The Invisible Marketing Blog » Book review

Think Twice: harnessing the power of counterintuition

Christie Turner — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:51:44 +0000

Trained in storytelling and analysis of human communication, I see in managerial circles a great desire for too-pat formulas to predict human behavior. A lot of business people’s assumptions don’t pass a simple BS test — do I actually know anyone who’s done what we think our buyer is going to do in response to X?

Buyers, end users, investors, leaders, influencers, crowds, politics are all more complicated (and amazing) than we imagine (or wish to allow). Conventional wisdom includes too little respect for individual variance and human nature.

Behavioral finance and behavioral economics contain many interesting attempts to analyze how human nature trumps our simplistic math, exposing some of the limitations of our supposedly predictive models. While it doesn’t come with a magic pill, it opens the way to better decisionmaking and more persuasive communication.

Think Twice: harnessing the power of counterintuition is my most recent read in this category. By Michael J. Mauboussin, an economist, Columbia University professor, and Legg Mason investment officer.

Good stuff. Check it out. (And thanks to Tom Keene’s Bloomberg on the Economy podcast for making the book known to me.)

The Elevator Summary: Handy, readable overview of the ways in which your brain is hardwired to make irrational decisions — and some tactics to spoof your own wiring (if you work at it).

Standout Moments: “In a probabilistic environment, you are better served by focusing on the process by which you make a decision than on the outcome.”

and… “How a person sees a problem — how it’s described to him, how he feels about it, and his individual knowledge — shapes how he reasons [and makes decisions] about it.”

and… “Market irrationality does not follow from individual irrationality…. In dealing with systems, the collective behavior matters more.”

and… “By studying the market, we can get a much better sense of how various decisions affect economic value than we can by listening to partially informed individuals.”

Not so much: Just because I know what I’m likely to do wrong doesn’t keep me from doing it anyway. The author readily admits this. The same is true of any business book.

Who should read it: People who need to influence a buying decision — marketing, sales, investment. People who need to make a buying decision.

Bottom Line: Interested in becoming a better decision maker and decision influencer? This book delivers a wealth of areas where you can become more aware — a first step toward change.

More about the book: Think Twice: harnessing the power of counterintuition

The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them

Christie Turner — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:38:14 +0000

It’s book review time again. Perhaps you’ve heard that sales people have a rant about marketing people (and others) who don’t understand what sales people do. Today’s book is a nice little vaccine against Complete Sales Ignorance.

The Elevator Summary: Most books about selling are of little use in understanding the psychological world of selling. Sandler is the real deal.

Standout Moments: All of them.

Not so much: Can you learn how to sell from a book? No.

Who should read it: Anyone in sales. Anyone in marketing. Anyone who manages the performance of sales or marketing.

Bottom Line: One of the best, most practical books about buyer behavior at the moment of truth. And a tough, practical book about sales and negotiating. Read this book.

More about the book: The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them

Book Review: Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way

Christie Turner — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:52:24 +0000

Book report time again.

The Elevator Summary: The book isn’t santimonious about Six Sigma or process design. It makes rigorous tools and structured thinking readable, and relevant to complex B2B selling and marketing. He’s also clear that process is not a goal.

Standout Moments: These processes began in manufacturing. What the book does brilliantly is give the process tools a context for use in relationship management. Snippets: “Six Sigma selling focuses on helping customers achieve the business results they seek when they buy a product or service.” “When you bring Six Sigma to customers in this way, they’re not even aware of it. They’re only aware that they are working with people who have their act together.” “Finding good prospects, learning their needs, establishing trust, delivering value, and leading them to the next step are all difficult. However, this approach is easier and more effective than slapdash, unmeasurable, badly designed, push-them-through-the-funnel sales methods.”

Not so much: OK, no book has it all. Key areas to supplement from other sources: iteratively developing and testing these processes, how to bring customer voices into the dialogue, facilitation and change management. You’ll also need to translate the insights into messaging and tactics for your unique situation.

Who should read it: Marketing and sales executives, and their bosses. Executives responsible to deliver service after the sale would also benefit.

Bottom Line: One of my favorite business books.

More about the book: Sales and Marketing the Six Sigma Way

Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide

Christie Turner — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:07:17 +0000

Book report time. This one is good summertime reading – lightweight, and short.

The Elevator Summary: A witty lampoon highlighting the jargon, obfuscation, and paint-by-numbers habits which cloud business communication and impede selling.

Standout Moments: The chapter “You’ve Been Templatized.” A favorite nugget: “Business idiots are the sheep that use any shortcut available to automate their voice, and PowerPoint is a prime example.”

And another: “It’s good to have the company name somewhere, but the customary fluffy opening about how great the company is and how the execs owe it all to the worker bees sounds contrived. How about starting with a controversial statement? Or just something unexpected? We would all read a memo that begins, ‘Are you about to trash this memo? If so, good!’”

The chapter on selling is simple, practical. A sample: “Most people, when they want to persuade, immediately begin talking about ‘me’. This works if you have a great anecdote that puts you on familiar terms with your audience. But if you really want to convince people of something they wouldn’t otherwise know, think, or believe, you need to take yourself out of the equation. Take a hard look at the words ‘I’ and ‘we’ in your last brochure or speech.”

Not so much: The book will appeal to grammar curmudgeons more than most mortals. Not a recipe for mass appeal.

Who should read it: Business people who find themselves using the English language to communicate with other business people. English majors who somehow snuck into the corporate community and need a laugh.

Bottom Line: Witty, valuable, easily digestible insights into business communication. Worthwhile airport or beach reading.

More about the book: Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide

Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master

Christie Turner — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:58:57 +0000

Book review time.

The Elevator Summary: Thorough, clear reference book explaining how to measure what marketing is supposed to produce. Knowing what the metrics mean doesn’t tell you how to improve them, but this book does tell you what the metrics mean.

Standout Moments: The Customer Profitability chapter. For example, Prospect Lifetime Value = response rate x (initial margin + (Customer Lifetime Value of acquired customers – cost of prospecting efforts)). Metrics like these bring sweet focus to the sales and marketing mind: if we’re delivering negative PLV, then what the hell are we doing about it?

Not so much: Most marketing teams I’ve seen don’t have the historical data or reporting tools to calculate the metrics. This problem may be rooted in fractured ownership, lack of data capture, functional unwillingness to share data, etc. But it also reflects fear and ignorance on the part of the marketing teams. Why not ask for the information we need to determine how we’re doing?

Who should read it: Marketing and sales executives, and their bosses. Every agency which purports to improve the life and times of the marketing or sales exec.

Bottom Line: Definitely not beach reading, but worth it. A little math will make us stronger.

More about the book: Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Master