The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services

Book Description

Provides accountants in small and medium sized firms the tool to expand services beyond attest and compliance functions.

Shows how to transition to other professional services that clients value.
Provides a pro-forma business plan for mapping a three to five year plan for the transition to a successful practice.
Positions consulting as an extension to traditional services, not just an alternative.
Includes many real world examples of accountants who have made a successful transition to new services, discussing the challenges and the results achieved.
Focuses on quality of life issues and how to get there.

Customer Reviews:

A truly paradigm-shifting work.......2006-05-15

Ron Baker is doing for the professional services firms what Columbus and Pythagoras did for the "Earth is Flat" proponents! "Paradigm-shifting" has become so over-used in our culture, but it is not mere hyperbole when describing this book. The work is quite thorough, implementing excerpts, quotes, and philosophies from dozens of well-respected scholars, economists, and management consultants. The work reminds me a lot of Tom Peters' seminal book, "In Search of Excellence" in the way in which the author sprinkles in so many great examples from other successful organizations and industries. In addition, he has many real-world examples (from firms around the world) of professional services firms that have successfully tranformed their practices. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to any professional who is trying to transform a professional services organization or who is wondering if there might be a more effective and profitable way to run a professional services firm.

The Essential Reference for Law Firm Leadership.......2006-02-08

I first read this book about 2 years ago. I keep it within arm's reach of my desk and refer to it often, still.

I've read one reviewer who stated that this book was the modern almanac of best business practices. I agree completely.

I run my own small law firm. We have implemented many of this book's practices with great success and profitablilty. Primary among them is fixed fee agreements. Yes, we are a law firm that has trashed its time sheets, due in large part to the inspiration and impetus of this book. And, we will never go back.

An earlier reviewer suggested that this book would be more useful for CPA's and not for lawyers. I disagree. Though I'm certain the message of this book is critical for CPA's, I think that any person in law firm leadership must read this book. I think it is particularly suited to small firms and solos who will have the ability to immediately take action in implementing these ideas and making them a reality in their practice.

However, if you are one of my competitors forget everything I said above and do not touch this book. My firm and my family will thank you.

Extremely helpful, well documented........2005-11-14

This is a very well-documented guide for any service firm. It's also very well written, very insightful and very well researched. It's real deep, complete and full of advice and wisdom from several great minds. I run a corporate reputation consulting firm in El Salvador and this is the most advice-rich book I've encountered in the last five years. I also recommend "the trusted advisor" by David Maister and specially "Managing the Profesional Service Firm" also by Maister.

Permission to Believe.......2004-12-14

The Firm of The Future coordinates both the theory and practical application of pricing concepts AND business service models in such a complelling manner that Baker & Dunn give Professional services organizations permission to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

While the Firm of The Future is geared to the legal and accounting professions the message and vision is applicable to Advertising agencies, Consulting Organizations, Marketing service firms and professional service providers of all shapes and sizes.

Cost plus pricing is short sighted and intellectually flawed.The intense pressure on increasing billable hours and driving down costs is destroying the creativity and core capabilities of Professional Service companies.Baker&Dunn explain the flaws of cost plus and hourly schemes and identify a road map which outlines how to move a professional services organization and it's customers to a healthier, happier, more productive and more mutually profitable business process

A great read---Inspirational and practical

Tom Finneran
Executive Vice President
American Association of Advertising Agencies

Must reading for the professional service provider!.......2003-12-04

After reading this book, you'll need to place it alongside your desktop dictionary, Thesaruas and Ron's first book "The Professional's Guide to Value Pricing. This is how strong of an impact their message has made on me.

After reading the first two editions of Ron's book, I didn't think he would be able to improve much on the message of switching to Value Pricing. Boy, was I wrong! He and Paul Dunn have done an amazing job of getting the reader to think differently. As with the radical theme of trashing the timesheet in "The Professional's Guide to Value Pricing", they do a masterful job of convincing you why the old "Revenue Equation" must be replaced with the forward-thinking "Profit Equation". They go on to introduce other new topics not found amongst professional services firms such as developing your Intellectual, Structural and Social Capital, emphasizing effectiveness over efficiency and of course Value Pricing. As is typical of Ron's writing style, and complemented by Paul, their reasoning for making this paradigm shift is well supported and well reasoned.

I've been using practicing Value Pricing for about 5 1/2 years now and I can tell you that it works. In my own firm, I've slowly begun implementing some of their new concepts but with a new perception. I'm convinced these principles will work for me and they can for you as well.

