The One to One B2B : Customer Relationship Management Strategies for the Real Economy
Author: Martha Rogers, Don Peppers
List Price: $21.95
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ISBN: 0385494092
Publisher: Currency (22 May, 2001)
Sales Rank: 17,100
Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Will Be A Classic
Over the years, the Peppers and Rogers duo have made an outstanding contribution to the field of marketing and the process of developing relationships with customers. "One to One B2B" is yet another installment. This well-written book builds on their earlier works and does a great deal to define in a tangible fashion the new "customer relationship mentality" that is so essential for all organizations to consider in today's real economy. This book is thought-provoking and stimulating. It is evident that the authors who have pioneered the bulk of the original thinking underlying customer relationship management want to share their compelling philosophy. They are very convincing in citing numerous advantages that accrue to those who embrace their way of operating a business. And, this book seems to be committed to showing a straightforward, direct blueprint for implementation. The initial chapters of the book provide an updated version of the principles and philsophy found in their earlier works. These early chapters constitute a worthwhile review, but the also offer some different slants that are extremely valuable supplements. The later chapters are integral to the book's mission. The authors offer very detailed coverage of companies and organizations that have adopted the "one to one" way of doing business. The book provides detailed description in a case study format illustrating the steps of implementation and explaining the benefits associated with each implementation phase. In keeping with their well-established literary character, in the final section of their book Peppers and Rogers have an eye to the future they share with the reader. For example, they don't shy away from offering advice to Dell on future direction in light of the challenges posed by the current environment. And, they take time to weigh the eventual impact of a B2B world that is rapidly extending its scope, offering conjecture from their very informed perspectives. As an academician who has spent significant time studying the CRM movement and consulting with companies that embrace the same, this book definitely offers value and is a must read for anyone that is committed to preserving lasting customer relationships.
Rating: 5 out of 5
So Obvious and Yet So Under-Appreciated
Those who have already read any of Peppers and Rogers' previous books (The One to One Future, Enterprise One to One, The One to One Fieldbook with Bob Dorf, and The One to One Manager) no doubt share my high regard for their uniquely creative as well as highly analytical thinking about CRM within the global marketplace. They continue to draw upon an abundance of real-world experience. This book may well be their most important thus far. In it, they suggest and then explain a number of strategies to create and then sustain solid relationships with B2B customers. Even if your organization is not currently involved in such relationships, these same strategies can also be of substantial value. Once again, the authors' essential idea (hardly original, they realize) is that businesses as well as most other human communities (e.g. a political constituency, a religious following, a military force) share at least this in common: Each is built one believer at a time to serve mutual self-interests. In this sense, the term "B2B" is a misnomer because people do business with other people. (Rest assured, I fully understand the differences between and among B2B, B2C, and B2B2C.) Even when purchases are completed electronically, they are initiated and fulfilled by people. Goods are manufactured by people. Services are provided by people. And so forth.Over the years, when customers have been asked to cross-rank attributes of greatest importance to them, "Feeling Appreciated" and "Convenience" or "Ease of Doing Business" are either #1 or #2. (Remarkably, "Price" is usually ranked between 9th and 14th in order of importance.) It is also worth noting that, as Peppers and Rogers carefully explain in this book, as new efficiencies are created by breakthrough technologies, the quality of one-to-one human interaction becomes even more important. They include five case studies, including one which examines the policies and procedures of Dell Computer. Somehow, they gained access to information which is probably otherwise unavailable, except to those involved in the Dell organization. Each of the case studies reads as if it were a one-act play. However different their "characters" and "plot" may be, all five companies are literally customer-driven. Their ultimate objective is not to achieve "customer satisfaction"; rather, as Jeffrey Gitomer and others have insisted, their ultimate objective is sustainable "customer loyalty" (indeed "customer passion"). Peppers and Rogers provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system to achieve that objective. They would be the first to recommend that each reader make appropriate modifications of that system to accommodate the specific CRM needs, interests, and resources of her or his own organization.
Earlier, I suggested that this may well be the most important book Peppers and Rogers have written thus far. The system they provide in it is worthless, however, unless and until an organization involved in B2B is wholly committed (top to bottom) to doing everything possible to make each customer feel appreciated. One of the best strategies to accomplish that is to make doing business with it as convenient (as "easy") as possible.
Here's another key point. Based on my own extensive experience working closely with all manner of organizations, I have become convinced that organizations cannot be "customer-driven" unless they are first "employee/associate-driven." Those who feel mistreated cannot be expected to treat others well. Therefore, effective CRM depends almost entirely on the quality of relationships within a given organization...and each of them is also, inevitably, one-to-one.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Excellent
After reading many books about CRM/Marketing One-One, my opinion is this book has to be read as soon as possible. You might have read others like me but this one is a plus. Buy it, read it, apply it, let it pass 6 months, then read it again. Finally, post here how much it helped you. It includes pratical stuff (case studies) of leading companies (Dell, Convergys, etc). This book has to be seen as a complement to others previously written by same authors. Similar Products
The One to One Future
A B2B Marketing: Radically Different Approach for Business-to-Business Marketers
The One to One Fieldbook
Enterprise One to One
Book Index