I don't work in sales but I found the title very intriguing. Whenever I think of sales, my mind conjures up an image Giving this book a rating of 3.5!
I don't work in sales but I found the title very intriguing. Whenever I think of sales, my mind conjures up an image of a very charismatic individual blessed with the gift of the gab. Truth is, this is the standard stereotype of the salesperson in public imagination. Therefore, when the book claimed to offer tips and techniques to help introverts perform in this field, I was intrigued.
The book is easy to read and well-structured. The author, himself an introvert, shares his insights through personal experiences, making the content relatable. As someone with no background in sales, I found the suggestions logical and practical—less about charm, more about standard steps and preparation.
I won’t summarise the entire book and bore with info dumping. I would, nevertheless, recommend checking out the blurb and other reviews to see if you found the book helpful.
So why read a book on sales at all? Because no matter your profession, the ability to pitch ideas and persuade others is a valuable skill—whether you're talking to clients, colleagues, or even family and friends.
Before I begin my review, I would like to mention that the book was published in 2005, and therefore, it is a bit dated. After all, a lot should have Before I begin my review, I would like to mention that the book was published in 2005, and therefore, it is a bit dated. After all, a lot should have changed in the intervening 18 years. However, in my humble opinion, there is still merit in reading the book. The authors, Fiona Czerniawska and Gilbert Toppin, have a good job explaining the business consulting industry. They have touched upon important topics such as
• The problems facing the industry o The perception that consultants are over-priced and rarely add real value to the project o Lack of trust in consulting firms due to scandals involving some famous firms • Different types of consultancy projects and firm-consultant relationships • How consultants can really add value • How to ensure that the consultancy project is a success • Skills required to be a successful consultant
I am not going to elaborate on the topics discussed in the book, but would only mention one point raised by the authors that one day competing consultancy firms might have to collaborate with their rivals while executing a complex project. I wonder how the project manager(s) would handle the team dynamics in such a scenario!
This compendium has been compiled by Prof. Thomas"Zoëga"Ramsøy. The good professor used to teach courses on neuroscience and neuromarketing at the CopThis compendium has been compiled by Prof. Thomas"Zoëga"Ramsøy. The good professor used to teach courses on neuroscience and neuromarketing at the Copenhagen Business School, and is considered one of the leading experts on neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience.
The compendium consists of scholarly articles on various aspects of neuroscience and practical applications in the field of neuromarketing.
In the professor’s own words - “ …I also recognize that this volume can also be a potentially valuable resource for both newcomers as well as experienced people within this discipline. Neuromarketing is today very much a conglomerate of divergent solutions; hyped up talks; and a mixture of true science and pop science gone terribly wrong. This collection of papers represent my own take on what the basics should entail”
I do agree that the articles are extremely helpful for individuals interested in learning the basics of neuromarketing. However, I should also tell you that this is not an easy read, you might have to put in a lot of efforts and time to read and comprehend the information and insights presented in the article. At least, I did find it a bit difficult to understand and most importantly retain the key takeways.
I do understand that this book is not for everybody. I read this compendium because I was piqued by the discipline of neuromarketing and I have a professional interest in the field of marketing.
Highly recommended to people interested in understanding the basics of neuromarketing!
I had chanced upon this book during one of my book hunting trips. The name of the book attracted my attention and the logline “Hidden Motives and thI had chanced upon this book during one of my book hunting trips. The name of the book attracted my attention and the logline “Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life” made me buy it.
The book has been authored by two behavioral economists Uri Gnezy and John List. They are advocates of conducting field experiments to understand motives behind human actions and how the correct incentives can alter our behavior.
The authors have presented some of their experiments and findings as they sought to understand if women were less competitive than men; how to make American “at risk” students catch up with their rich peers, and reduce gun violence in schools; why do individuals discriminate; how to inculcate healthy habits; how could charities generate more donations; and how businesses can use field experiments to be more innovative.
Most of the experiments were carried out in the US, but the authors did visit Africa, India and China to carry out their studies.
The book is very well-written and easy to read. I learnt quite a few things and it was fun to see how incentives could influence human behavior and the effects of minor tweaks to the incentives. I am not going to discuss the experiments and findings in detail but would like to talk about some of the findings in brief.
One interesting study focused on understanding if women were less competitive than men by nature or by nurture. They studied gender roles in the US, the highly patriarchal Masai of Africa and the matrilineal Khasi people of India. And, guess what!! It’s all influenced by culture and nurture.
