A useful, reader-friendly addition to an impressive series of business books.
This third book (The Irresistible Value Proposition, 2019, etc.) in a five-volume series offers sales teams a winning template for capturing the attention, interest, and action of their clients.
In the gospel of business-to-business (B2B) markets, one leverages existing relationships with clients to spur future transactions. With that in mind, Thompson, a managing partner at the consultancy Value LifeCycle, advocates for an acceleration of the sales cycle that focuses on the perspective of the customer, not the seller. After a critical overview of the dominant, seller-centric template for contemporary B2B proposals, the author illustrates an alternative method, complete with a breakdown of key objectives and necessary components. He concentrates on the idea of decreasing uncertainty; for example, he suggests that sellers present evidence of value and client-centric options and remain open to customers’ suggestions. To excite the customer to action, the seller needs to “show them what you know about their business, not yours,” he says, and to present “a best-fit solution” that is clearly tied the client’s needs, goals, and business. Such a map requires concision and clarity—a short document or “a seven-slide presentation,” for example. In an accompanying case study, Paul and his team manage the outsized personalities of their clients with a firm touch, and each of their decisions effectively reinforces the lessons outlined above. Interestingly, the book itself offers a compelling case study of the concepts at hand, because, like the first two books in the series, it’s relatively low-priced in e-book form; reader ratings provide prospective buyers with a metric of past value delivered; and its availability in small, affordable units aligns nicely with the needs of value-seeking buyers. As Thompson suggests, “These concepts are simple. But…that doesn’t mean they are easy (which may be why I see so few selling organizations embrace them).”
A useful, reader-friendly addition to an impressive series of business books.Pub Date: May 31, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0410-0
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Value Lifecycle
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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