How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules For Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients by Jeffrey J Fox

How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules For Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients by Jeffrey J Fox

My version of the book is

About the Book:-
* Hardcover: 192 pages
* Publisher: Hyperion (May 17, 2000)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0786865954
* ISBN-13: 978-0786865956

Firnando Chau Review

The content of this book is categorised as follow:-
Acknowledgement
Introduction
I The Rainmaker's Cred
II Always Answer the Question, "Why Should This Customer Do Business With Us?"
III Obey Marketing's First Commandment
IV Customers Don't Care About You
V  Always Precall Plan Every Sales Call
VI Fish Where the Big Fish Are
VII Show Them the Money!
VIII Earthquakes Don't Count
IX Killer Sales Question #1
X Always Take the Best Seat in a Restaurant
XI Don't Drink Coffee on a Sales Call
XII You're Not at Lunch to Eat Lunch
XIII Never Wear a Pen in Your Shirt Pocket
XIV Killer Sales Question #2
XV Rainmakers Turn Customer Objections into Customer Objectives
XVI Always Make a "Mid-Job, Next-Job" Recommendation
XVII Treat Everybody You Meet as a Potential Client
XVIII Heed the Biggest Buy Signal
XIX Killer Sales Question #3
XX Always Return Every Call Every Day
XXI Learn the "Miles Per Gallon" of Selling
XXII Beware the Myth of Time and Territory Management
XXIII Always Taste the Wine Before a Wine Tasting
XXIV Dare to Be Dumb
XXV Always Do an Investment Return Analsyis
XXVI Never Forget: Everybody is Somebody's Somebody
XXVII Always Be on "High Receive"
XXVIII "Onionize"
XXIX If You Don't Care About the Answer, Don't Ask the Question
XXX Never Be in a Meeting
XXXI Present for Show, Close for Dough
XXXII Advice to a Baby-Sitter
XXXIII Killer Sales Question #4
XXXIV Give and Get
XXXV Sell on Friday Afternoons
XXXVI "Break the Ice" at the End of the Sales Call
XXXVII Use the Point System Every Day
XXXVIII A Shot on Goal Is Never a Bad Play
XXXIX Don't Make Cold Calls
XL Show the Chain, Sell the First Link
XLI Don't Talk with Food in Your Mouth
XLII Killer Sales Question #5
XLIII Love Voice Mail
XLIV Park in the Back
XLV Be the Best-Dressed Person You Will Meet Today
XLVI Why Breakfast Meetings Bring Rain
XLVII "Her's My Card..."
XLVIII Killer Sales Question #6
XLIX Ten Things to do Today to Get Business
L How to Recognize a Rainmaker
The Rainmaker Extra: How to Dollarize
A Case Study: Mr. K.
Epilogue

--

Amazon.com Review


About the Book

Filled with smart tips given in the Fox signature style, counter- intuitive, controversial, and practiced, this hard-hitting collection of sales advice shows readers how to woo, pursue, and finally win any customer. In witty, succinct chapters, Fox offers surprising, daring, and totally practical wisdom that will help readers rise above the competition in any company in any field. A terrific resource for CEOs, as well as anyone looking to distinguish themselves in salesbe it books, cars, or real estateHow to Become a Rainmaker offers the opportunity to rise above the competition in any company, in any field.

From Booklist Review

This is an afternoon read, pure and simple. And chances are good that once readers accept Fox's hard-hitting yet commonsense approaches, they'll accept his sales process, which applies, by the way, to selling widgets, promoting intangible services, or selling yourself. Every one of the author's 50 two-page to four-page chapters contains just one nugget of information more than the preceding section, enough to keep the momentum and the attention. A sad story about the hazards of drinking coffee (it spilled--and the prospect was then distracted by a second crisis) is followed by a notice not to eat a major meal during a sales lunch, which is promptly followed by "no pen in the shirt pocket" advice. Fox's seemingly disparate hints and tips, in short, comprise a very logical and memorable way of rainmaking, and a short tome that will show anyone the how-tos. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
 
"the best book on selling I've seen. Period." -- Gerald Sindell, President, Publishing Consulting Services.

About the Author

Jeffrey Fox founded Fox & Company, Inc., a marketing consulting firm, in 1982. Client engagements include marketing strategy, innovation enhancement, selling skills training, branding, and various applications of a proprietary methodology called “dollarization.” Prior to starting Fox & Co. Jeffrey was Vice-President, Marketing and a Corporate Vice President of Loctite Corporation. He was also Director of Marketing for the wine division of The Pillsbury Co., and held various senior level marketing jobs at Heublein, Inc., including Director of New Products. Jeffrey is the winner of "Sales & Marketing Management" magazine’s Outstanding Marketer Award; winner of the American Marketing Association’s Outstanding Marketer in Connecticut; and the National Industrial Distributors award as the Nation’s Best Industrial Marketer. 

