Book Description
Two world-renowned marketing consultants and bestselling authors present the definitive rules of marketing.
Customer Reviews:
Trout and Ries write the laws on marketing.......2007-09-27
Using actual examples and sharp analysis, Al Ries and Jack Trout offer 22 "laws" that amount to a basic, concise distillation of their marketing experience and wisdom. Their examples are pithy enough to keep the most jaded marketing person engaged. And their lessons are embedded verities that would be hard to dispute. The only drawback is that this classic may be a bit dated, so it is interesting to see how surprisingly well some of their original observations have fared over the years. We recommend this classic to anyone seriously interested in marketing. After all, you can't ignore the law.
Timeless laws.......2007-07-14
Although this book is rather old, and was written before the online era, these marketing laws are timeless and should be etched in to the mind of every marketer. Highly recommended, even in 2007.
Still A Great Book.......2007-05-20
Although it was written in 1994, this book holds strong as an good resource for marketing professionals. It is a fun and fast read that will get you focused on what you need to be doing to be a successful marketer.
"Great Place to start for the beginner"........2007-05-11
This book was fun to read. It is straight to the point, a quick read, easy to follow and written for the novice or expert with lots of meaningful contents, great ideas and examples. It is not a book that will leave you confused, it will leave you with a full understanding of what it takes to be successful in marketing. This book is not going to turn you into a marketing guru over night. "Marketing situations are subject to a zillion of circumstances" as Alexander Repiev puts it. This is just a primer on the subject. However, this book's concept is very faddish. It is very contradictory and deceptive as some of the laws depict, but by the time most people realize it they would have already spent their money on the book.
As marketing professional.......2007-03-30
As an online marketing professional for an internet web design company, I found this relatively old book to be quite useful in the online arena. This book is a quick read much like their other books. If you are a marketing professional, or an assistant to a marketing professional, or in school dreaming of becoming an assistant to a marketing professional, or just now applying to schools to study to be an assistant to a marketing professional, then this book would prove to be invaluable. As with many of their books, it's a quick read and you almost wonder why you spent the money. I suggest you get it used or combined with some kind of deal. Although it is an excellent book, it's not the type of book you have to get right away. Wait until there is some kind of sale, or super saver discount, or "borrow" it from your neighborhood library.
Book Description
When Guerrilla Marketing was first published in 1983, its edgy approach helped it shoot to the top of bestseller lists. The book was a breakthrough for small businesses and has since yielded several classics bearing the immediately recognizable, Guerrilla name.
Now, at long last, Jay Conrad Levinson has teamed up with two high-profile PR execs - Rick Frishman and Jill Lublin - to produce GUERRILLA PUBLICITY: Hundreds of sure-fire tactics to get maximum sales for minimum dollars
The PR bible for a new decade. The book lays out an aggressive plan for learning how to build publicity campaigns from the inside out, zeroing in on a targeted market and infusing a marketing plan with publicity hooks.
This powerhouse work also includes:
Inside information on how to make friends in the media
Simple ways to get others to spread the company's message
Sample press releases and media kits-"Guerrilla" style
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Reference.......2007-07-22
This is one of my dog-eared, marked up books. I come back to it time and again to check strategies, look for new ideas and test tactics. You don't have to do everything at once. Just pick a tip or approach, follow through and measure your results. You'll find that many of these timeless practices fit the Internet-age, as well.
A Must for every small business person!.......2007-07-14
I can't say enough good things about this book. I have most of the Guerilla marketing books, but this was a real must for me. Having a limited budget to get exposure, Levinson helped me take my company and my authors to the next level of success.
I look forward to continued success under the guidance of Mr. Levinson and his Guerilla Books.
A Derek Sivers Recommedation.......2007-06-01
Derek Sivers said: "Get this or die in obscurity!" So I did.
You really only need this one book to get started........2006-02-03
It doesn't matter what your industry, product or service may be, the rules of PR are still the same and Guerilla Publicity does a fabulous job of starting at the very beginning and taking you step by step through everything you need to know; from writing outstanding press releases, to managing media lists to the absolute importance of following up once you have sent your kit out. I use this book as my PR bible, just last night I picked it up and flicked through for a refresher course. Not only does it provide the information but also the enthusiasm needed to launch a PR campaign and is a wonderful resource to keep on your shelf.
Review by Irene Watson, author of "The Sitting Swing.".......2005-11-12
The authors give the reader an insight to what to do next. A must read for anyone that needs publicity. Easy to read, but at the same time gives inspiration on taking the next step.
