Shopper Marketing
How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale
Edited by: Markus Stahlberg, Ville Maila
Published: December 28, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-13: 9780749457020
ISBN-10: 0749457023
Publisher: Kogan Page
"This is a book about shopper marketing - about affecting shopper behaviour to generate purchase decisions", write editors and executives at European shopper marketing company Phenomena Group, Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila in their comprehensive and retail marketing changing collection Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale. Through a collection of essays, written by thirty-five leading global experts in shopper marketing, the book describes how critical in store buying decisions are for retail success.
Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila present articles that pull together the various aspects of shopper marketing and its influence on store purchasing choices. Far from being a single marketing channel, shopper marketing includes involvement from retailers, manufacturers, advertisers, branders, and packagers. This holistic approach to in store marketing is essential, as the stakes are high, and the decisions are made by shoppers in an instant. With at least 70% of brand choices made within the store, and 68% of those purchases not being planned in advance, the book points to an entirely new science that turns traditional marketing ideas upside down. With only 5% of shoppers demonstrating brand loyalty, attention must be paid to gaining the attention of the shopper at the very point of purchase.
Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila recognize that shopper marketing is one of the fastest growing trends in marketing today. With that knowledge and insight in hand, the book contains articles that cover the many aspects of shopper marketing. One of the areas where shopper marketing is gaining inroads into traditional retail marketing is the increasing cooperation between manufacturers and retailers. Manufacturers are now portioning part of their marketing budget toward specific retailers and retail marketing environments, and those budgets are continuing to rise. The changes in the entire marketing process from manufacturer to point of sale has resulted in the growing importance of shopper marketing.
For me, the power of the book is how the editors, Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila, provide a wide ranging series of articles by thirty-five internationally recognized marketing specialists, sharing their ideas on the various aspects of shopper marketing. The concepts presented in the book are backed by extensive research into shopper decision making and marketing effectiveness. The book is divided into three general sections, with each section sub-divided into the many issues surrounding shopper marketing.
The book's three shopper marketing sections are:
* Definition: what is shopper marketing?
* Strategy: how to approach shopper marketing?
* Execution: What is shopper marketing in action?
Through these intensives studies into the rapidly growing field of shopper marketing - growing even faster than internet marketing - the book is the definitive textbook on the topic.
I highly recommend the groundbreaking and landmark book Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale edited by Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila, to anyone serious about examining the rapidly growing phenomenon of shopper marketing and its effect on point of sale purchasing decisions. The entire field of shopper marketing examines buying decisions from the purchaser's point of view. The writers in this book provide that perspective on the ever changing face of retail marketing.
Read the important and essential book Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale edited by Markus Stahlberg and Ville Maila, and discover this fresh and insightful marketing concept for yourself. Every chapter contains valuable information, and it can be read in any order, making searching for specific information easy and a pleasure to read. With the power of shopper marketing ideas as part of your business, your company will pull ahead of the competition.
Shopper Marketing eds: Markus Stahlberg & Ville Maila - Book review
Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg & John David Mann - Book review
Go-Givers Sell More
By: Bob Burg, John David Mann
Published: February 18, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
ISBN: 9781591843085
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio
"Selling is giving: giving time, attention, counsel, education, empathy, and value", write co-authors Bob Burg and John David Mann in their revolutionary and sales mindset altering book Go-Givers Sell More. The authors build on their message of giving first articulated in their now classic business fable The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea, and apply it successfully to improving the sales experience for both the sales representative and for the buyer.
Bob Burg (photo left) and John David Mann point out that most people believe they would never be successful in sales. They also make the startling revelation that many current members of the sales profession harbor that secret belief themselves. The authors recognize the problem as sales people having the entire idea of sales backwards. For the authors, this backwards approach considers sales as getting people to do something almost against their will, through convincing sales pitches and manipulation. Because this concept is based on taking advantage of others, it fails. The authors provide the paradigm changing idea that sales is about giving advantage to others. Sales at its best and its most effective, according to the authors, is all about giving.
Bob Burg and John David Mann (photo left) understand that the almost universal approach to sales training is about such things as prospecting dialogue, qualifying questions, overcoming objections, and closing the sale. That standard theory of what leads to sales success is very wrong, according to the authors. In truth, those same sales people experience great difficulty in every step of the sales process, leaving the entire concept very suspect in the end. The authors begin at the other end of the sales discussion by adding value from the very beginning, by giving. Instead of the close, the authors prefer the open, and they also believe in listening and learning from the other person. Instead of the traditional idea of controlling the sales conversation, the authors recommend shifting the focus away from control and getting, and concentrate on giving and helping others succeed.
For me, the power of the book is how John David Mann and Bob Burg apply the Go-Giver concept to the world of sales so seamlessly and successfully. Their idea of giving value from the very beginning builds positive, trusting relationships that not only increase sales, but build long term customers who also share in the giving process. The old adversarial, zero sum game mentality that has been part of sales thinking for much too long gets a thorough rebuilding in this fine book. Along with creating value, the giving process touches people's lives in a positive and beneficial way that leads to their greater happiness. Creating these deeper trusting relationships builds networks that help everyone to focus on helping the needs of others. By being real and authentic, the giving sales person generates trust and helps other people feel more comfortable. At the same time, the authors recognize that the sales person must remain open to being on the receiving end of the giving relationship, with grace and a sense of shared giving.
I highly recommend the insightful and must read book Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann, to anyone seeking a deeper and richer understanding as to why traditional sales mindsets and techniques fail so often. In their place, the authors turn the previous sales thought upside down, and inside out, replacing the previous mode of thinking with the spirit of giving. Through a greater understanding of how the giving paradox works, the sales representative will not only make more sales, but feel happier and will have stronger relationships with the customers receiving the help.
Read the essential sales changing book Go-Givers Sell More by John David Mann and Bob Burg, and change not only the way that you approach the sales profession, but also enhance the relationships in your own life. This book is ostensibly about sales, but is really about how one lives one's own life, through changing their way of thinking and acting, to becoming a Go-Giver.
Generations, Inc. by Meagan Johnson & Larry Johnson - Book review
Generations, Inc.
