problems. For service processes the same effect is accomplished by focusing on reducing long cycle-times that also serve to hide problems.) Another key aspect (May does references this) is sometimes setting demanding goals (forces innovative thinking, instead of just tinkering with the existing system.

The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market

Average customer rating:

Helpful Book
Key concept, straightforward and short
Foundational Approach to Strategy
This should be a text book
Staying focused on core value proposition

The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market
Michael Treacy , and Fred Wiersema
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

ASIN: 0201407191

Customer Reviews:

Helpful Book.......2007-06-27

Helps provide a clear model for analyzing companies and developing corporate strategies. In many ways, it is a more accessible take on Porter's Competitive Strategy.

Key concept, straightforward and short.......2007-06-24

Treacy and Wiersema make the case that the value of a product or service to a customer can be categorized in terms of efficiency (eg. low cost, on-time delivery), innovation (eg. latest technology or fashion) and/or customer intimacy (eg. customized solutions). They go on to argue that delivering each kind of value requires a different organization and culture, and hence the most successful companies are those whose business strategy is focused on delivering a particular kind of value to the customers that appreciate it the most, while remaining competitive in other areas. The analysis is accompanied by case studies of AT&T Universal Card, Intel and Airborne Express. The core idea of the book is valuable and 200 pages is plenty to explore it in detail.

Foundational Approach to Strategy.......2007-06-03

ALthough this book has been in print for over a decade, it is one I constantly come back to when helping clients organize their thinking about how they can compete.

I have been a Michael Porter fan for decades. However, when he describes competing by being a differentiated producer, it often left folks scratching their heads about what that meant. Treacy and Wiersema defing "customer intimacy" in a way that was effective in helping companies define how they could pursue differentiation. I have found that this particular strategy has applied all the way down to 1 to 1 marketing.

So the definitions and examples for three competitive strategies are clearly articulated, but also frameworks for implementing these strategies are provided as well.

All-in-all, a clear, compelling and implementable framework for competitive strategy.

This should be a text book.......2007-02-28

Best Marketing book I have ever read, I will keep this book forever. This is a must read for anyone in the marketing field. This book provides great examples along with real life examples.

Staying focused on core value proposition.......2007-02-26

The book reemphasizes the importance of product or service leadership, customer intimacy, and operational excellence. Organizations willing to be "anything for a buck" will find they loose touch with their customers quickly as they thinly apply talent and resources to serve everyone averagely.

Unity of purpose is also essential; a successful firm must act together to consistently and successfully compete. The book is good reading for managers and marketing professionals that need to review their business focus and the alignment of tasks, processes and competencies supporting that focus. The book offers materials to be used in team exercises.

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization

Average customer rating:

Innovation-in-depth
Easy suggestions for increasing innovation
Inspiring and fun
Ten Faces for everyone!
Excellent, thought provoking examples!

The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
Thomas Kelley , and Jonathan Littman
Manufacturer: Currency
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385512074
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Book Description

The author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation reveals the strategies IDEO, the world-famous design firm, uses to foster innovative thinking throughout an organization and overcome the naysayers who stifle creativity.

The role of the devil's advocate is nearly universal in business today. It allows individuals to step outside themselves and raise questions and concerns that effectively kill new projects and ideas, while claiming no personal responsibility. Nothing is more potent in stifling innovation.

Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience managing IDEO, Kelley identifies ten roles people can play in an organization to foster innovation and new ideas while offering an effective counter to naysayers. Among these approaches are the Anthropologist—the person who goes into the field to see how customers use and respond to products, to come up with new innovations; the Cross-pollinator who mixes and matches ideas, people, and technology to create new ideas that can drive growth; and the Hurdler, who instantly looks for ways to overcome the limits and challenges to any situation.

Filled with engaging stories of how companies like Kraft, Procter and Gamble, Cargill and Samsung have incorporated IDEO's thinking to transform the customer experience, THE TEN FACES OF INNOVATION is an extraordinary guide to nurturing and sustaining a culture of continuous innovation and renewal.

Customer Reviews:

Innovation-in-depth.......2007-06-07

The Ten Faces of Innovation describes ten complementary personas - personality types or roles that contribute in different ways to creative teams:

Anthropologist - this is perhaps the most literal title, meaning people who have been professionally trained as social anthropologists to observe people and processes and interactions `with a fresh eye'. These are probably the biggest antidote to "But we've always done it like that" thinking.

Experimenter - willing to take a chance, maybe, but also willing to explore alternatives and test concepts through prototyping, trial-and-error and applied science.