Next would be their experiments in the public schools of Chicago. The authors wanted to understand how to improve test scores. Personally I am still not sure if students should be provided monetary incentives to study – they themselves must realize the value of education. However, for some students, especially those from disadvantaged background, if such incentives can help improve or even save a few lives, then I think it is worth it.
I found the chapters on discrimination quite insightful. Most people would consider discrimination to be a result of prejudice or bigotry. But, discrimination is not always animus-based, it can be driven by economics or in simple terms profit. The authors claim that while animus-based discrimination is on the decline, economic discrimination is on the rise, as evident in policies of insurance companies, job offers etc.
The experiments on how charities could increase donations were amazing. While some of the findings were common knowledge, some of the innovative techniques applied to increase donations were so simple and yet so effective.
I enjoyed the business case studies at the end. I was surprised by the Netflix fiasco. I do agree with the author’s claims that running field experiments to test decisions can really save reputation and probably millions of dollars.
This was a very interesting book. Understanding what incentives can bring about the desired change in behavior can be helpful to governments, schools, charities and businesses. I understand that everybody might not find this book interesting. But those who would like to have a go, I would urge you to go ahead....more
I chanced upon this one while book browsing in my library. The title, the praises from Harvard professors and CEOs as well as the credentials of the a I chanced upon this one while book browsing in my library. The title, the praises from Harvard professors and CEOs as well as the credentials of the authors made me borrow this book. I have a great interest in the use of digital technologies in marketing esp. in the use of social media for gleaning consumer insights and fostering a strong bond with customers.
The book talks about Digital Masters – companies that have made fantastic use of digital technologies (analytics, cloud, social media, mobile etc.) for creating a wonderful customer engagement, overhauling their internal processes or have created/reinvented their business model.
What I liked best is that the authors studied companies in diverse industries as well as companies from all over the world. We have examples from mining, manufacturing, publishing, airlines, wine business, cosmetics, FMCG, hospitality, technology, banking, insurance, automobiles etc. from countries such as US, UK, India, Chile, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Sweden etc. Along with companies, there are examples of how the Cleveland Museum of Arts has used digital technologies to create a fantastic experience for their visitors, how the Nordic Posts of Denmark and Sweden diversified into e-services in the 1990s.
The authors have themselves stated that this book is a guide and not a blueprint for transforming your business with the smart use of digital. The book provides examples how companies such as Burberry, Codelco, Nike, Starbucks, Asian Paints, Volvo, Pernod Ricard, Nestle, Caesars, L’Oreal, Intel and a host of other companies have used digital technologies to their advantage. The third part of the book is a playbook for senior management people. There are questionnaires which would help them gauge the status of their companies with regards to digital and leadership capabilities.
The key message from the book is that investment in technology alone is not sufficient to become a Digital Master. The company should have a strong vision – digital vision which needs to be effectively implemented in the right direction. This would be achieved by creating a symbiotic relationship between business and IT. A very strong top-down leadership is required to bring about the desired digital transformation.
Some of the examples provided were interesting. I am providing a small gist: Burberry’s digital initiatives creating a highly engaging customer experience; Codelco ( a mining firm owned by the government of Chile) using data analytics to improve their operations as well as improving the safety of their employees; Volvo coming up with their B2B2C model to get closer to their customers without bypassing their dealers; Jean-Pierre Remy, CEO of Pages Jaunes (Yellow Pages of France) steering his company to make the digital transformation; Pernod Ricard engaging their employees via a companywide enterprise social network which leads to sharing of best practices with respect to sales and marketing; Caesars Entertainment using data analytics to provide their guests with a personalized experience; reverse-mentoring program used by L’Oreal; crowd sourcing initiatives by EMC and P&G and the list goes on.
The examples were fine but I would have preferred a few detailed case studies, but the examples can whet your appetite for further research. I found some interesting articles in the Notes section also.
This book won’t make you master in the field of digital transformation but gives you an idea about the benefits offered by it and how some companies have successfully implemented it. People interested in the use of digital technologies might want to give this book a try.
The word Search in large font size and the word "Google" just below it had attracted my attention towards this book. Initially, I thought this book The word Search in large font size and the word "Google" just below it had attracted my attention towards this book. Initially, I thought this book is about Google and its impact on internet search but later discovered that the main focus of the book is search and understandably Google emerges as the central player.
This book is the revised edition which was published in 2006 and given the very nature of technology some of the technological stuff and rival players to Google discussed in the books have become dated. Nevertheless, I found this book quite interesting.