From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work
By: Meagan Johnson, Larry Johnson
Published: May 2010
Format: Paperback, 272pp
ISBN-13: 9780814415733
ISBN-10: 0814415733
Publisher: AMACOM
"A generational signpost is an event or cultural phenomenon that is specific to one generation. Generational signposts shape, influence, and drive our expectations, actions, and mind-sets about the products we buy, the companies for which we work, and the expectations we have about life in general," write generational employment experts, owners of the Johnson Training Group, Meagan Johnson and her father Larry Johnson, in their practical and insightful book Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work. The authors describe how the same generational signposts that influence a person's outlook on life, also has a deep impact on a person's ideas about company loyalty, workplace ethics, and what constitutes a job well done.
Larry Johnson and Meagan Johnson describe how in today's workplace, members of what they classify as up to five different generations may be on the job at the same time. While precise definitions of generational age boundaries vary between experts, as well as the terminology used to designate each group, the authors point out that their cutoff dates are not the be all and end all of generational dynamics. What is important, and forms the heart of the book, is that each of the five generations that Meagan and Larry Johnson define, has very different life signposts. These signposts can be critical to the worldview or life laws of one generation, but hold little or no meaning to another younger or older generation. In this book, the authors define the following five generations as:
* Traditionals born prior to 1945
* Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964
* Generation X born from 1965 to 1980
* Generation Y born from 1981 to 1995
* Linksters born 1996 and later
Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson (both shown in photo left) recognize that because each generation's signposts and life laws are different, they have entirely different attitudes toward work, and require different management techniques. The authors provide intriguing insights into how to manage members of different generational cohorts. What works well for Baby Boomers may fail completely with members of Generation X. The authors also point out how various management styles of one generation may be entirely different from that of an older or younger cohort. At the same time, each generation brings different strengths to the work environment, creating a potentially powerful cross-generational idea exchange. The diversity brought to the workplace by different generations working together provides a tremendous opportunity for organizations to tap into many different strengths, and this book teaches managers how to utilize those differences to best advantage.
For me, the power of the book is the positive approach taken by Larry and Meagan Johnson as they describe the generational differences in the workplace. They understand that without guidance in recognizing generational differences in outlook, many managers will fail to utilize the incredible synergy that results from these widely diverse worldviews. Each generation is given its own management section in the book, complete with a description of their generational signposts, and why they are important to that group. The authors approach each generation with respect, and even with their own differences outlined as Larry Johnson is a Baby Boomer and Meagan Johnson is a member of Generation X. The authors' own generational differences and understandings helps them to realize that other age groups have different attitudes toward work, ethics, job completion, career change, and job satisfaction. They do a fine job of conveying that information to the reader.
I highly recommend the essential and must read book Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work by Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson, to any manager or employee seeking to understand their own managers, subordinates, or co-workers from different generations. Instead of putting up with or mistakenly creating inter-generational disputes and misunderstandings in the workplace, this book will steer anyone along the right path to utilizing the strengths, ideas, and wisdom of each generation for the benefit of all employees and for the organization as a whole.
Read the straightforward and no nonsense book Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work by Meagan Johnson and Larry Johnson, and put an end to mis-communication and inter-generational conflict at work. In its place, discover how to turn what was a difficult or seemingly impossible task, into an outcome that is rewarding to everyone in the company.
Sick of Doctors? A Prescription For Patient Empowerment by Lorene Burkhart - Book review
Sick of Doctors?
A Prescription for Patient Empowerment
By: Lorene M. Burkhart
Published: June 1, 2010
Format: Perfect Paperback, 204 pages
ISBN-10: 0984180605
ISBN-13: 978-0984180608
Publisher: Burkhart Network, LLC
"In today's medical world, it is up to each of us to maintain health on a daily basis and not be dependent on an all-powerful Doctor God to do it for us. The old days are over". writes teacher, broadcaster, and corporate executive Lorene M. Burkhart, in her landmark book Sick of Doctors? A Prescription for Patient Empowerment. The author describes the history of medicine and how it has evolved into the modern system, as well as problems with doctors and the medical environment in which they operate.
Lorene Burkhart recognizes that part of the problem surrounding doctors and healthcare is that people think that the old system still exists today. For the author, nothing could be further from the truth. She wisely opens the book by describing the evolution of both the medical system itself, and the changes surrounding the doctors who work within that system. In place of the previous medical paradigm, where control was handed over to an all powerful doctor, Lorene Burkhart supports an outcomes based approach to medicine. By taking control of one's own body back from the hands of the medical community, they doctor patient relationship is improved and better health of the patient is the result.
Lorene M. Burkhart (photo left) advocates patients taking more personal control of both their daily health, and their care when in the hands of the medical community. According to the author, the status accorded to doctors that she describes as Doctor God, should be among the first concepts questioned and discarded by everyone. She describes how not only the doctor and patient relationship has deteriorated over the decades, but also how the relationships between doctors and nurses is also very problematic and occasionally abusive. For Lorene Burkhart, patient empowerment includes giving up the deeply ingrained idea that the doctor is always right. The book includes numerous case studies where incompetence among doctors is so commonplace that it may even be the norm.
For me, the power of the book is how Lorene Burkhart empowers the reader as both personal health advocate and to become more assertive in any doctor and patient relationship. For Lorene Burkhart, patients must seek out their own medical knowledge and actively question and demand answers from doctors. The internet has lifted the veil of omnipotence from the medical community, changing the reputation of doctors forever, just as the medical system of a previous era is gone as well. The author understands that many people are either unaware of the deeper, underlying changes in the medical system, or ignore them willfully. This book provides a powerful service to the general public by making people aware of the changing role of the medical profession, and of doctors' evolving opinion of themselves as all-powerful as well.
I highly recommend the essential and must read book Sick of Doctors? A Prescription for Patient Empowerment by Lorene M. Burkhart, to anyone serious about their own healthcare, and how doctors and the medical community really work in today's society. The book should also be required reading for every doctor, medical student, intern, and nurse working within the medical field. The author's ideas about outcomes based medicine and personal empowerment are simply too important to ignore.