Book Description
Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up is a real-world story of winning in business by motivating employees in the most positive way possible -- nurturing them, showing that you value their accomplishments, and giving them the skills and the responsibility to become winners. Frank Pacetta, the hard-working man who engineered the drastic performance turnarounds of Xerox's Cleveland and Columbos sales staffs, gives the reader the same techniques he uses to build a winning business team:
* How to develop trust and create loyalty
* How to generate enthusiasm and excitement
* How to establish feedback and accountability
* How to rebuild an organization, and then lead and energize it
* How to put the organization on top and keep it there year after year
This book is check-full of practical, proven tips on leadership and management, everything from motivation to communication to all the nuts and bolts of selling successfully. And Pacetta has included his Top Ten Tips (and created Ten More Top Tips), which were featured in The Wall Street Journal and which have been copied and posted on office bulletin boards across the country.
Customer Reviews:
BUILDING TEAMS IS IMPORTANT TOWARDS THE END OF A STORM.......2007-05-04
As I read the book by Frank Pacetta entitled, Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up, I was mystified at parallelisms of success between award winning organizations that I've been a witness and party to while also seeing that the author was able to break down many of those perspectives into tangible chartable elements. His prose takes an awesome approach for change management in highly fluid corporate environments.
His most important perspective was creating an environment that had lost for so long, and changing that into a culture of winning. This was a difficult process even as the words fell off the page. Fear, resent, back-stabbing are all processes that make change difficult. His first step in that process was to reward the achievers and create an environment that lead with rewards and praise instead of fear and punishment. While there were consequences for actions, it seems that the subtleties between an attitude change were all that was needed. It was a bit more than semantics however, it was placing the achievers on a pedestal and providing incentives for the team (not the individual) to succeed. This culture allowed more people to succeed and what he created there was something unique and interesting.
Another interesting perspective that he had was setting the bar hi. This wasn't something that he was just throwing out but something very important to a successful organization. Rather than fire people and set a tone in the organization, he noted that he just elevated the bar to achieve and the people who didn't want to be a part of that process left the organization on their own. This was an amazing phenomenon. The hard work and sweat of people's labors was in itself self-correcting to the organization.
He practices a virtue that I've admired from great Marines that I've worked with. There is a virtue of leadership in the Marine Corps from many of the officers I've worked for and that is that they lead by example. While he was demanding greatness from his office, he was delivering on it himself as well and that kind of consistency was important to the team building process. While I was recruiting for the Navy, a Senior Chief name Dan Medlock was my regional manager or in the civilian world what they often call a DBM. He spent his days helping the weakest elements of a state-wide team. He assisted in the nurturing of new personnel and showed them ropes for building a successful team. It was neat to see that this character trait was present in the leadership and team building that was going on in Cleveland when the manager himself was making 4 sales calls a day. This process creates an interesting synergy that is unmistakable in its effects. When I train with my current CO, his leadership style is the same. He's extremely competitive and driven in his processes and when we hit the ground, he's at the forefront of the mission, leading. That kind of leadership is something the troops, the sales force deeply respects.
His ability to manage setbacks and failure is another important quality that I find best about great leadership. When he talked about his Fall of 1991, they had a horrible September sales and he thought it might be going down the drain. His ability to rebound from that set back and work towards turning it around even in the face of that kind of adversity, makes for an amazing character trait. Even his ability to recognize how success can challenge an organization because people have a natural tendency to rest on their laurels. When I recruited this was a difficult task at hand. After my first year in working for an organization that had missed its sales goal for 10 years, we had turned it around and won almost every national and regional award possible including station of the year, recruiter of the year and rookie of the year. Even more embarrassing to the other office managers, was that we secured most of the runner up awards as well in a small market. What made this a more amazing team thought and more powerful than a flash in the pan was that we repeated this process three years in a row and literally changed much of the perspectives of the way the recruiting process was working through out the entire Navy. It made history in the organization and when I read this tendency to coast, I remembered those times, when the calls were coming in and life seemed good... I was afraid though after reading a book, Who Moved My Cheese, that those sources would dry up and then I'd be up a creek. I continued to prospect and my chances to succeed multiplied! It was amazing and when I read this same principle in this book, it was interesting to note the parallels of how organizations like this that are consistently successful don't rest. The virtue there is that there is another hungry, younger, salesman around the corner who will get the contract if you don't. You have to be persistent, smart, engaging and working hard all the time. That's easy to do in a crisis but often difficult in an organization that is feing the benefits of its success.
