Required Reading

Yes, there are philanthropists in the corporate world--and Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well (Career Press) tells us why there should be more. Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff, along with business journalist Karen Southwick, explain how companies can effectively use their resources to serve the community, and in return benefit themselves and their employees. The book examines the best philanthropic practices of companies like Cisco, General Motors, Hasbro, Microsoft, IBM, and more. It urges corporate leaders to make community relationship-building a priority, and provides the guidelines to help them on their way. Launching a brand internationally is complicated --accommodating the local needs of customers without losing brand consistency is probably one of the toughest challenges companies face. Global Brand Strategy: Unlocking Brand Potential Across Countries, Cultures & Markets (Kogan Page), by Sicco van Gelder, examines the undertaking of a global brand strategy, and provides a framework for managers to analyze their vulnerability to influences across diverse markets and societies. Disclosing the experiences of many top corporations, this is a practical handbook for brand directors, managers, champions, and guardians involved in an international branding effort. Tesco Clubcard has blossomed into the United Kingdom's number one retailer, the world's most successful Internet supermarket, and a superior example of CRM success. Scoring Points: How Tesco Is Winning Customer Loyalty (Kogan Page), by Clive Humby and Terry Hunt with Tim Phillips, recounts the creation, launch, and development of Clubcard since 1995. With a behind-the-scenes view of its failures and successes, this story brings to light how the company was able to maintain both customer loyalty and successful marketing initiatives, and the subsequent benefits the company and its customers have enjoyed. Marketers can never be quite certain if their investments in advertising and mass media are truly efforts well spent. Precision Marketing: The New Rules for Attracting, Retaining and Leveraging Profitable Customers (John Wiley & Sons), by Jeff Zabin and Gresh Brebach, analyzes the traditional approaches often used to reach valuable customers, and encourages marketers to shift from mass advertising to more scientific tactics. By systematizing and understanding the wants, needs, and situations of individual consumers, the authors attest, companies can engage those most likely to make a significant impact on growth and profitability. Today's challenging economy and competitive marketplace have placed big demands on sales professionals across vast industries. Author Dave Stein asserts that sales effectiveness depends on perfecting a wide array of techniques, from communications skills to strategic planning. How Winners Sell: 21 Proven Strategies to Outsell Your Competition and Win the Big Sale (Dearborn Trade Publishing) offers advice on everything from understanding how corporate politics affect the consumer's decision to guaranteeing client trust to strengthening presentation and relationship skills. In this fourth volume of the Thought-Leadership Project's focus on CRM, Defying the Limits (Montgomery Research) explores new opportunities for improving operating efficiencies and economic impact. Through case studies and customer profiles targeted to senior executives at Fortune 4,000 companies, it clarifies the how-tos of tackling vital CRM practices. This edition provides instructional advice on how to ultimately maintain customer loyalty by integrating technological advances with goal setting, leadership, and organization change management techniques.