Book Description
"Clients At The Core is an essential blueprint to helping us all take the next steps. The authors, battle scarred by the evolution of professional firm management and marketing from then to now, have captured the changing needs of the firms in this turbulent new economic era. This is a well-written book that uses plain language to convey practical, well thought-out ideas."
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Patrick J. McKenna, a leading international consultant to professional service firms
"The authors have captured the changing role of professional services marketing and firm management. There is valuable insight [in this] down-to-earth guide to competing successfully in the new environment."
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David Maister, author and consultant
"The book is a masterpiece! Aquila and Marcus have produced the essential guide for managing a professional services firm. They've marshaled their considerable real-life experiences and far-reaching vision into a veritable operating manual for the successful firm."
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Rick Telberg, Editor at Large, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
"At its heart, this book is the running shoe for legal and accounting professionals who want to put the client first. Following the evolution of the industry over the past twenty-five years, this must-have for every professional services firm is the key to leading in the turbulent and highly competitive waters ahead."
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Richard S. Levick, Esq., President, Levick Strategic Communications, LLC coauthor, Stop the Presses: The Litigation PR Desk Reference
"Client selection and retention is one of the critical success factors for a professional services firm, and Aquila and Marcus do a masterful job at educating us on the necessary ingredients of each. The chapters on firm governance and paying for performance are thought provoking and certainly challenging to the conventional wisdom. If you want a better understanding of marketing and leading a professional firm in these turbulent times, this book is essential."
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Ronald J. Baker, author, Professional's Guide to Value Pricing and The Firm of the Future
"Client at the Core is a commonsense approach to keeping your professional services firm relevant in the twenty-first century's client-driven economy. Aquila and Marcus have hit a home run with their insightful analysis and poignant prose."
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Jeffrey S. Pawlow, Managing Shareholder, The Growth Partnership, Inc.
Download Description
"August Aquila and Bruce Marcus reward readers of Client at the Core with an imaginative map for the perilous journey through the twists and turns of marketing and managing today's professional services firm. It is creative and thorough."
-Gerry Riskin, Partner, Edge International
"The authors have captured the changing role of professional services marketing and firm management. There is valuable insight [in this] down-to-earth guide to competing successfully in the new environment."
-David Maister, author and consultant
"The book is a masterpiece! Aquila and Marcus have produced the essential guide for managing a professional services firm. They've marshaled their considerable real-life experiences and far-reaching vision into a veritable operating manual for the successful firm."
-Rick Telberg, Editor at Large, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
"At its heart, this book is the running shoe for legal and accounting professionals who want to put the client first. Following the evolution of the industry over the past twenty-five years, this must-have for every professional services firm is the key to leading in the turbulent and highly competitive waters ahead."
-Richard S. Levick, Esq., President, Levick Strategic Communications, LLC
coauthor, Stop the Presses: The Litigation PR Desk Reference
"Client selection and retention is one of the critical success factors for a professional services firm, and Aquila and Marcus do a masterful job at educating us on the necessary ingredients of each. The chapters on firm governance and paying for performance are thought provoking and certainly challenging to the conventional wisdom. If you want a better understanding of marketing and leading a professional firm in these turbulent times, this book is essential."
-Ronald J. Baker, author, Professional's Guide to Value Pricing and The Firm of the Future
"Client at the Core is a commonsense approach to keeping your professional services firm relevant in the twenty-first century's client-driven economy. Aquila and Marcus have hit a home run with their insightful analysis and poignant prose."
-Jeffrey S. Pawlow, Managing Shareholder, The Growth Partnership, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Marketing 101, 201, & 301 for Professional Services.......2005-08-31
This book should burnish the authors' already high reputations for having cogent, jargon-free, and street-smart things to say about what it's really like to try to market professional services. An unusual blend of (clear and lucidly stated) theory about marketing, and real-world insights into obstacles clients can throw up--not to mention the high barrier of internal resistance that "professionals" instinctively erect when asked to be marketers--this should be your starting point if you're facing the complexities of marketing in this environment.
Think that "marketing is just common sense?" Think again; it's both a discipline and an art. Aquila and Marcus will guide your hand at both.
