Average customer rating:
- Sales Dawgs------READ THIS BOOK
- A classic and one of the very best
- Highly effective technique in high-touch Sales
- How to Ask the Questions that Lead to Sales Success
- Ultimate Sales Model for Business to Business Selling
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SPIN Selling
Neil Rackham
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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Binding: Hardcover
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The SPIN Selling Fieldbook
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Major Account Sales Strategy
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Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets
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Secrets of Question Based Selling: How the Most Powerful Tool in Business Can Double Your Sales Results
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The New Strategic Selling: The Unique Sales System Proven Successful by the World's Best Companies
ASIN: 0070511136 |
Book Description
The international bestseller that revolutionized high-end selling!
Written by Neil Rackham, former president and founder of Huthwaite corporation, SPIN Selling is essential reading for anyone involved in selling or managing a sales force. Unquestionably the best-documented account of sales success ever collected and the result of the Huthwaite corporation's massive 12-year, $1-million dollar research into effective sales performance, this groundbreaking resource details the revolutionary SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) strategy.
In SPIN Selling, Rackham, who has advised leading companies such as IBM and Honeywell delivers the first book to specifically examine selling high-value product and services. By following the simple, practical, and easy-to-apply techniques of SPIN, readers will be able to dramatically increase their sales volume from major accounts. Rackham answers key questions such as “What makes success in major sales” and “Why do techniques like closing work in small sales but fail in larger ones?”
You will learn why traditional sales methods which were developed for small consumer sales, just won't work for large sales and why conventional selling methods are doomed to fail in major sales. Packed with real-world examples, illuminating graphics, and informative case studies - and backed by hard research data - SPIN Selling is the million-dollar key to understanding and producing record-breaking high-end sales performance.
Customer Reviews:
Sales Dawgs------READ THIS BOOK .......2007-10-13
There are literally 1000's of sales books out there, but this is like no other. Its not so much a 'how to' book, but more like 'The Millionaire Next Door' for sales. Here is what the top producers do, here are the facts, do whatever you want, we don't care. Not fancy closes, secret words to put in your presentation, nothing like that. It truly is like no other sales book and I have listened to the audio version 3 times since I bought it and have picked up something new everytime.
A classic and one of the very best.......2007-09-02
SPIN is a classic, one of the books that revolutionized professional selling. It amazes me to read some of the negative reviews of this book posted here. Some of this I attribute to lack of knowledge of the history of our "profession," which bears few hallmarks of being a profession yet. Can you get a four year college degree in SELLING, the one thing every business must do well to survive, let alone prosper? Except for programs at a small handful of universities around the country, the answer is NO. Do we have peer-reviewed journals in our profession? NO. Do we have accepted standards and professional certification? NO.
What Neil Rackham, a behavioral researcher, did for selling was huge. He applied the techniques of research and analysis to our profession. Until then, no one could say definitively that "always be closing" was bad advice. But in business to business selling, in high-tech selling to educated professionals, the "ABC's of selling" is only one of many pieces of bad information that passed for "wisdom" before Rackham showed them up for what they were. Such sales tactics are the reason salespeople have been saddled with negative stereotypes.
Some reviewers condemn Rackham by saying that companies cited, such as Kodak, IBM, and Xerox have suffered business reversals since this book came out. Sorry folks, but good salespeople using good selling techniques will not, alone, save your company. MANY companies that were at the top of their industries in the 1970s and 1980s are either out of business or have suffered serious reversals in the years since. That is a different issue altogether, and if you are looking for explanations try STRATEGY books like "Good to Great" by Jim Collins or "Strategy" by Michael Porter. Someone on this site said that IBM's loss of computer business to other PC makers was evidence of the failure of SPIN...totally ridiculous. IBM passed on the operating system that became DOS, which in turn became the engine fueling MicroSoft's ascent to the heights. In hardware manufacturing IBM ignored lots of evidence that a paradigm shift was underway and PCs were becoming commodity items.
The negative reviewers are looking for a silver bullet in many cases: SPIN will not transform you into a president's club winner by reading it. It is how you apply and practice it that will enable your success. Becoming expert in the use of this simple framework requires work and thought. What Rackham showed us is that the WORDS we use are important, along with HOW WE USE THEM. We must understand THEIR goals and focus on being part of THEIR success if we are to be successful in a sustainable, long-term partnership. Also that we must not be manipulative or treat other people (aka "customers" or "prospects") in ways we would not want to be treated ourselves. The acronym "SPIN" was coined before Washington politicians gave the word the negatie connotation it now has.
SPIN is not the only good refenence book for salespeople, but it is a landmark book, the result of research that has not, to my knowlege, been replicated since. It should be a held in great esteem by any sales professional. Rackham's concept of an "Advance" as an objective way to measure the progress of a sales call is, alone, worth the price of this book.
By the way, I have been in sales for 30 years, as a salesperson, sales manager, and director of training for a Fortune 500 company. I still have a lot to learn. But one thing I do know: there is tremendous value in this book for any salesperson with an open mind and the desire to continue growing, learning and improving as a sales professional.
Highly effective technique in high-touch Sales.......2007-07-19
This book is a simple guide to improve your effectiveness as a sales professional in high-value direct enterprise sales situations. Regardless of culture and language, people on the other side of the table from a sales person have an instinctive judgment to mis-trust any characteristic that seems contrived or unnatural. Genuineness is a pre-requisite. Therefore, like with any sales theory, rote learning and implementation of the theory is futile. Having said that, internalizing the fundamental premise of this book in my everyday life as a sales-person has been rewarding over the years and across geographies, cultures, languages and types of product/service being sold.
SPIN selling goes well with approaches that talk about Values-Based Selling, Solution Selling and Rackham's own Major Account Sales Strategy.
Huthwaite (Rackham) has done a phenomenal job of monetizing this simple concept by way of selling sales training and books. However, you may find the book too "salesy" at times. It is common idiom with any good speech, presentation or book; first you tell them what you are going to tell them, then you tell them, then you tell them what you told them. The book does a great job of steps 1 and 3, but leaves you wanting more in step 2.