The last and most interesting aspect of this team building exercise was how it became contagious in the entire organization. As the team he built became successful other individuals in the company and other top performers from other organizations wanted to be a part of it. This amazing phenomenon had interesting consequences. Some people wanted to join the organization to be a part of something big, thinking the good life was there, and not realizing how difficult and fragile that success was. The other was the amazing talent that did want to come on board and the management task of being able to distinguish between the two. The author described this as `drudgery'. Another parallel to my own experience in this fashion was the types of folks who would call out out of the blue to see what we were doing in Milwaukee. They accused us of cheating and bending the rules in some dark fashion. Those who were wise, replicated what we were doing in their own corner of the country and they realized their own success. The entire quality of the organization outside our own scope and area of operation and responsibility improved as a result of this and we couldn't even measure or see the results to their full extent. People were tired of hearing our names and hearing about Milwaukee so they went out an got some of their own. It was amazing.
As I read this book, it read like a textbook of experience from our own experiences in Milwaukee. Ever page fell out like I was reading a memoirs written by my good friend Dan Medlock. For managers that would be wanting to duplicate these successes, this is a great book for understanding that kind of process. You can have those individual superstars, however, it is the team that creates something extraordinary and more importantly its almost self-perpetuating. That kind of leadership is important and Frank Pacetta is definitely a pace setter and his processes of leadership should be duplicated in every organization.
Great Motivator.......2007-03-22
It doesn't matter what job specialty you are in, if you supervise people - or are an up-and-coming supervisor - you have to read this book.
The focus is on sales. But many of the principles outlined can be used no matter what you do. The basic principles even work with dealing with your own family - namely teenagers!
You learn that it's about your attitude and you taking responsibility for your actions. It's about knowing that PEOPLE are the most important asset there is. Take care of 'your' people and you will get results. Laziness and complacency will end your career in a hurry.
The book is a quick read and entertaining too. Frank does talk about himself quite a bit, and you may get the impression that he is 'stuck on himself'. I think that it is just that he has confidence in himself and his abilities.
Learn from this man. The book IS worth you time. Actually, I liked it so much that I bought a copy for each of the supervisors in my office.
Take a chance! The worst that could happen is that you will stay the way you are.
The one book I refer and give over and over again........2005-12-06
When any of my friends get promoted to management, I give them a copy of this book. I like reading lots of different business books, but this is one I refer to over and over again. Sage advice that is a breeze to read through and will motivate you to do the right things with your business and your team.
Should be required reading for managers.......2004-03-31
I read this book first some 6 years ago when I first got into management. A former copier salesperson myself, Frank's story isn't just one of inspiration. His strategies, tips and techniques to motivate a staff are dead on. The owner of a sales training company today, I still find myself utilizing his strategies when I provide my own individual sales coaching. This book is guaranteed to make you money. 5 stars all the way!
Todd Natenberg, Author of the book, "I just got a job in sales! Now what?" A Playbook for Skyrocketing Your Commissions
Basic rules in how to revive a business........2004-02-16
If you have been to business school, most of these pointers have been learned. Still books like this are a refreshing read on how to revive a business. Frank has ten pointers to learn, but most businessmen already know these. I can summarize some: work hard, start early, work as a team, recognize employees who perform, and before you leave for the day, make one final effort.
This is not brain surgery, but it is amazing the number of businesses that fail in even this.
If I had any critique of these principles, it it the author focusing on the sales side. These principles can be applied to any business. A simple, refreshing read.
Book Description
Many organizations have the gift of taking committed, enthusiastic people and turning them into cynics over time. This statement rings true for too many companies, despite the good intentions of their leadership.
While today's bottom-line-oriented business environment demands that business owners and managers keep a close eye on costs, many miss the opportunity to strengthen their profit potential through strong internal marketing to employees.
In their new book, Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and Wow Your Customers, internal marketing experts Susan Drake, Michelle Gulman, and Sara Roberts demonstrate how employee communications is the key to delivering on brand expectations and solidifying customer relationships. Step-by-step, learn how to engage employees in the vision of your business and motivate them to think like business owners, thus empowering them to make decisions that build brand and customer loyalty.
You will…
- Identify the varying perspectives of different audiences.
- Tailor your messages for maximum effectiveness.
- Understand and use a combination of communications tools.
- Get more mileage from your orientation and training programs.
- Measure the effectiveness of your messages.
Light Their Fire includes practical tools and case studies that address the role of internal marketing in a variety of situations, from mergers to department branding to project implementation. This is the ideal primer for company executives, business owners, human resource professionals, and department managers on how successful companies create, implement, and measure the effectiveness of their own internal marketing plans.