Gerry Riskin (co-author Herding Cats and Beyond Knowing.......2005-06-12
August Aquila and Bruce Marcus reward readers of Client at the Core with an imaginative map for the perilous journey through the twists and turns of marketing and managing today's professional services firm. It is creative and thorough.
Required reading for my marketing leaders.......2004-09-25
August Aquila and Bruce Marcus have written a clear and comprehensive view of what every accounting or law marketer needs to know about this new, unprecedented professional services environment. Their book not only explains the new environment, but it's also a rich primer of practical "how-to" advice on all the marketing tools available to the professional services marketer. Strategy is fine, but I find that few books get down to the step-by-step implementation tactics involved in winning new business like this book does - that's one of its best points of differentiation. After reading it, I bought copies for every one of my regional, industry, service line and national marketing leaders.
Aquila and Marcus Deliver Practice Advice for Success.......2004-09-07
In "Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firm," (Wiley, 2004) August J. Aquila, based in Minnetonka, Minn., and Bruce W. Marcus, in Easton, Conn., a pair of veteran consultants, combine their considerable experience, skill and insight into a veritable strategic planning operator's manual for today's consulting firm.
From the outset, they acknowledge "the professional world doesn't need another book on how to write a press release or write a brochure or run a seminar."
Instead, they provide a new perspective on the crucial subject of how to keep firms relevant to the needs of the marketplace -- mainly, creating clients and building a marketing culture.
They don't get tied up in ideas like "vision," or "mission."
Instead they talk about the new realities of the 21st Century and professions in turmoil: dot-coms gone bust, a stock market meltdown, and a rash of frauds, defalcations, misuse of corporate funds; and then a reformist reaction, still unfolding, that the authors term "a helter-skelter regulatory rush that was at least as punitive as it was appropriate. It would seem that the regulatory garment was cut to fit all, when all don't wear the same size."
"The time is past when just the presence of the professional was its own comfort factor. It's long been believed that the concept of the professional was so exalted, and so trusting, that people accepted advice unquestioningly. No more. The scandals of 2002 and 2003 seem to have bred a diminished - if unwarranted -- respect for professionals," they say.
"Traditionally, professional services have been a seller's market," according to Aquila and Marcus. But now the tables are turned. "It is now a buyer's market."
For today's professionals, here are six lessons you can take to the bank according to the authors:
1. Clients are more sophisticated. They no longer accept advice without questioning, challenging, demanding more reasoning and detail.
2. Because of the complexity of business today, clients demand that their professionals know more about the client's business and industry than ever before.
3. Professional services always function best when trust is at the heart of the relationship, but the corporate scandals of recent years have eroded that trust. That trust must now be regenerated. And the workings of trust are more important in the new economy than in the old.
4. Once the narrow structures of a profession were sufficient to serve clients. But clients now demand a broader spectrum of capabilities. The more broadly educated and well-rounded professional is the one with the greater advantage in meeting the needs of today's client. Clients demand that accountants know more than the basic skills of accounting.
5. Competition is now a fact of life. Clients know they have a choice.
Clients know the difference between marketing promises and professional services delivery. Today's client demands more real service and solutions -- not just a warm personal relationship.
To Aquila and Marcus, the new paradigm of professional services requires a new demand for partnership with the client and new participatory skills.
As they say: It's a buyers' market. Get used to it.
(...)
Focus on Application.......2004-08-22
"Meaty and rich with texture. The authors understand the application of marketing concepts to the CPA profession at a very deep level, and communicate clearly and concisely."
"Every page was another 'Yes!' when reading about the application of marketing principles to the CPA world. The authors nailed it."
Book Description
Manage sales, service, and marketing processes all together
Find out how to manage customer information to make your business more productive
Whether you're completely new to customer relationship management (CRM) software or you just want the scoop on the newest version, this handy guide will get you going. Discover how to set up CRM 3, navigate and customize the system, use it to work with your accounts and contacts, collect leads, forecast sales, run reports, and much more.
Discover how to
- Develop and manage customer relationships
- Implement a sales process
- Set up security and access rights
- Generate quotes, orders, and invoices
- Manage leads and opportunities
- Create and use product catalogs
Customer Reviews:
Definitely for Beginners.......2007-09-21
This book is not for the IT Professional but is perfect to get a beginner up to speed on CRM quickly. I have used this to successfully train some of my staff when Microsofts training became to confusing.