The basic concepts about stages of a sales call, focus on customer needs and benefits, situation-problem-implication-need-payoff line of questioning, objection handling/prevention, sound closing techniques and post-sales are well articulated. The promise of increasing effectiveness in "major sales" is largely fulfilled. However, the emphasis on "it's based on research" goes unsubstantiated for the most part. You find the author insisting that "it's based on research" and providing simplistic graphs "based on research" than actually providing rigorous insights into the research. It also does not help that business theory is presented as a first person narrative. Blurs that fine line between theory-based opinion and opinion-based theory.
All said, the technique is highly effective and serves as a great foundation for approaching sales calls at various stages in the cycle. I've found myself going back to this book multiple times over the years. Always a good sign for books that you want to own rather than just read once.
How to Ask the Questions that Lead to Sales Success.......2007-06-30
The sales guru Zig Ziglar once said "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." To me, that means that you've got to understand people before you can persuade them. If you're to understand someone, they have to talk to you. And the best way to get them to talk is to ask questions. But are there some questions that are more highly correlated with successful selling than others?
Published in 1988 and still one of the best researched sales books on the market, SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham has the answer: Yes, some questions do increase your chances of sales success more than others. More importantly, these client interviews- what SPIN Selling calls the Investigation stage- have the greatest effect on the outcome of the sale. The book outlines the four types of questions that salespeople ask during the Investigation stage:
Situation: What is going on here? How do things work?
Problem (Pain Points): What are the problems you are experiencing?
Implication (Implied Needs): What effect do these problems have on results (cost, quality, delivery, customer service)?
Need-Payoff (Explicit Needs): What improvement in results could you make by resolving these problems with these specific capabilities (perceived value)? Are there other benefits? How important are these benefits to you?
(From page 91) "The SPIN model taps into the psychology of the buying process: buyers' needs move from Implicit to Explicit. The questions provide a roadmap for the seller guiding the call through the steps of need development until Explicit Needs have been reached. The more Explicit Needs you can obtain from buyers, the more likely the call will succeed."
Following the model gets customers to tell you how what you're selling helps them. It makes you partners instead of opponents in the value discovery process. And by helping clients develop the benefits in their own words, you avoid objections and make it easier for clients to sell internally for you.
Ultimate Sales Model for Business to Business Selling.......2007-06-25
I speak around the world on lead generation and SPIN Selling" to give you a roadmap on how to master business to business selling.
There is no other resource I can think of where you can "easily perfect" your selling approach and strategy.
Neil gives you step-by-step plan that anyone can follow in their quest to excel at selling their products or services.
The one caveat is I would adopt the "SPIN" Model to "SPAIN" with the "A" emphasizing "Agitate" to put more focus on what the problem is costing your prospect without your specific solution.
I would also add that the SPIN Field Book is a great resource.
Joe Heller, Trust Cycle Selling
Book Description
nce a customer, always a friend-that is the simple philosophy behind Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the nation-and that is why Jack Mitchell, his family, and associates inspire the enduring loyalty and admiration of his customers, including today's top CEOs. Jack's two stores, Richards in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Mitchells in Westport, Connecticut, suit up discerning customers from across the country. Now for the first time, Jack Mitchell shares the secrets of his family's innovative merchandising and management approach in his book Hug Your Customers. It's a deceptively simple but winning approach to customer service-that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack Mitchells' business philosophy is based on 'hugs'-personal touches such as knowing every customer's name and clothing preferences or handing out free coffee and newspapers on the commuter train platform. Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings winning results.
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HUG YOUR CUSTOMERS is about customer service and how Jack Mitchell has practiced it by extending "hugs" - unexpected extras, from knowing each customers name, along with their family members and clothing preferences, to handing out free coffee and newspapers on the Greenwich commuter train platform to say thanks (and by extension "Shop at Mitchells"). Mitchell looks at sales as being about something other than the product. You're not selling clothing, you're selling the relationship. That's why on Saturdays, many people come to Mitchells just to see what's going on. In the summer, he's giving away hot dogs. Any time a regular customer walks in, the sales staff knows his name, spouse's and kids' names, clothing preferences and last purchase.
Customer Reviews:
Lead Your Business to Improved Customer Loyalty.......2007-10-08
Overall, this is an excellent book for leaders of customer-centric organizations. While the book lacks organization and is heavy on personal examples, it is effective at providing numerous methods to improve customer loyalty. Hug Your Customers is an easy read and most examples can be implemented in almost any business. The positives so far outweighed the negatives mentioned above that I am giving this book five stars.
GROUP HUGS!!.......2007-07-05
This book is an inspiration! Jack Mitchell writes with such enthusiasm it would make anyone want to hug. It is general enough to apply to any type of business and not at all boring.
If companies would aspire to doing even a fraction of the hugging he is writes about, the world would be a happier and healthier place. I will recommend this read for ANYONE in customer service or those who may think service is dead. I plan a trip to Mitchell's, just to check it out. Thanks Jack Mitchell. Service is NOT DEAD.
Great read!.......2007-03-30
A great philosophy for anyone to adopt. I have made it a mandatory read for all senior managers in my company.
Hug Your Customers.......2007-01-10
This book has nuggets that anyone in business should read. As a country where technology has removed the human touch at times, this speaks to the necessity of true customer service and what we as consumers long to feel.
Great book & great insight into true customer service.......2007-01-09
Great book. Transcends the clothing biz to pass on ideas that affect any business that needs to provide great customer service.
Amazon.com
What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In The Innovator's Dilemma, author Clayton M. Christensen shows how these and other products cut into the low end of the marketplace and eventually evolved to displace high-end competitors and their reigning technologies.
At the heart of The Innovator's Dilemma is how a successful company with established products keeps from being pushed aside by newer, cheaper products that will, over time, get better and become a serious threat. Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry, be it hard drives or consumer retailing. Succinct and clearly written, The Innovator's Dilemma is an important book that belongs on every manager's bookshelf. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
In this revolutionary bestseller, Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership -- or worse, disappear completely. And he not only proves what he says, he tells others how to avoid a similar fate.
