Advertising and Marketing Geek Book Review: Winning the Customer
This is an advertising/marketing geek book review — please know I’m truly saying that without any snarkiness, since clearly I do “resemble that remark”.
Recently I read Lou Imbriano and Elizabeth King’s Winning the Customer, a new book out this year from McGraw-Hill. Mr. Imbriano is the President and CEO of TrinityOne, but you may know him better as the former CMO of the New England Patriots.
It’s a “light read” but the concepts are certainly not fluffy.
Relationship-building, customer identification and loyalty, and revenue generation are certainly weighty issues in the industry now. It’s refreshing that Imbriano and King’s book is the opposite of pedantic when it comes to illustrating lessons learned and suggesting how to apply relationship-building and customer development. It’s an easy read, which is not to say that the concepts are simplistic, but rather that they are discussed in a style that is more conversational (and you probably won’t need to run to the dictionary often while reading).
Winning the Customer is a book filled with practical information and suggestions, backed up by real-life examples.
Mr. Imbriano’s track record of success is impressive, so he not only is talking the talk, but also walking the walk.
It focuses on how to identify and groom customers, make those relationships blossom, and then translate that into real revenue. The book is divided into three easily digestible key areas:
- Marketing Playbook
- Relationship Architecture
- Revenue Game
As the book describes the three key areas and how they “must work harmoniously together”, the authors include both literal and figurative sport-related concepts, terms, and slang sprinkled in with the business advice.
His “D.E.L.I.V.E.R.S.” acronym is not only catchy (Dedication, Entertainment, Loyalty, Investment, Vision, Energy, Responsibility, Sacrifice) but is also helpful and strategic if you take the time to consider the advice and approach more deeply.
In short, you don’t have to be an advertising or marketing genius to appreciate the book, but it just might help you get a little closer to understanding how, as the authors say, to “turn consumers into fans and get them to spend more.”
Stephanie Grayson is a Communications Professional in New York. You can reach her on Twitter.
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- by AWSC
- posted at 8:49 am
- December 22, 2011
