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What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business (Hardcover)
by Harry Beckwith
| Category:
Business, Marketing |
| Market price: ¥ 238.00
MSL price:
¥ 198.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Written in no bull, no fluff style, this book is short, easy, and to the point. A valuable addition to a manager’s library. |
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Author: Harry Beckwith
Publisher: Warner Business Books
Pub. in: January, 2003
ISBN: 0446527556
Pages: 256
Measurements: 8.0 x 5.3 x 1.0 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00484
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- MSL Picks -
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 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.
(From quoting Robert Morris, USA)
Target readers:
Managers, Entrepreneurs, Professionals and MBAs.
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Harry Beckwith is the author of the bestselling author of Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing. He is also a frequent guest lecturer for many national corporations, including ABC Inc., BellSouth, Norwest, and Marsh & McLennan Inc., among others. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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From the Publisher:
Today's business tactics demand unique marketing plans that are practical and down-to-earth. Effective marketers know how to be clear, concise, and cut to the close. In What Clients Love, readers will learn how to pinpoint a company's position, define a brand and manage it so that it has full and overwhelming impact, and harness the changes that keep one's clients not only happy, but thrilled and grateful. In What Clients Love, Harry Beckwith reveals the four significant social changes that shape and accomplish what clients really love and need.
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| View all 7 comments |
Michael Gordon (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
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.
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Dave Kinnear (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
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.
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Nishimoto (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
What do Clients want? Clients want comfort. Clients pay for what they love. Stop listening and start looking because action is all that matters; learn what the client prefers through his actions. Comfort comes from having access to an expert, who offers something different and simple and communications the idea with clarity and simplity with a strong respect for the client's time and privacy and anonymity. Experts communicate complex information simply and learn to the information convey in a method which the client can understand; experts are careful what they sell; experts don't use adjectives or adverbs to convey message impact, instead they use proper nouns and qualitative nouns too communicate proof of their ideas (no clich s, no superlative). Experts personalize the information by using "You" or "Your" in the message know client pay more attention to personalized information.
Experts know the first few seconds make a lasting impact; experts master the welcome; experts remember names; client opinions do not change over time, so make sure the first seconds have a desired impact. Experts follow-up with 24 hours and within 5 days of a proposal with a client knowing the attention communicates they care to the client.
Advertising makes the client feel comfortable with the company brand; the best advertising is advertising. Modern day clients are not trusting, too many bad corporate experiences, and are impatient for results, so experts need to learn how to build relationships of trust and work faster; experts know client want to talk with someone they know and trust.
Experts work to publish because publishing builds credibility and increases publicity; experts learn from their writing; expert learn how to effective communicate what they have learned with their clients; experts know the publisher is the staff that helps do the work for publishing; experts know to beware of testimonials because clients no longer pay attention to them; experts do not make anonymous quotes because client think that the message is a trick and set off alarms; experts know the client is not impressed by academic credentials and finds a way to demonstrate their "street smarts" and convince the client they have the common sense skills to deal with the clients concerns and problems; clients evaluate experts, as world class, if they can communicate clearly and avoid confusions by not clouding the issues or confuse the sale with the client. The way to sound like an expert and make the client comfortable with your work is too hire an expert. So get access to an expert, learn to communicate simply and clearly, and respect the clients time.
Clients don't want long narratives; clients are browsing for information; experts know to describe what makes them different in 25 words or less; experts respect the clients time - especially in communicating; experts cut the fat in their communications; experts write down appointments; experts work for brevity and understanding in their message until even a person off the street can understand their message; experts use visuals to help convey their message but are not reliant on these visuals. A picture can say a thousand works or convey a desired feeling or image in the minds of the client. An expert paints a picture using words to help the client visualize what the expert has in mind. An expert has a good imagination and relies on visualization to help the client gain a deeper understanding.
Experts know honesty is the best tactic; client appreciate the experts honesty and modesty and will trust a honest person; experts often admit weakness and often disarms a prospect and established common ground to build a good relationship; experts sell themselves, first, then company, then service and product, and finally price; experts always talk price last; experts study the clients short list to look for clues on what the client loves or is interest in; experts know hard sales lose business; experts can tell a good story and know a story may be the best persuasion; experts avoid slides, slides are a huge risk to be throwing at the client and creating a massive turnoff; expects never read a message to a client.
Experts rely on brands to crush their competition; experts are reluctant to leap beyond their brand; experts know that brand gives their client comfort; expert look for an uncommon name to position in the minds of their clients.
Your environment is your client's experience. Your environment changes and complements the client's experience, changes perceptions, and alters your client's mood. Experts know that it not task to perform; it is their task to satisfy. Experts focus on their client's importance and satisfy their client's sense of importance by improving constantly. Experts know if they want loyal clients they must serve the best ones passionately. |
Rolf Dobelli (MSL quote), Switzerland
<2007-01-08 00:00>
This is a pleasant contemporary book on selling and branding in a marketplace where the average consumer is deluged with 3,200 advertising messages a day. In a format that makes for an excellent read while traveling, the book consists of short, colorful 300 to 1,000 word treatments of various topics, such as selling, branding and customer service. At times, author Harry Beckwith's approach seems episodic. It's not always clear what one section has to do with another. However, he nicely avoids business-speak jargon, and spatters the book with accessible pop culture examples, including motion pictures, clever ads and other common points of reference. The book's shortcoming resides more in the area of substance and depth of thinking. Each brief essay ends with a catchy one-sentence aphorism such as: "Comfort clients and you will keep them" or "Edit your message until everyone understands it." The author has invested a great deal of time devising colorful ways to tell you things that, upon further reflection, you probably already know. Yet, we find that the short-bite, snappy presentation makes the book interesting. If you're too busy to keep up on the latest trends in marketing and sales, reading this is an excellent way to make sure you're current. |
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