Focusing on "disruptive technology" -- the Honda Super Cub, Intel's 8088 processor, or the hydraulic excavator, for example -- Christensen shows why most companies miss "the next great wave." Whether in electronics or retailing, a successful company with established products will get pushed aside unless managers know when to abandon traditional business practices. Using the lessons of successes and failures from leading companies, The Innovator's Dilemma presents a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon of disruptive innovation.
Find out:
- When it is right not to listen to customers.
- When to invest in developing lower-performance products that promise lower margins.
- When to pursue small markets at the expense of seemingly
- larger and more lucrative ones.
Sharp, cogent, and provocative, The Innovator's Dilemma is one of the most talked-about books of our time -- and one no savvy manager or entrepreneur should be without.
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Revised, updated, and with a new chapter, this book continues to take the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. It demonstrates why outstanding companies lose their market leadership when confronted with disruptive technology--and it explains how to avoid a similar fate. Drawing on insights from a number of industries--such as the computer and disk drive industries, discount retailing, minimills, pharmaceuticals, and the automobile industry--Christensen shows why good management often turns out to be all wrong--and what to do about it.
Customer Reviews:
No Dilemma Here.......2007-08-18
It is the typical manager's nightmare. A startup with a powerful idea wipes out all the dominance your large ogranisation had. It can happen overnite and without warning.
How do you stop this nightmare from happening? Well, the answer could lie in The Innovator's Dilemma.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers
A disruptive view on innovation.......2007-08-09
Professor Clayton Christensen introduced the term "disruptive innovation" as a management buzzword, the whole book spins around this concept and offers very perturbing views on why being a star performer is a major threat to pass the next opportunity.
First, a definition: disruptive innovations are those that offer "less" in the critical performance parameters of current customers. As a consequence disruptive innovators have to look for different customers than the ones that established companies already have.
To make the point a deep analysis of the hard disk drive industry is made. More than 100 innovations are analysed and only 5 are claimed as being disruptive: the progressive reduction of size from 14", to 8", to 5 1/4", etc. All follow the same pattern: the innovation had lower performance on capacity which was the critical parameter for existing customers and innovators had to find new customers, eg for the 8" drive the mini-computer manufacturers instead of mainframe manufacturers. In fact innovations were so disruptive that almost none of the established companies was able to be successful in the new market. Although current players where by and large able to bring forward the other 100 sustaining inovations without major troubles.
The second part of the book recommends how to make disruptive innovations work, with supporting evidence from examples. This are:
-Create a new organization to deal with the innovation
-Match organization and opportunity size
-Allow the organization to fail rapidly and inexpensively and move on
-Leverage some of the existing resources but not the values and processes of the main organization
-Spend time looking for the right customers rather than the right technology.
The surprising learning is that what impedes that good companies cannot profit from disruptive innovations are that they are good at what they do in their main business not that htey are bad. The hot topic is still when a disruptive innovation is comming how can we spot and capitalise on it, and put ourselves in the dilemma of chosing the best option.
A well laid out, thought provoking and seminal work on innovation.
Repetitive.......2007-06-23
It was a hassle getting through this book, but overall it was worth it. A lot of good lessons learned, but he says the same things over and over again. Read the first and last chapters and you'll be fine.
Business calssic.......2007-06-17
The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen is a must read book for any person interested in keeping their business moving forward or for any person starting a business. Christensen clearly exposes the traps that cause successful companies to stop innovating and succumb to innovative new firms. The material is presented as a series of fascinating case studies with commentary.
just great book.......2007-05-12
Just great book for those considering start their own business.
Would be helpful for bean counters in large corporations too.
Book Description
Learn how to create a relationship-driven, service-focused organization
Customer Reviews:
Monkey Business.......2007-04-10
Recieved the book today and couldn't put it down. I am amazed how the simple rules put forth in this book are not used by modern business.
Kudos to the Authors.
JoAnn Miller, DO (Memphis).......2007-04-05
This fun, little book is packed full of great strategy. I am always searching for ways to better myself, my employees and my practice. Monkey Business has given me new insight and powerful ideas. I want to be like Leader!
A must-read for every business leader.......2007-03-12
Monkey Business is an entertaining,enlightening and practical must-read for anyone wanting to build a better business with loyal and productive employees. Hager, Wight and Tynik have captured the essence of what it takes to be a successful and purposeful leader. This book prompts us to be passionate about our work, appreciate and reward our people and develop systems that make work easier, engaging and more profitable. Monkey Business is a powerful tale that provides both process and inspiration for creating the optimum customer service environment for a business.
Amazon.com
In What Clients Love, marketing maven Harry Beckwith offers valuable lessons about capturing and keeping clients. (As Beckwith puts it, "Competence gets firms into the game that relationships win.") Using snappy examples from Absolut Vodka, Kinko's, Starbucks, and Ian Schrager's boutique hotels, he organizes his advice by describing four significant social trends that shape client needs and loyalty. Beckwith's strategies for coping with information overload focus on getting to the point--using a shorter sell and fewer superlatives. He makes a clever and convincing case for giving both testimonials and blurbs the death penalty. He details the decline of client trust with a plan to eliminate cold calls, dress for success, and a spot-on critique of PowerPoint ("Lincoln had no slides at Gettysburg.") Other chapters explore the limits of the Internet and offer nongimmicky ideas about creating a brand, including 20 questions for choosing a name for your business.