After reading this book, you'll definitely want to keep it handy as a useful reference guide!

Customer Service: Career Success Through Customer Satisfaction (NetEffect Series) (3rd Edition) (NetEffect Series)
Average customer rating:
Customer Service: Career Success Through Customer Satisfaction (NetEffect Series) (3rd Edition) (NetEffect Series)
Paul R. Timm
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Customer Service | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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A-HA! Performance: Building and Managing a Self-Motivated Workforce

ASIN: 0131779966

Book Description

KET BENEFIT: This book ties together the best information from trade books and textbooks, and then adds a clear and usable process for developing the kinds of skills, attitudes, and thinking patterns needed to win customer loyalty. The coverage includes positive attitude, customer turnoffs, dissatisfied customers, customer expectations, customer loyalty, winning telephone techniques, and more. This book is for employees and managers of customer service departments and human resource training departments.

HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business

Average customer rating:

HR from the Heart
Beyond Theory Into Real-Life HR
Great perspective!
HR from the Heart and Strategic HR Management
HR Professionals Get No Respect

HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business
Libby Sartain
Manufacturer: American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The Human Resource Professional's Career Guide: Building a Position of Strength
The HR Value Proposition

ASIN: 0814407560

Book Description

Human resources professionals are entrusted, perhaps more than any other corporate designates, with the well-being of their organization's population. They bridge the gaps between the individual and the collective, the person and the purpose. The most successful and effective HR professionals see their careers as a calling, and their work, though driven by corporate goals, is graced by a sense of purpose, a profound generosity, and a love for what they do and the constituencies they serve.

HR from the Heart is a book for HR practitioners who love their jobs -- or want to. Libby Sartain, one of the country's top human resources executives, reveals how HR professionals create a synergy between business objectives and the needs and wants of employees. This inspiring book is equal parts motivational message and how-to, confessional and career guide. Filled with stories from Sartain's considerable experience, HR from the Heart offers a first-hand perspective on forging relationships, selling HR to the company, taking diversity beyond "by the book," keeping policy in perspective, and more -- all while making the right career moves, staying engaged, and forwarding the strategic goals of the company.

Customer Reviews:

HR from the Heart.......2007-05-22

HR from the Heart is an amazing guide for HR professionals who genuinely want to serve their companies. Lifetime learnings and analysis of human behavior have been compiled in this book.The book is wholistic and it is a guide for all aspects of the HR function. Today's companies need to have unique recruitment, orientation, learning, developmental and performance systems. Great people attract great people, and great people want to work for great people. Companies mission must be a cause around which everybody is motivated and energised. The companies need to have a differentiating culture and all leaders in the company must promote the culture. All leaders must embrace new attitudes and conduct themselves in new and different ways. The language of communication is important as it give the company it's edge over the competetion. The workplace should be friendly and people must have fun doing their duty.Lastly, HR's job is to serve others and to humanise the work.

Beyond Theory Into Real-Life HR.......2005-08-08

I have been involved in the HR field for some 21 years. Like any HR professional, we have a lot of stories to tell. In this book, Libby Sartain has a way of melding her stories with solid HR theory. At times, the book is simple and colloquial but more often than not it weaves its simplicity into a picture of HR I think and practitionaer would want to establish at their workplace.

A lot has been said about HR "at the table" and being a "strategic partner". This book shows how that is accomplished not so much by providing means to that end but by showing how doing what is right and good can get us to that end.

Judging from its Amazon sales rank (88,428 at the time of this writing) the book hasn't made it into too many hands. But don't let that stop you. If you are in HR (or someone who wants to be) this book is essential for giving you the big picture and getting you started on the path to achieving your end.

Great perspective!.......2005-08-05

This book helps me keep certain my job in HR in a good perspective. It helps when you have a different management style to compare yourself to. Buy It today!

HR from the Heart and Strategic HR Management.......2005-08-04

I am teaching a Masters Level course for Eastern Michigan University and am using this book along with What Clients Love by Harry Beckwith.
The HR from the Heart book is an excellent real life practitioners' view of how an HR professional can effectively manage their career, how to build a great HR Dept, and how HR can drive and support organizational change. Many of my SHRM colleagues are reading this book and have also found it well worth the purchase. Happy Reading!

HR Professionals Get No Respect.......2004-10-06

I write this on the day Rodney Dangerfield died. Fitting.

I've worked in the HR field for 25 years, and never once read a book that so correctly summarized the true purpose of HR work.