Read the paradigm shattering book Sick of Doctors? A Prescription for Patient Empowerment by Lorene M. Burkhart, and take back control of your own healthcare and remove that power from the hands of doctors. Reading this book will improve your health, and perhaps have a deep and lasting impact on the way that medicine is practiced today and tomorrow as well.
New Resume New Career by Catherine Jewell - Book review
New Resume New Career
Get the Job You Want with the Skills and Experience You Already Have
By: Catherine Jewell
Published: March 2, 2010
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN: 9781592579754
Publisher: Alpha Books/Penguin
"Today career changing is normal. Because of our tumultuous job climate, many people not only want to change careers but are also required to change careers", writes career coach, and founder and owner of The Career Passion™ Coach, Catherine Jewell, in her very practical and action oriented book New Resume New Career: Get the Job You Want with the Skills and Experience You Already Have. The author describes how to create a resume that will land an interview and a job in the same industry, or even in a different industry entirely.
Catherine Jewell understands that today's job market is different from that of the past decades. Instead of a long term career, today's career path can include not only several different companies, but also a number of very different industries. As a result, there is much less concern about career or industry changes than in the past. Catherine Jewell points out that:
* Career changing is logical
* Career changing is accepted
* Career changing is more urgent
* Getting a new job often involves changing careers
Catherine Jewell (photo left) recognizes that the changing job market also demands new and different formats of resumes. The author outlines three types of career change. They include changing from one industry to another, changing to a new job function, and a combination of changing both the industry and the function. In order to make a successful transition in any of these three areas, the author recommends taking note of one's transferable skills, that are applicable in any career situation. Catherine Jewell describes, step by step, how to develop and write a resume that will market the job applicant best, and will win that all important interview. She describes in detail how to select the right resume format - chronological, functional, or blended resume - to have the best opportunity to win the interview.
For me, the power of the book is how Catherine Jewell takes a no nonsense approach to writing a winning resume regardless of the person's career goal. The author breaks each component part of the resume down into easy to understand and follow chapters. To underline her advice, Catherine Jewell includes several examples of different resume types, within each chapter. These very illustrative models of successful resumes help the job seeker develop each section of the resume with the end goal in mind. The book doesn't disappoint with its promise of building a resume that works for career, function, and industry changes. Each of these transitions is covered in a special section, including the unique challenges faced by job applicants in writing the appropriate resume. As always in the book, strong illustrative resumes are used to guide the career changer toward writing a resume that will win the desired interview. The author even provides tips for tweaking the resume in the event it fails to get results.
I highly recommend the very useful and timely book New Resume New Career: Get the Job You Want with the Skills and Experience You Already Have by Catherine Jewell, to anyone serious about creating an effective resume that will lead to real world interviews. For anyone seeking to change industries, job functions, or even both, this is the book for you.
Read the essential guide New Resume New Career: Get the Job You Want with the Skills and Experience You Already Have by Catherine Jewell, and write that knockout resume that will help you get noticed, and land an interview for a new career. Regardless of your current career status, or career goal, this book will steer you on the right path toward an exciting new career.
Viral Explosions! by Peggy McColl - Book review
Viral Explosions!
Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand Online
By: Peggy McColl
Published: April 2010
Format: Hardcover, 224pp
ISBN-13: 9781601631190
ISBN-10: 1601631197
Publisher: Career Press
"By working with the program outlined in this book, you can use the Web to create-information based products and services and market them effectively so they reach an extraordinary number of people and build your brand and business", writes internet marketing expert and best selling author of the practical and real world experience based book Viral Explosions! Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand Online. The author shares her successful techniques for boosting internet based sales of any product or service through the power of creating and utilizing an online strategy.
Peggy McColl understands the frustration experienced by many would be internet marketers. She learned from marketing her first book that without a workable internet plan, that any product or service will fail to sell. Armed with the knowledge that her books wouldn't sell themselves, she applied her Passion, Prosperity consciousness, and Partners concept to selling her inventory. The results were even better than she had hoped, and her sales were phenomenal. Peggy McColl shares those same internet marketing plans with the reader in an easy to follow and apply format that has achieved proven results for real people. She describes her method as creating a viral explosion.
Peggy McColl (photo left) recognizes that many potentially successful internet marketers are not entirely experts in the use of internet technology. As a result, she provides her information in non-technical, how-to language, while avoiding loading the reader down with unnecessary jargon. More important then the technical skills is understanding how to increase the number of visitors to a website and the number of people who pass along the information. To achieve this viral success, Peggy McColl points out it requires:
* A strong emotional appeal
* Is fresh and new to the reader
* Asks the person to take immediate action
* Recognition that people want to share with others
For me, the power of the book is how Peggy McColl removes the mystery and the guesswork from the world of internet marketing. Instead of jargon and vague promises, the book is packed with actionable ideas that can be applied to any sort of online of offline business, regardless of the offered product or service. Unlike many books, Peggy McColl shares very useful ideas on creating the information based products to sell. Instead ow writing about how great it is to sell them, the author also describes how to write, market, and get partners to build the viral explosion aspect. At the same time, important information is provided about the pro's and con's of the various information products, and how to determine if they are right for the business. Another really valuable chapter provides easy to use methods of building an online and offline brand and reputation. Overall, the information in the book is practical and useful for any online or offline marketer.
I highly recommend the straightforward business building book Viral Explosions! Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand Online by Peggy McColl, to anyone serious about utilizing the viral marketing power of the internet to create and grow a successful business. Not only does the author share her proven marketing tactics, but also describes in detail how to create high demand information products to offer to potential customers.
Read the easy to apply and very readable book Viral Explosions! Proven Techniques to Expand, Explode, or Ignite Your Business or Brand Online by Peggy McColl, and build a worldwide customer base, generate additional income, boost your brand reputation, develop a loyal clientele through through strong relationships. This book will cut through the noise, and give your business a successful viral explosion.