Beckwith's advice is fresh, funny, and strategic. He is a master of anecdote and metaphor whose examples range from television's Sex and the City to nihilistic philosopher Nietzsche. Yet the book's clarity is sometimes undermined by its too clever formatting. It's best to enjoy its wisdom one chapter at a time, over coffee. Consider it the caffeine in your cup. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
In What Clients Love, marketing maven Harry Beckwith offers valuable lessons about capturing and keeping clients. (As Beckwith puts it, "Competence gets firms into the game that relationships win.") Using snappy examples from Absolut Vodka, Kinko's, Starbucks, and Ian Schrager's boutique hotels, he organizes his advice by describing four significant social trends that shape client needs and loyalty. Beckwith's strategies for coping with information overload focus on getting to the point--using a shorter sell and fewer superlatives. He makes a clever and convincing case for giving both testimonials and blurbs the death penalty. He details the decline of client trust with a plan to eliminate cold calls, dress for success, and a spot-on critique of PowerPoint ("Lincoln had no slides at Gettysburg.") Other chapters explore the limits of the Internet and offer nongimmicky ideas about creating a brand, including 20 questions for choosing a name for your business. Beckwith's advice is fresh, funny, and strategic. He is a master of anecdote and metaphor whose examples range from television's Sex and the City to nihilistic philosopher Nietzsche. Yet the book's clarity is sometimes undermined by its too clever formatting. It's best to enjoy its wisdom one chapter at a time, over coffee. Consider it the caffeine in your cup. --Barbara Mackoff
Download Description
In WHAT CLIENTS LOVE, Harry Beckwith once again discusses effective business tactics with the practical, down-to-earth style that has made him a bestselling author and trusted marketing expert.Beckwith explains the sheer simplicity of a marketing plan-how to find your company's position, how to define a brand, and how to manage that brand so it has its full and overwhelming impact. With sections such as "Thinking and Planning," "Communicating," and "Serving the Client," Beckwith shows how effective marketers need to be brief, succinct and "cut to the close." WHAT CLIENTS LOVE also reveals the very nature of a service-and why the phrase "pushing the product" itself begins to suggest why this more aggressive approach fails, since you cannot ""push" a relationship, as people know from their failed attempts to do so in non-business relationships.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful.......2007-06-04
This is the most insightful and analytical book about business I have ever read. You don't need to be an MBA to understand and benefit from the well-thought-out and plainly presented message. Anyone who sells goods or services to the public will benefit greatly from this cogent take on the nuts and bolts behind pleasing clients.
A real joy on multiple levels.......2007-04-26
I first read this book shortly after it was published. I just finished my third reading. Each time it gets better.
The book follows the typical Beckwith format. Short, one or two page lessons. You can jump in anywhere in the book ... read for very short periods of time or read for long pleasurable periods. It is well written and contains some of the most succinct lessons on branding, marketing, selling, client attraction and retention that you will find anywhere.
It is not a book to be read once and put on the shelf. You will gain the most value if you revisit it periodically. The lessons are so short and to the point, there is no way you could retain all the information in one reading. You need repeated exposure to the information in this book.
Some of the more valuable lessons are:
A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. The more there is to hear, the less we listen.
We are drowning in information and screaming for knowledge.
Growing complexity makes us covet the simple.
Say little - a simple point penetrates.
Clarity is expertise.
We are generally more persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than those given to us.
Four rules for choosing clients.
Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, it will be. Bad clients don't produce minimal results, they produce losses. If a prospect is more interested in cost, you will never be happy and always be vulnerable. You cannot cut a bad deal with a good person or a good deal with a bad person.
Throughout the book, Beckwith cites many books that are well worth reading. At the end of the book is a great appendix that in itself is worth the price of the book.
Well worth reading.
Extremely helpful.......2007-01-18
I'm new to sales, so I'm no expert; but this book seemed perfect. I've listened to it twice and intend to do so a few more times. It's all about putting yourself in your client's place and acting with passion based on belief and purpose. There are also lots of good practical suggestions from how to dress to naming your business.
Well Worth the Money.......2006-12-04
As with most of my reviews, I try to balance the content being provided with the money being invested. This book is a good investment. Lot's of great ideas on how to deal with your customers. Includes good ideas on structuring and operating your business so people will want to be your customers. It also scrutinizes and criticizes many cherished concepts about marketing and tells why these concepts are no longer working. If you are a business owner, manager, or employee, you need to read this book.
Every sales person should read this book.......2006-08-15
Another great book by Harry Beckwith. Three of my favorite pages: "What the best salespeople sell (in order)" and "What ordinary sales people sell (in order)" and "Why hard selling has gotten harder." This is an easy-to-read book with short chapters. A great writing style.
Ann Barr, author of How to Win the Sale and Keep the Customer
Amazon.com
Six Sigma is a data-driven management system with near-perfect-performance objectives that has been employed to acclaim at leading corporations like General Electric. Its name is derived from the eye-catching statistical target of operating with no more than 3.4 defects per one million chances, but Peter Pande, Robert Neuman, and Roland Cavanagh--associates in a firm providing Six Sigma implementation, training, and management services--contend its principles can be applied in businesses of all types to routinely reduce costs, improve productivity, increase market share, and achieve other positive results. The Six Sigma Way is their comprehensive self-help guide to adapting and using the system under various conditions. Its first two parts cover fundamentals and provide specific suggestions for aligning the process with individual needs and goals. (These include sections on balancing potential costs and benefits, clarifying objectives, and defining time frames.) The final part, which accounts for more than half the book, focuses on implementation through a detailed yet flexible five-step "road map" tied to a company's core processes, key customers, current performance, "high-potential improvement opportunities," and future practices. While the procedure is quite complex, diligent managers should be able to bring at least basic components to their organization with the tools and techniques provided. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Six Sigma is a system for improving the quality of organizational processes. It was originally developed at Motorola in the 1980's and has become one of the most widely discussed and reported trends in business over the past two years, thanks largely to the phenomenal successes of the Six Sigma program at one of the world's most successful companies, GE. GE CEO Jack Welch, has been preaching about and implementing the Six Sigma philosophy throughout GE, and credits the program with millions of dollars in annual cost savings and product quality improvements.
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Six Sigma -- the organizational quality system made famous by GE's legendary Jack Welch -- has set new standards for process improvement. The Six Sigma Way is the first book to provide basic, non-technical information on understanding and implementing Six Sigma. Eye-opening success stories show how companies including GE, Motorola, Allied Signal, and others have used Six Sigma to produce millions in cost-savings and quality improvements. Written to give managers a basic overview of what Six Sigma is and how to implement it, The Six Sigma Way covers the application of Six Sigma across all industries.