Excelent for understanding our CRM Users.......2007-04-10
Im a specialist trainer who needed to explain IT tasks about Dynamics CRM 3.0 to my students, so I started purchasing this book "for dummies". This book is an excelent reference because you learn about user's point of view (none technical issues as installation or customization only day to day operations). Learning about Office Outlook allows better undestanding of MS Exchange Server, right?
The book is full of excelents tips and some technical recommendations.
I recommend to read this book before reading another excellent book as is "Working with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0".
Good book with few faults.......2007-01-06
This book is well written and illustrated. The author's style is comfortable and demonstrates a real familiarity with his subject. Especially helpful are the Tips as CRM has a few "gotchas" that can frustrate and mislead the unwary.
Because CRM technology is very flexible, it is difficult to write a definitive book that encompasses all the possibilites; but the authors have probably come as close as possible. Several colleagues have also indicated they liked my copy of this book far better than the "official" documentation.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is venturing into uncharted CRM waters for the first time.
Great for putting under a table leg. Not good for anything else.......2006-12-08
I've been meaning to write this review since I bought the book just after it came out. It is so bad, that it deserves some comments.
In a nutshell, it's a waste of money. It's clearly the first book on the subject that works through the drop down menu choices and tells you what to do.
If you're a beginner in CRM you may find it useful, but if you're expecting much substance try elsewhere. You can click through the program for a few hours and know as much about the product as reading this book.
Not recommended, unless your table needs some support.
Helpful for new Microsoft CRM user.......2006-11-08
This book is really for the new Microsoft CRM user and want to acguire the basic knowledge to use Microsoft CRM 3.0., like myself (with some background of CRM concepts, plus Microsoft Office outlook skills, it'll be so simple.) It is comprehensive and helpful to follow the step-by-step instruction of how to use the microsoft CRM 3.0 that describes in the book.
Book Description
Fill the Empty Suit (or take it off completely!) This is a book of Simple Strategies For Providing Outstanding Service to Advertising Clients.
Account executives, and anyone else who deals with clients, will find themselves flinching, laughing, and committing to memory this sound advice, presented through real-life stories of satisfying success and embarrassing failure along the total spectrum of client service.
Customer Reviews:
Easy read, full of real world examples.......2007-04-23
A lot of these books where each chapter is a career tip or hint are mundane to read and only express the author's opinion on why the theory is applicable for others. This read was quick, easy, and even fun. The author gives anecdotes of things that actually have happened to him throughout his career, and the tone is casual and not overbearing.
Superb business book for anyone .......2006-05-31
This book hits home on so many keys to success in business, it stretches beyond just the agency world and into the essentials of servicing customers (which is what any business is all about right?). It is a fast read supported with loads of examples and stories from the author's decades of experience. To someone not in the agency world, it was great education in a few sittings. To someone who has been in business for a while it is an excellent reminder of some foundations for success. 54 will make you laugh and learn, a rare combination.
It's not just for Suits.......2006-05-21
Here's one of those books that offers information you might never discover -- even after years on the job. So why leave something important, like your career, to chance? Read the book and buy a few copies for your friends in the office. Doesn't matter if you're in account or creative. Robert offers sound advice you'll wish you knew about a few years ago.
THE process for all client service not just Marketing.......2006-05-14
This is the kind of book everyone who is in sales should read and digest. Not only do I believe every word - I have personal experience that validates every word. If you want to sell more (of anything), then improve your client service. When it comes down to it - it's one person selling to another - I don't care which company name is on your business card. This book nails client service.
Do not buy if .........2006-05-04
.. You have tasted client service before. I found this book to be very basic. I have been on client cervicing side before and didn't find anything interesting to note.
I would rather read a book which has all that this book has and much more.
Not a great buy !
Customer Reviews:
Helpful information on legal collections........2005-02-16
I thought this book dealt with legal collections more than anything else. I think it would be helpful to any business owner hoping to jump start their collections or accounts receivable department. It is an easy read and has some helpful information for any business owner or credit professional.