The War Lovers by Evan Thomas - Book review
The War Lovers
Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898
By: Evan Thomas
Published: April 27, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 471pp
ISBN-13: 9780316004091
ISBN-10: 031600409X
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
"The Spanish-American War is little remembered now. But more than the Civil War or World War II, it was a harbinger, if not the model, of modern American Wars", writes editor-at-large at Newsweek and bestselling historian Evan Thomas, in his brilliant and revealing book The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898. The author, through a narrative involving several of the towering personalities of the day, describes how that almost forgotten 1898 conflict bears striking parallels with modern wars, journalism, and politics.
Evan Thomas brings to life the extraordinary people and events that turned America on an unexpected path toward a global empire. The Spanish-American War, according to the author, was seen as an opportunity for the upper classes of America to prove themselves in war. Through the writings and words of future President Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, and news baron William Randolph Hearst, the feeling that members of the elites lacked vigor, became common thought. A war was the tonic, in their eyes, for this perceived malaise. When the American ship USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, the supporters of war rejoiced and began preparations for combat. While the ship explosion was an accident as the result of a design flaw, the official report presented an explanation of sabotage. The march to war was on.
Evan Thomas (photo left) points out that the Spanish-American War began with great enthusiasm. William Randolph Hearst provided non-stop stories, both real and exaggerated, to promote the war. The politicians voted in favor of declaring war, even though President McKinley was somewhat lukewarm to the idea. Like the modern day Iraq War, the reasons for entry were considered suspicious, if not outright fabrications, by opponents of the war. At the same time, like the Iraq War, there were few if any solid objectives, exit strategies, and little more than vague human rights concerns. Indeed, according to Evan Thomas, even the torture tactic of "waterboarding" was used in the Philippines against suspected rebel leaders and sympathizers.
The author describes the concerns of two doves as well. They were the renowned philosopher William James and the powerful Speaker of the House, Thomas Reed. Their voices were little heard in the headlong plunge into war. They were overwhelmed by a popular sentiment to fight a war, any war at all, and the hawks were in the ascendancy. Evan Thomas describes, through letters and writings, how Theodore Roosevelt worked tirelessly to get America into the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt craved the experience of battle, and used his success at the charge up Kettle Hill and the occupation of San Juan Hill to establish his legend. William Randolph Hearst newspaper reporters and artists portrayed the war and Roosevelt as conquering heroes. Heart himself even sailed to Cuba to be in on the action. The end result of the war was America as a global power, the problem of Cuban independence remained unsettled, and Theodore Roosevelt won the Presidency.
I highly recommend the enthralling and triumphant history The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas, to anyone seeking a book that brings the people and times of the Spanish-American War to life. Not only does the author share a masterful portrait of the personalities and events of the era, but provides critical parallels and lessons for our own time. In that sense, the author demonstrates that history is not something in the past, but is part of our current lives and world.
Read the important and remarkable book The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas, and discover how the past affects the present, and how decisions and choices made a century ago, still resonate in our world today. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the shaping of public opinion and global events, and how they have changed little in one hundred years.
The Real Alice in Wonderland by Cathy M. Rubin & Gabriella Rubin - Book review
The Real Alice in Wonderland
A Role Model for the Ages
By: Cathy M. Rubin, Gabriella Rose Rubin
Published: March 2010
Format: Hardcover, 144pp
ISBN-13: 9781449081317
ISBN-10: 1449081312
Publisher: AuthorHouse
"Most of all we connected with Alice - Alice who did not seek fame, but when the world thrust it upon her, did her duty and triumphed", write co-authors Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin, in their gorgeous, lavishly illustrated tribute to Alice Liddell, The Real Alice in Wonderland: A Role Model for the Ages. Creating much more than a coffee table book, the authors explore the real life and Victorian world in which their relative Alice Liddell lived her extraordinary life.
Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin recognize that Alice Liddell's life was transformed by her family's association with author Charles Dodgson, better known to the world as Lewis Carroll. Through his two literary masterpieces, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll presented the topsy-turvy, and brilliant world encountered by Alice as she explored the inner world of Wonderland. What many people don't know, but the authors lovingly make clear, is that Alice was indeed a real girl, and that many of the events in the Wonderland books were drawn from the life and world of Alice Liddell. Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin present the life and times of Alice, and in their view, Lewis Carroll couldn't have selected a better role model.
Cathy Rubin and Gabriella Rubin (both in photo left) understand that while Alice Liddell was very much a woman of her time, she also transcended her era and time in more ways than through literature. For the authors, Alice Liddell was a true role model for her time, for our time, and for future generations. Alice was a celebrity who maintained her best qualities, and utilized her influence to help further the rights of women, and of all people. Alice was a product of the Victorian upper classes, and had relationships with the elites and even with members of the royal family. Because of her connections, and her growing influence, she was able to work toward breaking down barriers for women in an era when such progressive societal advances were very difficult to achieve.
For me, the power of the book is how Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin bring the real Alice to life. For the authors, this beautiful book, packed with photographs and drawings of Alice Liddell and her world wide influence, was obviously a labor of love. The photographs were selected with care, and their placement throughout the book, enhances the narrative and brings Alice Liddell to life for our time. While the book is a coffee table edition, the text within the book is more than sufficient to provide background and context for the many illustrations. The authors avoid the photograph and illustration book problem of too little context for the visual aids, through well worded, concise paragraphs and with carefully chosen literary selections.
I highly recommend the beautiful book The Real Alice in Wonderland: A Role Model for the Ages by Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin, to anyone seeking a delightful visual introduction to the real girl and woman who was Alice Liddell. Much more than merely a character in some of the best loved books of all time, Alice was an important and influential person in her own right. The book displays Alice's loves, despair, courage and duty for all to see, in all her marvelous glory.
Read the landmark book The Real Alice in Wonderland: A Role Model for the Ages by Cathy M. Rubin and Gabriella Rubin, and discover for yourself the life and times of one of history's most extraordinary women. Alice Liddell was indeed a remarkable woman, and a wonderful choice as a role model for this or any age.
Hot (broke) Messes by Nancy Trejos - Book review
Hot (broke) Messes
How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too
By: Nancy Trejos
Published: May 20, 2010
Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
ISBN: 9780446555425
Publisher: Business Plus/Hachette
"We all have relationships with money, good or bad. And those relationships start when we are young, living in our parents' homes", writes Washington Post personal finance columnist Nancy Trejos, in her honest and self revealing book about personal finances Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too. The author describes candidly her descent into debt, and how she created and executed a plan to become debt free, without living a life lacking completely in pleasures and treats.