Customer Reviews:
Horridly boring........2007-09-13
More power to you if you can get something worthwile from this book. I bought the book on CD, and it was easily the most forgettable experience I've had in a while. The information is presented from a 30,000 mile view. So "big picture" oriented that it's useless to try and consider the action behind the concepts presented.
If you're looking for a way to appear to have read something complicated and high level about Six Sigma. you found your source. If you want real, usable information, look elsewhere.
Excellent Book.......2007-09-07
No Joke. A serious six-sigma book written in most elegant form. I like the part where the Authors provide insights into "Sir Pork" - a really good way to put serious stuffs into readable form. Ignore the stars. It could have been 6 :).
A Six Sigma Primer.......2007-02-25
If you're looking to learn about Six Sigma, this is the book to start with. It provides a good overview and quickly dispels the common myths (e.g. Six sigma is for manufacturing companies alone). It helps the reader to determine if Six Sigma is right for his/her organization, and provides clear steps demonstrating how to implement the six sigma roadmaps. It doesn't get too heavy into the advanced statistics, although there is a chapter that explains some of the tools and how they are used. Bottom line: While the reader may still need some assistance (from a trained Black Belt), this book provides the tools necessary to complete a six sigma project. I've read a few books on the topic and this was the most comprehensive - the best of the lot.
Six Sigma Overview - Full of Excellent Case Studies.......2006-11-22
While studying to become a Black Belt in Six Sigma, I found this book to be the most excellent overview of the history and benefits of Six Sigma. I did extensive research into useful books - and found this one to be the most effective.
Many other Six Sigma books try too hard to teach the material - and this book presents the basics, with strong business case studies of success.
If you are involved in the study or use of Six Sigma - I believe this is an essential book in your library.
Good overview but little substance.......2006-11-04
This audio book was more of a cheerleader for six sigma than a book to gain knowledge. It would be a good source of information if you have never heard of six sigma, but otherwise it is not very useful. The reader also has an annoying voice.
Book Description
In the worldwide bestseller The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen exposed a crushing paradox behind the failure of many industry leaders. By doing what good companies were supposed to do-focus on pleasing their most profitable customers-leaders were paving the way for their own demise. How? By ignoring "disruptive technologies"-new, cheaper innovations that initially target small customer segments but evolve to displace the reigning product.
Now, Christensen and coauthor Michael E. Raynor cut the Gordian knot of the "innovator's dilemma" with The Innovator's Solution. This groundbreaking book reveals that innovation is not as unpredictable as most managers have come to believe. While the outcomes of past innovations seem random, the process by which innovations are packaged and shaped within companies is very predictable. By understanding and managing the forces that influence this process, companies can shape high-octane business plans that create truly disruptive growth.
Drawing on years of in-depth research and using new theories tested in hundreds of companies across many industries, the authors identify the processes that create successful innovations, and show managers how to tailor their strategies to the changing circumstances of a dynamic world.
Comprehensive yet practical, The Innovator's Solution is an actionable prescription for innovation-driven, profitable growth.
"A good business book makes managers stop and think. A great business book teaches managers how to stop and think. This is a great book. It is hard to imagine an executive team that would not benefit from devoting an entire day to discussing it."
-Geoffrey Moore, Chairman and Founder, TCG Advisors, and author, Crossing the Chasm and Living on the Fault Line
"In The Innovator's Solution, Christensen and Raynor address the holy grail of all organizations: how to generate growth and sustain it over long periods. Avoiding the temptation to provide simplistic formulas, they guide the reader through carefully constructed frameworks that teach how to think about the issues that limit-and provide-growth to organizations."
-Dr. Andrew S. Grove, Chairman of the Board, Intel
"Christensen and Raynor have done a superb job of creating a framework for helping to understand the industry dynamics and for planning your own growth alternatives."
-Pekka Ala-Pietilä, President, Nokia Corporation
"Singapore, as a small nation, needs to be innovative and sensitive to disruptive changes more than other countries. Christensen and Raynor have provided an excellent framework to reduce the randomness of the innovation process. This framework will help in our effort to nurture an environment conducive for enterprises to create and capitalize on disruptive innovations."
-Teo Ming Kian, Chairman, Singapore Economic Development Board
"The Innovator's Solution goes directly to the heart of why large companies have failed to sustain innovation. Christensen and Raynor have a deep insight into the challenges that innovative companies face, and they propose practical, realistic solutions to the dilemmas of innovation. This book will be extremely useful to all managers who are committed to using innovation to sustain their growth."
-Bill George, former Chairman and CEO, Medtronic, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Disruptive Innovations Key to Spicing Up Competition.......2007-10-01
Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor set the tone immediately by showing that most companies cannot sustain growth and by explaining to readers how stock markets factor in growth in the price of any publicly-traded stock. Growing faster than what stock markets see now and expect in the future is essential to move up a stock price.
The resource allocation process is the key culprit in humbling many market leaders when dealing with disruptive innovations. That process typically invites up-market flight rather than head-to-head fight with new market entrants. That flight mechanism is applicable not only to product/service makers, but also to their distributors and retailers. Unlike a sustaining innovation, a disruptive innovation is not compatible with the business model of market leaders. Christensen and Raynor call this behavioral pattern asymmetric motivation.
The way out of asymmetric motivation is for the leadership of an established player 1) to frame the disruptive innovation as a threat during the resource allocation process and 2) to shift responsibility for the project to an autonomous organization that has the relevant experience to frame it as an opportunity. The leadership needs to have a clear understanding of the respective impact of resources, processes, and values on what an organization can or cannot accomplish. Resources and processes are often enablers while values often represent constraints. Unlike deliberate processes, emergent processes should dominate when the future is hard to predict and the right strategy is not yet clear. That is especially true at the beginning of a company's existence. Once the winning strategy becomes clear, deliberate processes become a must to maximize the changes of success.
Christensen and Raynor continue their analysis by sub-dividing disruptive innovations into two categories: new-market disruptions competing with "non-consumption" and low-end disruptions that go after the proverbial "low-hanging fruit." Charting the upward path for a new-market disruption is more daunting because nobody has ever walked the walk. In practice, the distinction between the two types of disruptive innovations is not always clear-cut due to the existence of hybrid disruptions that combine new-market and low-end approaches. Christensen and Raynor also point out that an innovation that passes the new-market or low-end test must be disruptive to all of the significant established players to deserve the label of disruptive innovation.