He is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study that is rated one of the top 100 case studies and is thought to be the most widely taught marketing case in the world. Jeffrey graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as Trustee of Trinity College, and has won several alumni awards including Person of the Year. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Saint Francis Hospital, one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals. Jeff is the author of How to Become CEO, which was on the NY Times, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Knight-Ridder, Amazon.com, and German best seller lists. The book is published in twenty-five languages and in all the major countries of Western Europe, Asia, and South America. Jeff’s second book, How To Become A Rainmaker was also a BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal best seller, and is being published worldwide. His third book Don’t Send A Resume, published in May of 2001, is a contrarian approach to marketing onese

Igniting the Brand: Strategies that shot brands to success by Jonathan Cahill

Paperback: 192 pagesPublisher: Marshall Cavendish Limited (September 1, 2008)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1904879098ISBN-13: 978-1904879091

Igniting the Brand: Strategies that shot brands to success - Paperback (Sept. 1, 2008) by Jonathan Cahill

Product Description

Based on the Advertising Effectiveness Awards, which is the broadest and most respected awards organization in the advertising world, this book provides the key lessons and inspirations derived from the top marketing campaigns and strategies of the past 25 years. The Advertising Effectiveness Awards requires its winners to demonstrate a clear causal link between the marketing strategy, together with its articulation in advertising, and ultimately success of the product/service in the marketplace. Therefore, there is no other source of such rigor.

About the Author

Jonathan Cahill has many years experience of working in senior positions in some of the world's largest international advertising agencies, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, JWT, and McCann-Erickson.

Bag The Elephant!: How to Win & Keep Big Customers by Steve Kaplan

Bag The Elephant!: How to Win & Keep Big Customers by Steve Kaplan

About the Book:-
Paperback: 188 pages

Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (March 4, 2008)

ISBN-10: 0761145249

ISBN-13: 978-0761145240

Table of Contents:-
Foreword   John E. Pepper - Chairman & CEO (retired), Procter & Gamble
Preface: A Word from Steve Kaplan
Part I. Your Elephant Is Waiting
Chapter 1: The Third Path: Achieving Lasting Growth and Profits
Chapter 2: You've Got to Believe: Elephants Need You, Too
Part II. The Secret Life of the Elephant
Chapter 3: The Big-Company Focus: Learning to Think Like an Elephant
Chapter 4: What to Know About Elephants: Who, How, What, and When
Chapter 5: Embracing the Bureaucracy: Making Their Red Tape Work for You
Part III. Romancing Your Elephant
Chapter 6: Drawing Up Your Hit List: Finding Your Best Big-Company Prospects
Chapter 7: Knocking on Doors: Making That First Solid Contact
Chapter 8: Matching the Prospector to the Prospect: Putting Your Best Face Forward  
Chapter 9: Face-to-Face with Your Prospect: Preparing Yourself and Your Pitch
Chapter 10: Standing Up to Your Elephant: Negotiating from Your Strengths
Chapter 11: Recruiting Great Champions: Courting and Cultivating Your Inside Sales Rep
Part IV. Leveraging Your Elephant's Power
Chapter 12: Keeping Your Champions Cheering: Treating Your Friends Right
Chapter 13: Taking the Inside Track: Building Strong Alliances
Chapter 14: Putting Your Elephant to Work: Other Ways a Big Customer Can Help You
Part V. Five Killer Mistakes
Chapter 15: Mismanaging Client Expectations: He Said, She Said  
Chapter 16: Fumbling Client Crises: Blindsided by Sudden Catastrophe  
Chapter 17: Operational Explosion: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew  
Chapter 18: The Elephant Trap: All Your Eggs in One Basket  
Chapter 19: Losing Sight of the Numbers: Up Cash Creek Without a Paddle  
Afterword: Beyond Bag the Elephant!  
Acknowledgments
About the Author  
About Nellie  
The Difference Maker Inc.
Index  
 --

From getAbstract.com

• How a big client, an “Elephant,” can help your business grow
• How to select and win a big client
• What is required to manage and build a major account
• What “five killer mistakes” to avoid when a high-profile client rules your revenues

One big account, a heavyweight “Elephant,” can generate enough sales volume to make your company a success. Your reputation in the market will soar if you get a huge, well-known customer. But how do you go big-game hunting? Steve Kaplan can tell you, because he has a bank vault full of elephant gold and a business focused on helping others bag similar game. He explains how to identify your target, develop a customer within that corporation and build your business. He also warns you about common mistakes people make once they “bag an Elephant,” including mismanaging their business because they have a cash cow, er, elephant. getAbstract recommends this very good book on sales, with its realistic methods for success, rundown on risk and true-to-life reasons for failure. The text is easy to read, the style is fresh, and if the elephant metaphor loses some punch after a while, the pachyderm illustrations are a good comedic addition.

About the author

Steve Kaplan is CEO and founder of a Chicago company that provides business tools for firms of all sizes.

Firnando Chau Review

I personally enjoy reading the Part V. Five Killer Mistakes!
1) Mismanaging Client Expectations: He Said, She Said   
2) Fumbling Client Crises: Blindsided by Sudden Catastrophe   
3) Operational Explosion: Biting Off More Than You Can Chew   
4) The Elephant Trap: All Your Eggs in One Basket   
5) Losing Sight of the Numbers: Up Cash Creek Without a Paddle   


Chapter 15: Mismanaging Client Expectations: He Said, She Said   


15.1. He Said, She Said

• When an expectation that could not be met, clients would questions if they should give the business to the competing companies!