Nancy Trejos, as an adviser on personal finance, seems an unusual person to lose track of her money and plunge deeply into debt. On the other hand, the scenario of a young person living in a major city, losing control of her finances gives the author a powerful perspective as an advice columnist. As Nancy Trejos describes in the book, anyone can find themselves in debt over their heads at any time. She fell into the debt trap herself, and as a result is able to share her own story, giving her advice more immediacy. After all, she understands how easy it is to get into debt, and how difficult it is to relieve oneself of that financial burden. Because of her empathy with others, the author is able to delve more deeply into her own monetary dilemma, and offer her experience to others.
Mancy Trejos (photo left) starts with the concept that people have a relationship with their money that can be very dysfunctional in nature. For the author, how people interact with money is learned at home, with many lessons not being learned, or the wrong ones absorbed. For Nancy Trejos, keeping up with others was part of her money problem. Her family background didn't provide the information for buying what is essential and ignoring the rest. As a result, during her college years and her early employment years, found her spending money in the same way as her more financially secure friends and colleagues. Nancy found herself deeply in debt and facing painful spending decisions, often forced by bill collectors. In the end, Nancy developed a solid debt reduction and wealth building plan that she shares with her readers.
For me, the power of the book is the complete honesty with which Nancy Trejos describes her accumulation of debt, its effect on her life, and her plan to become debt free while saving for major purchases and her retirement. Instead of preaching complete austerity and a spartan bread and water existence, Nancy presents a spending budget that reduces debt, creates savings, and allows for certain luxury spending too. The book is a great financial primer for twenty something people, as the author not only writes authentically from experience, but understands that her readership will want the opportunity to splurge on something special from time to time. The author's spending advice, which includes important chapters on buying great clothing on the cheap and buying a car the right way, creates ways to eat out with friends and for buying a special pair of shoes. At the same time, Nancy Trejos demystifies IRA's, 401k's and other retirement savings vehicles in a way that will appeal to her target readers.
I highly recommend the very readable and often very funny book Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too by Nancy Trejos, to anyone seeking real world spending and debt reduction advice from someone who has been there, done that, and even put the t-shirt on her credit card. While the book is geared toward members of the Millennial generation, the advice is equally good for anyone of any age. Learning how to have a healthy and happy relationship with your money is important for everyone.
Read the inspirational and informative book Hot (broke) Messes: How to Have Your Latte and Drink It Too by Nancy Trejos, and discover how to get out of debt, save for retirement, and make wiser purchases without living a life of deprivation. The book is a fine primer on building a healthy and lasting relationship with your money, and for avoiding the financial pitfalls that await the unwary.
Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by Ori Brafman & Rom Brafman - Book review
Click
The Magic of Instant Connections
By: Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman
Published: June 8, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-52905-1
Publisher: Broadway Business
"In its simplest terms, clicking can be defined as an immediate, deep, and meaningful connection with another person or with the world around us", write authors and brothers Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman, in their fascinating and very insightful book Click: The Magic of Instant Connections. The authors share the key reasons why clicking, as they describe deep personal connections, can take place in a remarkably short period of time.
Rom Brafman and Ori Brafman describe this almost instantaneous connection making as being truly magical. Clicking, according to the authors, goes far beyond the obvious examples of romantic attraction to include lasting friendships and collaborative partnerships. As the authors describe that magical connection, it creates a feeling of being more alive and in touch with all of the person's surroundings. To discover what creates this feeling biologically, and psychologically, the authors explore the science of clicking at all of its various levels and its foundations. Through a series of enlightening chapters that delve into each of the click creation factors, the authors build a compelling case for why people click with others, and why each of these relationships is so deep and long lasting.
Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman (both in photo left) describe a series of factors that accelerate deep click relationships. These factors include:
* Vulnerability
* Proximity
* Resonance
* Similarity
* Safe Place
When these click accelerators are in place, the groundwork is in place for developing a deep and lasting relationship. Most intriguingly, these accelerators can create a click between people in a remarkably short time. The authors also demonstrate how some people are naturals at clicking, due in part to being very adaptable and empathic, able to modulate their emotional expression, and acting as networking hubs.
For me, the power of the book is how Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman present their concept of clicking through a combination of theory and real world examples. Each chapter provides another piece of the connection puzzle, in a manner that is both entertaining and informative for the reader. The authors use leading edge studies in psychology and sociology to augment their own personal experiences and those of the various people profiled in each chapter. Through the accumulation of the various click accelerators, Rom Brafman and Ori Brafman build their case that deep and lasting connections are very often dependent on random events, as well as through personality traits. The end result is a convincing argument about the nature of clicking with other people.
I highly recommend the cutting edge book Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman, to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of why we connect with some people and not with others, and the various factors that lead to those relationships. This entertaining book is an enlightening guide to some of the newest ideas in the formation of interpersonal connection, including how some people are more effective in clicking than others.
Read the delightful book Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by Rom Brafman and Ori Brafman, and discover for yourself how magical clicking with another person can be for both people. The magic of being in what the authors call being in the zone, makes for fascinating and eye opening reading.
Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training by Jonathan Bernstein - Book review
Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training
By: Jonathan Bernstein
Published: March 17, 2007
Format: Paperback, 90 pages
ISBN-10: 1450582206
ISBN-13: 978-1450582209
Publisher: CreateSpace
"Even if you have given many 'good news' interviews in the past, you're almost certain to say or do things you'll regret if you have not been media trained when in a 'high pressure' media interview situation", writes President of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., Jonathan Bernstein, in his practical and eye opening book Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training. The author describes how media training will help develop key messages, to improve the chance for balanced coverage, enhancing transferable media relations skills, and assisting in identifying effective media spokespeople.