I've seen people enter this field because "they like people," or because they cannot get a church to appoint them as a minister, or because they don't like math. I've also seen many HR practitioners sink into a morass of self-absorption, cynicism, despair or xenophobia. How can a reasonable person spend their life's work "fighting with management" with no consciousness of that proposition's essential irony: if you are in HR, you ARE in management.

Dave Ulrich told us ten years ago that HR had to add value by delivering business results. OK, we get that part. Libby Sartain tells us practical, down-to-earth things we need to know to get those results, retain our self-respect, and experience the sheer joy of seeing our work result in wonderful customer service.

To see what Libby has accomplished, watch the cable series on airlines. Watch what the front-line Southwest Airlines people do habitually, casually: show compassion, empathy and humor to people whom you would swear were the last to deserve it. She correctly credits Herb Kelleher with creating a customer service company which happens to fly people around.

See the power of excellent HR brought to life. Read this book. We get the respect we deserve; Libby tells us how to earn it.

Human Relations in Business: Developing Interpersonal and Leadership Skills (with InfoTrac®)

Average customer rating:

Human Relations in Business: Developing Interpersonal and Leadership Skills (with InfoTrac®)
Michael G. Aamodt , and Bobbie L. Raynes
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Occupational & Organizational | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Personal Styles & Effective Performance
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ASIN: 0534355080

Book Description

This applied text, designed to increase the student's human resource skills, is a self-contained text, workbook, and study guide-all for one price. Written in a conversational style using stories, real-world examples, and humor, the book is sure to engage the reader. The authors include free-writes, case studies, projects, and personality tests to help students apply what they have read. The pages are perforated to make it easier for students to hand in their projects.

Secrets of the Great Rainmakers: The Keys to Success and Wealth

Average customer rating:

Solid, Fundamental Advice to Grow Your Business
Great Reading
Another good rainmaker book!
Crazy like a fox
Useful stuff, much of what you won't find elsewhere!

Secrets of the Great Rainmakers: The Keys to Success and Wealth

Manufacturer: Macmillan Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules for Getting and Keeping Customers and Clients
How to Make Big Money in Your Own Small Business: Unexpected Rules Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know
How to Become a Marketing Superstar: Unexpected Rules That Ring the Cash Register
The Dollarization Discipline: How Smart Companies Create Customer Value...and Profit from It
How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees

ASIN: 1593976275
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Book Description

n SECRETS OF THE GREAT RAINMAKERS youll learn how to outsmart the competition and set yourself apart from the pack. In over 50 interviews with industry leaders from a wide variety of fields, bestselling author Jeffrey J. Fox will share the proven techniques and hard-won wisdom that have helped great rainmakers get ahead, along with his trademark brand of counterintuitive insight and commentary that have made his books so popular. Among the secrets youll find: Why silence can be golden How to find the decision maker Why relationships as a bankable selling strategy is bunk Fox gets to the heart of the matter, and condenses years of hard-won wisdom into memorable lessons guaranteed to increase salestheyve already been proven.

Customer Reviews:

Solid, Fundamental Advice to Grow Your Business.......2007-09-08

I've read a number of Jeff Fox's books, and they've all been worthwhile reading. However, as someone focused primarily on bringing in new business on a regular basis (I am a 20-year veteran of the Financial Services industry), I can attest to the fact that this is Fox's best volume thus far.

"Secrets of Great Rainmakers," like Fox's other books, is written in an easy-to-read style with short chapters that get straight to the point - fast. There's no excess drivel used as filler. My copy is now highlited to the max, and I'll refer back to it with regularity.

Even after 20 years in a sales-related career, I'm smart enough to know that I certainly do not know it all; I'm constantly learning. This book is a welcome addition to that learning process. Very, very highly recommended.

Great Reading.......2007-08-23

This is the second Jefferey J Fox book I've read, and it's as a good as the first. Great real-world examples. Easy to read. I highly recommend everyone read it.

Another good rainmaker book!.......2007-05-12

I love all of the Rainmaker books by Fox. Easy to read, not boring, bottom line and to the point. This one repeats alot of what is in "How to be a Rainmaker", which I found to be better than this book. If you only buy one, but "How to be a Rainmaker". You won't need this one if you do.

Crazy like a fox.......2006-08-17

Mr. Fox's books are straight to the point. He doesn't spend a lot of time trying to help you decide if you want to be a Rainmaker, he just tells you how to do it. By learning to use killer questions and dollarize you can get what you want. I am not in sales directly, but have applied the techniques to move on in my career.

