Book Reviews

Creating Competitive Advantage By Jaynie L. Smith

Creating Competitive Advantage was published in April 2006 by Doubleday and hit Amazon’s best-sellers list within two months of being released. Jaynie Smith’s first book is in its 13th printing and still receives commendable reviews and praise. Select reviews are listed below.

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  • As an attendee of Jaynie’s Smith’s keynote speech during Chemcraft’s national distributor meeting in Ft. Lauderdale early this year, I enthusiastically endorse and recommend Jaynie as a speaker. A key reason for my Chemcraft meeting attendance was to hear Jaynie speak and learn more about the Smart Advantage research approach. Her content was widely interesting to attendees, who were owners or leaders of their respective businesses. I found Jaynie’s content to be informative, innovative and entertaining. Hearing Jaynie speak cemented E.B. Bradley Company’s interest in engaging her Firm in a project to identify competitive advantages and execute against those findings. I highly recommend Jaynie as a speaker.

    Mike Scallon, Director of Marketing, E.B. Bradley Co. – Chemcraft/Akzonobel
  • Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent is about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards.

    Peter Drucker
  • Relevant Selling is cleverly practical and extraordinarily insightful. The straightforward style of Ms. Smith makes this invaluable book a must read for every business person.

    Seraina Maag
  • Jaynie’s presentation is dynamic and leaves you pondering “what is our Competitive Advantage” and what are my people selling? Clarity in messaging for our sales people has a greater opportunity to make a sale and deliver clear promises to our clients.

    Nancy Sharp, CEO – Food For Thought Enterprisesss
  • I found Jaynie Smith’s book to be very informative and practical. It inspired me to DO something, rather than just contemplate theory. That is why I called her to engage an activity for our company. We so often talk about what we do right – why we are special – but it is generally from our own internal perspective. This activity forced us to realize that what our customers think is truly our ‘reality’ – and we need to meet their expectations regardless of whether we agree with them or not. I have found this exercise to be incredibly helpful in explaining a ‘marketing’ concept to the rest of my company. I am very pleased with the tremendous support and effort I have seen from all departments and leadership toward making changes based on the results of Jaynie’s work.

    Mary Ann Tournoux
  • In a world where most and I mean MOST selling is irrelevant selling, Jaynie Smith’s Relevant Selling can mean the difference to you between profit and loss. My head is spinning with the wisdom in her book.

    Jay Conrad Levinson
  • Relevant Selling is a solid business book that every company can benefit from. From the first chapter you will nod your head and say “yes” that is what we need to do in order to resonate with our customers! Jaynie’s writing style is a terrific combination of practical ideas and examples which are plentiful and meaningful. You will definitely use Relevant Selling as a reference book for decades to come as it forces every business to evaluate their point of differential which can only be a benefit in the current and future economic environment.

    Merrill Dubrow
  • Relevant Selling very effectively reveals that a company’s self-image can blind it to the realities of the marketplace, and that customers are attracted to (or repelled by) features that the company may not consider to be important. You need to look outside of yourself and make a proactive effort to learn what your marketplace demands, and respond to it. To me, a business book really resonates when its message goes beyond the narrow intention of the book. This one does.

    Thomas Hauck
  • Outstanding! Jaynie L. Smith provided a memorable speech to the graduate business students by sharing her unique views on creating a competitive advantage, as well as her real industry experience. Ms. Smith encouraged students to relate to the topic by focusing on how they can create a competitive advantage for themselves when starting their careers. The students really appreciated her time and have come to understand the value in creating a competitive advantage!

    Catalina Victoria, President, Graduate Business Student Association Nova Southeastern University
  • In this highly readable book, Jaynie Smith makes a compelling case for why you’re almost certainly mistaken if you think that your company’s sales and marketing pitches are relevant to customers.

    Jim McElgunn
  • You helped out 34 people who were at the event in more ways than you can imagine. We all became better people that day. We all listened intently and are making great strides to change our marketing approaches. I even have my advertising company working with me now to create a questionnaire and get that in the hands of my clients… so that we do not become the commodity you clearly got through our brains.

    Susan V. Daywitt, CEO SLM Facility Solutions Nationwide
  • In Relevant Selling, the author clearly shows why it is very likely that there is much we do not know about our customers, and why what we do not know can quickly make our organizations irrelevant. Fortunately, she also provides many examples and strategies for how an organization can learn what truly is relevant to our customers and prospects, and how to retain that way. The leaders of any organization who want to do a better job selling their products or services can benefit from Smith’s (no relation) relevant insights.

    R. Bob Smith III
  • Jaynie’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms on content value and presentation effectiveness

    Kate Seward, Senior Director of Program Management – Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS)
  • If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.

    Jack Welch
  • Jaynie Smith’s Relevant Selling is the perfect complement to her first book, Creating Competitive Advantage. She challenges you to think like your customer.

    Matthew R. Dionne