Legal Collections Made Easy.......2003-05-09
This book is a quick read, but if you've done collections before, then you won't find much help in it. The author is well-expereinced in legal collections. That's her expertise. A consumer and corporate small to medium balance collector won't find this book that useful. It gives a lot of legal tips and how to write promissory notes, but for the majority of us who don't have time for this, it doesnt' tell us anything we don't already know. She has a debtor excuse section, but she writes it more in theory than someone who has done it a lot. She also doesn't tell us anything new to use in our repetoire of overcoming, "check is in the mail." I wouldn't rate this a great book, I find Tim Paulsen & The Sher brothers' books better and more practical. I'd rate her book "fair."
Wonderful book!.......2000-05-25
What a tremendous book! Very inspirational and helpful with collections with tips and pointers and such positive energy in what is sometimes a negative field. Highly recommended to anyone in collections in ANY business!
Book Description
* Shows sales people, marketers, and customer service representatives how to harness the power of Salesforce.com to enhance productivity, improve customer relations, and boost sales
* Salesforce.com, which has more than 147,000 subscribers at 9,800 companies worldwide, won InfoWorld's Best Hosted Application award in 2004
* Covers navigating Salesforce.com, managing leads, understanding customers and competitors, keeping track of contacts, creating a sales forecast, managing users, creating service and support e-mails, working with campaigns, using the report wizard, and more
Customer Reviews:
Great help for the new user........2005-09-22
I purchased several copies of the book for my sales team whose technical proficiency was across the board. While all of the material is covered in the online help available from Salesforce.com, several team members felt much more comfortable with a book that they could hold. It is a great help in getting all of the team members to use the same nomenclature which is the first step in any sales "methodology" becoming effective.
Those wishing a deeper dive, should look at the author's other books targeted towards a more advanced and technical audience.
Dumming it down for an admitted dummy.......2005-02-07
As a new user to the CRM program, Salesforce.com, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information presented on the website. My first thought was, "I wish somebody would writed a "Dummy" book for the program. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was being released and ordered my copy immediately. I received my copy shortly and began reading and applying the data presented in the book.
While I will continue to avail myself of the training presented on the Salesforce.com site, the presentation of the data in Salesforce.com for Dummies has given my use of the program a real kick-start.
The writer (Mr. Wong), has written this book for users of the program, not for computer programmers. The data is laid out in concise, easy-to-understand terms which even "sales-types" like myself can understand. Applying the suggestions in the chapter on customization has saved me hours of "hair-pulling" work.
I will continue to reference this book and will make it required reading for all those in my company using Salesforce.com. It makes a great CRM program even better, because we will now be able to use all of the features, rather than a few basic one.
You'd be a dummy not to buy this book!.......2005-02-06
"Salesforce.com for Dummies" is, hands down, the best reference guide for salesforce.com users and administrators alike. Tom Wong has done an excellent job with this book. It is packed with useful tips that will help even the most experienced users and/or administrators get more from Salesforce.com. If you are ready to maximize your investment in Salesforce.com, pick up "Salesforce.com for Dummies." You'd be a dummy not to buy this book!
Best salesforce.com Reference Material Available!!!.......2005-02-06
Tom Wong's book "Salesforce.com For Dummies" provides a fantastic overview of salesforce.com, whether you are an end user or a system administrator. The book clearly outlines the functionality of the product and it includes a great deal of information that will help users leverage the full power of salesforce.com. Salesforce.com users of all experience levels will find relevant information in this book. I have been using salesforce.com for more than three years, and I found several helpful tips that are going to allow me to use salesforce.com more productively in the future.
My company has been using salesforce.com since October 2001, and we use it throughout several functional areas of the company (e.g. Sales, Customer Service, Product Management, Project Management, Executive Management, etc..) I have requested that our Human Resources department make "Salesforce.com For Dummies" available to all current users as an ongoing reference material and to all future users as part of their orientation and training.
I would strongly recommend "Salesforce.com For Dummies" to anyone who uses salesforce.com on a regular basis. In my opinion, this is the best reference material available for salesforce.com.
