What Clients Love: A Field Guide to Growing Your Business
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In WHAT CLIENTS LOVE, Harry Beckwith once again discusses effective business tactics with the practical, down-to-earth style that has made him a bestselling author and trusted marketing expert. Publishers Weekly The author of Selling the Invisible tries to top that book's bestselling success with this breezy collection of one- to two-page friendly lecturettes on how to keep your business profitable. He might just do so, as it's difficult to imagine a book better suited in format to harried executives: they could gulp down the entire volume over the course of a single flight. Beckwith has somehow also managed to take a format where so many authors have tried and failed, and written a useful, direct and even at times inspiring book. In this age of information overload, Beckwith pulls some valuable lessons out of the bygone days of the 1970s, when, he says, consumers had infinitely fewer products and services to choose from, but seemed generally happier. Other valuable lessons for today's hard-charging businessperson include: "Hard sales lose business," "No superlatives" and, in order to understand how to run a successful business, "Study Starbucks." Beckwith is even able to take a simple thing like a name-e.g., Kinko's-and show how that chain was able, through its name (although the ubiquity of its open all-day-and-night locations didn't hurt), to crush the competition, whose names all sounded alike (e.g., InstyPrint, SpeedyPrint, etc.). Pocket-sized and packed with nuggets of wisdom, this is a rare winner in a glutted field. (Jan. 2) Forecast: There are planned ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Money and Fortune; Web marketing; a TV satellite tour; blurbs from business sage Seth Godin; and the success of Beckwith's last book. It all adds up to what book publishers love: a hit. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Introduction: A Lesson from the RoadxvDrawing Your BlueprintsYour Possible Business3A Question That May Be Your Answer4Another Good Question5Why Plan?5The White Hot Center: Nike's Genius6Finding the White Hot Center12The Fourteen Principles of Planning131.Forget the Future142.Stop--Yes, Stop--Listening153.Celebrate Foolishness174.Resist Authority175.View Experts Skeptically186.Beware of "Science"197.Mistrust Experience208.Mistrust Confidence219.Avoid Perfection2210.Beware of Common Sense2311.Embrace Impatience2412.Find the Water2513.Finding the Water: A Warning2614.Search for 100-X27The End of "Missions"28How George Didn't Do It30Fortune Favors the Bold32Laurel Cutler's and Ian Schrager's Insight33Ask Questions Like a Priest34The Classics of Business35What Osborn Drugs and Target Tell You38New Economy, Same People41Four Building Blocks: Enormous Oranges and Canary Yellow Bugs: Clear CommunicationsKey Trend: Option and Information Overload45Your Prospects: Everybody's Talkin' at Them50The Rise of Images51Your Marketing's Placebo Effects52Snap Judgments Stick53The Humanist and the Statistician54The Clever French Orange56Lessons from Stanford's Stadiums58What Your Prospects Know59An Important Word on Word of Mouth60Your Shortcut to Incredible Luck63Getting Publicity: The Giant Hole65Publishing: Another Surprise Benefit65Four Rules for Getting Yourself Ink66Testimonials: A Startling Discovery67Quoting No One70What Is an Expert?70The Doctor from the Boondocks: How to Seem Expert74Your Key to Clarity77How to Look Expert78How to Sound Expert79Mark Twain's Marketing Lesson79The Boy Who Cried Best81Why Superlatives Fail Colossally82The Dale Carnegie Corollaries: The Power of You83Rudolf Flesch and the Canary Bug85Harpers, McPaper, and Tiger86A Lesson from Jefferson's Tomb88Shorter Sells90How to Read a Sentence91Your Final Step: The Frenchman-on-the-Street Test92Absolute Brilliance93The Velvet Sledgehammer: A Compelling