Useful stuff, much of what you won't find elsewhere!.......2006-06-10

HOW TO BECOME A RAINMAKER by Jeffrey J. Fox is one of my
all-time favorite books on selling . . . if you're in that field or know
somebody who is, do that person a big favor and get him or her a
copy . . . they'll be forever grateful.

I recently heard the follow-up, SECRETS OF GREAT
RAINMAKERS--written and read by Fox . . . for this latest effort,
he conducted over 50 interviews with industry leaders from a
variety of field . . . .he then shares what he learned in a series
of short chapters that all contain very powerful messages.

The amazing thing about Fox is that he takes what can be
a difficult task and makes it relatively simple, provided that
you listen to his advice . . . what makes it so interesting is
that much of what he shares can't be found elsewhere.

For example, he tells you not to knock your competition . . . for
if you do, you're telling your customer that he or she is stupid for
considering somebody else.

He also presents "killer questions" that can be helpful in selling
anything, such as:

* In addition to yourself, who is responsible for making this decision
happen in your country? And what might be their concerns about
going ahead?

* [when a customer has a question] Why do you ask? And how
important is it to you?

There were many other memorable tidbits, including:
* In a sales call, the customer should do 80% of the talking.

* Play Rolodex Roulette at least once a month. Give it a spin,
pick some names, call some of them.

* Always use an intriguing postscript.

* The phone call never sells anything.

* Only after you get the order can you ask a non-business question.

* 90% of salespeople don't ask for the order.

* Always ask for something on a visit; e.g., a tour of the facility. If you're
the one being asked to take a tour, that's a buy signal.

* Take handwritten notes on every call. Then summarize your notes in
a follow-up letter to the customer.

* Don't mail your proposal. A good proposal, well written, has a 15-18%
winning percentage. Good proposals, when presented in person, have
a 55-65% winning percentage.

* People who ask for the sale in person have four times the chance of
getting it than those who don't.

And my personal favorite:
* In the future, some power point presenter will be arrested for boring
the customer to death!

The Relationship Advantage: Become a Trusted Advisor and Create Clients for Life

Average customer rating:

Clients Are Different than Customers
To really win in sales why not listen to those who have won

The Relationship Advantage: Become a Trusted Advisor and Create Clients for Life
Tom Stevenson , and Sam Barcus
Manufacturer: Kaplan Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Customer Service | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

The Trusted Advisor
Clients for Life: Evolving from an Expert-for-Hire to an Extraordinary Adviser
Making Rain: The Secrets of Building Lifelong Client Loyalty
Clients for Life: How Great Professionals Develop Breakthrough Relationships
Trust-Based Selling: Using Customer Focus and Collaboration to Build Long-Term Relationships

ASIN: 0793170265
Release Date: 2003-10-01

Book Description

Corporations, it seems, are always seeking the ""silver bullet"" that will create intimacy with customers. But most efforts fail from the moment they begin, say respected consultants, Tom Stevenson and Sam Barcus. The reason? Accountability for program leadership is placed on the sales force rather than on the executives and senior managers who have a more seasoned business perspective.

For the first time ever, Stevenson and Barcus outline the relationship-building processes used successfully by professional consulting firms. Sales professionals in other industries will learn never-before-published explanations and documentation regarding consulting firm approaches and techniques, including:

* Why top managers must lead the care and feeding of key relationships.

* An inside view of how consultants build long-term, trusted advisor relationships.

* The difference between creating demand and responding to bids-an important difference that sparks enduring relationships.

* Problem-solving techniques that can lead to deeper customer alliances.

* Why it's more important for a salesperson to be interested rather than interesting.

* A diagnostic process to prepare for and execute customer meetings that create value at every touch point.

* Tools and techniques to develop business acumen that provides insight into customer issues and initiatives.

With many practical examples, anecdotes, and coaching tips, The Relationship Advantage is required reading for executives or managers who know they should be driving key relationships but don't know how to do it.

Customer Reviews:

Clients Are Different than Customers.......2004-08-04

Tom is a great storyteller and does a nice job of blending consultative selling concepts with ready to apply advice. Although this may seem like a sales book its much more. It really is about how relationships make a significant difference on long term client loyalty.

To really win in sales why not listen to those who have won.......2004-03-03

Tom and Sam are more than folks who write theory. They have lived what they are telling you at a levels that any sales professional set as their ultimate goal.

I have seen their strategy not only work, but have personally seen them execute it flawlessly. What was best about the experience for me was knowing that I could do it to. If you take this book to heart, you'll be unstoppable.