Christensen and Raynor clearly show that new entrants in turn do not escape from the up-market urge. After driving out the last established market player competing in a certain market segment, cut-throat competition forces new entrants to also move up market for greener pastures.
Christensen and Raynor also reflect on why an overwhelming majority of new products fail miserably in the market-place. Attribute-based segmentation for which data are often available is the lead explanation for these failures. That type of market segmentation too often ignores the jobs that people and companies need to get done and how a product or service can be "hired" for that purpose. Targeting a product or service at the circumstances in which the target audience finds itself, rather than at the target itself is the key to success. Christensen and Raynor drive that point home very well with their story about the milkshake doing a different job for a bored commuter and his/her child at different times of the day. Christensen and Raynor blame the counterproductive attribute-based segmentation to 1) fear of focus, 2) senior executives' demand for quantification of opportunities, 3) the structure of channels, and 4) advertising economics and brand strategies.
Christensen and Raynor pursue their analysis by looking at the traditional distinction between core and non-core competences. Unlike competitiveness that is focused on what a customer values, core competence, as it is usually practiced by managers, is ominously inward looking. The rigidity of that categorization results in downplaying the evolving product architectures and integration over time. Christensen and Raynor highlight the respective impact of interdependent architectures that optimize performance in terms of functionality and reliability and modular architectures that optimize flexibility on industry structures.
Dis-integration that modularity makes possible does not preclude re-integration down the road if market circumstances change or vice versa. Savvy managers anticipate where the money will be instead of solely focusing their companies on the profitable businesses of the past. Developing this intuition is essential to avoid the process of commoditization. If commoditization already happens, de-commoditization can be achieved as well. Christensen and Raynor describe both processes in much detail. For example, the integrated American automakers are evolving toward modular architectures for their mainstream models in order to compete on speed and flexibility. This has in turn led to a significant consolidation of their suppliers.
Christensen and Raynor also clearly demonstrate that none of the attribute-based categorizations of funding such as venture capital vs. corporate capital and public versus private capital are a reliable predictor of a new venture success. Christensen and Raynor correctly point out that the best money is patient for growth but impatient for profit in the first years of a new business. The deal spiral from inadequate growth as Christensen and Raynor call it, results from impatience for growth and patience for profit.
Finally, Christensen and Raynor highlight the three roles that senior executives have to play in leading new growth:
1) Short-Term: To be at the juncture between disruptive growth businesses and the mainstream businesses to decide on the allocation of the company's resources and processes
2) Longer-Term: To lead what Christensen and Raynor call a "disruptive growth engine" to repeatedly launch successful growth businesses
3) Perpetual: To anticipate when the circumstances are changing, and to pass on their know-how to others to identify these signals.
To summarize, Christensen and Raynor made with The Innovator's Solution an important contribution to the better understanding and harnessing of disruptive innovations that are an essential ingredient of what Joseph Schumpeter called "creative destruction."
Motivation assymetries.......2007-06-11
Already a business classic, this book does not disappoint. Picking up from where the 'Innovator's Dilemma' left off, Christensen and Raynor examine in detail the barriers towards innovation and growth. Perhaps surprisingly, the concepts discussed are as applicable to large enterprises as they are to one man startups. The problem is one and the same - enterprise readers will learn about the pitfalls of institutionalized processes and sustaining innovation; startup teams will learn how to position their products for future success. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, or a high-ranked executive, 'Innovator's Solution' should be at the top of your reading list.
The Purpose of Your Product.......2007-04-05
Exceptional. Who wants their customers to rave about their products and services? Who wants to know "exactly" what your customers need? Who wants to experience revenue growth for their company? If you answered yes to these then the "Innovator's Solution" is a MUST READ. Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor have taken us back to the fundamental issue facing a company... that being "what job does my product or service satisfy?" Moving away from features, advantages and benefits and back to the basics of so-what-can-you-do-for-me will bring value to anyone tasked with the duty of using innovation to drive revenue growth. CEO's... read on!
Interesting theory for big company innovations.......2007-02-23
This is a well researched and informative book that I read after reading "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Christensen. This book answers the questions raised in the first book. I therefore strongly recommend reading the "The Innovator's Dilemma". The books are complementary and outstanding. Christensen and Raynor explains so eloquently and compellingly, the problem of managing and sustaining growth as large companies suffer from the problem of "stalling" since innovations that address small markets get eliminated in the resource allocation process. Conventional market research methodologies are often unable to reveal the potential for markets that do not exist. Disruptive innovations are targeted at exploiting the markets of products that are "good enough" or are competing against "non consumption".
The book provides solution frameworks for design, manufacturing, distribution, organizing and financing of successful strategies of disruption. This book identifies the processes that create winning innovations and the strategies that can be applied in your own project. References at the end of each chapter provide you with useful and insightful sources for further reading should you wish to pursue this subject further. The researcher made good use of these references in piecing together their theories. The authors reinforce their arguments, claims and solutions with real-life examples from many different companies including IBM, Sony, AT&T, Microsoft, and others.
This book focuses on new product ideas at big enterprises and how they should be effectively pursued. When there is no current market for these innovative products and hence no customer base, these technologies are called disruptive. The authors explain how innovation can be a predictable process that can result in sustainable and lucrative growth. They identify the factors that result in poor judgment by managers and present their ideas and a new framework to help product developers to timely create viable and profitable disrupting-technology that meets the needs of the market.
I recommend this book to managers who are interested in cutting edge innovative solutions. This book should be helpful to define a strategy to form the idea into a commercially viable product or service. This book is excellent reading if you wish to understand the forces that can drive or hinder a firm's growth with numerous real-life examples throughout the book.
