Author: The Editors of The Huffington Post with an Introduction by Arianna Huffington

Summary: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging is exactly what it says. In addition to insights and and posts from famous bloggers, the guide provides helpful basics such as a listing and short description of the most popular blogging services and optimizing your blog for search engines. Although the book has a decidedly political and journalistic orientation, it is an excellent place to start for blogging of any kind, and even contains a “Glossary of Blogging Terms” for total newbies.

You’ll love this book if: You are ready to jump in and start writing.

You’ll hate this book if: You allow the guide’s political frame of reference get in the way of its educational content.

Words of Wisdom:

The blogosphere thrives on authenticity. No one really sounds like a law paper, an academic paper, or a PowerPoint presentation. So your blog shouldn’t sound like that either. You want your posts to sound like you at your most witty, entertaining, and relevant. Tape yourself as you critique something you read in the newspaper. If you take out the “ums” and clean up the grammar, a transcription of this tape could be the start of a good blog post. Or don’t clean up the grammar.

Why we think this book is important: Blogging is a touchpoint opportunity that cannot be overlooked. Your organization’s blog is the ideal medium for your organization to have an ongoing authentic conversation with your customers.

Author: Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell A. Nordstrom

Summary: Karaoke Capitalism: Daring to Be Different in a Copycat World offers a compelling argument against traditional business metrics such as “benchmarking” and “best practice.” In a thoughtful and well-supported (there are 510 footnotes) case, we learn just how dangerous it is to sustain sameness – that it leads merely to mediocrity.

You’ll love this book if: You understand (or want to understand) that corporations cannot survive following the “me-too” rules of the business world.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not comfortable cultivating change, creativity or diversity in your organization.

Words of Wisdom:

Companies must, therefore, also learn to forget. They must delete to develop, destroy to build … Quite often doing so is easier said than done… In an organizational setting, getting rid of the past is particularly difficult since many senior executives are at the top because the are experts at what was important yesterday.

Why we think this book is important: This book provides detailed insight on why you must – and how you can – design an exceptional customer experience by transforming your organization from the inside out.

Book:

Author: Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton

Summary: The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action is not just another strategy book about “what to do.” Pfeffer and Sutton convincingly argue that management already knows what to do. The gap that exists between “knowing” and “doing” actually resides within the unique culture of an organization. Yes, we are talking about execution.

You’ll love this book if: You are willing to take an honest appraisal of your organization’s culture, and the roles that fear vs. collaboration play in execution.

You’ll hate this book if: You are comfortable with building your business using a hierarchical management structure laced with fear.

Words of Wisdom:

Fear starts, or stops, at the top. It is unfortunate, but true, that a formal hierarchy give people at the top power to fire or harm the careers of people at lower levels … Organizations that are successful in turning knowledge into action are frequently characterized by leaders who inspire respect, affection, or admiration, but not fear.

Why we think this book is important: An environment of action, which values employee collaboration and cooperation, is far more likely to result in satisfied, motivated employees. People who feel good about their jobs - the impact of their work-related activities – create positive customer touchpoints along the way.

Book: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace

Author: Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman, Andrew Essex

Summary: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace is a book about authenticity. While the book’s examples are from design and culture-related industries, the message is clear for any organization, be it a bank or an automobile manufacturer: Cool is the ultimate point of difference.

You’ll love this book if: You believe you can learn a business lesson from looking outside the traditional boundaries of your current industry.

You’ll hate this book if: You think the word “cool” is only for kids.

Words of Wisdom:

The only way to build a true communion with an audience – to a point where they might deem you or your work “cool” – is to follow a personal vision and stay true to that vision no matter what. And if your completely off-the-wall idea gets old, come up with another one.

Why we think this book is important: Cool = authentic. Customers cannot be fooled: Ensure that your touchpoints are authentic.

Book: Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us

Author: Seth Godin

Summary: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us explores the idea that humans have always joined tribes, and the Internet now makes tribe assembly easier than ever. The business application here is that by providing opportunities for your customers to engage with your product or service, while giving employees the freedom to accomplish amazing things, you potentially set up a platform for a conversation – even a tribe – to form around your organization.

You’ll love this book if: You are open to encouraging employees and customers to openly and passionately dialogue about your organization – and learning from this experience.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not interested in creating a customer experience worth talking about, and you think it’s OK for your employees to be bored with their jobs.

Words of Wisdom:

The business world has a long history of conservatives tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changes. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that are remarkable, not boring.

Why we think this book is important: Engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers.

Book: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers

Author: Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano

Summary: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

You’ll love this book if: You want to try a new strategy for improving your sales results, and the results of your sales team.

You’ll hate this book if: You are steeped in “old school” sales training, such as “working to improve” people’s weaknesses.