Customer Reviews:
Basic Manual on Employee Loyalty.......2005-11-16
This basic manual teaches you how to encourage your employees to buy into your business strategy and brand before you begin selling to real-world customers. Internal marketing programs should be part of every company's operations. Authors Susan M. Drake, Michelle J. Gulman and Sara M. Roberts show that motivated, energetic employees are important assets; they can expand your business exponentially. Simply by fulfilling basic human desires for recognition, advancement, esteem and education, you can build tremendous employee loyalty. Written in a light, breezy style, which occasionally might have benefited from more detail, this book provides examples of companies that have instituted exceptional programs. We strongly recommend it to executives, small business owners, and human resource and department managers looking for strategies to energize their companies by using their most valuable
resource: their people.
Internal marketing, internal communication, good viewpoint.......2005-09-17
Companies pay a lot of attention to a strong marketing plan for consumers but often don't pay much attention to internal marketing. One of the most powerful marketing forces you have is your employees. When they are excited about your product then they tell others. The authors of this book provide step-by-step guidance on how to get your employees to become your best marketing source by being your most dedicated consumer. They even include details on how to do things like break bad news to employees in such as way that it does not demoralize others.
Starting with Chapter 4 the authors take you on a detailed method for setting a course for action, setting goals, and then achieving those goals. Chapter 5 follows up with communicating good and bad news, choosing the right vehicle for communicating your message, and making the most of that communication vehicle. Other chapters include training as a marketing tool and using rewards and recognition. Easy to understand and apply, Light Their Fire is highly recommended.
Steps toward Success...........2005-08-24
Once picked up, this book would not easily yield to being put down again.
Written in fast-paced style, with great insight and illustrated with a fund of anecdotal evidence, "Light Their Fire" is a valuable blueprint for any organisation to follow in getting a grip on their internal processes that lead to external successes.
Throughout the book, I became aware of a feeling that issues raised in the book were pointing to the necessary creation of another one to address them... I look forward to it with anticipation.
Light Their Fire.......2005-08-09
We are always trying to attract new customers. We seek new and attractive ways to bring them into our work places, but we forget that some of our best advertizers are the people who work for us. Light Their Fire focuses on pulling our employees into the advertizing mix and making them part of the equation of success. Sections of the book also focus on planning, which we all lack. We have meeting with staff and plan for the meetings only hours in advance. What are you going to focus on but the negitives rather than the positives. Proper planning starts when, if not before, the meeting is scheduled. Well worth the time to read.
Removing the Dilbert Aspect From YOUR Company.......2005-07-18
As anyone who has ever read Dilbert knows, working for a big company sucks. The pointy haired managers are all too common. This book is on solving that problem.
People in most companies are made to feel that their contribution, their importance to the company is just about nil. Experience has shown most of us that devotion to the company is not reciprocated. We think we are doing well, we think we are doing what the company wants. And we are on the lay off list.
The difference here is communications within the company. Are we really pushing in the direction that the company wants to go, do we understand what the company is expecting of us. Most of us care, most of us don't feel that the company cares.
This book talks about inter company communications and how management can most effectively communicate their views to employees. This includes the three key points of identifying and tailoring your messages for maximum effectiveness, understanding and using various communications tools to get as much understanding out of your messages as possible, and most important, measuring the effeciveness of your messages.
This book presents internal communications in a new but easy to understand light.
Average customer rating:
- AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR SECURITY CONSULTANTS!!
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The Formula for Selling Alarm Systems
Lou Sepulveda
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
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ASIN: 0750697520 |
Book Description
Learn the theory behind the formula for sales success! The Formula for Selling Alarm systems provides answers to some of the mysteries of selling in the alarm industry. The reader will learn proven methods of selling more effectively with a step-by-step method of selling closing. The author urges readers to apply the principles and steps in the book for a minimum of twenty-one days, the amount of time it takes to form a habit.
Learn how to make your prospects think like you do - the key to selling. You will discover the way to avoid common pitfalls and 'stinking thinking', in addition to answering objections and concerns confidently and professionally. The Formula for Selling Alarm Systems addresses all of these areas and is written by someone with more than 28 years of sales experience. This unique book is must-have for every alarm dealer.
Uncovers the secrets of successful selling.
Teaches frustrated salespeople how to improve their sales skills.
Provides the reader with a step-by-step method of selling and closing.
Customer Reviews:
AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR SECURITY CONSULTANTS!!.......1999-08-12
For too long in my home security sales experience, I was totally unorganized. After reading this book, I developed an organized plan for prospecting, making presentations, and closing the sale! Though this book is only about 150 pages long, it has a wealth of knowledge that any home security sales person needs to have! Thank you Mr. Sepulveda for writing this book! It has already resulted in more sales for me!!!