They take the sales thing one step further. They lead you into something even greater. How to have real, solid, and long lasting relationships in and beyond work. In life, this may matter much more than reaching quota. By the way, making quota is ok too!

Read this book and make it part of your approach to sales and just watch.

The Relationship Edge in Business: Connecting with Customers and Colleagues When It Counts
Average customer rating:

Relationship selling works

A must-have for all true (and aspiring) sales professionals

Accentuate the Positive

Is anyone listening? it's about the long term relationship!

A better professional and personal life

The Relationship Edge in Business: Connecting with Customers and Colleagues When It Counts
Jerry Acuff
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471477125

Book Description

With real case studies and step-by-step guidance, The Relationship Edge in Business shows you how to:

Develop the right mindset–understand that personal relationships are vital to business success
Ask the right questions—discover the common ground you share with others
Do the right thing—be truthful and straightforward or you’ll undermine the goodwill you’ve worked so hard to build

Download Description

A straightforward, step-by-step guide to building positive work relationships

Everyone knows that one of the most important aspects of business is the relationship between businesspeople and their clients and colleagues. Yet there are woefully few resources that help businesspeople build those positive relationships. The Relationship Edge in Business describes a three-step process that any businessperson can learn to apply. Author Jerry Acuff explains the principles, lays out the 20 questions that reveal what people care about, and suggests dozens of simple, unexpected, and practical ways to apply that information in building stronger relationships. This valuable resource can help anyone forge closer, and better, ties with customers and associates.

Jerry Acuff (Scottsdale, AZ) is the President of Delta Leadership Group, which works with market-leading companies to implement innovative ways to sell and market products in today's crowded marketplace.

Customer Reviews:

Relationship selling works.......2007-05-07

Great "back-to-basics" book. No big revelations, but wonderful reinforcement that will help all salespeople who are selling in an environment where relationships really count.

A must-have for all true (and aspiring) sales professionals.......2005-03-28

This book is a MUST READ for true professionals! I am VP of Business Development at Myles Mortgage Services. I have over 5 years in the mortgage industry and 10 years in sales. I was always attentive to my clients' needs, but employing the simple (but crucial) methods offered in this book increased customer loyalty and my rate of referred clients exponentially. This book gives away the secret to personalized, effective means to reach out to my clients and show them I care in a memorable way!

Accentuate the Positive.......2004-06-21

Most business books hit you over the head with "must do" lists. In The Relationship Edge in Business, the book shows you how to establish and maintain positive relationships, how to be interested and open to many levels of relationships. Relationships enrich personal and professional lives and this book offers so many ideas with a friendly, "can do" tone. No matter who you are, these ideas can work.

My favorite chapter is Chapter 5, "It's a Small World After All." In this chapter, the author reminds us that connections can be made, even when the odds seem unfavorable. Positive connections lead to other positive connections.

Is anyone listening? it's about the long term relationship!.......2004-05-07

Jerry Acuff outlines methods not taught by many companies. Although said companies devote time and capital to train sales forces about their products or services, most do not spend any time teaching the skill of building long term relationships with clients. This is a must read for the enlightened, forward-looking executive.

A better professional and personal life.......2004-04-12

As a professional sales person, I have long been aware that it is easier to sell to customers that like you. Just like anyone else, I hit it off with some people and not others. "The Relationship Edge in Business" provided me with an integrity-based path to improve relationships with all customers.

I read the book for one reason, I thought better relationships might translate into more sales, and I am sure it will. However, the book also touched me on a personal level. I've gained an outlook and process that I believe will improve my life outside of work.

Lion Taming: Working Successfully with Leaders, Bosses, and Other Tough Customers
Average customer rating:

Boring - don't waste your time

Artfully done!

How to Speak Truth to Power

"Lion Taming" Delivers Real Value

A Good Read!

Lion Taming: Working Successfully with Leaders, Bosses, and Other Tough Customers
Steven L. Katz
Manufacturer: Sourcebooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1402202172

Book Description

What is LION TAMING about?

LION TAMING: Working Successfully with Leaders, Bosses, and Other Tough Customers proves that imagination is still the fastest path to learning. Lions are the people we encounter and work with in every organization or business who wield power and influence. They roam freely across all occupations. By applying the metaphor of being a lion tamer, you will learn how to understand these lions and to team with them for effective and rewarding results.

