. . business executives in many industries are currently being inundated with a confusingly and exhaustingly broad range of technological developments that enable new business models.There is, however, a common thread among all of these developments: firms are fundamentally changing how they connect with their customers. Rather than having occasional, episodic interactions--where customers realize they have an unmet need and then look for ways to fill it--firms are striving to be continuously connected to their customers, providing services and products as the needs arise, even before customers become aware of them.Firms such as Nike, Disney, Progressive Insurance, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Medtronic, Hewlett-Packard, and Tesco are developing and competing on connected strategies: creating superior customer experiences through connectivity while simultaneously driving dramatic improvements in operational efficiencies and reshaping their industries.Strategy and operations experts Nicolaj Siggelkow and Christian Terwiesch reveal the emergence of connected strategies across a broad array of industries and show how these strategies work, how they eliminate the trade-off between superior customer experience and low cost, and how companies can formulate, design, and implement them. In showing how to create a connected strategy, the authors reveal the four pathways--respond-to-desire, curated offerings, coaching, and automatic execution--for turning occasional, episodic interactions into continuous relationships. Siggelkow and Terwiesch show you how to: Reshape the connections between customers, suppliers, and your firm Create the right revenue model Make the best technology choices to support your strategy Integrating rich examples, how-to advice, and tools in the form of "workshop chapters" throughout, this book is the ultimate resource for creating connected relationships with your customers and redefining the connections in your industry.

    Devin is his father's oldest child and wants to join the Knights, one of the premier peacekeeping forces in the Kingdom. War breaks out which makes it difficult but Devin succeeds in his goal only to discover that he is different, way different. His agility and accuracy is on par with the other peacekeeping force, the Wizards. When Devin accidentally casts a spell during a friendly duel, he is whisked away from the war to learn magic. When the other side starts using their own Wizards, Devin is rushed through training to help defend the Kingdom.

     “Good enough” is not the life you deserve - you deserve the best, and the good news is that you can have it. Learn the surprising truth that it’s not by doing more, but less with Less Mess Less Stress. We know that we own too much, we say yes for too many engagements, and we stick to more than we should. Physical, mental and relationship clutter are daily burdens we have to deal with. Change your mindset and live a happier life with less. This book will help you if: • You’re committed to reducing stress in your life • You wish to get rid of things and keep order around you • You feel mentally overwhelmed, and you seek real solutions how to simplify your days • Want to be a more understanding and patient friend or spouse • You seek for real life examples on how to change your life for the better with the help of minimalism Minimalism is an inversely proportional process: the less you do, the more will you have. And the less you keep, the happier you’ll be. What else will you get if you read in Less Mess Less Stress: • A step by step guide how did I got rid of 75% of my things • Real life examples and techniques how to reduce mental clutter • Comprehensive guide how to make your relationships more enjoyable and less stressful • Stories and tips from the “best minimalists” of the world, who are not superstars, but real people • Finally, a monthly guide for 2017 how to keep the minimalist mindset active in your life In Less Mess Less Stress you’ll find real and applicable tips and advice. I will share with you my own story about decluttering my entire life. I made this book less strict; I approached it with humor, and genuine encouragement to make you feel you’re among friends here. Because minimalism is not a must, but a choice without any pressure or negative consequence. To start your stress- free minimalist routine today, hit the buy now button on the top-right corner of this page!