Book Description
A nagging conscience makes V.I. Warshawski agree to fill in as coach for the girls' basketball team at her South Side alma mater-which in turn leads her to the headquarters of By-Smart, the global retail empire where V.I. hopes to get some desperately needed funds for the struggling squad. But conscience seems to be in short supply at By-Smart...with the exception of Billy Bysen. He's the earnest teenage grandson of the chain's gruff, tight-fisted founder. And when Billy disappears-along with a mysterious document much desired by By-Smart's management team-V.I. is hurled onto a twisted, body-strewn path that runs through Chicago's dirtiest places, and reveals some of its dirtiest secrets.
Customer Reviews:
Worse Than Ever.......2007-06-22
Sarah Paretsky started out as an amateur with a good premise: a real believable hard-boiled woman character. Her first books were entertaining, despite her obvious limitations as a writer. She no longer is an amateur and I no longer have patience with her incredibly awkward writing, her relentless inclusion of information that a talented high school-aged writer would know to edit out, lame dialogue and cardboard-cutout characters. After a dozen novels in what appears to be a very successful career, it is incumbent upon her to either try to learn more about her craft, or at least get an editor who can clean up her books for her. The mystery field has a lot of very talented women writers - Lindsey Davis, Donna Leon, Ellis Peters, Margaret Lawrence, Jamie Harrison, Martha Grimes, and on and on. Readers should demand better from their favorite authors than someone like Paretsky gets away with.
A dependable author for good read..........2007-05-08
It's been a while since I got a mystery to read, but I was in one of those moods where I just cannot bare to read anything that I need to be able to remember or make sense of for teaching, or writing. I just looked quickly at the books available in the local pharmacy, and there was a Paretsky that I had managed to miss. As I've read most of her other ones, I thought I could take a chance. Some of the newer writers tend to go into areas that disturb me, or their language bothers me, but there are a few authors I feel comfortable with reading for 'light' material. Some people complain that Paretsky writes with an ulterior motive. Most of her material has stuff built into the plot to make a statement about something important to her. That's okay. I may not always agree with what she says, but then if I really wanted to read something asinine I would read a romance. I don't read those things because of exactly that reason.
Anyway, her plot in this book was much better than the last one was, though as per usual, she uses her novels to take pot-shots at what is currently bothering her. In this case, it must be corporate America as well as the current administration, plus current steps backwards that have been made in equal rights for women and other minorities in jobs and health care. Since I agree with her on this stuff, I have no problem reading a book with a decent plot utilizing this. It comes out a little preachy, a little heavy-handed...there was actually too much information in this book to make a good statement about any one problem. The plot deals with American corporations not paying decent wages, and paying unequal ones with an eye towards holding down health care costs by saying especially women cannot hold jobs that make a full 40 hour week. I guess they would have a problem if we were French, since they all currently work less than a 35 hour week. No one would be insured.
Paresky returns to South Chicago where she was born and raised to try to help, and ends up turning the place into a busy criminal beehive, with companies resorting to illegal tactics to keep costs down. The names of the entities may have changed, but anyone who reads a newspaper can pretty much determine who she is writing about. There is an awful lot of incongruity built into the plot...I figured out where the kids were prior to the chapters Paresky used to build up to the point. Others would have figured it out and checked with the other coach also.
As with many series, this one is getting old. AFter reading this much about Chicago, and visiting once, I have absolutely no desire to go anywhere near that city again. Makes me glad to live in Pittsburgh...between the attitudes of the cops, the criminals, the weather, etc. there is nothing of interest up there for me. It really seems like a dark place, a dark blot on our national landscape. Makes for great mystery novels, but wouldn't want to live there...
Karen Sadler
Crippled by dumb politics.......2007-04-17
When I first heard of Sara Paretsky, she had only written two books. I used to go to a bookstore, and the owner recommended Paretsky to me as a writer who was similar to Sue Grafton, at least in the sense that both had female protagonists. That store owner told me that men tended to like her books more than women, and so she recommended the author to me. Those two books were quite good, serious, intelligent, straightforward detective novels with the one difference being that the main character is a woman. Since then, the author has built a good reputation as a detective novelist. At the same time, she's also gained chops as a "social critic", which at times is OK, but with Paretsky, it's not. She doesn't know how to do it subtly, and social criticism, if done ham-handedly, is just boring to read and silly.
PLOT SPOILER AHEAD
In the current episode, Paretsky's alter ego, V.I. Warshawski, has been called back to her old neighborhood by her former high school basketball coach. The coach is dying of cancer, can't coach the team anymore, and needs a replacement. Warshawski's reluctant: she runs her own detective agency, and doesn't have time for this, especially when she finds out that there's no pay. But her loyalty to her old coach overcomes that, and she finds herself blowing a whistle and yelling at a dozen girls as they run up and down the court.
