Summer Reading
As the de facto book reviewer at 1to1, I confess that I've been letting the side down of late. Blogging instead about conferences, notable news developments, and the much-beloved Hydrox cookie, I've been remiss in keeping up with the barrage of business books that largely land in my lap. (I have, however, been keeping up with my alliteration assignments.)
So while everyone else is enjoying Child 44 and When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Goodnight Bush, I'm curling up on the 1to1 chaise lounge with Steve Yastrow, David Vinjamuri, and Richard S. Gallagher. It's a little crowded, but we're learning a few things.
First there's Yastrow's We (Select Books), which in fact is not a gloss on Yevgeny Zamyatin's seminal Russian dystopian novel, but a guide to building the best possible customer relationships. You've heard the drumbeat before: get your customer to view your company not as a vendor or a provider, but as a collaborator. Easier said than done, evidently, as it's a lesson that continues to be repeated, but Yastrow's unaffected style and frequent insertions of bite-size advice make for one of the better current books in this area.
(I've been unable to confirm whether "We" in this context also serves as a pun for the several copies of the book I've received. Somewhere around the fourth time it crossed my desk, I muttered something that bore no relation to "Wheeeeeee!")
Vinjamuri's Accidental Branding (Wiley) illustrates how breaking the rules of marketing helped such companies as Burt's Bees, Craigslist, and Baby Einstein establish themselves as brand leaders. Vinjamuri specializes in a conversational style that helps his practical information go down, and his personal experiences with the likes of Craig Newmark and Columbia Sportswear's Gert Boyle (whom he terms "The Pugilist") provide refreshingly direct insight into these real-life characters.
What do you say to a porcupine? It's a question that's vexed philosophers, magistrates, and hagiologists for eons, but Gallagher's What to Say to a Porcupine (Amacom) happily puts the issue to bed.
Actually, this is a short book of Aesop-like fables wherein bear shopkeepers, pig truffle-sellers, and disgruntled porcu-customers are employed to humorously illustrate some solid customer service conundrums. (And, like Aesop, Gallagher includes morals at the end of each tale for those of you not paying attention at the back.) With a fairly high chuckles-to-learning ratio, Porcupine is easily one of the more charming business books out there at the moment.
And now, having knocked down the tower of tomes on my desk by three (or, if we count the multiple We's, seven), I'm off to finish At Swim-Two-Birds. There aren't any customer strategies in there, but it does help alleviate the July doldrums.
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