Excellent Insights and Ideas.......2007-02-20
A key point in "The Innovator's Solution" is that financial markets relentlessly pressure companies to grow, and to keep growing faster and faster. Yet, considerable evidence exists that once a company's core business has matured, the pursuit of new platforms for growth entails daunting risk - roughly only 10% succeed over more than a few years - thus providing an above average increase in shareholder returns, and often the effort causes the entire corporation to crash. (Twenty-eight percent of those that stall lose 78% of their market capitalization; most of the rest also incur significant, though lesser, losses.)
AT&T is used as an example of what can go wrong. After the '84 mandated divestiture of local phone services, its first attempt at growth was based on the widely shared view that computer systems and phone networks were going to converge. AT&T first tried building its own computer division, achieving at best, losses of at least $200 million/year. It then acquired NCR, but sold it in '96 for a loss of over $6 billion alone, and $10 billion for the total computer venture. AT&T then tried wireless (lost another $5 billion), and broadband (lost another $40 billion).
Incremental innovations are likely to be used by established, leading firms to reinforce their dominance. In computers, G.E., Honeywell, RCA, and AT&T could not muscle in on IBM - that required the disruptive innovation of PCs brought by others. Likewise, IBM and Kodak couldn't beat Xerox at copying - Canon did that via its disruptive table-top.
In disruptive circumstances, the entrants are likely to defeat the incumbents because industry leaders are always motivated to go up-market and almost never motivated to defend small new/low-end markets that new entrants find attractive.
"The Innovator's Solution" uses minimills to illustrate the point. Minimills worked their way up from rebar in several cycles (angle iron, structural steel, sheet steel) that each ended with price/profit collapse after the last integrated producer left the market. The integrated mills were motivated to flee, and the minimills were forced to go up-market to escape their own fierce competition. Toyota et al vs. G.M., Ford, and Chrysler provides another example.
Finally, Christensen and Raynor offer organizational suggestions for nurturing successful disruptive technology development within large firms.
An excellent and insightful book.
Book Description
n this revealing business advice book, the magic of the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market proves a dynamic example of what a group of people can create when they are aligned and living a powerful vision. Here for the first time, owner John Yokoyama explains in his own words just how he transformed his business into a workplace that is renowned worldwide. When Fish Fly offers Yokoyama's cohesive strategy for achieving world famous results for owners, managers, and front-line workers alike. Once you understand the generative principles behind the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market you, too, can develop a culture that leads to excellent employee morale and legendary customer service.
Customer Reviews:
Managers required reading.......2007-10-22
We make our profit off of the products we market...what we sell is our service. A culture of customer service first, and seperating our company from the pack needs to be driven from the top down...but it is the line managers that have to most influence on our customer facing associates. When fish fly...gives our managers a look at reality with real examples of what they can do to influence their teams.
What an amazing Company.......2007-08-23
Our company has adopted the Fish policy and we love it. Although we cannot throw fish, we do throw alot of fun activities, etc. to help the attitude's of our employee's.
Wish I could move to Seattle and work at the Pike Market!
Thanks for sharing ALL your Fish products with us here in Louisville KY!
Outstanding.......2007-05-06
Purchased after a recent seminar showcasing the Pike Place Fish Market, I found this book an outstanding tool to take back to my co-workers. When Fish Fly focuses on the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market and how the owner, John Yokoyama, turned his once failing business into a fun, thriving one. Motivational, inspirational and easy to read. It has proven itself time and again with work and the difficult task of motivating others.
Simply fantastic.......2006-12-29
The book tells a really inspiring story about how it is possible to turn a team, a company around to delivering excellence and beyond.
I've read quite a few management and team building related books, and still mention this one before any other books on the same topic.
- It is a realy honest book
- It is about real people with their real story
- The author shows how he had to change first
- It is a very simple, quick read that will stick.
Thanks
Bart
A Good Read !.......2005-03-23
Author John Yokoyama, owner of Seattle's World Famous Pike Place Fish Market, explains how he changed his attitude toward his employees, embraced a new way of treating people, led his employees in a fundamental directional shift and built a widespread reputation. This isn't a business "cookbook" that tells you step by step what to do. As Yokoyama insists, you can't just copy someone else's success. You must be an individual. However, the story of his turnaround and triumph at World Famous Pike Place Fish Market is a good read that illuminates the need for leaders to treat their employees, as he says, as people, not as human resources. Although the Market is getting to be as overexposed as a fish left out in the sun, we welcome this first person exposition from the owner. After numerous published accounts about the Market, the saga of how Yokoyama empowered employees, promoted his business and changed his style comes through best in his own words.
Book Description
Filled with smart tips given in the Fox signature style, counter- intuitive, controversial, and practiced, this hard-hitting collection of sales advice shows readers how to woo, pursue, and finally win any customer. In witty, succinct chapters, Fox offers surprising, daring, and totally practical wisdom that will help readers rise above the competition in any company in any field. A terrific resource for CEOs, as well as anyone looking to distinguish themselves in salesbe it books, cars, or real estateHow to Become a Rainmaker offers the opportunity to rise above the competition in any company, in any field.
Customer Reviews:
Simple and Effective.......2007-08-01
This is a simple book and very stupid one, But I am sure 90% of sales persons and business people do not even impliment these simple ideas.
Learn from Google Simplicity and its effectivness !
This book gives you simple ideas which they will bring you SALES easily.
Sales Manual.......2007-07-24
This book gives detailed guidance on how to sell. Not a fuzzy, rah-rah guide, like many are, but with pointed and specific directions. It emphasizes hard work, preparation, application and discipline as keys to being successful, a Rainmaker. Some of the do's and don'ts border minutia but the author conveys the directness of purpose every sales person should maintain. It focuses on industrial sales environments where return on investment and cost vs. value are measurable. It's an easy read and should be read by every sale person who wants to get ahead. Even if you don't obey all the rules, you can pick up useful tools.
Easy read, great ideas!.......2007-07-15
This is a very easy read chock full of terrific sales ideas and techniques. Even if you're an experienced salesperson, this book will help you remember some of the small, but excellent points to being a terrific salesperson.