The basketball isn't really what the book's about, though. If that were the case, it might have turned out to be a really good book: similar to Robert B. Parker's Spenser novel Early Autumn, which was the one that convinced me Parker was going to be something special. Instead, Paretsky steers the plot to the largest local business, BySmart, an obvious stand-in for Walmart (though that store is mentioned several times). BySmart is run by William Bysen, a World War II veteran, pulled-himself-up -by-his-bootstraps kind of guy, who has a large family who help him run the business. My first objection to the book is the portrayal of Bysen and his family. I know Paretsky well enough to know that they, or some of them anyway, are going to be the villains of the piece. They are Born Again Christians (of course), incredible hypocrites (goes without saying, doesn't it?), opposed to Unions (you knew that already), and incredibly greedy (why am I telling you this?). It's all written just heavy-handed enough to be silly, without going so far that you could say she was parodying herself. Anyway, Warshawski goes to the local warehouse for the company's stores to try and convince them to donate to her school basketball program, and they predictably have an ineffective, small charity that they've already set up, and trumpet in their TV commercials, so they don't need to give her any money. Then things get complex.
The mother of one of V.I.'s players works in a shop sewing sheets, banners, and flags. Someone's been trying to sabotage the plant, putting dead rats in the air vents of the building, gluing the doors shut with crazy glue, that sort of thing. She asks V.I. to look into it, then mysteriously backs off and insists the investigation is unnecessary, without saying why. V.I. won't buy that explanation, and doggedly continues her investigation (for which she isn't getting paid) without permission, and is watching the factory when it blows sky high, killing the owner.
Meanwhile, there's a separate issue in that another of Warshawski's players collapses on the floor of the court during practice. After a hospital visit and examination we learn she has a genetic heart condition, and can't play ball any more. It turns out her father is an old classmate of V.I.'s, and soon he's helping one of V.I.'s boyfriend Morell's colleagues, as that woman (her name is Marcena) as she tries to learn about "the America Europe doesn't know". She's English, a globe-trotting journalist who drove a tank through Bosnia one time, and Warshawski is predictably jealous of the rapport she has with Morrell, who's recently back from Afghanistan with many bullet holes, recuperating.
You can see there are a lot of plot threads here, and it takes a good long while for Paretsky to let her main character sort through them. This is a 500+ page private eye novel, and it's not tightly plotted like something Greg Iles or James Lee Burke would write, with everything sort of following from one event or incident to another. Here, poor Warshawski runs back and forth trying to keep all the balls in the air, and when the climactic confrontation between our heroine and the villains finally does occur, it's very predictable, and she's telegraphed it for at least half the book. It's also badly contrived, and doesn't really make a lot of sense, and once you discover who the actual killers are, their motivations are absurd, in the extreme, even for spoiled rich kids.
I used to really enjoy Sara Paretsky. I know her politics are different from mine, and that didn't used to matter. I still read Walter Mosley, for instance, and I'm pretty sure I disagree with his politics too: his stories trump that, however. Paretsky's gotten so lame with hers, though, that they cripple the story and make everything very very predictable. The only mystery here is why someone thought the book should be in the mystery section. It's sort of annoying, perhaps dismaying, to know that someone dislikes rich people (other than themselves, of course) enough that they can't find anyone or anything positive to say about a character they make wealthy. Yes, there are corporate moguls who every bit as evil as the ones she portrays in the book, but they're not *all* like that. I think Paretsky either doesn't think they exist, or alternatively thinks they'd make a bad story. Unfortunately, so did the characters she chose to portray.
Great Writing, Scrambled Plot.......2007-01-22
SP's prose is top notch: Every word works. Sentences work. Dialogue works. But the plot is scattered, as if SP kept saying to herself, "I need to keep the action going. What happens next...and next?" Try diagraming the plots to see what I mean. Yes, some of her characters are just cardboard without any depth or reality. How about gratuitous? I felt out of breath, trying to keep up with the frequent changes in action. Also, the constant harping on the depressing South Side depressed me! Notice that her one foray "to the country" lasted only three sentences!
One of Paretsky's best!.......2007-01-08
There are not many of Paretsky's books that I will reread, as they're too grueling and don't have ENOUGH of the closeness among friends, etc. that I especially enjoy. Total Recall was an exception, and so is this. I was so satisfied with it that I gave a friend a copy for Christmas.
