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36 SMT Magazine • December 2016 by Dan Beaulieu In honor of this month's topic of sales and marketing, I'm providing a review of five books that can directly influence the way we think about sales, marketing, customers and custom- er service. When selecting these books, I considered the following criteria: • I wanted the books to be relatively new— no older than 24 months • I wanted them to represent a new way of thinking • I wanted books with innovative ideas • I wanted books that could make a sales and marketing person better _________________ 4 __________________ What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint Author: Nicholas Webb Amacom, 2017 Price $25.00 Customer service is out and customer expe- rience is in. It's not enough to deliver great cus- tomer service any more—you must instead de- liver an entire customer experience and a great experience at that. Customers want to feel good about the very act of working with you. They want to feel that you are on their side and that you have their best interests at heart. This book goes beyond traditional thoughts about service. In the first part of the book, the author discusses something we have all become aware of and that is creating customer value. He points out that it is much more effective to keep a customer happy than it is to get a new cus- tomer. From the book: "…probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 to 20 percent, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent." Mr. Webb goes on to explain just how we can provide value to our customers. He de- scribes in detail how to create customer confi- dence in you, your company and your products and services. This is one of those books that inspires great thoughts and ideas by giving the reader "trig- gers" that encourages thinking about customers in a way you have not done before. He shows you how to put yourself in their place and grow your understanding of how they view you and your company, and most importantly, what they expect from you. I especially like the section entitled, "Make an upset customer a lifelong customer in five easy steps." From the book: 1. Affirm: Create a complete under- standing of the problem and what it means to the customer. 2. Listen: Yes, shut up and listen and hear exactly what the customer is saying to you. Five New Books that Will Change Your Perspective on SALES AND MARKETING FEATURE