Rating: 
Summary: Beckwith Bombs
Review: Or so he tells us in the intro to his third marketing book.While on a tour for the first book,he did not follow his own advice---it's the small things that save us(he mispronounced the ceo's name at a speech for his company); interjected the negative(talked to a group about his divorce);and not believing in his heart of hearts(where it really counts)his advice that it's all about relationships and emotion.Although in the intro to the book,he follows his own advice that a little humility with a client(or a reader) generates lots of good will.But if you sell services---and Beckwith argues that most of us now do---his latest is for you.The book is divided into a couple of hundred chapters,each just a page or two long.And he hammers home his advice:be specific and concrete in describing what you do;find the transcendent meaning of what you do(for me,I no longer pratice employment law but help clients manage an employment matter before the matter manages them);and make sure that evreything you say,do,wear,creates the expectation that you are reliable,skilled,and trustworthy.The book arms you with both attitude and tactics:drop the idea of a "mission" or that you sell "solutions"---they are so 1990s;try contridictions like Omaha Surfing(or Beckwith Bombs and 5 stars come to think of it);and value your client's time.The book has so much jammed in it that it's like chocolate cake---almost too rich.He wraps up with a valuable appendix of checklists but with even more valuable advice:be passionate about what you do and your clients will be passionate about you.
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps Invisible But Nonethless Real
Review: This "field guide" provides innovative and yet practical and prudent advice on what, in Beckwith's opinion, must be done to attract, reward, and sustain the loyalty of those to whom one sells...whatever that product, service, or idea may be. Consumers now experience an information, indeed a sensory overload of marketing messages which makes differentiation even more difficult now than ever before. Beckwith explains how to penetrate such clutter.After identifying and then analyzing in detail four "Key Trends," he challenges dozens of widely held beliefs about effective marketing which, in his judgment, have been invalidated by those trends. For example: • "Word-of-mouth advertising has become the world's most overrated form of marketing." Why? "Our mobility propels us away from [old networks through which to process word-of-mouth communications] and into new cities where everyone seems to come from somewhere else." • "Cold calls leave people cold." Why? "People feel most comfortable with people they know -- and mistrust ones they've never heard of. You must get known [to them prior to initial contact]." • "It is not what you say; it is what people hear. It is not what you communicate; it's what gets communicated." Why? "You tell your story with words, perhaps, but words are only symbols....Written words, in other words, are just symbols of symbols." • "Clients do not buy solutions." Why? Numerous research studies indicate that "responsiveness to phone calls" and "sincere interest in developing a relationship" ranked higher in importance than "technical skill" -- the ability to devise solutions. According to Beckwith, "It isn't the better solution that clients value. It's the simple act of listening itself. We value it because of how we feel. It makes us feel important." He suggests an abundance of strategies and tactics by which to achieve any organization's desired objectives, given the aforementioned trends which continue to create an especially volatile, increasingly ferocious competitive marketplace. For example, how to cope with "Option and Information Overload" (pages 45-96) and how to accommodate "The [Clients'] Wish to Connect" (pages 195-242). Moreover, in the final section of his book, Beckwith answers the question "Why do some people and businesses thrive?" He includes an especially relevant quotation from David Landes' The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: "In this world, the optimists have it., not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when they are wrong they are positive, and that is the way of achievement, correction, improvement, and success. Educated, eye-open optimism pays." Beckwith urges his reader to build "something that fills you with passion, and then spread its flames into every corner of your business....Triumph, then, belongs to those who believe...[to those who take] the path which runs along the cliff -- that one, the one without any guardrails." By doing so, he assures his reader, she or he will know "the exhilaration of the ride and the pride you feel when you reach the end will inspire you to take that path again and again." Clients love comfort, Beckwith insists, especially in an age when there are so many choices and messages. They crave comfort more than anything else. They will love those who provide it with expertise, clarity, integrity, and sincere interest...but also with passion because it shows "you love what you do." Those who share my high opinion of this book are urged to check out several of the sources listed in Beckwith's annotated "Reading List for Growing a Business" (pages 267-274). To that list I presume to add Stephen Denning's The Springboard, David Maister's Practice What You Preach, and Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT!
Review: This book is great and an easy read. Each lesson is only a page long or so but enough for you get the point and put it into action. I've read this book once already and have started reading it again just to refresh my memory.
Rating:
Summary: Worth ten time the selling price!!!!