Jonathan Bernstein recognizes that media training is not a guarantee of favorable media coverage, or that the book is even of an effective substitute for full scale media training. What the book does accomplish very well is establishing the critical importance of understanding the media and the importance of presenting a strong and honest message to journalists. Along with media training not being a magic formula, Jonathan Bernstein emphasizes that media spokespeople must practice their media skills intensively, to ensure their optimal effectiveness. Whether the media is the traditional mainstream or the alternative media of blogs, social media, and podcast, a business person must have training and continual practice in responding to journalists' questions. 
Jonathan Bernstein (photo left) points out that training and practice not only includes the wording of the statements, but also the non-verbal signals of voice tone and body language.The author devotes the majority of the book to providing practical media training advice, including the all important areas of honesty and ethics. Because the book focuses on media relations effectiveness during a crisis, when the chances of escalating the problem or creating an even larger problem, Jonathan Bernstein shares his three C's of crisis communication:
* Compassionate
* Competent
* Confident
For me, the power of the book is how Jonathan Bernstein demonstrates the crucial importance of media training for the representatives of any organization. In a crisis situation, where tempers are short and events may be changing by the moment, having well trained spokespeople, who show a compassionate, competent, and confident attitude are more likely to be believed and trusted. In the area of media training, the author describes how journalists work, to show organizational spokespeople the view from the other side of the microphone. At the same time, Jonathan Bernstein teaches business people the techniques that can optimize their media interviews most effectively. The author also cautions spokespeople that there are differences between media, between different reporters, and the critical importance of being truthful and ethical at all times.
I highly recommend the very useful guide Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training by Jonathan Bernstein, to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the importance of media training, and looking for sound, real world advice for effective media interviews on behalf of an organization during a crisis situation. The author provides step by step techniques that can and should be practiced on an ongoing basis to learn, develop, and enhance media relations skills.
Read the entertaining and very readable book Keeping the Wolves at Bay: Media Training by Jonathan Bernstein, and discover the transformational power of effective media relations for any business. The author shares usable techniques and methods of practice to ensure that your organization has the optimal interviewing skills for facing any crisis situation.
Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months by Melinda Emerson - Book review
Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months
A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works
By: Melinda F. Emerson
Published: March 18, 2010
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 1605501115
ISBN-13: 978-1605501116
Publisher: Adams Media
"To achieve success as a small business owner, you need to be flexible, pay close attention to your market, and figure out what you do not know about running a business", writes entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda Emerson in her very practical and results oriented book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works. the author describes a plan for preparing and launching a business in twelve months, combined with a personal plan for becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Melinda Emerson understands the critical importance of planning to achieve success in an entrepreneurial venture. She also recognizes that not only does a business require planning from the idea stage to the grand opening, but that the prospective entrepreneur must learn some crucial life lessons about what it means to be an entrepreneur. Not only does a potential business owner require a Plan A, but also a Plan B, Plan C, and even more, to ensure that unexpected events don't derail the entire enterprise. Because there is so much business and personal planning required to start the business off on a successful path, Melinda Emerson provides a twelve month preparation process. This one year time frame is designed to ease the steep learning curve, and to establish an entrepreneurial mindset in the new business owner. Since potential entrepreneurs often don't even know what they don't know, each month, another piece of the knowledge gap is added toward bridging that divide.
Melinda Emerson (photo left) covers the essential knowledge areas that a new entrepreneur must learn in order to start a successful company. The author shares how a potential entrepreneur must establish his or her personal long term goals, and how these goals must be in harmony with the type of business start-up and its commitment level. At the same time, Melinda Emerson also stresses that a budding business owner must understand his or her own personal strengths and weaknesses, as these factors can help or impede business success. The book also examines the critical importance of understanding personal as well as business finances. The author helps the new business owner set a time line for developing the needed business skills, and concentrating on activities for achieving a successful transition from employee to entrepreneur. The book contains powerful advice for setting business goals and for anticipating and overcoming obstacles.
For me, the power of the book is how Melinda Emerson shares her own real world entrepreneurial experience with the reader in a logical and sequential way. The author stays true to her vision for the book of creating a twelve month process for making the personal transition from employee to entrepreneur, and from the idea stage to opening a new business. Because Melinda Emerson brings her business start up knowledge to the book, she describes openly the pitfalls awaiting the unprepared, and the personal sacrifices necessary for success.
These vital lessons provide an often needed antidote to the over enthusiastic, but very unprepared would be entrepreneur. As a result, the book's main premise is that planning of both one's personal life, and the imperative of a business plan, form the backbone of the book. The twelve month process for preparation to become a business owner follows the central theme of planning for both the entrepreneur, and for the business.
I highly recommend the must read and essential business start-up guide Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works by Melinda Emerson, to anyone seeking a no nonsense step by step primer for starting a new business the right way. The author describes the process of becoming an entrepreneur, both in outlook and in business knowledge so well, that any would be business owner can utilize this book to make the transition from employee to business person.
Read the passionate and insightful book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months: A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business that Works by Melinda Emerson, and make the move from cubicle to business ownership. This book is your one stop road map to personal and entrepreneurial success.
Dirty Little Secrets by Sharon Drew Morgen - Book review
Dirty Little Secrets
Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it
By: Sharon Drew Morgen
Published: October 15, 2009
Format: Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN-10: 0964355396
ISBN-13: 978-0964355392
Publisher: Morgen Publishing
"At the end of the day, no matter how much our buyers have a need and we have the best solution, if they don't know how to decide to make a new choice, it doesn't matter what we've got", writes sales visionary and thought leader Sharon Drew Morgen in her sales transformational book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it. The author uncovers the real reasons why buyers don't make the expected buying decisions, and how sales people can help potential buyers make good buying decisions.
Sharon Drew Morgen understands that sales people are very often frustrated by low sales success rates. Instead of blaming the sales technique, the author delves into the often hidden circumstances that drive the buyer to make decisions that may appear irrational on the surface, but are logical within the context of their own company buying system. A failure on the part of sales people to understand the buyer's perspective, as related to their company politics, rules, and regulations, causes a failure to close the sale. Sharon Drew Morgen calls these norms on the buyer's side a "system", and as such is very powerful in maintaining the status quo, regardless of the validity of the resulting buying decisions. Unless there is change in how the system influences the buyer, there is little chance of success for closing any sale.