15.2. How Does It Happen?

• Vast majority of salespersons tended to over-promise during the selling phase!
• Most of the time, however, this comes back to bite them!
• More often or not, the unrealistic expectations that salespeople set are about things the customer did not bring up and does not even care about!!!
• But once the customer has been led to expect a particular outcome, she'll hold the company accountable!

15.3. Fire Prevention


There are seven ways of preventing ourselves from over-promising the clients.  Basically, the goal should be to acquire for the company a reputation of over-delivering - and to get the reputation, we need to under-promise, while still presenting an attractive over to the client!

1. Think before you speak
2. Cut yourself some slack
3. Define Success
4. Stay Hands-on
5. Perfect your processes
6. Communicate promises
7. Pre-Chart Over-deliverables

Chapter 17: Operational Explosion  
17.1. Biting Off More Than You Can Chew 


17.2. Success2 = Failure


17.3. What's Happening


17.4. Mock Elephant Plan


Step 1: Bring the Gang


Step 2: Review Operations


Step 3: Anticipate Problems


Step 4: Communicate


Step 5: Include Costs in Quote


Step 6: Have a Backup Plan

• Ability to identify as many potential minefields as possible and have backup plans for them, can make the difference between an operation disaster and a healthy, growing business.

About the Book

Steve Kaplan's Bag the Elephant, is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Business Week bestseller that has received praise from around the business community:

"Steve Kaplan's elephant strategy is right on the money, as long as you're willing to roll up your sleeves and go to work."—Daniel M. Snyder, Owner, Chairman of the Board, The Washington Redskins.

"Kaplan shows you how to think BIG, act BIG, and win BIG."—Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling.

"A terrific read! From now on, when I think about building business and sales, there's no way I'll ever forget the Elephant."—Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.

Bag the Elephant is all about how smart businesspeople can woo and keep those all-important elephants—the big, make-or-break customers. Like its companion, the New York Times bestseller Be the Elephant, it is filled with dynamic advice and real-life examples, delivered in an energetic, straight-shooting fashion that gets right to the core of its powerful idea—how to land the account that will put you over the top. Here are six keys to achieving the elephant mindset and understanding the big customer. How to map and use a big company's red tape to your advantage. Why the elephant needs you as much as you need it. Preparing yourself and your pitch. How to negotiate with elephants without losing your profit margins. And how to avoid the five killer mistakes, from mismanaging client expectations to losing sight of the numbers.

For small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and sales people, stalking and landing an elephant can be the most profitable adventure of your life, and Kaplan explains everything you need to know.

From the Back Cover

Bag an Elephant—and Begin the Most Profitable Adventure of Your Life

It's the strategy, it's the nuts and bolts, it's everything smart businesspeople need to win and keep those all-important Elephants‚ the big make-or-break customers that can dramatically increase your revenue, profits, and success. Packed with dynamic advice for all sales professionals, small-business owners, entrepreneurs, and executives:

• How to map and use a big company's red tape to your advantage
• Why the Elephant needs you as much as you need it
• Six keys for successful big-customer focus
• How to negotiate with an Elephant without giving away your profit margins
• How to avoid the five killer mistakes, from mismanaging client expectations to losing sight of the numbers

Foreword (From inside of the Book) by John E. Pepper - Chairman & CEO (retired), Procter & Gamble

I found Bag the Elephant! How to Win & Keep BIG Customers to be a very practical and accessible presentation of how to successfully develop a long-term relationship with big clients.  This book will help prepare you -and those on your team- for long-term success.  It tells you how to understand the culture and the organizational structure as well as other things you need to know about your major clients.  It provides ideas and techniques for developing your prospect list, making winning presentations, creating champions inside your client, and negotiating the contract.  It presents a value-oriented approach for building alliances, serving the clients' needs, and dealing with crises.  Not least, it helps you avoid mistakes that can derail you.

This is not one of those how-to books that tries to teach some mechanical formula or addresses issues from 40,000 feet.  Rather it addresses a range of important strategic success factors with substance and straightforward language.  What makes this book especially valuable is its reliance on personal and relevant stories growing from Steve Kaplan's personal experience and their presentation in a highly conversational style.

Procter & Gamble benefited significantly from Steve's experience, his ideas, and his creativity. He and his company (SCA) provided services to a large number of our brands operating across several of our divisions.  During the seven years that Steve worked with P&G, he contributed insights into both our processes and our programs.  He contributed to productive change within our market research, marketing operations, productions, and purchasing areas.  He also supported several new product introductions with his ideas and techniques.

If you gain close to the benefits that we at P&G did from the experiences and concepts which Steve communicates in his new book, you will find this a very worthwhile read.

