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.
Have you read Creating Competitive Advantage by Jaynie Smith? If so, please share your thoughts by writing your review on Amazon.com!
Submit My Creating Competitive Advantage ReviewI 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.
Jaynie Smith’s Relevant Selling is the perfect complement to her first book, Creating Competitive Advantage. She challenges you to think like your customer.
Jaynie Smith was extremely helpful in directing the executive team of Zurich Specialties in
identifying and articulating our competitive advantages. She helped us get over a very big hurdle…Presently one of the most influential books in the business world.
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.
Throughout my ‘athletic’ sales career, I have held positions with companies like Nike, Stride Rite and Sketchers before making my move to Puma. In all that time, I was never exposed to a training session like [Jaynie Smith] conducted for us on Friday. In that short time, your presentation truly made me think about how I pursued my business and through your suggestions and exercises, made me rethink/revise my ‘old ways’ of attacking / maintaining my customer base – Thank you!
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.
Having spent the morning at Jaynie’s presentation today at Newcastle, im so pleased i have at least 10 hours to calm down otherwise i would not sleep.
I have never, ever received a presentation that has pricked so much inspiration. You mention the AHA moments, well, i found lots during your presentation. I cannot wait to purchase your books as I feel I can learn so much more. 25 years thinking i was good at my job only means after I read you books and indeed implement what you say will make better. I often read, “Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with”, my answer now is Jaynie Smith, i could listen to you for ever.Jaynie’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms on content value and presentation effectiveness
Jaynie was articulate, focused and gave high level advice to over 100 New York City CEOs. The audience stayed engaged and interacted throughout the entire presentation. It was impactful and all walked away with tangible action items that could add value to every company, if implemented.
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.
Jaynie Smith took great care in providing the critical information needed to help our members understand how to gain a competitive advantage. She is an excellent speaker and her presentation was extremely relevant.
Jaynie’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms of content value and presentation effectiveness.
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!
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.
