Rating: 
Summary: Unsubstantiated, street smart'(!) and useless advice
Review: ... Because the guy downplays the role of scientific research in developing arguments and concepts, his arguments are based only on selective circumstantial evidence. Hence, you are not sure whether to take them seriously or not so seriously. But thank goodness they are so rudimentary that you don't have to go through such a questioning process. If you are selling pans and pots door-to-door, you may find some good advice in the book. If you are looking for something more on conceptual and intellectual levels with hard evidence, don't bother. Look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: From the author
Review: A close reader of this book--one who reads the introduction and the acknowledgments--will realize that writing this book was like giving birth for me. But while no good dad would name his favorite child, the father of this book is happy to announce it. This is my favorite; all of me is in here. What Clients Love follows the format of Selling the Invisible--the sections are approximately as long as that book, and 30% shorter than those in Invisible Touch. In doing this, I was heeding my own advice: people today have little time. To communicate at all, you must do it quickly. This meant days in coffee shops, slicing, dicing, and cuttting until all the fat seemed gone. A peril of this--as one reader reminded me---is that some truly critical points are expressed so quickly that the hurried reader might forget to pause and absorb it. And the second peril is that brevity can easily be interpreted as breeziness, and that lighter copy lacks weight. But in balancing those very real risks against the reward, that risk seems worth taking. The vehicle is better suited to my objective of not just informing, but of coaxing, persuading, prodding and pushing. This approach and these words seem best suited to the cause : helping build businesses that make our lives better. That sounds a bit grand, perhaps, but so are the objectives of these extraordinary businesses. They aim for the heavens in one sense, and yet almost at eye-level in another; they aim at our hearts. With this forum for me for these few seconds, I do want to thank the startling number of people who have taken the time to write here and to me, with their words of thanks. A particularly memorable note came from Columbia, South America, from a man named Carlos. His note gushed in his halthing English--you could imagine him reading very, very slowly through Selling the Invisible--and ended with words you never expect in business: "A big hug for you!" Perhaps that means something slightly different in Carlos' native language, but like the many kind words here on Amazon, it made me smile. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Not Useful
Review: After reading 10 pages I quickly learned that this book is useless in helping me and my company develop customer service. In one example, Beckwith insults the reader's intelligence by suggesting that you answer "Swamped!" when someone approaches you and askes how you are if you suspect that they are going to ask you to do a task that you don't want to do. Don't waste your money on this book.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: I actually might give this book 6 stars. I'm surprised by the one criticism: that the author downplays the role of "scientific research," That reviewer her goes on to say the author relies "solely on selected circumstantial evidence." That was not my impression at all so I went back and scanned the book--knowing I'd seen Cialdini, for example, cited in this and one earlier book. The author approvingly cites and relies on dozens of research studies, including Flesch's famous ones on readability, Stanford research on option overload, Nalini Ambady's Harvard research on stereotyping, Bornstein's work on familiarity and liking, Decision Quest's juror research on the perception of experts, Cialdini's on reciprocity--at least twenty when I stopped my mental count. What the author says in fact, and I agree, is that too many people overrely on research, particularly verbally based research, for their decisions, as if they believe that marketing-related research is totally conclusive, particularly if the research results are expressed in numbers and percentages. Beckwith says people must assemble all the available data, and must begin with the idea that, at least in marketing and customer behavior research, research never conclusively shows something. Research only "suggests" a possible conclusion. When Beckwith offers only one piece of anecdotal circumstantial information, he most often supports it with what some might call "scientific research." That's the case with his conclusion about the pivotal role that a person's clarity plays in others' perceptions of that person's expertise. He cites his own surgeon father by way of anecdote, then turns to the Decision Quest studies (which I've heard may've involved over one million subjects.) I don't require "scientific" support in business books, but this and Beckwith's first book often offer it to support his conclusions. (The second offers less, but still has been very helpful to me.) Most important, I've found these books very helpful to me in sales. The week after I read his first book I had the best week of my career. I was so startled by that immediate result that I emailed the authors a thanks. As the book suggests might have happened, he emailed me a nice thanks right back. This books works. Bottom line. And it's great reading.
Rating:
Summary: Review From A Forward Thinker
Review: I don't review anything. I look forward always. But in the case of "What Clients Love" I make an exception. For me, this book would have more aptly been titled, "Past Is Prologue", for more than any other collection of thoughts, I would like this superb work to inform and precede my actions as a business person. Reading this most readable of books happily confirmed much of what I thought to be correct but with data and experience I can only hope to attain. What a gift of insight and thoughtful clarity. This may be the most useful book you ever read as a business person or as a person. Thank you, Sir Harry.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read, but no new revelations..
Review: I enjoyed reading this book, and I also enjoyed reading "Selling the Invisible". However, I don't see anything remarkably different or new in this book vs. the first one. Basically just warmed-over leftovers from his first book. A couple of Beckwith's points I stongly disagree with: 1) "Admit a weakness to a prospective customer" and 2)"Word-of-mouth doesn't work". Give me a break! What's the point in revealing a weakness to a customer? And since when did word-of-mouth didn't work? I have a CPA practice, I don't advertise, therefore most of my customers are via networking & referrals ("word-of-mouth"). Beckwith is wrong about those points! Read his first book - "Selling the Invisible" - and skip the other two.
Rating:
Summary: Puh...leez
Review: Jack Welch?!? What a joke. I hate being taken for a rube. I will reject this POS and I would encourage you to let your network know how the publisher has misused the author's connections.
Rating:
Summary: Read it. Learn it. Share it.
Review: Just when you thought Harry Beckwith might have said all he had to say in his first two books, he drops this on us. It's a gold mine. He has uncovered all these nuggets of common sense and timely wisdom and neatly wrapped them up in an approachable and impactful style. And truthfully, the scope of the book goes beyond what clients love. It really gets to the core of how we often get in our own way and what we can do to change. As I was reading the book I realized how much easier my job would be if my clients understood what Harry so brilliantly points out. So I'll be buying copies for lots of folks. It will help us both. I suggest anyone in advertising or marketing do the same. (Maybe I should approach Harry about going on commission.) Good job, Harry. Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: Great Work!
Review: New to the business world, I've been hesitant in my approaches because I've heard so many different ways to market. I've never been comfortable with one... until now. I particularly enjoyed his treatment of "reasonableness." I want professional, reasonable clients, and relationships and feel I can deal with people my way, the way I want to be treated. You can't beat the format; truly the American style. Short, to-the-point, but enough explanation, where you can comprehend the larger meaning of relationships by validating your own experiences with services. Outstanding, incredible read. If you're a small business, you've got to have this book. Thanks Harry, you're priceless!
Rating:
Summary: Great Work!
Review: New to the business world, I've been hesitant in my approaches because I've heard so many different ways to market. I've never been comfortable with one... until now. I particularly enjoyed his treatment of "reasonableness." I want professional, reasonable clients, and relationships and feel I can deal with people my way, the way I want to be treated. You can't beat the format; truly the American style. Short, to-the-point, but enough explanation, where you can comprehend the larger meaning of relationships by validating your own experiences with services. Outstanding, incredible read. If you're a small business, you've got to have this book. Thanks Harry, you're priceless!
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