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Posted Dec. 25, 2001 8:14 a.m. by katie
Beyond e is written for you sales and marketing folks looking for new ways to use technology to grow your business. Sound familiar? Well, its true that this type of book (e-anything) has flooded the market in recent years, however, Diorio will broaden your horizons by emphasizing fundamental technology changes to help you get more bang for your sales and marketing buck. He believes that after the e-hype, most people are having a tough time understanding how and where to use technology to improve sales and marketing performance, and that it is now difficult for people to think beyond e. Not to say that Diorio ignores the dominant presence of the web, but wants you to remember that there is a whole technological world out there to be used to your companys advantage.
Diorio backs up his counsel with some scary stats. He reports that most large sales forces invested in one version of sales force automation software in the past 10 years, but, less that one-third feel they have gotten significant results from their investment. When the authors company studied 50 of the biggest CRM (customer relationship marketing) projects in 2000, less that 10 percent could demonstrate positive results despite the average investment that exceeded $10 million per company. In fact, three quarters of these companies were still thinking about how to measure the return of these investments. Does your experience mirror these results? Then Beyond e will help. The author is succinct in writing: This book shows how the best companies are using technology to build high-performance revenue growth engines.
The book design/layout is strong. Its preface is extremely thorough, giving you a good idea of what the books premise and pay-out will be. The first half of the preface explains the authors reason for writing the book and why he thinks the book is important, while the second half is devoted to how the chapters are laid out and what he includes in each chapter. Each of the 12 chapters is designed the same way: a page or two describing the main point of the chapter, then a short-term strategy followed by a long-term strategy. The book is laced with real world examples and practical hands on applications, all written in a language understandable to even the most technology-challenged persons. Bottom line? This is a very valuable, very specific book that can help you be a more efficient and effective marketer. And hey, in this new era of possibly dwindling customers, isnt that really what we all strive for?
Posted Dec. 22, 2001 8:18 a.m. by katie
I am not an instant fan of books with clever titles because many times the title is the high point of the book. Not true with this book. Sutton writes with a real flare for his subject, and shows a real investment in creativity. He fills the books with stories of great feats of innovation. Some of these stories weve heard about, but many we havent, involving companies we all know. The first chapter makes clear why weird ideas work, and then the second chapter proves that they do. It is called, What is creativity, anyway? This is a chapter that can be read many times because the examples of innovative successes Sutton uses are great. Let me start with my favorite:
Sutton tells about Marks and Spencers, a leading food store in England, problem buttering bread (really!). They were expanding so rapidly and their prepared sandwiches were selling so well that a huge amount of employee time was taken up buttering the bread. What to do? One of the executives was visiting a bed sheet supplier and saw them using silk-screens to apply the designs on the sheets. He discovered that same technology would be applicable to his bread buttering problem. Now, all of Marks and Spencer sandwiches are buttered by silk-screen. Thinking out of the box. That is Suttons message. Another good one? Back in the early nineties, many companies were developing super mini- computers for business folks to use. These inventions generally failed until Palms Jeff Hawkins realized that his competition was paper, not computers. The rest is history.
The next 12 chapters are on the authors own 11 weird ideas. As you would expect, these are provocative practices, such as: Encourage people to ignore and defy superiors and peers (Weird Idea #4) and Reward success and failure, punish inaction (Weird Idea #6). These ideas were drawn from Suttons research in behavioral psychology to explain how innovation can be fostered. He shows how the best teams and companies use these and other counter-intuitive ideas to crank out new ideas, and he demonstrates that every company can reap sales and profits from this creativity. Then, as I often admire about the most successful books, he includes an application chapter about how to implement these ideas in your organization.
Posted Nov. 24, 2001 8:10 a.m. by katie
I must start this off with the disclaimer that I havent made a habit of reading Entrepreneurial/Small Business books for JCS reviews because I assumed that most of youmy customerswerent really interested in small business books. In my desire to know my clients better, I have been connecting with some of you, and found out that inclusion of this type of book would really be appreciated. That said, I would have reviewed this book anyway, because this author can really write. This is the book that you will want to read when you are mulling over that brilliant idea for a new small business, and either arent convinced its as good an idea as you think it is, or not sure of what your next step is.