Drivers, Start Your Engines!!.......2005-02-05
As a salesforce.com system adminstrator, I found this book to be invaluable. As intuitive as the system is, the topics covered are on point to the needs of users, managers and administrators alike. I found that tasks I learned to do in 15 minutes using the online help features included with the salesforce.com tool, can be done and learned in less than 2 minutes following the clear and concise instructions.
Throughout the book are examples of how customers use the tool as well as best practices and are a terrific addition to this handy guide.
With this book, I was not only ready to roll on with salesforce.com, but to accelerate quickly to leverage the tool to my sales team and across the enterprise.
Book Description
Discover how Web services can improve cost-savings and make your organization more competitive. You’ll get summaries of developing standards, current vendor positions (Microsoft, Novell, IBM, Oracle, Sun), and industry examples of Web services solutions and benefits.
Order your copy today!
Customer Reviews:
Good, clear read.......2004-04-13
A good primer, clearly defined concepts and a writing style that cuts thru the jargon right to the point. Others have expounded the overall virtues of the book, I'll only echo the earlier review praising Chapter 2's definitions.
If you are an executive, senior manager, or just an IT professional looking for the "no BS" answer, and need a clear, concise overview of this sometimes complicated subject so you can make informed decisions on utilizing (or recommending) web services in your business, this book is for you.
Executive guide is right........2004-03-06
There is not enough detail here to make this book worth the money. Don't waist your time, there are many other books here that will fill in the details, this is not one of them.
Make Business Sense of Your Web Initiatives.......2003-08-11
Web-based initiatives can be as simple or complex as looking at the night sky. The technology choices from programming languages to servers to networks to security can be overwhelming. Add to the mix the types of Internet-based business systems desired and demanded by customers along with the ability to implement them and you can find a state of confusion and uncertainty.
Eric and Mark do a superb job of helping executives understand how to take realistic steps to solve the technology conundrum and how best to approach Web-based initiatives that will bring the greatest value to achieving business goals. Without such a book, this journey can be daunting.
The thought leadership presented in the book takes the reader from the application of innovative uses of current technologies to the leading edge of future applications and architectures; all compartmentalized into four phases of adoption.
A great dissertation that is ahead of the pack in toning down the hype of Web Services while presenting a realistic view of the tremendous value that can be achieved.
A must read for anyone venturing into Web Services!.......2003-05-21
Given the wide spread industry hype surrounding Web Services, and the appearance that every software vendor has their own definition and perspective on what really constitutes a Web Service, what do you get - A whole heap of confusion!!
In tackling this confusion "Executive's Guide to Web Services," does a great job of explaining what Web Services are, and separating the business realities from the overblown hype. As such this book is recommended reading for anyone who is looking for a foundation upon which to really understand this emerging subject space.
In this book Marks and Werrell discuss:
- What differentiates Web Services from previous IT trends
- The concepts and standards that make Web Services possible
- The rational for using Web Services to increase organizational flexibility and agility
- Current and future business scenarios for reducing costs and increasing revenues
- How and where to begin using Web Services (as well as where not!)
- Predominant software vendors in the Web Services space, and their market positions
Overall the book avoids technical discussions, favoring a business centric perspective, from which strategic and tactical business considerations are examined. If you are looking for a guide on how to code your first Web Services program, this is not the book for you, this topics is left to the numerous implementation books already out there.
In this book you will find a solid Web Services foundation that will arm you with a good perspective on what Web Services are, as well as where and when to use them today. You will also gain the knowledge and understanding necessary to discern Web Services reality from hype - do not underestimate how valuable this knowledge is for early forays into implementation of Web Services!
Great job explaining Web Services.......2003-05-06
"Executive's Guide to Web Services" starts out by providing real world examples of how and where Web services are being used today (e.g. Dunn & Bradstreet, Dell etc). These examples are used as a backdrop from which Web services concepts are introduced. Chapter 2, "Standards, Concepts and Terminology" is without doubt the most readable and comprehensive Web services primer that I've yet to find - it's worth buying the book for this chapter alone!