    29 Leadership Secrets from Jack Welch follows in Welch's footsteps, boiling the legendary CEO's leadership successes down to 29 strategies that made GE the world's most competitive company­­and Welch the world's most successful and admired CEO.This all-in-one Welch reference updates material from Robert Slater's bestselling Get Better or Get Beaten, and is today's ultimate fast-paced, no-nonsense handbook on the ways of Jack Welch. It taps into the heart of Welch's courage, innovation, and leadership success by examining simple leadership secrets that include:Managing less is managing betterMake quality the job of every employeeHave global brains and vision

    Badaracco outlines eight fundamental challenges that test a leader's character, and proposes exploring them through the lens of literature. Badaracco argues that serious fiction provides us with memorable characters facing compelling challenges similar to those that confront business leaders. Through rich analysis of the main characters in The Death of a Salesman, The Secret Sharer, The Last Tycoon, and other stories, Badaracco addresses complex issues leaders face, such as the soundness of their vision, their readiness to take on responsibility, the depth of their compassion, and their ability to manage success.Presenting classic leadership dilemmas in a novel and valuable light, Questions of Character helps leaders and aspiring leaders prepare for the opportunities and tests before them.

     Your weekly conference call is hijacked by video screens freezing, cords not working, and employees dropping in and out. You then sit through an endless Power Point presentation that everyone claims they’ve read, no one has, and that could have been summarized in one page.   What has happened to common sense? And how can we get it back? Companies, it seems, have become so entangled in their own internal issues, and further beset by reams of invisible red tape, that they’ve lost sight of their core purpose. Inevitably, they pay the price.   Best-selling author Martin Lindstrom combines numerous real‑life examples of corporate common sense gone wrong with his own ingenious plan for restoring logic—and sanity—to the companies and people that need it most. A must-read for today’s executives, managers, and office workers, The Ministry of Common Sense is funny, entertaining, and immensely practical.

    Want to get customers talking? This friendly guide combines the best practical tools with insight and flair to provide guidance on every aspect of PR, so you can launch a full-throttle campaign that'll generate buzz -- and build your bottom line. Discover how to * Map a winning PR strategy * Grab attention with press releases, interviews, and events * Cultivate good media relations * Get print, TV, radio, and Internet coverage * Manage a PR crisis

    Now he shows managers how to use the Principle to achieve exceptional results at work - without stress or long hours.

    These specialists have begun forming shops of their own - the new modern version of the agency. Increased marketing fragmentation and brand's need for specialists means that the time has never been better for a freelancers or niche service providers to build their own small firms. All they're missing is the guidance they need to find their footing.While specialist agencies and freelancers are highly skilled, most have a lot to learn about the mechanics of starting and running an agency. Many of these specialists come from a different background than those who traditionally started agencies: they come from the internet, not the ad world. In Agency, Rick Webb provides a comprehensive guidebook - giving readers the knowledge, strategies, and understanding they'll need to make the exciting transition into a modern creative services firm. Drawing from his experience running his own digital ad agency and working with countless innovative tech start-ups, Webb focuses not just on how to get started, but how to survive in a competitive marketplace. This is a hands-on master class in everything that the agency manager needs to know. From understanding small business banking, to deciding how to price a job and manage procurement, to winning new business, Agency provides everything from basic business and leadership skills to insider tips and industry information. Webb outlines the shape of the ecosystem in which new agencies will be finding their place. Packed with personal anecdotes from his time starting and running the highly successful Barbarian Group, Webb provides practical techniques for building an agile company.Modern agency upstarts need a different sort of education, and Agency provides a remarkable crash course.

    It’s a handbook for anyone who has an idea and needs to build relationships to get it off the ground. Over the last 3 years, entrepreneurs Evan Loomis and Evan Baehr have raised over $45 million for their own ventures, including the second largest round on the fundraising platform AngelList. In Get Backed, they show you exactly what they and dozens of others did to raise money -- even the mistakes they made -- uncovering the secrets of the world’s best storytellers, fundraisers, and startup accelerators. Get trained in “the friendship loop”, a step-by-step process that can be used to meet and build relationships with anyone, from investors to potential cofounders. They also show you how to create a pitch deck, building off the actual examples of 15 ventures that have raised over $150 million. Get Backed won't just show you exactly what it takes to get funded, it will give you the tools to make any idea a reality.