Review: This book is short, sweet, to the point, and reads like a daily devotional book. I plan on using at for discussion groups at work to get non-marketers to understand how to make customers happy. The book is written in a clear, concise, but extraordinarily interesting manner than lends itself to discussion and implementation. Each section contains at least one example of each point - and this is stuff you are going to remember. Many books in this market are pure fluff - you can't remember a darn thing they said two hours after you put the book down. Not so with "What Clients Love." Highly recommend for those whose business depends on developing business and keeping customers happy. Whether selling hardcore tangible products or professional services, this book should be on your required reading list. Truly transformational.
Rating: 
Summary: Reset
Review: This book is the "reset" button that needed to to be said. People may argue that this book is common sense but in the decade of unrealistic expectations and unprecedented white collar low's getting back to the basics is very timely. For beginner's this book is a gold mine for superstars, this book is a reminder of all the things that we sometimes forget as success blinds us. Quit judging and start reading. The entertainment value alone will ensure that you are glad that you did.
Rating:
Summary: Send signals, not noise . . .
Review: This great little volume was recommended to my by a client who, on recommendation, said that if I really wanted to know about her philosophy on marketing and building her business, this book would provide the answer. Well, if she indeed does practice what's in this volume, she will have a great company soon.
Beckwith's book is easy to read, full of great ideas and has excellent examples from successful and not so successful companies that we all know. He explains why every thing we do is really a service. Even if we have a product to sell. And we come to see why every service needs to be improved if we are to build great companies. He explores how unusual names get you noticed and remembered. And more importantly for us today, he explains why the market is inexorably moving to the rise of invisibles and intangibles (services not material products).
There are a great number of suggestions that will stick with the alert ready. Suggestions such as; "Edit your message until everyone understands it," or "Cut all the fat. Then ask: Does the muscle that remains have power?" All in all, this has been a very useful and instructive read. While not everything was new, there certainly was a new view of the challenges facing our businesses today.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Read
Review: This is an easy read, but full of great information.
Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Book by Mr. Beckwith.
Review: This is another incredible contribution to the literature on marketing of service-oriented companies. Beckwith provides anecdotal accounts of what marketing techniques work; for instance, he talks about how he has helped to name certain companies that are descriptive, are memorable, and are not full of cliches. His account of Nike's rise to fame through the use of celebrity characters is also an intriguing account of the need for someone we can trust to help share our services. Beckwith's main point is that services are not like products. With services, we have to develop trust and believe in the person. Beckwith provides the techniques--such as providing some slightly negative, but truthful, information about yourself that will help to gather integrity. People like someone who has integrity and is believable. Another very important principle of Beckwith's is that when you are selling a service, you are really building a relationship with your clients. If you appear to be focused on money or work in a truly impersonal basis, the clients will notice. There is a lot of psychology in this book. Almost every page is about "feelings" of one sort or another, which is necessary because people do not follow rigid rules of conduct. Instead, people often make decissions on irrational feelings, which, if one reads Harry Beckwith's book, they will be ready. And they will deliver exceptional services. -- Michael Gordon
Rating:
Summary: Another Excellent Book by Mr. Beckwith.
Review: This is another incredible contribution to the literature on marketing of service-oriented companies. Beckwith provides anecdotal accounts of what marketing techniques work; for instance, he talks about how he has helped to name certain companies that are descriptive, are memorable, and are not full of cliches. His account of Nike's rise to fame through the use of celebrity characters is also an intriguing account of the need for someone we can trust to help share our services. Beckwith's main point is that services are not like products. With services, we have to develop trust and believe in the person. Beckwith provides the techniques--such as providing some slightly negative, but truthful, information about yourself that will help to gather integrity. People like someone who has integrity and is believable. Another very important principle of Beckwith's is that when you are selling a service, you are really building a relationship with your clients. If you appear to be focused on money or work in a truly impersonal basis, the clients will notice. There is a lot of psychology in this book. Almost every page is about "feelings" of one sort or another, which is necessary because people do not follow rigid rules of conduct. Instead, people often make decissions on irrational feelings, which, if one reads Harry Beckwith's book, they will be ready. And they will deliver exceptional services. -- Michael Gordon
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary...
Review: Upon completing my first read of this "simple" book, I found myself not only reviewing the numerous dog-eared pages & notes I took (Notes? Who takes notes in books anymore?), I also found myself turning all the way back to Page 1 to start reading it all over again. I'm sure there are a few nuggets of wisdom that I've missed. There are very few business books worth a second read. This is one of them. If you're an executive at any level in any kind of business (service or otherwise) this book could be extremely helpful both in your current business and in future opportunities. Even job seekers and entrepreneurs would benefit from this book. I'm buying copies of this book for a few of my friends. It's that good. Thank you, Mr. B!
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