Sharon Drew Morgen (photo left) recognizes that the forces to maintain the system status quo are very powerful, and require skill and cooperation on the part of both the buyer and seller to create change. The author considers the only way for a system to change is for the buyer to generate the change within that system. Sharon Drew Morgen presents the Buying Facilitation (R) model, that uses what she calls Facilitative Questions, that helps buyers understand their own buying environment so as to create the necessary change to result in better buying decisions. To assist the seller in guiding the buyer through the process of systemic change, the book describes ten steps that are common to all buying decisions. When these steps are understood and internalized, a buyer can facilitate the internal changes necessary to overcome the status quo.
For me, the power of the book is how Sharon Drew Morgen provides a fresh, groundbreaking approach to understanding why buyers make decisions based on factors rarely considered by sellers. The concept of drilling down into the systemic constraints placed on buyers, so as to create change within that process, turns the entire world of traditional selling techniques upside down. Instead of focusing the sales effort on standard selling practices, the author proposes a collaborative method where seller and buyer work together to facilitate a transformation of the buying system for the benefit of all stakeholders. As Sharen Drew Morgen makes clear, the book is not a sales book, but a study on change management. Without the cooperative challenge to the system, the buyer is simply unable to make the best buying decision. This book helps guide both the sales representative and the buyer to the fastest and most efficient path to making the right decision.
I highly recommend the insightful and revolutionary book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it by Sharon Drew Morgen, to anyone seeking a more in depth analysis, into the real reasons for why buyers make their decisions, than is usually presented in traditional sales books. The author shares a new approach that helps both seller and buyer arrive at a solution through collaboration and change management of existing systems. The end result is an easier way for buyers and sellers to complete the sales process, while achieving satisfactory results that meet the buyer's real needs.
Read the essential and pioneering book Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can't buy and sellers can't sell and what you can do about it by Sharon Drew Morgen, and move beyond the often shallow and superficial concepts taught in most courses about sales. The author encourages sellers and buyers to turn the process upside down, and examine the system from the inside out, resulting in enriched understanding of the real system and constraints placed on buyers. By thinking in a change management and facilitation model, rather than with a conventional sales mindset, the entire sales process is streamlined and expedited. A more rewarding experience, for all stakeholders in reaching the final buying decision, is the positive win-win outcome.
Map of Intention by Darryl Jarmosco - Book review
Map of Intention
A 30-day system for getting results
By: Darryl J. Jarmosco
Published: 2009
Format: Paperback, 87 pages
Publisher: Darryl Jarmosco International
"We have a choice to live our lives two ways; either we live it in reaction or intention", writes Peak Performance Coach and speaker Darryl J. Jarmosco, in his inspirational and life transforming book Map of Intention: A 30-day system for getting results. The author challenges the reader to take action on their dreams, and to stop making excuses, and to quit limiting their life options.
Darryl J. Jarmosco presents the challenge of declaring your life. He considers this declaration essential as the turning point in finding clarity in your personal dreams and goals. Without this strong declaration, the author describes your life as one of reaction, and of being controlled by events and other people. The result, according to Darryl Jarmosco is a poor outlook on life that is both unfulfilling and personally exhausting. The author offers an alternative way to live one's life, by making the choice to live a life of intention. That means choosing what you want your life to be about, and to follow your own dreams and aspirations.
Darryl J. Jarmosco (photo left) understands that not everyone is at the same emotional state of readiness to declare a life of intention. As a result, he encourages his readers to get into a positive state of mind, and to feel good about themselves and the world around them. The author recognizes that not everyone's personal goals and dreams are the same. Indeed, he encourages his readers to write down and visualize their own dreams and goals, to establish focus and clarity. Darryl Jarmosco shares his ideas and proven techniques to move toward those goals, and away from the distractions and negative influences that created the life of reaction. Instead of living a life of aimlessness, the book presents a system for working toward a target that achieves your personal goals.
For me, the power of the book is how Darryl Jarmosco creates a practical and workable system for building a life of intention. The book is more than just an inspirational guide. It's also a work book and journal, that requires the reader to write down their goals and dreams on the page. Through the act of writing, the goal becomes a tangible reality, and sharpens the focus of the reader on reaching a target. The author makes a bold claim, that anyone can get results and move toward their goal, in only thirty days. Because of the daily written and practical exercises in the book, and the constant reinforcement of those dreams, the reader is propelled forward toward their ultimate target. The completely interactive format of the book is a huge part of forming that focus, clarity, and constant mode of action necessary to make dreams a reality.
I highly recommend the motivational, step by step goal achievement book Map of Intention: A 30-day system for getting results by Darryl J. Jarmosco, to anyone seeking to change their life from one of reaction to one where they live their own dreams. This book creates the positive frame of mind that guides the reader toward the target, while providing daily activities that make the life of intention one of reality. The author creates a format where the reader builds measurable goals, and takes actions that are specific and realistic. These actions are time bound, making them critical to achieving your life aspirations.
Read the life changing guide book Map of Intention: A 30-day system for getting results by Darryl J. Jarmosco, and change your life from one of reaction to living a life of intention. Instead of making excuses, and putting off your dreams and goals, let this book guide you to taking charge of your own life. Replace negativity and reaction with a focused target, and live your dreams on your own terms.
Create Marketplace Disruption by Adam Hartung - Book review
Create Marketplace Disruption
How to Stay Ahead of the Competition
By: Adam Hartung
Published: July 2008
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
ISBN-13: 9780132343916
ISBN-10: 0132343916
Publisher: FT Press
"A considerable amount of of business education, and the activities undertaken by managers as they advance their careers, is dramatically removed from implementing, or even understanding, innovation", writes strategy consultant and Managing Partner of Spark Partners, Adam Hartung, in his visionary and dynamic book Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition. The author provides fresh thinking and a new approach to innovation and change in the marketplace, and how management can embrace that dynamism to achieve industry dominance over the competition.
