Beyond "e": 12 Ways Technology is Transforming Sales & Marketing

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Summary: FINALLY... someone with substance!
Review: Finally a book that doesn't force-feed you candy-coated customer experience stories that are interesting but don't tell us anything we do not already know.

Having read most of the more celebrated sales and marketing books of the last decade, this one actually has some substance behind it. I was thoroughly impressed by the amount of research and experience that stands behind this book. Instead of providing a few nice anecdotal cases about customer-centricity or customer loyalty, this book provides a comprehensive view of how technology is changing sales and marketing practices throughout an organization and across all brands. Most importantly, it provides you with actionable insights into modern sales and marketing best practices.

If you have been as frustrated as I have with the superficiality of recent sales and marketing books, then you should definitely give this one a try.

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Summary: A marketing book of real substance
Review: Having taught a variety of marketing courses at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels, I am always looking for books that present the ways in which new technology (and the Internet in particular) are affecting market relationships. Often these texts are full of exaggerrated "war stories" or can be easily summarized into a few general points. Steve Diorio's book, in contrast, is current, meaty and well substantiated. He not only provides several examples of recent successes and failures but synthesizes this new information into the age old framework of serving the customer and firm by adding value to both. I highly recommend this book to any marketing professional as well as any professor who wishes to bring their marketing strategy or course content into the 21st century.

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Summary: A Must Read
Review: I just finished an advance copy of Beyond E that a colleague passed on to me. This is one of the better sales and marketing strategy books I've read. I highly recommend Beyond E to any executive who is interested in using new technologies and strategies ( sales force automation, CRM, interactive direct marketing, etc.) to create a cutting edge sales and marketing department. The author is clearly in the forefront of thinking on sales and marketing strategy. My one warning--though it's not a complaint--is that this isn't a quick read. The author provides a tremendous amount of detail and thoughtful case studies that take some time to get through.

Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read!
Review: I just finished reading this book and think it is terrific! In my mind, this is a must read for every business executive. The book is insightful and an interesting read. However, more important it is useful! I truely believe that this book will help me run a better business.

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Summary: A Book That Actually Helps
Review: In an ocean of business books, Beyond e stands out as a prize catch. Too often, today's "gurus" write books that trumpet their personal accomplishments conveniently leaving out practical applications to specific business category needs. If we want real solutions, the cost raises from a $25 book to $25,000 per day consultation fee. Steve Diorio gives it all away in his book. Beyond e can also be called beyond best practices. He is the one guru I would invite to help my organization apply new technologies to our sales and marketing efforts. Read the book, pick up the phone and give him a call.

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Summary: Beyond E is a home run
Review: Steve Diorio has given form to and captured the elusive ingredients that so many of us have missed as we have poured money and effort into our internet sales strategies only to be rewarded with an empty feeling and an ache to know where we have gone wrong.

It is clear that his experiences with the best companies in the internet sales universe have given him a perspective that wins the game. He is really generous to share his knowledge in this well written book that gives the interested executive an unbeatable step by step perspective. Steve seems to know more about how to successfully harness the internet than anyone I have read or met.

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Summary: A MUST BUY FOR EXECUTIVES
Review: Steve Diorio has written a meaty and relevant book about selling technologies. In an age when there is so much E hype and fluff that only serves to confuse, we needed a book that was born from practical, everyday consulting and research in the offices of the best companies. The salient ideas about which Mr. Diorio expounds are absolutely critical for growth and profit. They carry with them an imperative that to ignore the protocols of this newest e technology will lead to peril and a fatal falling behind the power curve.

I read the excellent reviews in which professors recommended Beyond E. They were impressive. But, this book was written for executives and senior managers who have the very life of their corporations in the palm of their hands. It is obvious that Mr. Diorio has spent considerable time with his clients and sweat blood with them to achieve the best e-practices in marketing, promotion and selling.

I believe the book is about stretching the IT and Internet sales budgets so that busineses can grow at an accellerated rate. The book Beyond E is truly futuristic because it clearly outlines what the best companies have been doing and what the leaders of tomorrow (the followers of our leaders today) will be doing in late 2002 and in 2003. The blueprint is drawn up, the creation of dynamic selling technologies has been built, but, sadly, few understand it, and even fewer have actually implemented it. Companies like Dell Computer, IBM, Charles Swab, Amazon and e-Bay are only a few of these futuristic leaders that Mr. Diorio writes about. They "get it". How long will it take others? Mr. Diorio lays out in detail what needs to be done right now.

Mr. Diorio is like a drum major for executives to immediately order "the engineering of sustainable technology innovations into the sales and marketing process", to quote Stve Diorio. The traditional software analysts and programmers in companies are not prepared for the accelerated rate at which customer service and marketing creativity must be coded to stay abreast of changing customer needs and wants.

It is about knowing the mind of the customer and changing systems at every level of the company so there can be real-time change. I got a distinct sense of urgency in reading the book. As a management consultant, I now feel driven to alert my clients that "getting it" is urgently critical. Steve Diorio virtually screams out at us that positive results can be realized only from the implementation right now of dynamic marketing, selling and customer service e-systems.

Mr. Diorio understands how important all of these ideas are in order to create cutting edge business models and viable ways to turn IT chaos into order and opportunity. I am glad I read the book. I've recommended it to many of my clients and colleagues.

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Summary: Beyond e...goes beyond the e hype
Review: Steve Diorio, outlines in 12 ways how technology is transforming the way the customer and the company will interact in the future. He has done an outstanding job of making sense out of all the e hype over the last three years and makes clear what works and what fails as e business becomes more of a digital business strategy. I highly recommend his book to any executive that is thinking about building a sustainable business strategy.