John E. Pepper joined Procter & Gamble in 1963.   He was elected group vice president in 1980, joined the board of directors in 1984, was named president of P&G in 1986, then served as CEO and chairman (1995-1999) and as chairman of the board (2000-2002).  He has served on the boards of Xerox; Motorola, Boston Scientific Corporation, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, as co-chair of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and as chairman of the United States Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations.  He is now vice president for finance and administration of Yale University.

Be the Elephant: Build a Bigger, Better Business by Steve Kaplan

From getAbstract.com

• Why you want to make your small business larger
• How to use sales in product development
• How to establish a great value proposition

Steve Kaplan communicates his vast business-development experience in focused, easily understandable prose. His writing is punchy and filled with illustrative vignettes to illustrate his points in an easy, entertaining way. While you must have frontline experience to build your organization, the basics Kaplan provides are a sound, necessary complement. He explains these core principles compactly and keeps the technical aspects fairly light. This sales and business growth manual is not directed to the sophisticated strategist, but to the bullet-point level entrepreneur who wants the how-to-expand formula without a lot of if-this-then-that discussion. getAbstract can report from experience that informative reading on nurturing your business that is also this entertaining and accessible is hard to find.

About the author

Steve Kaplan, a consultant and the author of the bestseller Bag the Elephant, works on helping businesses grow and improve.

Sales Stories to Sell By: 95 True Accounts of Success You Can Use to Close More Deals by Gerhard Gschwandtner

Sales Stories to Sell By: 95 True Accounts of Success You Can Use to Close More Deals by Gerhard Gschwandtner



About the Book:-
Hardcover, 180 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies, Dec 2006
ISBN-13: 9780071475853
ISBN: 0071475850


Firnando Chau Review


Table of Contents:-




Synopsis (2006)


95 real-life sales stories that will boost your creativity-and success
Need some inspired ideas for reaching an elusive prospect, handling an objection, or sealing that next big deal? Great sales careers run on creative, on-the-spot selling solutions, and Gerhard Gschwandtner has collected 95 real-life sales stories from the readers of Selling Power magazine. Every one of these stories gives you valuable real world ideas for dealing with the tough situations most sales pros encounter. Sales Stories to Sell By delivers essential tools to boost success, including:
Unique sales challenges, solutions, and nuggets of proven sales wisdom you can apply to your own selling situation
Coverage of essential sales topics, from creative presentation ideas to closing
Tips and strategies from 20 top sales pros, including Jeffrey Gitomer, Bill Cates, Marjorie Brody, and Jim Cathcart
Action steps and techniques to help you build critical skills and turn every sales opportunity to your advantage


About the Author


Gerhard Gschwandtner has more than three decades of international sales and marketing experience. He is the founder and publisher of Selling Power, the world's leading sales magazine. For more books in the Selling Power Success library and information on the magazine, visit SellingPower.com.

Achieve Sales Excellence: The 7 Customer Rules for Becoming the New Sales Professional by Howard Stevens & Theodore B. Kinni

About the Book:-
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Platinum Press (November 29, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593376510
ISBN-13: 978-1593376512


Firnando Chau Review


About the Book:


Every organization wants to go from good to great. Yet, despite knowing where they want to go, many companies can't find their way there. They struggle to find the one thing that matters in today's competitive marketplace. Price? . . . Quality? . . . Innovative product features? While all of these certainly influence a customer's buying decision, none of them is the most influential factor. What is? It's the salesperson. 
Achieve Sales Excellence examines the new paradigm of business-to-business sales. Based on the results of an innovative, fourteen-year study, this book offers unmatched insight on sales performance issues and the practices sales professionals and organizations must embrace to be a world-class sales force.


About the Author


Howard Stevens is the Chairman and CEO of the HR Chally Group-the top sales performance consulting corporation in the country. Mr. Stevens is the author of The Quadrant Solution and is a frequent speaker and expert source on radio and television. His World Class Sales Benchmarks program has been presented over 500 times across 30 countries for corporations, trade associations, government agencies, and universities. He has been a guest on CNN, Bloomberg, National Public Radio and other business based programs. He also presents the World Class Sales Benchmarks annually at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and serves on the Sales Advisory Board for Ohio University.


Theodore Kinni is a former management consultant and accomplished business journalist. He has written over 100 articles and numerous book reviews that have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals including, Harvard Management Update, Selling Power, Quality Digest, and many others.

How Not to Come Second: The Art of Winning Business Pitches by David Kean

How Not to Come Second: The Art of Winning Business Pitches - Hardcover (May 28, 2006) by David Kean

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cyan Communications (May 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904879624
• ISBN-13: 978-1904879626

Product Description

Seven practical and powerful pitch proposal techniques aimed at securing new clients and business make up the core of this indispensable guide to being the most organized, prepared, and best equipped in the competitive realm of new-business proposals. Valuable proposal checklists help ensure that a proposal pitch is complete before presentation and examples of successful pitches and information on what prospective clients look for, as well as common mistakes, are also discussed.