CONTENT:
Using chapter 2 as a foundation, later chapters further explore what Web services are, and what they can (and can't) do for businesses. Key topics covered include:
o Web Service Adoption - Looks at the hype surrounding Web services and outlines what's really achievable today. Also, details what the authors refer to as the "Web services Adoption Lifecycle," which maps the likely adoption and business usage of Web services over the next 3-5 years.
o Where to Begin - A step by step analysis of how, where, and when to use Web services for your business.
o Strategic/Vertical Market Implications - The medium to long terms strategic implications of Web services adoption.
o Architecting for Competitive Advantage - A conceptual discussion of how Web services can be used to create a more agile and flexible infrastructure, which is more adaptive to the fluidity of today's market dynamics.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall, "Executive's Guide to Web Services" does a great job of explaining what Web services are, where and when to use them, and how they can be used to improve internal and inter-company operating efficiencies. The book covers each topic comprehensively, and does a good job of explaining complex concepts in a plain, easy to understand language.
Whether you are only just beginning to look into Web services, or you want to gain additional insights into how your business should look to use Web services, "Executive's Guide to Web Services" will be a good choice.
Good Choice - Highly Recommended.
Book Description
The Top Gun business model focuses on working with high net worth clientele.
In Top Gun Financial Sales, leading investment advisor D. Scott Kimball suggests that by dropping 80 percent of your clients and never taking on more than 50 clients financial salespeople can substantially increase their profits and production. Using the same principles taught to United States fighter pilots at Top Gun, Kimball created the Top Gun Sales Business Model. It is a model that accentuates the importance of working closely with a few high net worth individuals in lieu of trying to half heartedly serve thousands of smaller clients.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Waste Your Time or Your Money.......2003-11-25
This is a re-hash of the author's previous book. Trust me, if you've been in the business longer than a year, you've heard all of this before. In this case, the revolutionary idea is "having a small number of very affluent clients." Wow! What a novel idea!!! The title of the book should be 'How to Make A Bunch of Money Off Poor Schmucks Trying to Make a Bunch of Money.' A much better book is Duncan MacPherson's 'The Promise of The Future.' http://www.paretosystems.com/index.html is the web address. This guy should be ashamed.
Some Ideas Unrealistic, But Sharpens Your Focus - Good Read.......2003-11-10
I have been in the financial services industry for almost 16 years, and have seen and read just about everything out there. I came upon Kimball's book after reading an excerpt in one of the industry's trade publications. It piqued my interest, so I went for the book.
Going after only those clients who would yield commissions of $250,000.00 per year or better is unrealistic - especially if those are the *only* clients you're seeking. It's fine to go "elephant hunting" (as it is commonly called) while building your client base with (what Kimball would call) "smaller" accounts of $500,000.00 to $5 million in assets. But to cut out 80% of your book when you're feeding a family of three or four or more is not realistic nor is it recommended.
By the same token, I agree 100% with Kimball that it is imperative to elminate clients and prospects who waste your time. Time is your greatest asset in this business, and you cannot afford to lose a single moment to an individual who does not want to either pay you or unconditionally accept your advise for a fee.
While I disagree with Kimball's philosophy regarding account size, shaving your book (I do - although not as drastically as depicted herein), or the number of accounts you should have, many of the ideas he brings forth (while not new) are fantastic when it comes to refining your focus regarding what you need to do day in and day out.
I think the book is worth it simply for the latter. All in all, a good read.
Top Flight Advice.......2003-08-07
This advisor lays out some of the best thinking in the business. Really helps get you focused and think about your business in entirely different way. As you can see from the reviews below, some people just don't get it and never will, which Kimball admits in his book is one of the biggest issues he encounters - the inability of some people to accept responsibility for thier position in life and do something about it. I suggest everyone buy the book who is in the business - if you do 1/2 of what this guy says you need to do every day, you're business can't help but go up. My guess is that we'll encounter the reader from Cleveland at the counter at MacDonalds before the year is out.
Would have given zero stars 00000.......2003-07-28
This book is a bunch of old hash. Has this advisor really done what he has written. If he is talking with only people who can give him $25,000 annually in fees or commissions, wouldn't you think his average account size is $2.5 at 1% ROA. So only 40 accounts to do a million. He stated in am email "When we are in a building mode, we are seeing as many as 40-60 new prospects every month, face to face. That is almost 3 appointments a day. When do you have time to call. I asked him a question via email about a script to use and received the following:..."We call them on the phone, identify ourselves, and ask them if they would have a half hour to meet with us in the next week or so. this makes them usually ask us why. So we tell them." I ask is this advice worth the asking price with a follow-up book on prospecting. I think NOT.