MessageKey Trend: The Decline of Trust99Cole's Wisdom103The Faster Way to Be Believed104A Wolverine and the Comfort Principle105What the Best Salespeople Sell106What Ordinary Salespeople Sell107How to Read a Short List107How to Read a Short List, Two110Wield a Velvet Sledgehammer111A Game of Give and Take113Why Hard Selling Has Gotten Harder114What Would Aesop and Jesus Do?115Lessons from Colorado: Find the Force117What Your Prospect's Nods Mean118Why Cold Calls Leave People Cold119Sell Like You Date120Why Goldman Sachs Cannot Cold Call120Remember Eddie Haskell121A Trick to Improve Your Presentations122L.A. Confidential and The Rule of Contact123Lincoln Had No Slides at Gettysburg124How to Boost Your Chances126Impressive Slide Shows Aren't127Remember: It's a Visual Aid127Packaging the Bold or Conservative Idea128Do Like the Romans129Keep Talking Happy Talk130Dion and the Rule of Three131Think Pterodactyls and Typhoons133Blue Martinis and Omaha Surfing: A Reassuring BrandKey Trend: The Rise of Invisibles and Intangibles137Georges Always Beat Als140What's in a Name?142The Familiarity Principle142To Know You Is to Love You144What Fidelity and Vanguard Show You145Familiarity and the New 80/20 Rule146Understanding Your Brand: Gerber Unbaby Food and Salty Lemonade147The Limits of Every Brand150A Thousand Words?151Understanding Symbols153Understanding Symbols: The 1965 Pirates154Lessons from Lowe's155Move Your Message Up157Kinko's Cleverness158Why Copy Shops Struggle160Sir Isaac Newton, Human Being161Omaha Surfing and Jefferson Airplane162Clients Love Odd Things164Blue Martini, Loudcloud, and Other Odd Ducks165How to Think Odd166Hit Your Prospects in the Nose, Too168A Powerful Tool for Branding169Finding Your Perfect Name: The Descriptive Name170The Perfect Name, Option Two: An Acronym171Option Three: The Neologism171Option Four: The Geographic Name172Option Five: The Personal Name173Primrose and Yahoo! The Evocative Name175A Checklist for Avoiding the Lake Tahoe Name176Harley, Ogilvy, and the Incredible Shrinking Names179Churchill Was Right: Your Package Is Your Service180Imagineering's Six Commandments182Clients Understand with Their Eyes183Boiled Critter at Tiffany's184What Your Space Says to Your Client187No Room at the Bottom188Laid-Back Heart Surgeons and Other Horrors190But It Helps Recruitment190Some Help from Hong Kong191Just Junk It192Americans the Beautiful and Pretty Woman: Caring ServiceKey Trend: The Wish to Connect195New Communities196Starbucks' Key Insight198What Your Clients Actually Buy201A Lesson from Hong Kong203An Insight from The Great Gatsby205Americans the Beautiful: Understanding Positive Illusions207Watching Pretty Woman209Uncertainty and the Importance Principle211People Need People212Money Can't Buy You Loyalty213Efficient Tools Aren't214"Thank You, (Enter Client Name Here)"216The End of the Line216Kohl's Race to Clients' Hearts218How Priceline Almost Snapped220The Good Neighbors Drop By221The Mercer, the Morgan, and the Grand: The Power of Welcome222Your Fastest Way to Improve Client Satisfaction224Four Rules for Choosing Clients225The Gift That Isn't225Your Clients Were Always Right226Keeping a Client's Confidence227A Promise Written Is a Promise Kept227Your Three Key Moments: 3, 24, 5229Understanding Listening230Your Silence Is Golden232How to Listen233A Lesson from the Eastern Oregon Desert: How to Remember Names234The Rule of "Whole Plus One"235Ten Rules of Business Manners237Staff Like Spago238Ritz-Carlton's Shortcut to Satisfied Clients239How Judy Rankin Shot a 63241The Traits Clients LoveHumility and Generosity245Sacrifice247Openness249Integrity and What It Actually Means250What Clients Love Most252Your Greatest AssetWhy do Some People and Businesses Thrive257AppendixChecklist: Questions to Ask in Building an Exceptional Business261A Reading List for Growing a Business267An Interview with Harry Beckwith274My Favorite Part: Acknowledgments279