Book Description
Turn your team into a sales army! Information Technology (I.T.) continues to be the fastest growing sales industry in the world. If you're one of the seven million people worldwide involved in selling I.T. solutions, you need to give yourself an edge. With a full understanding of the challenges unique to I.T. sales, author Brian Giese has perfected the program for turning you and your team into a lean, mean revenue machine. I.T. Sales Boot Camp is your survival guide for any combat scenario. You'll be armed with such techniques as how to: Discover the SECRET value in a technology sale - Capture large buyers and win major deals - Communicate with highly informed, techo-savvy buyers - Adjust to a constantly changing market using advanced technology - Adapt to various needs by closing the GAP with buyers Offering far more than mere "basic training," author Brian Giese gives you a "secret weapon" for pushing sales way over the top and ensuring satisfied buyers every time! BRIAN GIESE is the founder of ITSELLING, a sales training and consulting organization in Bethesda, Maryland. Giese conducts sales and management seminars for world-class I.T. organizations around the world. His I.T. Sales Boot Camp seminar has trained over 20,000 I.T. salespeople, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, including many from Fortune 500 companies. Giese is a recipient of the million-dollar award from the Society of Software Sellers and is a frequent speaker at sales events. Visit www.ITselling.com for more information.
Customer Reviews:
I.T. Sales Boot Camp:.......2003-05-24
Recently I had the opportunity to interview for a sale position with a much respected software company. A few days before the interview I had just finished reading I.T. Sales Boot Camp. The concept and fundamental ideals of selling in an I.T. arena that were taught and express in the book enabled me to land the job. I believe that the knowledge that I gain from I.T.Sales Boot Camp made the different in my interview.
Roadmap for technology sales.......2002-11-21
As opposed to most "hot new" sales approaches which focus on changing your personal style, this book does a great job of providing a strategic step-by-step plan from A-Z. It's void of fluff and gets right to the point of outlining the nuts and bolts of the process including pre-sales planning, performance tracking, maintaining growth, and writing proposals. It's worth reading in general and especially for those migrating into tech sales.
Very Realistic - Keys for Salespros.......2002-09-27
This book does an excellent job in teaching the keys of IT sales. The author has worked for Novell and other big technology companies, and he reflects that with good examples of several sales situations during the negotiation phase. You should have this if you want to achieve million dollar quotas.
There's also another book out there called "How To Sell Technology" by a guy called DiModico. It's ok for people with no experience in sales that want explanations of the basic sales processes, people types and all that stuff. Best wishes for your sales careers.
Very Realistic - Keys for Salespros.......2002-09-27
This book does an excellent job in teaching the keys of IT sales. The author has worked for Novell and other big technology companies, and he reflects that with good examples of several sales situations during the negotiation phase. You should have this if you want to achieve million dollar quotas.
There's also another book out there called "How To Sell Technology" by a guy called DiModico. It's ok for people with no experience in sales that want explanations of the basic sales processes, people types and all that stuff. Best wishes for your sales careers.
Teaching an old dog new tricks.......2002-09-03
I've been in sales for 15 years. I'm a learner and I've read many of the books and been to the popular seminars on sales (Strategic Selling, Selling Solutions etc.). I just got into the IT sales field last year and highly recommend this book. This book is a solid, no-hype approach to complex selling. It gives me a blueprint to follow, it's very accurate for today's technology challanges and I found it easy to read as well! I usually don't recommend stuff but this book is a real "secret" weapon.
Average customer rating:
- Salesmanship in the security alarm business
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Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Lou Sepulveda
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-
The Formula for Selling Alarm Systems
ASIN: 0750670983 |
Book Description
In the very competitive security alarm business, companies are finding themselves more and more burdened with the responsibility of preparing corporate mission statements, paradigm analyses, and corporate reengineering plans. Surviving in the Security Alarm Business will help explain their importance, how to perform them, and what the expected result will be.
Teaches alarm professionals how to recreate their business "from scratch" for greater selling success
Illustrates how to do business in the future in response to market changes and trends
Suggests techniques for willing recurring revenue rather than single-sale profit
Customer Reviews:
Salesmanship in the security alarm business.......1999-06-10
The author is director of Dealer Development for ADT Security Systems with 30 years practical field experience. The back cover includes an endorsement by Tom Hopkins, Master Sales Trainer, author of How to Master the Art of Selling. The title of the book suggested to me that it would be dealing with many areas of the security alarm business. But from front cover to back, it very heavily emphasizes professional salemanship. How to effectively find pro sales people, train them, help motivate them to increase sales. Most of this information about salesmanship is general - not particularly confined to the security alarm business. The words, "salesperson" or "salepeople" can be found on almost every page of this book. The author does have another book, "The Formula for Selling Alarm Systems" which he states will teach you how to sell alarm systems. He goes on to say it is the best alarm sales training book available today. So if alarm salesmanship is what you are interested in, that is the book you should probably get considering the author's credentials. "Surviving in the Security Alarm Business" is just another salesmanship book. This one, however, just doesn't come as highly recommended by the author. In fact, he uses "Surviving in the Security Alarm Business" to promote the other book including training videos and provides address & phone number for ordering.