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit by Paula Peters

The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit: Ads That Attract Customers. Brochures That Create Buzz. Websites That Wow. by Paula Peters



About the Book:-
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Adams Media; 2 edition (April 17, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593374976
ISBN-13: 978-1593374976


Firnando Chau Review


About the Book


Marketing can make or break your business. A well-crafted brochure or clever tagline can make you stand out from your competitors. However, you don't need to spend lots of money to have professional looking promotional pieces. The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit is the only resource you need to create small business marketing materials. Coverage includes:
Logos that get attention
Newsletters that generate business
Sound bites that customers remember 
Filled with sample brochures, ads, and press releases, The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit shows you how to promote a new business or remarket an old one.


About the Author


Paula Peters is a full-time writer and entrepreneur with almost a decade of experience writing technical and marketing pieces for a variety of Fortune 500 clients. Ms. Peters also teaches at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, as well as doing professional-level seminars in marketing writing that are attended by hundreds of business owners and executives throughout the Midwest.

The Pocket Guide to Selling Greatness by Gerhard Gschwandtner

The Pocket Guide to Selling Greatness by Gerhard Gschwandtner

Firnando Chau Review



Product Description
Want to boost your sales skills and productivity beyond what you ever thought possible? Would you like to close more deals and build enduring relationships with your most valued customers? Here's your chance to achieve greatness in your own career.

As founder and publisher of Selling Power, Gerhard Gschwandtner is internationally recognized as the leading expert in sales performance. Now, in The Pocket Guide to Selling Greatness, he shares that knowledge-and the wisdom collected from dozens of others at the top of their profession-with sales professionals who are ready to take their careers to a bold new level of productivity and profits.

Find out what top achievers Mary Kay Ash, Roger Staubach, Zig Ziglar, Michael Dell, Donald Trump, and, of course, Gerhard Gschwandtner himself have to say about what it takes to achieve personal and professional excellence, including:

Overcoming rejection
Using role models
Managing your attitude
Generating enthusiasm
Harnessing the power of ideas
Ready to step out of your comfort zone and into the winner's circle? These powerful, inspiring, and action-oriented essays will show you how.

From the Back Cover
Great Sales Secrets That Fit in Your Pocket

Filled with invaluable insight, inspiration, and guidance from leaders at the top of their sales game, The Pocket Guide to Selling Greatness covers every topic vital to your personal and professional development, including how to:

Build a winning attitude for sales success
Plan and manage your achievements
Motivate and reward others
Cash in on failures
Understand what customers expect

The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales by Dan S. Kennedy

About the Book:-
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Adams Media; 3 edition (February 20, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593374992
ISBN-13: 978-1593374990

Firnando Chau Review


About the Book


A powerful sales letter is the ultimate marketing tool for all types of business owners, sales reps, and advertising professionals. However, most sales letters end up getting tossed in the junk mail pile. The Ultimate Sales Letter, 3rd Edition shows you how to write letters that get read, generate leads, and make money. Coverage includes:
The twelve best headline formulas
Strategies for building a customer base
Sales letters for Web sites and online use 
This guide teaches you a step-by-step system for writing sales letters any business can use--designed by the most successful and highly paid professional direct-response copywriter in the country.


About the Author


Dan S. Kennedy is president of Kennedy's Inner Circle, and has been writing sales letters for over twenty for both large and small businesses. He is a popular speaker on marketing and sales issues. His popular newsletter, The No B.S. Marketing Letter, reaches thousands of people in the U.S.

Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition by Jack Trout with Steve Rivkin

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471357642
• ISBN-13: 978-0471357643
• 
  

Amazon.com Review

There are no two ways about it with Jack Trout. Either you've got a product or service that you can say is different, or you don't have much at all. In today's global marketplace and at its lightning-fast rate of change, there's no point in inventing and presenting a product only to sit back and hope that consumers everywhere will discover its greatness. It's not simply about what you or your product can do, it's about what you do differently from everyone else. Coauthors Trout and Steve Rivkin say it all in their no-holds-barred title,Differentiate or Die.A disciple of the marketing guru Rosser Reeves, who introduced the concept of the "unique selling proposition," Trout relays his vision of what can help you differentiate in blunt, tell-it-like-it-is prose. First he breaks the bad news that product quality, advertising creativity, price advantage, and breadth of product line are rarely successful ways to differentiate your business. Consumers expect the best quality, he says; they don't think it's a bonus. In the same vein, your competitor can slash prices just as quickly as you. After dismissing these common marketing techniques as futile, Trout concentrates on which differentiating ideas will set you apart from the pack: Being first (and staying there), owning a discernible attribute, having a heritage, becoming the preference of a particular consumer group, or even being the most recent arrival in a product arena are just some of these useful differentiates. Though the book's fast and quippy narrative style may leave some readers looking for more substance behind his adamant assertions, Trout's recommendations act as inspirational spurts of energy. A slim manual packed with punchy points, Differentiate or Die won't take you long to read but could make a lasting--you guessed it--difference to the success of your business. --S. Ketchum

Product Description

"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand."-David Ogilvy

In today's ultra-competitive world, the average supermarket has 40,000 brand items on its shelves. Car shoppers can wander through the showrooms of over twenty automobile makers. For marketers, differentiating products today is more challenging than at any time in history yet it remains at the heart of successful marketing. More importantly, it remains the key to a company's survival.