Adam Hartung recognizes the critical importance of change to any company, industry, and to the economy as a whole. He also understands that embracing the concept and inevitability of change and disruption are very difficult to grasp for many business leaders. As a result, formerly industry leading companies find themselves left behind by change that they believed was impossible to see in the marketplace. The paradox, as described by Adam Hartung, is that the very organizations that had created the new success formula, are the very companies who discover too late, that their once dominant formula led to their own demise. Because of the success of their formula, the corporate leaders chose to ignore warnings of change and disruption, and defended and extended their system long past its useful lifespan. As a result, their companies began a spiral downward into oblivion.
Adam Hartung (photo left) urges corporate leaders to seek out disruption and innovation, as embracing those principles are critical to the long term success of their organizations. The author goes farther than many discourses on innovation, and recommends that business executives create their own disruption, and challenge their organizational success formula. As Adam Hartung describes innovation, failure to disrupt the current business model by the organization on its own terms, will only mean change and disruption is caused by competitors and the economy. Adam Hartung offers convincing evidence that current success by an organization, if extended and defended against innovation, will result in inevitable decline or failure of the company.
For me, the power of the book is how Adam Hartung not only describes the current problems and myths facing companies, but also how he offers an alternative technique for long term business success. Unlike many books that simply diagnose the problem, Adam Hartung provides a viable and transformational model for embracing and even initiating change. The author shares case studies of corporations, formerly at the pinnacle of their industries, who were blindsided by disruptive innovators that changed their market sector almost overnight. The failed company success formulas had been thought previously to be unbeatable, and were defended and extended by themselves, and even their competitors and by academia. The old paradigms became locked into place, and were resistant and even hostile to changes that could have saved the company and restored it to competitive leadership.
What happened was change and innovation, on someone else's terms, and not on those of the failed corporations. Adam Hartung offers his Phoenix Principle, of practicing constant disruption until it becomes part of standard corporate thinking. This seeking of continuous innovation is part of what the author calls the white space where new ideas are created and put into practice. Finding that critical white space is critical to establishing fresh ideas and establishing new formulas for success. At the same time, keeping the white space open causes organizations to continue seeking and exploring new concepts, preventing the trap of being locked into the older system. Instead of defending and extending a previous, but no longer effective business model, concepts of the Phoenix Principle and white space cause deliberate disruption and innovation on the company's own terms.
I highly recommend the brilliat and must read book Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition by Adam Hartung, to anyone seeking fresh, groundbreaking ideas for breaking through the barriers of outdated, but formerly successful business models. This important book establishes clearly that holding onto older ideas, while discouraging innovation and creative disruption, will lead to the company demise. The very defenders of the older paradigm are the very people who contribute to business failure, because they are locked into that success formula. Companies must seek out innovators and disruptive agents to ensure long term corporate success.
Read the often challenging but always rewarding book Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition by Adam Hartung, and put the Phoenix Principle and the concept of white space to work for your company. Cast off the blinders of current success formulas, that are already showing signs of decay and decline, and embrace change and innovation. Disrupting your own corporate success today will lead to even greater success and profitability tomorrow.
Delay, Deny, Defend by Jay M. Feinman - Book review
Delay, Deny, Defend
Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It
By: Jay M. Feinman
Published: March 18, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 9781591843153
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio
"Insurance is the great protector of the standard of living of the American middle class, but only when it works", writes insurance expert and Distinguished Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law, Jay M. Feinman, in his hard hitting and landmark expose of of the insurance industry Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The author describes in vivid detail how the insurance industry delays processing of claims, denies payment of legitimate claims, and defends its actions in court even in cases where prompt payment of the claim would be the correct and legal course of action.
Jay M. Feinman pulls no punches as he builds his case against what he considers unethical and often illegal actions taken by insurance companies. The desire on the part of the insurance companies, writes the author, is a widespread policy designed to increase company profits by routine delay and denial of legitimate claims. Jay Feinman traces this change in insurance company policy, from paying policy holders the correct amount of their claim to one of reducing or avoiding payment entirely, to the mid-1990s, when insurers began to see claims processing as an area of potential profits. The author writes that the industry began to examine the claims payout as leakage of cash, that if retained, would serve to enhance the company's profit margins.
Jay M. Feinman (photo left) describes how global consulting giant McKinsey Consulting recommended that insurers examine more closely the claims processing department for possible cost reductions. Jay Feinman points out that the initial concept was to lower overhead and operating costs in claim processing, but that concept evolved into the principle of delaying, reducing, and avoiding some claim payouts entirely. The idea of claim delay and denial became the new industry method of operation, according to the author, resulting in a sea change in the way that insurance companies treated claims and their customers. What Jay Feinman describes as systemic abuses by the insurance industry, became business as usual leaving policy holders often destitute, homeless, or facing long and expensive court battles.
For me, the power of the book is how Jay M. Feinman provides a clear eyed analysis and evaluation of the worst practices of the insurance industry. He names companies he considers to be the worst offenders, while not letting the other insurers off without mention for their practices. He presents real life stories of people caught on the wrong end of delay, deny, and defend, despite their legitimate claims that should have received prompt payment in full. At the same time, what makes the book especially powerful is that the author offers new ideas and fresh thinking into solving the problems facing the industry and the average policy holder.
Jay Feinman is not anti-insurance. Indeed, he considers insurance essential as disaster protection for maintaining a middle class standard of living. To that end, he provides valuable information for consumers to select the best insurer for their needs, and how to best make a claim should misfortune strike. The author also shares some ideas for legislators to curb the systemic abuses that serve neither the policy holders or the long term viability of the insurance industry. Should current and future policy holders elect to not purchase insurance coverage, and lose confidence in their insurers, the insurance industry and the economy as a whole will suffer. Good business practices, including prompt payment of the correct amount of the claims, will enhance the long term image and profitability if the entire insurance industry.
I highly recommend the seminal and must read book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman, to anyone seeking a deeper understanding in how the insurance companies operate their businesses in the treatment of claims. The author delves deeply into the concept of delay, deny, defend, and why that practices is so widespread in the industry. He also offers real world, workable solutions that benefit the policy holders, the industry, and the overall economy.
Read the controversial and important book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman, and discover for yourself how to best protect yourself in case of an insurance claim. By better understanding of the industry, and how it operates, and by advocating changes in insurer practices, consumers and businesses will be better protected from disaster, now and in the future.