Cross-pollinator - like a bee flitting between the private parts of flowers, the cross-pollinator spreads good ideas and techniques between specialisms, breaking down silos and sharing good practice

Hurdler - able to leap tall buildings (well project hurdles anyway) in a single bound. They are adept at finding ways over (or more likely around) around immovable obstacles to reduce the banging-your-head-against-a-wall bruising.

Collaborator - knits people and teams together by finding common interests and objectives. Sometimes described as the spider who weaves the web linking everyone to everyone else.

Director - nothing to do with the title on her business card, the Director provides clarity and direction, a rallying point for the troops yet with the humility to actively listen to input from the team.

Experience architect - with an uncanny knack of putting themselves in the customer's shoes, experience architects can visualize products and services at the point of use, no mean feat when they are barely on the drawing board and even the customers are an unknown quantity.

Set designer - this is a fascinating persona: someone who creates visual spaces and physical representations relating to the job at hand. Not really office architects as such, set designers invent scenarios and contexts. They are also comfortable to break unwritten rules and help people mix fun with work (now there's a thought!).

Caregiver - in the sense of nurses and doctors (no, not the teenage version), caregivers support their colleagues, providing a sympathetic sounding board and gentle encouragement when times are tough, and motivating and inspiring people to give there all at all times.

Storyteller - anyone familiar with The HP Way or the origins of Apple and Microsoft will recognize the value of constantly telling and re-telling inspirational stories as a way of reinforcing corporate culture. It's clear that this is a comfortable personal for author Tom Kelley since both books quite literally tell a story.

The book is peppered with genuine examples, most of which involve the genesis of familiar but once remarkable products that broke the mold in some way - style, design, functionality, whatever. Some of you reading this may have bought Palm V PDAs, for instance, on the strength of their sleek looks and brilliant user interface - the Graffiti stylus script language so close to English that anyone can pick it up with a few minutes' practice. How many of you appreciate the innovative use of glue instead of screws to bond the Palm V's case together, or the flat-pack lithium batteries inside? Like many other examples, the attention to detail and the multiple overlapping layers of innovation go well beyond the obvious external visual cues. This is innovation-in-depth.

Whether you are interested in applying innovation and creativity to work initiatives or life in general, the IDEO books are inspirational, instructional and fun to read - what a combination. Recommended.

Easy suggestions for increasing innovation.......2007-05-04

Welcome to an enjoyable, easy read - which is not to dismiss Tom Kelley's fine ideas. With the aid of Jonathan Littman, Kelley works throughout this book to show how innovation can be much more painless than most people think, and more fun. Kelley makes thinking collaboratively sound like a blast. In the process, he convinces you that your organization should nurture and cherish playing with ideas. Although he admits that his consulting company, IDEO, found itself grinding along on tedious projects at times, and that he has watched people shoot down perfectly good suggestions, his underlying message is one of open possibility. He presents 10 roles you can play during meetings, any one of which would be enough to add considerable value. By showing that these roles are temporary, he sends the message that if you want to stay competitive, you can change, and even must. As he examines everything from product names to rules governing how workers decorate their cubicles, Kelley demonstrates the many opportunities you have to create something new. The cost is often little or nothing; sometimes innovation simply means getting out of your employees' way. We recommend this book to managers who wish to break old patterns and encourage creative thought companywide.

Inspiring and fun.......2007-04-17

If you want to create an environment where innovation is the norm, what do you do? Tom Kelley doesn't have a prescription, but he does have some people he'd like you to meet. This book is about the roles that people in an innovation driven organization take on to create fresh new ideas on a regular basis.

If you're an individual contributor, this is a very helpful book both to understand the people around you and your own specific skills. What's more, although in some ways Kelley is describing personality attributes, he is also describing skill sets and ways of looking at the world that you can decide to cultivate. No one is going to be excellent at all of these roles- but that doesn't mean you can't strive to be well rounded!

As a manager, the main take-away lesson is that there are many different types of creativity that can reinforce each other if put together. The most important part of building a creative organization may come at the hiring stage, where you can most easily create a mix of the different personas. But if you're in a stable organization, as most of us are, you can use the "ten faces" to identify the different styles of creativity in your people, and use that information to form teams and projects to bring out their best.

The book is very heavy on anecdote and example. Every one of the ten personas has several stories that illustrate how such an approach can generate ideas that otherwise wouldn't have been considered. The Anthropologist will put themselves in the place of the average user or consumer, as did a woman who faked a pregnancy to see how she would improve the birthing experience at a major hospital. The Experience Architect will take a commodity service and turn it into a show that customers will enjoy for its distinctiveness, like the ice cream "cooking" at Cold Stone Creamery.