Hone Your Craft!.......2007-05-02
Thank you Jeffery Fox for writing a short concise work that sales professionals can use as a reality check to focus their attention on the selling process. Rainmaker is something you can refer to for brief reminders about what you should be doing during the selling process. The book is also available as an unabridged audio book. It is a great tool for sales professionals who want to hone their craft. If you only buy the book for "The Rainmakers Credo" and "the Customer Does Not Care About You" you will have gotten value. This is not a 300-page in depth how to sell book. If your looking for that try Jeffrey Gitomer's "Sales Bible".
Rainmaker.......2006-11-05
A great review of or way to learn effective techniques for developing new business.
Book Description
Why should I do business with you… and not your competitor?
Whether you are a retailer, manufacturer, distributor, or service provider – if you cannot answer this question, you are surely losing customers, clients and market share. This eye-opening book reveals how identifying your competitive advantages (and trumpeting them to the marketplace) is the most surefire way to close deals, retain clients, and stay miles ahead of the competition.
The five fatal flaws of most companies:
• They don’t have a competitive advantage but think they do
• They have a competitive advantage but don’t know what it is—so they lower prices instead
• They know what their competitive advantage is but neglect to tell clients about it
• They mistake “strengths” for competitive advantages
• They don’t concentrate on competitive advantages when making strategic and operational decisions
The good news is that you can overcome these costly mistakes – by identifying your competitive advantages and creating new ones. Consultant, public speaker, and competitive advantage expert Jaynie Smith will show you how scores of small and large companies substantially increased their sales by focusing on their competitive advantages. When advising a CEO frustrated by his salespeople’s inability to close deals, Smith discovered that his company stayed on schedule 95 percent of the time – an achievement no one else in his industry could claim. By touting this and other competitive advantages to customers, closing rates increased by 30 percent—and so did company revenues.
Jack Welch has said, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” This straight-to-the-point book is filled with insightful stories and specific steps on how to pinpoint your competitive advantages, develop new ones, and get the message out about them.
Customer Reviews:
Creating Competetive Advatage.......2007-05-14
If you are trying to increase your business-- do new brochures -- or get your team thinking in the same
direction --read this book-- it's a fast read -- interesting and thought provoking. Each person in your
marketing and sales department should have a copy. I have now started giving copies to customers!!
Amaturish at best.......2007-03-09
A leader of a strategic sub group of a non-profit to which I belong requested that all participants read this book. So I bought it. I am surprised how I lasted as long as I did, to page 20. The number of mistakes, imprecise definitions and simply clueless concept manipulations has been staggering from the beginning.
This reminded me my first marketing class in the business school. After listening to a student proudly spewing buzz words, a professor (now at Harvard) said, "I do believe that you are ready for job interviews. Now can you tell me in your own words what exactly have you been trying to say?" Silence followed.
Examples? I'll use just one of many in the first 20 pages. In her example of JTECH on page 10, Ms. Smith states that at HER workshop, "JTACH executives set about determining exactly what the company's strongest competitive advantage was. It's service was great, it's equipment top of the line, it's costs competitive. But that what the competition said, too. JTECH needed a simple, strong, accurate, and convincing statement to differentiate itself from its competitors.
JTECH team brainstormed at the workshop and afterward to determine and articulate JTECH's best competitive advantage - in straightforward, quantifiable terms. They kicked it around among themselves, asked their customers, and finally nailed it down:
Of the fifty largest chains who used paging,
100 percent use JTECH."
Just a few pages later (not further than 20) the author differentiates competitive advantage from a statement.
Wait a minute, you just said that "Of the fifty largest chains who used paging,
100 percent use JTECH," was an advantage (not just any, THE STRONGEST ONE!) or was it just a statement, or can a statement be a competitive advantage, or .... What exactly are you talking about, Ms. Author?
According to this example the biggest mistake that Detroit made is that it has not "nailed it crystal clear that, "100 percent of Americans buy cars from Detroit." Otherwise Toyota have had no chance. If only Detroit C-level executives attended your workshop! That by itself would be the strongest competitive advantage. Alas!
Competitive advantage is NOT something that you or your competition say or do not say. It's a value that you offer to your customers that none of your competition can match and, for which customers are willing to pay. As a result you are receiving profits above (hopefully significantly) your cost of capital on a sustainable basis.
None of the classic strategy text books on competitive advantage or economics of strategy would consider statement, "Of the fifty largest chains who used paging, 100 percent use JTECH," as a competitive advantage. None!
On page 16 the author states, " Competitive advantage goes by other names, as well: Unique selling proposition. Distinguishing features. Competitive edge. Discriminators. Differentiators."
Well, Ms. Author, you just passed a test for being ready for an entrance level marketing/strategy interview. However these are not synonyms.
The fact is that Unique selling proposition can be a competitive advantage or NOT. It can as well be a competitive disadvantage. Or neither if you wish. The decisive criteria would be does this Unique Selling Proposition produce a sustainable returns above costs of capital and above what "not-unique" selling proposition of a competitor produces.
Same goes with all other fancy-schmancy buzzwords that author used in the last example.
I would have given this book zero or negative number of stars, but that was not an option. To be constructive buy an old-good Porter's Competitive Advantage and begin to identify, develop, and preserve yours and learn how to undermine ones of your competitors.
To all the positive reviewers I can only say, "Ignorance is a bliss." Read Porter then re-evaluate this book and be on your way to success.
Creating Competive Advantage.......2007-01-24
Simple concepts not always thought of by business on a day to day basis.Make all your business battles home games.
Critical Success Ingredient for businesses.......2006-11-14
Most businesses have no awareness of their competitive edge. In today's global information-glut world, how will you separate yourself from the competition? Jaynie Smith provides insights on why it is critical to define your competitive edge and articulate it aggressively to attract customers. I noticed a negative review and I have no clue which book this person read. I am an author, speaker and a business coach and I highly value the ideas contained in the book.
Best " How To" Book on Competitive Advantage.......2006-09-15
So many books are loaded with theory which may stimulate your thinking but leave you confused about what to do next. This book is a real "How TO". I was able to pull my team together and actually do the exercises Smith suggests at the end of each chapter. The content is so to the point and really fun reading on top of it. If you listen to Smith's message it will put money in your pocket! I loved reading this book as much the second time as the first. Lots of meat.
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