In Differentiate or Die, bestselling author Jack Trout doesn't beat around the bush. He takes marketers to task for taking the easy route too often, employing high-tech razzle-dazzle and sleight of hand when they should be working to discover and market their product's uniquely valuable qualities. He examines successful differentiation initiatives from giants like Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, and Wal-Mart to smaller success stories like Streit's Matzoh and Connecticut's tiny Trinity College to determine why some marketers succeed at differentiating themselves while others struggle and fail.

More than just a collection of marketing success stories, however, Differentiate or Die is an in-depth exploration of today's most successful differentiation strategies. It explains what these strategies are, where and when they should be applied, and how they can help you carve out your own image in a crowded marketplace. Marketing executives in all types of organizations, regardless of size, can learn how to achieve product differentiation through strategies including:
* Revisiting the U.S.P.
Rosser Reeves's classic unique selling proposition approach, updated for today's marketplace
* Positioning
Understanding how the mind works in the differentiating process
* Owning an Idea
Techniques to seize a differentiating idea, dramatize it, and make it your own
* Competition
How to use differentiating ideas against your competitors in the marketplace

Consumers today are faced with an explosion of choices. In this environment, distinctive product attributes are quickly copied by competitors, perceived by consumers to be minimal, or both. Still, those who fail to differentiate their product or service in the mind of the consumer won't stand a chance.

Differentiate or Die outlines the many ways you can achieve differentiation. It also warns how difficult it is to achieve differentiation by being creative, cheap, customer oriented, or quality driven things that your competitors can do as well.

Praise for Differentiate or Die

"Another great book by the king of positioning!"-John Schnatter, CEO, Papa John's International

"Differentiate or Die differentiates itself on the groaning marketing bookshelf with its lucid prose, its clear vision of the future marketplace . . . and its sensible solutions for surviving the frenzied competition we're sure to find there."-Dan Rather, CBS News

"What I like about Differentiate or Die is the book's emphasis on the power of logic, simplicity, and clarity-getting to the essence of a problem. In Silicon Valley, attributes like that can make the difference between having lunch and being lunch."-Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

"Trout and Rivkin marvelously illustrate that differentiation is the cornerstone of successful marketing." -Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing,
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

"We've built our business by being first-and executing best. Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin are doing the same, delivering the timely, powerful insights that will drive tomorrow's marketing strategies. A must read for anyone looking to win in an unforgiving competitive marketplace."-Mike Ruettgers, CEO, EMC Corporation

"Dotcom executives must learn the lessons of Differentiate or Die. If they don't, I pity their investors."-Aaron Cohen, CEO, Concrete Media; Co-Founder, Bolt.com

From the Back Cover

"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand."-David Ogilvy

In today's ultra-competitive world, the average supermarket has 40,000 brand items on its shelves. Car shoppers can wander through the showrooms of over twenty automobile makers. For marketers, differentiating products today is more challenging than at any time in history yet it remains at the heart of successful marketing. More importantly, it remains the key to a company's survival.

In Differentiate or Die, bestselling author Jack Trout doesn't beat around the bush. He takes marketers to task for taking the easy route too often, employing high-tech razzle-dazzle and sleight of hand when they should be working to discover and market their product's uniquely valuable qualities. He examines successful differentiation initiatives from giants like Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, and Wal-Mart to smaller success stories like Streit's Matzoh and Connecticut's tiny Trinity College to determine why some marketers succeed at differentiating themselves while others struggle and fail.

More than just a collection of marketing success stories, however, Differentiate or Die is an in-depth exploration of today's most successful differentiation strategies. It explains what these strategies are, where and when they should be applied, and how they can help you carve out your own image in a crowded marketplace. Marketing executives in all types of organizations, regardless of size, can learn how to achieve product differentiation through strategies including:
* Revisiting the U.S.P.
Rosser Reeves's classic unique selling proposition approach, updated for today's marketplace
* Positioning
Understanding how the mind works in the differentiating process
* Owning an Idea
Techniques to seize a differentiating idea, dramatize it, and make it your own
* Competition
How to use differentiating ideas against your competitors in the marketplace

Consumers today are faced with an explosion of choices. In this environment, distinctive product attributes are quickly copied by competitors, perceived by consumers to be minimal, or both. Still, those who fail to differentiate their product or service in the mind of the consumer won't stand a chance.

Differentiate or Die outlines the many ways you can achieve differentiation. It also warns how difficult it is to achieve differentiation by being creative, cheap, customer oriented, or quality driven things that your competitors can do as well.