You don’t need to be a software engineer or a digital marketing professional to find search fascinating. All of us have been using search for personal, academic and professional reasons – whether it’s an academic project, finding the exact location of a restaurant, job opportunities, a book, information about a movie (the list is endless) – we have reached out to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon, Goodreads, IMDB and so on. Searching the internet has become such an integral part of our daily existence that whenever we need any information or want to buy something we just go online. The author himself has shared about his search experience on “tempting fate” and “immortality”.
The author very succinctly tells us about “search” during the early days, the technological challenges of search, paid search, the profound impact of search on business and marketing, government & corporate firms trying to obtain user information and most importantly – the ultimate reward ---- the perfect search , to which the author has devoted an entire chapter, IBM's WebFountain etc.
Through this book, I got to know about a fascination character called Bill Gross – he was the brain behind GoTo ( a search engine which later became Overture and sold off to Yahoo) among many other tech innovations. Most importantly, he was the man who came up with the system of auctioning off certain search words to the highest bidder and performance-based model of online advertising – advertisers pay only when people clicked on the advertisement, this model with modifications have been adopted as the standard. Later, Google adopted this model came up their own AdWords but ensured that search results were more relevant.
Coming back to Google, the author tells us about Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s PhD days at Stanford, how the idea of Google came to their minds, the setting up of the company and its meteoric rise till the writing of his book. He has talked about their struggles in the early days – how they celebrated when they received their first funding by going to Burger King, their various strategic decisions, the superiority of their technology and much more. At the same time he has also written about certain unsavoury aspects of Google – how Google compromised with its principles to operate in China, apparent manipulation of their search results during a lawsuit etc.
We all know what influence Google has on search and by extension on online advertising. When we think about e-commerce most of us usually imagine behemoths like Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart but there are so many small firms which depend upon the organic search results of Google – these are small businesses and can’t afford paid advertising. In 2003, when Google had tweaked their algorithm, many such small businesses had lost out on their business.
The author presents the story of Neil Moncrief, a seller of shoes for people with large feet, who totally depended upon the organic search result of Google for orders. His page had a good rank and business was fine but on 14th November, 2003 his phone stopped ringing. His store was not in the first hundred rankings. Imagine that – just before a critical holiday season his name has been wiped off the search results. Who goes beyond the results displayed in the first page of the search? He reached out to [email protected] and [email protected] but his emails went unanswered. This had happened to thousands of other small businesses. Google claimed it was only trying to weed out spammers but a few conspiracy junkies might have claimed that it was a move to get more people to sign into Adwords.
Battelle has written about Moncrief’s new boss – “His name was Google, and he made Ebenezer Scrooge look like a saint.”
I hope in the years that has gone by, Google has tweaked its algorithm such that similar incidents don’t happen again.
Whatever the business decisions of Google, none of us can deny the part it plays in our daily life. Not only just the search engine – we all depend upon Gmail, Google Chrome and a host of other Google services. Personally, I just can’t imagine a life without Google and I believe I speak for many if not most Internet users. I just hope it does not turn into the corporate monster so often portrayed in sci-fi and dystopian movies.
Overall, a good read but as I have already mentioned before this book is quite old so I would suggest some recently published books to learn about search and Google. I, myself, would certainly try to find such books. ...more
Martin Lindstrom, the author of this book, is a brand consultant who travels the world interviewing and observing people in their homes, shops and othMartin Lindstrom, the author of this book, is a brand consultant who travels the world interviewing and observing people in their homes, shops and other places. His job is to understand what makes consumers tick and come up with ideas that help brands grow, reinvent themselves and even avoid bankruptcy. His clientele includes brands such as Lego, Walt Disney, Pepsi among others.
If you have any interest in business, marketing or technology you must have come across the term “Big Data”. Big Data refers to mammoth volume of data which is analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions. Companies across diverse industries rely upon Big Data to take strategic decisions.
The premise of the book is that Big Data is not enough to spark insights. Big Data can provide valuable information but cannot capture the emotions of human beings; rather it is the triangulation of Small Data – data obtained by observing human behavior which leads to generation of great insights. The book also asserts that a foreigner is in a better position to truly detect cultural nuances or quirks, while the local will miss these things.
The book contains interesting case studies wherein the author had travelled to different countries – Russia, USA, India, Brazil, China among others, and studied the local people, their cultural norms while trying to help his clients accomplish a specific objective. I am not going into the details of his assignments, but I will say that I enjoyed reading how his observations and experience gleaned from diverse cultures helped him create insights.