Ehrenfeld uses the garden as a metaphor through which he gives the reader real solid business principles. Identify the seed to grow; Nourish and feed the plant as it grows; Identify how to move from tending the plant to becoming a gardener, and more. He provides a step-by-step analysis of the business, and the financial, managerial, and marketing skills needed to make a dream business a reality. By including case studies, Ehrenfeld will make you confident that you too can be a successful small business owner. Also, at the end of each chapter, Ehrenfeld puts a huge amount of incredibly valuable information right at your fingertips. He not only has a takeaway section, he has quotes by successful business people, along with a Resources section that is the best I have seen. In this Resources section, not only does Ehrenfeld list books that add depth to his own chapter information, he gives a spot-on paragraph review of each book.
What really appealed to me about the book are the case studies, anecdotes, and especially his breezy, fun-to-read writing style. However, the real staying power of this book is in its resources and its ability to help you through all facets of owning and growing a small business.
Posted Nov. 23, 2001 8:05 a.m. by katie
When I inaugurated Jack Covert Selects, I wanted to be the filter you could trust to separate the wheat from the chaff in the business book world. One thing that determines whether I will use a book for JCS is my comprehension of the thesis and its supporting argument, as well as my ability to tell you what the author is saying in just a couple hundred words. It was difficult with this book, but I wanted so much to be able to give you a good understanding of what Gary Hoover has to offer us as business people. I have known of Gary Hoover for many years and I am addicted to the website that bears his name, Hoovers Online, so when I got a chance to meet him at a booksellers convention, I was excited. Then, I got the galley of his new book and began reading it immediately. Andhave been reading it for the past two months. Why is it taking so long? Well, I found the book fascinating and just loaded with interesting stories and history, but I would pick up the book, read fifty pages, then have to put it down to give the ideas time to percolate and organize. I just couldnt get a handle on what he was trying to doI finally figured it out today.
Hoover, who at the age of twelve was reading Fortune, is passionate about successful organizations and believes that anyone can think like a CEO, inventor, or entrepreneur, if they train themselves to do it. Through stories and exercises, Hoover teaches how to nourish the traits that are at the heart of many breakthroughs in business and in lifecuriosity, clarity, passion, and panoramic vision. This book is geared for the entrepreneur or the individual who seeks to think bigger, broaderfor business and pleasure. It features "back-of-the-envelope" drawings, anecdotes, mind exercises, and practical advice from an expert. I think the part of the book that I especially enjoyed was the history lessons Hoover offers. He retells important historical events via his own clear and understandable perspective, thus showing how these events can apply today and in the future. Yes, this is the book that needs to be digested slowly. No, this is not fast food. But dont let that deter you. Have a bite.
Posted Nov. 23, 2001 8:02 a.m. by katie
Im always thrilled to discover books other people have missed or have been overlooked. This book qualifies as one of these rewarding discoveries. John Warden participated in the successful strategies of the Desert Storm Air Campaign. In his new book, he transfers these strategies and his experiences to the business world. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book was not filled with all kinds of technical military jargon, but that it was easy to read, aided by graphs and tables throughout.
The core concept of the book is what Warden calls The Prometheus Process. A combination of forethought and fire (or passion), the process acknowledges that all things happen in systems which contain different components that all affect each other. A bit like dominos. However, each system has Centers of Gravity which has the greatest influence on the system. These Centers of Gravity are what make or break the system, so when planning a strategy, the Centers are what you really try to change to achieve your goals. Makes sense.
Keeping the whole system concept in mind, Warden tells us how to create a winning business strategy. The steps are simple and direct and always have the future goal in sight. Warden uses examples from history to illustrate his points, which makes the reading interesting as well as understandable and informative. For example, one of his Cardinal rules is Stay out of the Balkans which is a metaphor for activities and projects that dont help you achieve your Future Picture. He uses the synopsis at the end of each chapter which he calls Chapter Debrief especially well. When you get to a chapter that you arent sure speaks to you and your issues, you can cheat and check out the chapter debrief for the essence of the chapter and go back and study the points in detail or move on to the next chapter.
This book has the potential to become a strategy classic. Warden is an expert in that field. With people like H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell and James Kouzes singing his praises, its a good idea to check into what Warden has to say and find out how you can apply his ideas to better your organization.