Praise for Differentiate or Die

"Another great book by the king of positioning!"-John Schnatter, CEO, Papa John's International

"Differentiate or Die differentiates itself on the groaning marketing bookshelf with its lucid prose, its clear vision of the future marketplace . . . and its sensible solutions for surviving the frenzied competition we're sure to find there."-Dan Rather, CBS News

"What I like about Differentiate or Die is the book's emphasis on the power of logic, simplicity, and clarity-getting to the essence of a problem. In Silicon Valley, attributes like that can make the difference between having lunch and being lunch."-Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

"Trout and Rivkin marvelously illustrate that differentiation is the cornerstone of successful marketing." -Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing,
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University

"We've built our business by being first-and executing best. Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin are doing the same, delivering the timely, powerful insights that will drive tomorrow's marketing strategies. A must read for anyone looking to win in an unforgiving competitive marketplace."-Mike Ruettgers, CEO, EMC Corporation

"Dotcom executives must learn the lessons of Differentiate or Die. If they don't, I pity their investors."-Aaron Cohen, CEO, Concrete Media; Co-Founder, Bolt.com

About the Author

JACK TROUT is President of Trout & Partners, one of the most prestigious marketing firms in the United States, with offices in 13 countries and a client list that includes AT&T, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Sears, and other Fortune 500 companies. Recognized as one of the influential gurus of marketing, Trout was the first to popularize the idea of "positioning" products and ideas in the minds of consumers. A sought-after speaker, he is the author of numerous marketing classics including the bestselling Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and 1998's The Power of Simplicity.STEVE RIVKIN is coauthor of The New Positioning and The Power of Simplicity and head of his own communications consulting firm, whose clients include Kraft Foods, Olin Corp., and Horizon Health System. He is based in Glen Rock, New Jersey.

Getting it Right the Second Time by Michael Gershman

Getting it Right the Second Time by Michael Gershman (Paperback - Mar 30, 2005)

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman Publishing Co (January 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201550822
• ISBN-13: 978-0201550825

From Library Journal

Anyone interested in marketing new or old products will gain insight from some, if not all, of Gershman's case-study examples of marketing failures-turned-successes. Almost 50 famous products, including Jello, Post-it Notes, and Timex watches, were abject failures when first introduced, but after "remarketing" they all went on to become very big. It is estimated that 93 out of 100 new food products fail. Does the ingenuity, enthusiasm, and determination of their creators make the difference? Each of the 12 chapters highlights a valuable marketing lesson, such as "Don't Quit," "Don't Price It Wrong," and "Don't Skimp on Promotion." Don't miss these fascinating believe-it-or-not business anecdotes. For public library business collections.
- Susan Awe, Natrona County P.L., Casper, Wy.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Remarketing strategies that have turned failures into success.

Stephan Schiffman's 101 Successful Sales Strategies by Stephan Schiffman

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593373767
• ISBN-13: 978-1593373764

Product Description

You know you can sell, but you’d sell more—faster!—if you could avoid the most common sales mistakes that eat away precious time and commission dollars. With sales guru Stephan Schiffman at your side, you can fine tune your sales strategies, and get results immediately! Stephan Schiffman’s 101 Most Successful Sales Strategies includes crucial advice on:

Building leadership skills

Using E-mail to your advantage

Getting return phone calls

Following the nine principles of cold calling
Chock-full of expert insider advice to put you at the top of the sales game, Stephan Schiffman’s 101 Most Successful Sales Strategies shows you how to beat out your competition and become number one in the field—starting now!

About the Author

Stephan Schiffman, America’s #1 Corporate Sales Trainer, is the author of dozens of bestselling books, including Cold Calling Techniques, (That Really Work), 5th edition; and The 250 Sales Questions to Close the Deal. His clients include Aetna, AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Boise Office Solutions, ChevronTexaco, Cox Communications, EMC, Federal Express, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, The New York Times, Sony, and Waste Management.

The Loyalty Advantage: Essential Steps to Energize Your Company, Your Customers, Your Brand by Dianne M. Durkin

About the Book:-
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: AMACOM (April 22, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0814408176
ISBN-13: 978-0814408179

Firnando Chau Review


Amazon.com Review



Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Though it may not be obvious, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty are directly connected to the passion and energy of an organization's employees. In The Loyalty Advantage, readers will learn how to create a loyalty-driven company and how to direct company culture and leadership to develop widespread employee enthusiasm. The book demonstrates how in-house dedication to employees translates naturally into superior customer service, which then creates brand loyalty.
Filled with practical tips and proven strategies, the book shows readers how to: 
* create an environment that inspires passion for the brand and company loyalty 
* encourage employees to help craft and become invested in the company's vision and values 
* translate organizational values into superior products, customer service, and corporate profits


Using proven methods, The Loyalty Advantage shows how to create allegiance and translate it into bottom-line results.


Book Description
"Though it may not be obvious, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty are directly connected to the passion and energy of an organization's employees. In The Loyalty Advantage, readers will learn how to create a loyalty-driven company and how to direct company culture and leadership to develop widespread employee enthusiasm. The book demonstrates how in-house dedication to employees translates naturally into superior customer service, which then creates brand loyalty.


Filled with practical tips and proven strategies, the book shows readers how to:
* create an environment that inspires passion for the brand and company loyalty
* encourage employees to help craft and become invested in the company's vision and values
* translate organizational values into superior products, customer service, and corporate profits


Using proven methods, The Loyalty Advantage shows how to create allegiance and translate it into bottom-line results."