Ideas that Work.......2003-05-01
I have read virtually every book dealing with how to grow as an advisor. This book is at or near the very top.
Many large firms are good at telling advisors WHAT to do but not HOW to do it. Mr. Kimball shares his experience and ideas, that given time will work. Any advisor, like Kimball, that has reinvented his business several times obviously understands how to find the money.
Book Description
Six Sigma is an incredibly powerful tool for trimming the fat from business processes and increasing operating efficiency to a point of near-perfection. But the days of cutting costs to create shareholder value are quickly coming to an end. In order to compete in today's super-hot global economy, companies like yours need radically new tools for connecting more closely with customers, identifying emerging market trends, and seizing opportunities for growth. Enter Customer Value Creation (CVC).
In this breakthrough guide to driving profitable growth, authors Gary Plaster and Jerry Alderman introduce CVC, a revolutionary customer-centered business paradigm that marries Six Sigma tools to the sciences of marketing and strategy.
"Beyond Six Sigma is practical, useful, and readable. The linkage of Six Sigma to customer processes is truly the next phase in achieving a competitive advantage with sustainable results. A must-read for every COO and CMO looking for the formula for profitable growth."
—Robert T. Cancalosi, Chief Learning Officer, GE Healthcare
"An insightful, practical, step-by-step approach to achieving profitable growth through a focus on building customer value."
—R. Craig Breese, President, Maytag International
"Plaster and Alderman have applied real-world principles to create a disciplined approach to growth that will truly become the next Six Sigma. Brilliant!"
—Darrell Graddy, Vice President, Lockheed Martin
"This is a book that speaks management's language. It shows us a straightforward approach to profitable growth by starting outside-in, i.e., with the customer. What a novel concept!"
—James E. Goodwin, former chairman and CEO, United Airlines
"This is one amazing book. Easy to read, easy to digest, and easy to implement. It's loaded with insight, novel ideas, cases, and breakthrough recommendations."
—James A. McClung, former senior vice president and executive officer, FMC Corporation
"This groundbreaking book clearly defines the growth agenda for all companies and provides the tools needed to deliver results! Plaster and Alderman get it!"
—D. Keith Pigues, Vice President, Marketing, CEMEX
"It would take a dozen marketing books to cover the ground that Plaster and Alderman cover with this new book. Building and sustaining growth is today's top priority and the authors hit this mark. Interesting, thought-provoking, and definitely on-target."
—Michael Preston, Professor, Columbia University Business School
Download Description
Six Sigma is an incredibly powerful tool for trimming the fat from business processes and increasing operating efficiency to a point of near-perfection. But the days of cutting costs to create shareholder value are quickly coming to an end. In order to compete in today's super-hot global economy, companies like yours need radically new tools for connecting more closely with customers, identifying emerging market trends, and seizing opportunities for growth. Enter Customer Value Creation (CVC). In this breakthrough guide to driving profitable growth, authors Gary Plaster and Jerry Alderman introduce CVC, a revolutionary customer-centered business paradigm that marries Six Sigma tools to the sciences of marketing and strategy. ""Beyond Six Sigma is practical, useful, and readable. The linkage of Six Sigma to customer processes is truly the next phase in achieving a competitive advantage with sustainable results. A must-read for every COO and CMO looking for the formula for profitable growth."" Robert T. Cancalosi, Chief Learning Officer, GE Healthcare ""An insightful, practical, step-by-step approach to achieving profitable growth through a focus on building customer value."" R. Craig Breese, President, Maytag International
Book Description
* Market-specific to financial services * CD Rom providing KAM analysis software, and access to further support. * Practical tools, both in the text and the CD-ROM Building on the success of Peter Cheverton's generic book, Key Account Management, (now in its third edition), Key Account Management in Financial Services follows a broadly similar structure but is aimed at sales and marketing people in the financial services (FS) sector. Designed for practitioners and managers responsible for implementation, the focus is on "making it happen," using real examples to illustrate tools and models, and to highlight success and failure. The book takes the readers through a developing process of understanding, analysis, planning, implementation, and performance monitoring, matching the development over time of their own plans. It is intended to be used as a "before, during, and after" guide to practical implementation. Targeted narrowly on financial services, the book addresses the changing environment and the new imperatives for KAM -- the rising cost of sales, regulatory bodies, globalization of customers, new customer organizations; the buying process in Financial Services; "Competitor Replacement Strategies," a particular feature of the FS market. Also included are a much expanded section on E-commerce and the Internet, and one on the management of non Key Accounts, vital to the success of any KAM strategy in these markets