Words of Wisdom:

Focusing energy on weaknesses might improve performance somewhat, but – contrary to conventional wisdom – great performance comes from strengths. Knowing your talents, understanding them thoroughly, building them into strengths, and seeing how you can put your strengths to work every day isa key to greatness and, our research would attest, the surer path to success.

Why we think this book is important: Your salespeople are quite possibly your organization’s most important customer touchpoint.

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary (in an extensive definition that runs more than half-way down the page) offers as a first definition:

to bring a bodily part into contact with, esp. so as to perceive through the tactile sense; handle or feel gently usually with the intent to understand or appreciate.

Well – that definition gives us a lot to consider in a marketing impact sense!

First, we note that the concept of touching is not limited to the usual conceptual aspect of marketing. Touching involves more than just thinking. It involves feeling.

Touch is realized through an impact of the senses.

The powerful aspect of the senses is that they are directly wired into the brain – senses shortcut the usual processes of logic and thought. The points where you Touch your customers can be where you energize their emotions and feelings.

These emotional interactions – of course – can be positive or negative. And as emotions, they are often extreme (and therefore very motivating) in their intensity. So your customers can love you (just as your detractors can literally hate you) as a provider of products and/or services.

So the key is this: To understand *each* Touchpoint in the context of the consumer’s overall experience of your product/service brand. As the impact of a Touchpoint is powerful and complex – so is the requirement for marketers to understand their full array of Touchpoint interactions with the consumer marketplace.

Book: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace

Author: Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman, Andrew Essex

Summary: Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace is a book about authenticity. While the book’s examples are from design and culture-related industries, the message is clear for any organization, be it a bank or an automobile manufacturer: Cool is the ultimate point of difference.

You’ll love this book if: You believe you can learn a business lesson from looking outside the traditional boundaries of your current industry.

You’ll hate this book if: You think the word “cool” is only for kids.

Words of Wisdom:

The only way to build a true communion with an audience – to a point where they might deem you or your work “cool” – is to follow a personal vision and stay true to that vision no matter what. And if your completely off-the-wall idea gets old, come up with another one.

Why we think this book is important: Cool = authentic. Customers cannot be fooled: Ensure that your touchpoints are authentic.

I was skeptical at first of a book called Chasing Cool co-authored by a guy who used to be a DJ.

But it was the subhead of the book that made me buy it: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace.

I mean, who doesn’t want to stand out in today’s cluttered marketplace, right?

It turns out that Chasing Cool is a book about authenticity. And you won’t find – or become – cool by chasing it.

The authors (Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman, Andrew Essex) describe interviewing innovators from “influential industries”:

Music, architecture, design, film, Internet, consumer brands, art, fashion, advertising, and nightlife … All that time yielded one common thread: none of these people chased anything. They trusted their guts, put their names on the line, and followed their personal passions … They pursued a vision and, then, somewhere down the road, cool found them.

The world’s best …

One of my favorite examples in the book is about a famous ultra-premium vodka.

Grey Goose’s tagline: “The World’s Best Tasting Vodka” is simply … a “positioning statement.” Yet Goose is synonymous with “ultra-premium” vodka.

Is Goose really the world’s best-tasting vodka? Well, according to the now-infamous Times vodka taste test in 2005, Smirnoff was actually the best-tasting: “Pure, clean, and ultra smooth, with pleasing texture and classic vodka aroma.”

The idea behind Goose? Genius. And definitely cool.

Rock stars who … aren’t

As mentioned above, the music industry played a part in this book. (Makes sense; most of us think rock stars are cool.) What was interesting, however, was that apparently (some) record companies use software to help decide what artists to sign.

It becomes less about a gut decision to sign someone who seems genuinely talented than it is about the arc on a spreadsheet.

(Doesn’t sound very cool, does it?)

There’s even a program … which helps record companies determine the chart potential of a song before deciding whether to invest in promoting it. The company claims that they can find mathematical patterns in music and that hit songs are concentrated into a tiny number of trait clusters.

Perhaps that helps explain why the list of  Billboard’s Top 10 grossing tours of 2008 was dominated by classic rock acts.

Cool – is it like Justice Potter Stewart’s “I know it when I see it?”

Bottom line: Your customers will know it when they see it

You can’t fool your customers. And why would you want to try? Strive to ensure all touchpoints are authentic. Your customers will know (and appreciate) you for it.

And that’s pretty cool.

PS – that guy who used to be a DJ? He’s the CEO of noise, based in NYC.

Book:

Author: Seth Godin

Summary: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us explores the idea that humans have always joined tribes, and the Internet now makes tribe assembly easier than ever. The business application here is that by providing opportunities for your customers to engage with your product or service, while giving employees the freedom to accomplish amazing things, you potentially set up a platform for a conversation – even a tribe – to form around your organization.