LION TAMING is divided into three parts:

I. Lions Are Never Tame helps you identify the lions in your midst, distinguish between the good lions and the bad lions, and understand what makes them tick. Lions act differently because they think differently, and we need to understand them as lions to work more effectively together. LION TAMING introduces the concepts of The Lion's Four Senses and The Lion's Instinctive Identity, which will serve as useful tools to "read" the lions you encounter and approach them with newfound ways to help both you and the lions be successful.

II. The Art of Lion Taming heightens your self-awareness while teaching you the strategies and methods that real lion tamers use and how to apply them where you work. This includes the use of verbal and nonverbal cues and communication, closing the gap between attention getting and attention using; and how to avoid sticking your head in the lion's mouth!

III. Lion Taming Is Really Lion Teaming reflects the cumulative nature of the experiences, lessons, and strategies throughout the book. These are embraced by the ultimate secret and irony of working as a lion tamer: leaders, bosses, and other tough customers are sensitive to being challenged as a lion but welcome the support, influence, and expertise of those who show that they are part of the lion's team. The best lion tamers inside the center ring and the boss's office understand that the foundation for teamwork is rapport, trust, confidence, and respect.

LION TAMING: Working Successfully with Leaders Bosses, and Other Tough Customers is able to bring the metaphor of being a lion tamer to life in a way no other book does because the author interviewed real lion tamers, watched them train and work, and blended their secrets and strategies with countless parallel experiences and stories from people across society and the workplace.

The book contains more than 75 Secrets of the Lion Tamers, quotes from many of the men and women whose workplace has been inside the steel-caged arena, such as: * "Lions are never tame, it takes strategies to deal with that" * "Lions always have your full attention but it is hard to hold their attention" * "Courage that is self-conscious betrays great fear!"

Every chapter concludes with specific take-aways called The Lion's Tale that summarize each chapter and provide tips and strategies to step inside the lion tamer's shoes!

Lion taming is everyone's real job, and this book finally tells us how to do it!

Customer Reviews:

Boring - don't waste your time.......2007-09-15

I can not understand the good reviews or the appraisal on the book cover. The book is very boring, repetitive, and too metaphoric, in the sense that it writes about actual lions and actual lion tamers. I can not say that I learned anything new, and the book could be easily compressed into 50 pages. Don't waste your time!

Artfully done!.......2006-07-10

It's not difficult to imagine yourself as a lion tamer, equipped with the traditional whip and chair, matching wits with lions like leaders, bosses, and customers. You have to keep your wits about you in your relationships with these cats. It's a lot like real-life lion taming. And yes, the consequences of angering a lion in business can be comparatively just as devastating as angering a lion in the circus cage.

OK, cute analogy. It shouldn't be that difficult to draw a few analogies and crank out a clever book. Perhaps, but Steven Katz went further...much further. It's obvious as you turn page after tempting page that this author did his homework. The lion tamers he consulted and learned from are named in the acknowledgements, and their influence is felt throughout the book. Whether the topic is the big cats with four feet or two, the lessons are plentiful, clear, and appropriate. The transition back and forth between lions and humans is smooth and natural. Learning Katz's lessons is comfortable, not forced.

We're surrounded by lions. "Being a lion is not a specific position, it is a state of being." It's essential to understand that lions have four senses beyond sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell: dominance, territory, survival, and social standing. You'll gain a deep appreciation of these elements in the three sections of this fast-moving paperback: Lions are Never Tame, The Art of Lion Taming, and Lion Taming is Really Lion Teaming. You can see the flow just from those section titles.

The book is filled with lessons that apply the fundamentals of lion taming to leadership, management, and other relationships. Conveniently, the lessons are all listed at the end of the book to pull it all together. Well worth the time to curl up with this book cover-to-cover.

How to Speak Truth to Power.......2006-04-18

LIONTAMING is an entertaining "users manual" for igniting leadership at all levels of an organization. Through the lens of an analogy as powerful as Aslan in Narnia, author Steve Katz boldly takes you on a journey into the workplace as a lions den. Unlike Dilbert's facetious approach to Catbert, Dogbert and other "manajerks", Steve ratchets the risk up a notch and deals with the ferocious realities of the King of the Jungle himself. Drawing on years of experience with leaders at the highest levels of government, Steve explores the role of office staff way beyond merely managing their managers or following their leaders by bringing fresh insights into workplace survival tactics. After Steve's presentation at American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, I promptly bought his book and featured him at both an Interagency Regulatory Forum and the US-EPAs Transformational Leadership Conversations series. If you enjoy reading LIONTAMING, you'll be amazed at how it can come alive in a discussion.