The persona that I found most intriguing, and perhaps also furthest from my own, was the Set Designer. Kelley believes strongly in the power of space to shape the minds of those who inhabit it, and just reading about some of the things that go on at IDEO is enough to make my own cube - which I had thought very nicely decorated - seem drab and uninspired.

"The Ten Faces of Innovation" is not a good book to read if you want to know exactly how to change your company, but it is an excellent resource for spotting the early creative behavior every innovator should want to encourage in their team.

Ten Faces for everyone!.......2007-03-26

Excellent book, I would recommend it to anyone.

Inspiring.

Particularly people working in project based situations.

Rich with experiences from the author.

Many good stories in this book.

Memorable phrase from the Experimenter - "Fear makes failure more likely and experimentation nigh impossible".

We need to have a vocabulary about innovation instead of the typical management or leadership focused books.

Some parts are a little repetitive, but well worth it.

Excellent, thought provoking examples!.......2007-03-19

This book outlines what IDEO believes to be the 10 key types of individuals who help foster innovation. Remember that IDEO's entire purpose for being is to create innovative solutions to business problems. Kelly understands this and uses his real life examples to illustrate a point but expects corporations to take baby steps in comparison. For example, IDEO is very free with their environment, so much so that the team found an antique bombers wing and fixed it to a main wall in their Boston office.

It is an excellent and interesting read and is highly recomended. Just don't expect it to be a step by step guide. It gives you some concepts, poses a number of thought provoking questions and leaves it up to the reader to determine what changes could make the most impact on your company.

Average customer rating:

The Ultimate Step-by-Step Selling Guide
Better than the standard Spin Selling Book
Practice makes perfect.
Nice book, but too easy after reading SPIN Selling
Indispensable part of the salesman's library

The SPIN Selling Fieldbook
Neil Rackham
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0070522359

Book Description

Strategies and tools that guarantee big-ticket sales!

Neil Rackham's national bestseller SPIN Selling revolutionized high-end selling. Now, The SPIN Selling Fieldbook shows you how to actually put into practice the proven tools and techniques outlined in that cutting-edge guide. After a review of the SPIN method of selling, Neil Rackham zeroes in on the critical SPIN® questioning behaviors. He shows you how to apply the tools and techniques to your own selling situation, using practical, skill-building exercises incorporated into each chapter. Addressing the sales of services as well as capital goods, the Fieldbook provides you with a hands-on implementation guide for applying SPIN in a wide range of businesses from localized companies to large multinationals. Real-life case studies of sales forces at leading-edge companies such as Motorola, Johnson & Johnson, and AT&T help you explore additional techniques that go beyond the basics to boost sales with even the toughest customers and clients.

Customer Reviews:

The Ultimate Step-by-Step Selling Guide.......2007-06-25

I speak around the world on lead generation and marketing strategy. Neil did an outstanding job crafting "The SPIN Selling Fieldbook" to give you a roadmap on how to master complex sales strategy.

There is no other resource I can think of where you can "easily perfect" your approach and positioning sales strategy.

Neil gives you step-by-step plan that anyone can follow in their quest to excel at marketing their products or services.

The SPIN Selling Fieldbook gives you valuable "hands on" tools. I recommend the "SPIN Selling Fieldbook."

It is an invaluable resource that any salesperson or sales executive should have in their personal library.

Joe Heller, Trust Cycle Selling

Better than the standard Spin Selling Book.......2007-06-09

This field book is better than the original book was. If you are going to buy just one of the two you should probably just buy the field book. It allows you to apply the ideas very quickly.

Practice makes perfect........2006-11-14

Usually is not enough to read a book to have the knowledge, you need to practice, and that is what this book helps to, giving you ideas on how to put SPIN method into practice.

Nice book, but too easy after reading SPIN Selling.......2006-08-09

I bought this book together with SPIN Selling. I read the Fieldbook after reading SPIN Selling. If you've already read SPIN Selling, this book is not going to tell you much new things.

If you would read the Fieldbook instead of SPIN Selling, then I think the Fieldbook is not thorough enough, at least if you compare it to SPIN Selling.

In general I think the audience of this book is perhaps college students, or clever highschool students, but not really experienced salespeople. Maybe that's also because of the cartoons every now and then which make the book look like it's meant for younger people.