Book Description
Author Joe Contrera brings Executive Coaching and Sales Management together for the first time in a simple, effective 21-day program. This easy-to-read guide will help you to identify and reignite the fire that inspired you to become a Sales Leader. More importantly, this book will show you how to LIGHT the fire in your team!
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book! .......2007-07-16
This book is delivered through a sales context, however the principals and concepts are applicable to any managerial context. Anyone that is willing to follow Joe's advice and actually apply the knowledge in this book will benefit tremendously, trust me, I know from first hand experience.
Great for Managing Volunteers Also.......2007-06-04
I work with 100's of volunteers and so much of the information in this book was very helpful in managing and working with people who are unpaid. I would recommend this book for anyone who is a management position.
good book but there are better ones.......2007-03-16
This is a good and practical book. But not as good as Linda Richardson's one. Read them both or prioritize on Lina's book on choaching sales.
One word: AMAZING.......2005-10-20
This book is only for those who can handle a straight talker. If you want someone who is going to paint a pretty picture or dance around the politics of sales management, you may want to spend your money elsewhere. On the other hand, if you're a person who embraces a "tell me like it is" mentality, and you are seeking how to move from good to GREAT in sales leadership, I highly recommend Joe's teachings!
And don't buy just one - Once you have the book, you'll want to share his knowledge with others in your network. Buy five and give them as gifts!
Must Read!.......2005-03-02
Joe Contrera's book, LIGHT 'EM UP is one of the best management books I've read in a long time. The coaching skills presented in this book apply to leaders who find themselves challenged by the task of turning a group of individuals into a highly effective team. I highly recommend it!
Book Description
No more cold calls!
Customer Reviews:
Just OK.......2005-05-09
It was just OK for me. Lots of common sense and filler. Most sales books have the same format...and this is one more.
Good advice.......2001-12-13
This book is helpful in putting structure around a referral program. We'll be implementing many of this book's suggestions.
Solid Long-Term Program.......2000-05-26
I chose to read two books, one right after the other - Endless Referrals by Bob Burg (also reviewed) and Business by Referral by Misner and Davis. Business by Referral is a good follow-on to Endless Referrals. With only a little overlap, Misner and Davis pick up where Burg stops. However, be warned; this book starts off very slowly. Misner and Davis take a VERY academic approach to the entire process. I felt as if I were in grad school again. That having been said, the follow-up element of the Misner and Davis system is the strong point of this book. They have provided a complete set of forms, which they allow to be reproduced. The forms are used for determining where you are in the referral-based business process, finding your strengths and weaknesses, building on your strengths, and strengthening your weak areas. The follow-up system is super. The techniques presented by Misner and Davis will not be integrated into your process as readily as Burg's in Endless Referrals; however, they are vital to a continuing referral-based business process and will serve any business person well for a very long time.
This book is solidly recommended and is a must-read for anyone looking to build a long-term process in referral-based business. The forms that are provided are worth the price of the book, but you'll need to read the book to really understand how to use them.
This book will give you GAINS beyond belief!.......1999-07-03
"Business by Referral" is a cross between a business plan and a referral marketing campaign. It is chocked full of ideas on how to motivate people to provide referals for your business. My favorite is the ingenious GAINS exchange which allows people to interface and learn about each person. GAINS offers an easy way to interview members one-on-one, and learn about their Goals-Accomplishments-interests, networks, skills. A very well done and easy to read book. I recommended it wholeheartedly to any business person (small business or large.)
More than just a good marketing book.......1999-07-02
Does your success in business depend largely on your ability to market yourself and your services? Mine does, (I'm a professional speaker) and I peruse almost every new marketing book that comes down the pike. You know, the old "If I can get one good idea from the book, it is well worth reading" attitude. Well, this book breaks the mold. Hundreds of good ideas, but much more importantly, a blueprint for putting those ideas into action.
That's right. Not only does the book contain information about the single most powerful marketing force available to the entrepreneurial professional, it has worksheets to help you not just read about building referral business, but to actually start building your referral network. And the best part is, it works. I really used those worksheets, and they made a big difference.
This book is a MUST READ for anyone who needs to generate new business at a profit.
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