Customer Reviews:
A Solid Effort!.......2005-05-25
Editor Peter Cheverton is a guru of KAM, and this book somewhat modifies and tailors his basic KAM approach to fit the needs of the financial services industry. The tailoring is slight, mainly a matter of streamlining the style, although that is welcome. One brief but very useful section discusses the importance of dealing with and through intermediaries. In fact, many financial services vendors work through intermediaries, distributing their products or services through banks, insurance companies, mutual fund companies or others. Cheverton and his co-editors, Tim Hughes, Bryan Foss and Merlin Stone, usefully point out that it is important not to consider the intermediary as the customer. Instead, the vendor should look through the intermediary to the final user and assist the intermediary in developing an offering that suits the needs and preferences of that end user. People who have read Cheverton's "Key Account Management" will learn little new here, but we believe that those who have not - particularly those in the financial services sector - will benefit from this shorter, easier book.
Book Description
In the United States, slightly more than half of 1 percent of all the financial professionals control one-quarter of the country's monetary assets. These mega producers made their own rules for success, says financial services trainer and author Steven Drozdeck, and they now stand at the top of the industry with the wealthiest clients, the largest books (averaging over $1 billion), and the greatest financial gains.
How did they do it? Each individual found his or her own way, emphasizes Drozdeck, typically going it alone, and frequently making unnecessary mistakes. He interviewed these exceptional people and, for the first time, describes the strategies and formulas that propelled them to the top of their field. In The Mega Producers readers will learn:
* How they got started.
* Major transitions in their careers, as well as major roadblocks.
* Types of clients they deal with, and how to acquire such clients.
* Their business structures, investment emphasis, and investment philosophies.
* Their biggest errors and how, in hindsight, they could have avoided them.
* Things they wish they had done differently.
* Advice they offer to those following in their footsteps.
There is a conspicuous void of resources and mentors in the financial services industry, according to Drozdeck. The Mega Producers offers a fresh approach, a synthesized description of what it takes to truly be ""the best of the best"" in the competitive world of financial management and planning. Most important, readers will learn what to do and what to avoid on the road to success.
Customer Reviews:
Other reviewers are correct---a big brochure.......2004-02-23
This book should be a freebie considering all the promotional content. I read about half the book before I threw it aside. There are few ideas, and a lot of promotional stuff about the cheesey marketing people that contributed articls.
Just Bot It.......2004-02-22
I just bot this book from my local bookstore. Then I see Amazon has a 30% discount. What's more, I see there are 4 reviews. Three of the reviews have 1 star while the fourth has 5 stars.
I may be overly skeptical but they way the 5 star was written coupled with the vastly different rating, it certainly sounds like a "related party" tried to come to the rescue. The writing style sounds like the publishers themselves tried the hype.
Off to read the book, hope I am wrong.
Absolutely terrible.......2003-12-20
I can't figure out who this book was written for, other than the marketing companies that contributed the useless content. This was purely written for these cheesy contributors--there are absolutely no ideas in this brochure.
Ideas for Top Producers.......2003-12-18
This book is obviously written for Top Producers who want to learn from the superstars of the industry. Mid-level and new advisors will merely see ideas, but not have the background knowledge and experience to implement them. The "airplane reading" style makes each chapter a quick read. Each chapter, including the various self-assessmets allow you to determine where you are in relation to the best-of-the-best in the financial services industry.
Rather get a cold-call from a stock broker.......2003-12-14
I didn't see the other reviews until after my copy arrived. Having now wasted a weekend reading this book, I have to agree with everyone. The topic sounds great, the book isn't.
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