What I expected when I bought both books was that the Fieldbook offerd some transcriptions of salescalls, and an explanation of why certain aspects are wrong and how this could be improved using SPIN Selling. This was not really the case, it was more like a simple summary of SPIN Selling. So not really the Fieldbook I expected.

Anyway, the book is not bad, but I would not recommend to buy both SPIN Selling and the Fieldbook together. Also, if you're a serious and experienced salesperson I would recommend SPIN Selling. If you're new to sales or if you're still in college, I would recommend the Fieldbook.

Indispensable part of the salesman's library.......2006-07-19

This book is a practical guide for implementing the principles learned in the original book about 'Spin selling', however it is not necessary to have read the other book to make good use of this one. I think the SPIN methodology is a most valuable contribution from Mr. Rackham to the field of large sales and this book gives sound help to implement it.

Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, 9/e, (with DDB Needham Data Disk)

Average customer rating:

Consumer Behavior: Building Marketing Strategy, 9/e, (with DDB Needham Data Disk)
Delbert I Hawkins , Roger J Best , Kenneth A Coney , Delbert Hawkins , Roger Best , and Kenneth Coney
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0072865490

Book Description

Consumer Behavior, 9/e, by Hawkins, Best, & Coney offers balanced coverage of consumer behavior including the psychological, social, and managerial implications. The new edition features current and exciting examples that are tied into global and technology consumer behavior issues and trends, a solid foundation in marketing strategy, integrated coverage of ethical/social issues and outlines the consumer decision process. This text is known for its ability to link topics back to marketing decision-making and strategic planning which gives students the foundation to understanding consumer behavior which will make them better consumers and better marketers.

Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale

Average customer rating:

Hope is Not a Strategy
great book!
The best book on the complex sale I've read
Hopeful Strategy
Very good and pratical advice.

Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale
Rick Page
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The New Solution Selling: The Revolutionary Sales Process That is Changing the Way People Sell

ASIN: 0071418717

Book Description

"No longer is being 'a good closer' the basis of sustainable success. Instead intakes the kind of strategic thinking Rick Page outlines inHope Is Not a Strategy."--Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado

Master of the complex sale, Rick Page is the author of the bestselling book, Hope Is Not a Strategy, and one of the most sought-after sales consultants and trainers in the world.

He has taught his breakthrough selling strategies to thousands of people in 150 companies across 50 countries--an amazing platform that has helped his message spread like wildfire. This paperback edition of Page's runaway sales bestseller schools readers in Page's simple, six-step process for making the sale--no matter how complex the deal or how many people are involved in the buying decision.

Integrating the winning selling strategies used by the world's top salespeople, Page shows readers how to:

Identify and sell to a prospect's business "pain"
Qualify a prospect
Build competitive preference
Define a prospect's decision-making process

Customer Reviews:

Hope is Not a Strategy.......2007-05-07

What great insight into the real world of complex decision-making. I now see in such complex sales that the process is to work with the client on the larger issues, not wait until an RFP is done -- because you are then too late. Well worth the time to read.

great book!.......2007-01-28

there r a lot of sales books. but this book deal with B2B and hi-tech sales. very clear, describe the situation well and improve the performance. it's a must to all sales, marketing and marcom managers of hi-tech companies.

The best book on the complex sale I've read.......2007-01-16

This book hits the nail right on the head regarding the complex sale process and what it takes to be successful in a complex selling situation. Like all selling books, it starts a little slow and dwells in obvious theory for the first 4-5 chapters and has a system named with an acronym. But those flaws aside, the last two-thirds of this book has some absolutely great selling concepts. I bought this book for the ten sales reps who report to me, and a lot of the terminology in the book has found its way into our daily vernacular. I firmly believe if you follow the concepts in this book faithfully, success in complex selling is much more likely than using any other selling concepts that I've seen.

Hopeful Strategy.......2006-11-15

Well...at the end of the day there IS a little hope involved, but if you did not work the strategy in this book for your complex sale, hope is all you got. When you are on the complex sale, you have this book and Mahan Khalsa's approach that blend together for a neat toolkit. I've had the opportunity to be part of a presentation from one of the principals at The Complex Sale and saw the tools in this book in action. Happy Selling & Good Luck!

Very good and pratical advice........2006-03-25

The book provides a way to look at the sales process. A more conceptual approach is taken and I found the book very usefull. I took away a few of the points that help me deal with clients, prospects and myself frequently.

I learned more from this book than most of the $200-400 corporate classes thatI have attended over the last few years.

Selling is not about you! It is ALL about the buyer!!

Do yourself a favor, read and study a book referenced in this book, How To Win Friends & Influence People.

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