I liked the opportunity to get a glimpse into the lives of people hailing from very diverse cultures. What I found was people across the world, despite their nationality or cultural differences, yearn for a sense of community, of belonging; they want to escape their mundane existence once in a while and connect with their inner child, show the world their different self and feel truly “liberated”; feel the desire to win the approval of their peers, blend in and yet be subtly different.
However, please keep in mind that you need to take some of his observations with a pinch of salt. I agree that a foreigner can be objective and identify the nuances and quirks of a culture, but his/her observations can be superficial and the resultant inference far-fetched or totally wrong. I can say that some of his observations about India were a bit off the mark.
The author himself admits that he is not a social scientist and Goodreads reviews by other readers also show that some of his observations about other countries were superficial or even wrong. Chip Heath, the author of the foreword cautions that “the book should not be read as a work of social science.” He goes as far as to say – “And while Martin is clearly a careful observer, he often extrapolates to grand conclusions that I suspect are bogus.”
Nevertheless, Heath also admits that Lindstrom does manage to “provoke his clients in new directions that are clearly better.”
As a person interested in marketing, I did enjoy reading the book. What I found helpful was the innovative ways of thinking and triangulating different data points to create an idea. If the content of the book piques your interest, then you can give this book a try.
I had purchased this book out of curiosity for India's largest software exporter. Nobody can deny the huge contributions made by the Information TechnI had purchased this book out of curiosity for India's largest software exporter. Nobody can deny the huge contributions made by the Information Technology (IT) and ITES sectors in the Indian growth story and Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) is indeed one of the pioneers in this field.
The book is written by S. Ramadorai, ex-CEO of TCS. The book starts with a little about Ramadorai’s childhood, his family and about his personal beliefs, then starts the story of TCS.
This book corrected many of the misconceptions that I had about TCS and at the same time educated me about the many challenges faced by the company.
I was under the impression that TCS had been founded after the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, but the fact is it was founded in 1968. Actually, TCS was built upon another Tata company.
I liked the way Ramadorai has described the early days of the company. The challenges and frustrations faced by the company owing to License Raj (needing a government permit to do anything), the prohibitive taxes levied on importing a computer – it was 100%, restrictions on foreign spending, lack of spare parts for the machines – all made me realize how difficult the journey had been for these people. There was no internet in those days, codes were sent on tapes; a small change meant a week’s delay. I can’t even imagine how tough working in the IT sector must have been back then.
TCS manage to survive and excel despite Government regulations, relied upon the Indian habit (which still exists) of making do with less to tackle the lack of equipment and world-class infrastructure but the greatest challenge must have been selling an Indian firm to foreign clients.
I was surprised to learn that TCS had been selling their services to American, British and Swiss clients way back in the 1970s. Back then, the world esp. the West would not have associated India with software & technology. Ramadorai has mentioned how he used to visit companies in the US to sell TCS – he did not even have a car (spending restrictions imposed by the government) and solely depended upon the subway.
One thing the narrative lacks is that the author did not elaborate how he managed to convince his clients to give their business to an Indian company. I would have loved to hear about his sales pitch and specific instances when he had managed to win over a particularly difficult client.
Barring the challenges faced due to the government policies, Ramadorai has not mentioned any big problem internal to the company. This man had started his career with TCS and retired as the CEO, you can’t expect him to wash dirty linen in public, but some issues should been mentioned. The Tatas have always been respected for their pro-employee policies, but some issues are bound to be there – clash of personalities, ideas, beliefs – these are common to all companies.
The book chronicles the many achievements of the company and many interesting facts came up. I learnt about TCS’s involvement in modernizing India’s financial markets.
The importance of branding also comes up. Initially, the TCS management had thought that their good work would speak for itself but they discovered that after the Indian economy opened up newer entrants were generating more publicity and brand recall. Then TCS employed strategic brand consultants and the “Certainty Campaign” was launched to gain more publicity.
The last chapters details how technology can be used to improve the lives of the masses esp. those living in remote areas and lack the basics of the modern life. I found this part interesting.
I had expected that the book would describe what factors led to the rise of the Indian software industry – the business and politics involved, what supported the industry and what hampered the industry. These were not described in detail.
This is a good book but it could have been great. People interested in the story of TCS or Indian software industry might want to check it out. I am sure there are other good books out there but this one is not a waste of time also. ...more
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