Secrets of Closing Sales : Revised and Updated, Seventh Edition by Roy Alexander and Charles B. Roth

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• ISBN-10: 1591840627
• ASIN: B000C4SI94
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches

Product Description

The most famous book on the art of closing sales is fully updated to meet the challenges of today's competitive and changing sales environment with 53 case studies drawn from real life. This new 6th edition features the newest selling methods, the latest products, new salesperson/customer relations, and new case examples. Index. Over 30,000 sold Pub: 9/97. 

About the Author

Roy Alexander heads his own consulting firm in New York City and is particularly noted for his sales and communications consultations in energy- related fields.Charles B. Roth is deceased. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Foreword: how secrets build revenues and profits

Why has Secrets of Closing Sales become required equipment for successful selling? Because it focuses on the close. Without the close there is no advancement and no reward. How soul-destroying to invest hours in prospecting, appointment setting, and customer research only to watch it all evaporate. Thus, constant adding of sophisticated ways to close sales is standard with top salesmen and saleswomen the world over.This seventh edition of Secrets is organized so you can immediately access closing techniques when you need them. Closing Labs make you say: “I’ve got just that problem. I’ll put that secret in practice today!”
In this seventh edition you’ll approach selling as consultative and conversational, empathetic group persuasion, CEO to CEO, unorthodox closing, reverse closing, win-win sign-ups, sweet spot detection, and other ways to penetrate the buyer’s mind and then capitalize on that deeper knowledge of the buyer.
You’ll learn:

• How the decision to buy is first made in the mind of the salesperson.
• When to let others do the closing for you.
• How to craft the correct story for the right prospect.
• When to assume the no-minded customer doesn’t understand and how to rephrase on another track.
• When to use the shock treatment (don’t just stand there).
• How to close when you’ve forgotten your story and need to improvise (think Robin Williams).
• How to make people-savvy closes.
• How to handle “I’ll think it over” and “Gotta check with my man” and “I’ll mull it over.”
• How to use the Echo to block objections.
• How to flow with attitude shifts that lead to sign-ups.

Are you handling a difficult buyer? The Clam, the Chatterbox, the Money-Mad, the Contrarian, the On-the-Fencer, the Doubting Thomas? Make calls with close masters to learn:

• A famous saleswoman’s enduring secret.
• The Poker principle that profits. (H. L. Mencken said, “One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective, it is also vastly more intelligent.”)
• Sometimes audacity works; you can ask for a large order and get it. (In one case a closer failed to do this and almost lost a $4 million transaction!)
Armed with this new edition, you’ll be prepared with consistently tested strategies. In this era, photographing Mars is routine, bioengineering produces spare body parts, and information can be obtained several times faster than the speed of light. Salespeople must think anew and plan in a whole new world.
—Roy Alexander

Preface: push ’em uphill—today and tomorrow

Closing sales is without a doubt the great skill of all time. The process enables you to persuade and influence, and then walk away with the listener’s agreement. That’s why closing sales has been the measuring stick for personal and business success through the ages.
People do not buy products or services, however. They buy benefits from your products and services. This structure has pushed Secrets of Closing Sales into seven editions. Experts in this book are at your service.
Recall the sage who said, “It’s easier to go down a hill, but the rewards come from getting to the top.” In West Cornwall, Connecticut, I live on a historic hill called Push-’Em-Up. The name traces back to the War of 1812. Getting American cannons and ammo up Push-’Em-Up Hill was a job for American infantry. The hills gave Americans the advantage, but they had to push ’em up first. View life as hills to conquer.
No one thought about it at the time, but this hill was also the founder of America’s selling pioneer: the Yankee peddler. The transition from “push ’em up” to pushcart peddlers was a natural. Hardworking eighteenth- and nineteenth-century salesfolk sold everything from pots and pans to Lydia Pinkham’s Compound. Peddlers and their offspring forged a new selling class. These pioneering salesfolk helped civilize the nation by bringing the latest products to small villages and by supporting the growing economy. From pushcart peddlers to present day we’ve come a long way in selling. The pioneers established techniques no less valid in our new millennium, driven by cyberspace and the global marketplace. The age-old techniques remain: finding buyers to sit down with, interviewing them to learn their anxieties and wishes, presenting solutions, overcoming objections, and making sure the service and support are constant.
Today’s new century presents both threats and opportunities. The rate of change is accelerating at dizzying speed. Whether you’re introducing a new product or selling a million- dollar work of art or a home piano, this seventh edition of Secrets of Closing Sales is your step-by-step guide. Hundreds of case histories are included. Closing Labs give you actual conversational vignettes.
The book features quantum changes in society—the global economy, the ever-escalating influence of women, the breathtaking developments in communications from Internet to intranet, website to wireless. Today’s sales closing is more important than ever, but the salesperson must be psychologically prepared, more nimble and flexible.
The pushcart peddler is history. We owe him much. Whether offering the services of a small company or selling global consumer products, Secrets will help close that sale.

—James A. Newman, Vice Chairman, Emeritus Booz Allen, Hamilton