You’ll love this book if: You are open to encouraging employees and customers to openly and passionately dialogue about your organization – and learning from this experience.

You’ll hate this book if: You are not interested in creating a customer experience worth talking about, and you think it’s OK for your employees to be bored with their jobs.

Words of Wisdom:

The business world has a long history of conservatives tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changes. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that are remarkable, not boring.

Why we think this book is important: Engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers.

So what is a “tribe”?

A clear definition of tribe is right there on the inside flap of the book jacket. So clear, so compelling – you are practically dared not to open the book and learn more.

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have joined tribes, be they religious, ethnic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads).

What does this idea of a tribe have to do with business?

Um, everything.

You see, your customers are bored. They’re not listening to you. Why should they? If you’re like most organizations, you’re more interested in maintaining the same old, same old than creating something exceptional – something your customers will want to talk about.

Something that will compel your customers to form a tribe around your product or service.

The business world has a long history of conservative tribes, of groups of people who relish the status quo. The big news is that this has changed. People yearn for change, they relish being part of a movement, and they talk about things that remarkable, not boring.

And guess what – if your employees are bored, your customers are bored, too.

How sheepwalking damages the customer relationship lifecycle

Godin defines sheepwalking as

The outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them brain-dead jobs and enough fear to keep them in line.

If it is common knowledge these days that engaged employees translate into engaged (and profitable) customers, why do organizations continue the practice of sheepwalking?

And many organizations go out of their way to hire people who color inside the lines, who demonstrate consistency and compliance. And then these organizations give these people jobs where they are managed via fear. Which leads to sheepwalking (“I might get fired!”).

Here is what it’s like for your customers when sheepwalking and touchpoints collide:

• That’s not my job
• I’m off work in 5 minutes; you’ll have to call back tomorrow
• I can’t go out of my way to help you without my boss’s permission

OK, you get it. But what are you going to do about it?

When you hire amazing people and give them freedom, they do amazing stuff. And the sheepwalkers and their bosses watch and shake their heads, certain that this is an exception and that it is way too risky for their industry or their customer base.

Which tribe are you leading?

As you consider the relationship of your employees, your customers and the touchpoints along the customer relationship lifecycle, stop and ask yourself: “Do I want to continue as a leader of sheepwalking or do I want to lead the way for my company to do something remarkable?”

Leading a tribe? Share your experience with us – we’d love to hear from you!

Book: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers

Author: Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano

Summary: Discover Your Sales Strengths: How the World’s Greatest Salespeople Develop Winning Careers is a wonderfully counterintuitive exploration of developing star salespeople. The book’s premise is the idea that focusing on a person’s strengths will allow them to perform at an exceptional level, while focusing on weaknesses merely produces average results.

You’ll love this book if: You want to try a new strategy for improving your sales results, and the results of your sales team.

You’ll hate this book if: You are steeped in “old school” sales training, such as “working to improve” people’s weaknesses.

Words of Wisdom:

Focusing energy on weaknesses might improve performance somewhat, but – contrary to conventional wisdom – great performance comes from strengths. Knowing your talents, understanding them thoroughly, building them into strengths, and seeing how you can put your strengths to work every day isa key to greatness and, our research would attest, the surer path to success.

Why we think this book is important: Your salespeople are quite possibly your organization’s most important customer touchpoint.

What is a strength?

A strength, as defined here, is a capacity for near-perfect performance on a consistent basis. To fully grasp the significance of this, you are well-advised take the companion online assessment, StrengthsFinder. A unique ID number is located on the inside cover of the book and you will use it to complete your own StrengthsFinder assessment.

StrengthFinder measures the presence of talent within the thirty-four themes we have discovered are most indicative of success.

Discover your Sales Strengths does a beautiful job of debunking the prevailing sales training and sales management techniques:

The myth that we grow fastest by paying attention to our weaknesses is incredibly damaging. Sadly, some company development programs are build around this destructive myth, which usually comes disguised as career help.

Ouch! But wait, there’s more:

“What did I do wrong?” This is the curse of the average performer, always trying to improve a weakness. It is a never-ending task. Great performers follow a different tack. They figure out what they do right – and do more of it!

In the section entitled The Manager Effect, the Q12 concept is presented. The Q12 is a list of twelve key questions that affect on important business outcomes, including customer loyalty.

I will divulge only one of the Q12 items:

At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, your sales force is a crucial touchpoint.

Your assignment

• Read Discover your Sales Strengths .
• Give a copy to each of your sales people so they can take the StrengthsFinder assessment.
• Put the findings into action.
• Prepare for the exciting change ahead.