"Lion Taming" Delivers Real Value.......2005-09-19

Steve Katz's "Lion Taming" fills a real void in the literature on management, which focuses primarily on leadership, strategy, and implementation of change. His focus is on the close, personal advisors to powerful decision makers within corporations, government, and nonprofit entities. His purpose is to identify the principles by which such key staffers can increase their effectiveness while retaining their integrity. His analogies to "lion taming" are not a stretch. As I read Steve Katz's book, I relived whole episodes in my own career and suddenly perceived how they fit together into a broad and comprehensive analytical pattern. I am just sorry that this book wasn't available thirty years ago when I was a freshly-minted MBA!

A Good Read!.......2005-09-13

Imagine these scenarios: Your corporate leaders are always "difficult." You butt heads with your superiors and even your clients. As a middle manager, you have trouble figuring out what the boss wants. You seem to fight too much with your spouse. If any of these examples are familiar, you need to learn how to tame the "lions" in your life. Using analogies from training actual lions in the circus ring, author Steven L. Katz shows you how to work with human lions - people who demand dominance and control - from a bossy supervisor to a stubborn spouse. This is intended to be a textbook for the study of human psychology and interaction. Though you might wish it were a little deeper, the jungle beast analogy keeps it interesting. We recommend it to those who want to learn how to stand their ground in business, politics or modern day culture.

Nice Girls DO Get The Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results

Average customer rating:

Upbeat, positive and full of useful tips and information
Elinor's smooth sale is a breeze

Nice Girls DO Get The Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results
Elinor Stutz
Manufacturer: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

amBITCHous: (def.) A Woman Who: 1. Makes more money 2. has more power 3. gets the recognition she deserves 4. has the determination to go after her dreams and
Women Make the Best Salesmen: Isn't it Time You Started Using their Secrets?
Cold Calling for Women: Opening Doors & Closing Sales
The Accidental Salesperson: How to Take Control of Your Sales Career and Earn the Respect and Income You Deserve
The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness

ASIN: 1402207441

Book Description

"Elinor has an amazing way of communicating simple, basic techniques that make the scary topic of sales very accessible to everyone. She shares the secrets that made her a very successful salesperson, from creative approaches to getting appointments to the most effective way to close the sale."

-Kim Fisher, Managing Director, eWomenNetwork

Written by a highly successful saleswoman, Elinor Stutz, this how-to book trains women in field-tested sales techniques that will launch them into the next level of success. They will discover how to use their natural relationship-building skills to close better deals with a higher percentage of business-making sales. They will find solid advice on building a network, dealing with management, prospecting, responding to client needs and managing a career, as well as solutions to problems like selling an unknown brand and getting through office gatekeepers to reach the decision makers.

Nice Girls DO Get the Sale is perfect for all women in sales, whether experienced or not, and will have them passing their male counterparts on the corporate ladder in no time.

Customer Reviews:

Upbeat, positive and full of useful tips and information.......2006-12-02

Thanks for your great book which I purchased at the networking dinner event a couple of weeks ago. I've been enjoying it and working my way through it with my highlighter!!

Elinor's smooth sale is a breeze.......2006-11-06

Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (10/06)

"Nice Girl" Elinor Stutz shares her surprisingly simple secrets to a rewarding career in sales with the release of her new book, "Nice Girls DO Get the Sale." Her style challenges the "dog-eat-dog" philosophy that most people have come to associate with the profession and takes the "sleazy" stigma from the term "salesperson."

Written in an easy-to-read and energetic tone, Stutz will feel like a new best friend as she guides the reader though her process. She motivates with not only her basic golden rule-type outlook but in her own "unshakable faith in [herself] and the product or service" she's passionately selling. Her emphasis on reliability puts the "Nice Girl Philosophy" well above other methods of persuasive marketing - "the approach reveals sincerity and integrity, and builds heavily upon value."

Stutz is a proven commodity as she's gone from "no experience and no training" in a male-dominated, chauvinistic career field to a "top-of-her class" expert. Despite having to figure out how to sell on her own, she outshone her male colleagues by doing what came naturally - being nice. "Care about others and they, in turn, will provide a loyal following" - a concept completely foreign in the sales industry. Her tactics have brought her so much success that she's created a company around teaching her art, appropriately named "Smooth Sale."

Stutz's book is a message of empowerment for adult women who are looking to break into sales or those frustrated with their current strategies and yearn for a fresh approach. Although the book is aimed at women, those men looking for better sales practices would benefit as well. In fact, Stutz's techniques can also be applied to other industries - "business," after all, is essentially about selling yourself.