    A necessary addition to your reading." --David Maister, author of Managing the Professional Service Firm"Professional Services Marketing will certainly become the bible of the field in short order! Without a doubt, the most useful compendium of marketing insight for the practicing professional services firm executive...BRAVO!" --Leonard A. Schlesinger, President, Babson College, and coauthor of The Service Profit Chain"It's no longer sufficient to be a good 'expert for hire'--you need a brand and a powerful marketing engine behind you. Professional Services Marketing is a gold mine of research based strategies, best practices, and specific techniques that will help you consistently win in the client marketplace and outshine your competition. It's thoughtful, funny, and filled with the how-to so often missing in business books." --Andrew Sobel, coauthor of Clients for Life"Schultz and Doerr offer tactics and information in an easy-to-read, concise, and enjoyable format. Professional Services Marketing should be a required resource in every professional marketer's tool box!" --R. Granville Loar, Executive Director, Association for Accounting Marketing"This book is an excellent resource for anyone involved in professional services. It is especially timely in our current challenging economic conditions, and the ideas and guidance are relevant for the better times to come as well." --Josh Lee, Partner, Monitor Group"Smart. Practical. Comprehensive. This is the one book that won't collect dust on my shelf." --Kevin McMurdo, Chief Marketing Officer, Perkins Coie"Professional Services Marketing is the first book to directly address the challenges of the professional services marketer. This book is filled with practical wisdom and research on best practices and processes specifically for this industry. A must-read for anyone in a professional services firm!" --Paul Dunay, Global Director of Integrated Marketing, BearingPoint

    Today's outliers in revenue growth and value creation are winning with a new set of rules. They are dominating by managing the information that surrounds people, organizations, processes, and products--what authors Malcolm Frank, Paul Roehrig, and Ben Pring call Code Halos. This is far beyond "Big Data" and analytics. Code Halos spark new commercial models that can dramatically flip market dominance from industry stalwarts to challengers. In this new book, the authors show leaders how digital innovators and traditional companies can build Code Halo solutions to drive success. The book:Examines the explosion of digital information that now surrounds us and describes the profound impact this is having on individuals, corporations, and societies; Shows how the Crossroads Model can help anticipate and navigate this market shift; Provides examples of traditional firms already harnessing the power of Code Halos including GE's Brilliant Machines, Disney's theme park Magic Band, and Allstate's mobile devices and analytics that transform auto insurance. With reasoned insight, new data, real-world cases, and practical guidance, Code Halos shows seasoned executives, entrepreneurs, students, line-of-business owners, and technology leaders how to master the new rules of the Code Halo economy.

    Here he narrates his own shocking story of what really happened in the prisons of North Vietnam.

    It draws upon the experiences of thousands of demonstrations, both delivered and received from vendors and customers. The distinctive "Do the Last Thing First" concept generates a "Wow!" response from customers. The Great Demo! method is presented simply and clearly, and is elaborated more fully in each successive chapter, providing a rich toolkit for software sales teams. Real-life anecdotes, examples, and axioms offer humorous and effective punctuation. Updated with new best practices, tips and techniques, this second edition now includes a complete chapter on remote demonstrations--an area of increased activity and unique challenges. An additional chapter on managing evaluations (for fun and profit) extends the utility of the book to those in sales and management. Great Demo! is a terrific read on an airplane or between customer visits. It offers a straightforward process for creating and delivering highly compelling software demonstrations, excellent advice, tips, and the occasional epiphany.

    Eleven information-packed chapters, grouped in four handy sections, explain and analyze the product manager's role in both traditional, hierarchical organizations as well as newer horizontal, team-driven decision-making structures. Downsizing, right-sizing, reengineering and a host of other terms point to one overriding fact of corporate life today: companies are going through turbulent times that are not likely to end soon. But despite all of the change one thing remains constant: the product manager's role is still the source of the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation that drive every successful organization. As the concluding chapter discusses, product managers of the future will assume new roles and relationships in their organizations. The Product Manager's Handbook is the perfect guidebook for that future.