"Nice Girls DO Get the Sale" brilliantly conveys a refreshing way of doing business - nicely! Packed with easy-to-apply advice, Elinor Stutz effectively encourages her readers to have faith and never give up on what they believe in, while valuing honesty and reliability above the almighty dollar (which will naturally follow when labeled as "`the nice girl"). Stutz will have you cheering, "You go, girl!"

The Golden Apple: How to Grow Opportunity and Harvest Success

Average customer rating:

9 Lessons to Turn Your Career & Life Around
As Powerful as Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink"
Finding Value in a Lumpy Vegetable!
These strategies work
A fast and easy, inspiring read

The Golden Apple: How to Grow Opportunity and Harvest Success
Kathy Aaronson
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

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ASIN: 047177782X

Book Description

When Kathy Aaronson was eight years old, she set up a small roadside stand next to her family’s farm and began selling vegetables that weren’t up to supermarket standards (too small or too misshaped). Her entrepreneurial drive was sparked by a need to connect with people, and in the process of learning to sell successfully she learned about how to find and provide value to any type of customer. In The Golden Apple, Aaronson uses the lessons learned at her produce stand and applied later in executive sales to illustrate nine lessons that can help readers turn their careers and lives around. Using humor and practical, step-by-step guidance, this book will teach readers how to: get the attention of busy, distracted client prospects; how to do business confidently and well with anybody – even rude, crude client prospects; how to use stories to successfully sell products, services or ideas, and how to develop business relationships that will protect their careers in any economy. With the Golden Apple as their guide, readers will be confident they have the tools to make success easier than failure, in business and in life.

Kathy Aaronson, originally from New Hampshire, is the founder and CEO of the executive recruitment and sales training firm, The Sales Athlete, Inc., with offices in Los Angeles and New York City. A nationally recognized expert on executive sales, Kathy helps companies increase revenue and market share, and, for 30 years, assisting individuals in finding career happiness and wealth.

Customer Reviews:

9 Lessons to Turn Your Career & Life Around.......2007-01-08

I discovered this book from a review in the Orlando Sentinel, which pointed out that it "provides valuable insight into dealing with rejection and building positive business relationships." I like that it gives lots of examples, includes case studies and checklists so you not only understand this, but also can put it into action.
Here's what it includes:

Part One: Bringing Out the Value Within.

1. Finding Worth, Providing Value.

Checklist: What Is Value?

Nothing Happens Until You Sell Yourself.

2. Slowing Down the Traffic.

Creating Prospects.

The Five-Touch Technique.

3. Why We Buy, and How.

The Four Universal Types of Customers.

Building Loyalty with Every Sale.

Part Two: Turning Cold Calls into Warm Relationships.

4. Communicating with All the People, All the Time.

Six Possible Responses to Your Approach.

5. The Well-Polished Presenter.

The 24-Hour Professional.

Packaging Counts.

6. Storytelling Selling.

New Ideas: How to Show, Tell, and Sell.

A Seven-Point Presentation Structure for Selling Anything.

Rules for Storytelling Selling.

Part Three: Giving Something Extra.

7. An Apple for the Road.

Ten "Something Extra" Ideas.

Replenish--So You'll Have Something Extra to Give.

8. An Apple for the Teacher.

How to Find a Mentor.

How to Keep a Mentor.

9. It's All about the People.

How to Choose a Career You'll Love.

Career Security through Thick and Thin.

Epilogue: The Most Important People.

Appendix: The Golden Apple Action Plan.

As Powerful as Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink".......2006-11-09

Think fast, be creative, and know how to come up with your own speed bumps in life that get people to stop and pay attention. Kathy Aaronson reminds us of that "kid courage" that got us what we wanted as children. Are you applying it to your life today?

Finding Value in a Lumpy Vegetable!.......2006-05-17

While many of the strategies that Aaronson describes in her book are targeted to the sales/marketing professional, anyone who is truly serious about attaining career satisfaction will benefit from her wisdom and insight.

This book is a fast, enjoyable read, and definitely delivers on its promise to make "success easier than failure."

These strategies work.......2006-05-15

Kathy Aaronson's strategies for breaking through and building receptivity with all types of people changed the way I do marketing. This book is a fun read, filled with good tips for anyone with an idea to convey and services to sell.

A fast and easy, inspiring read.......2006-05-10

Check this book out. It works on many levels: an inspiratonal story, a sales primer and a humorous slice of how business works. Highly recommended

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