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 ReviewRelevant 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.
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.
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…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.
Jaynie’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms on content value and presentation effectiveness
Jaynie Smith’s Relevant Selling is the perfect complement to her first book, Creating Competitive Advantage. She challenges you to think like your customer.
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!
Thank you for your presentation at our conference… The comments from speakers, exhibitors and attendees were overwhelmingly positive. One letter summarized it up this way, ‘I would like to congratulate you both on an outstanding CME program. I have been practicing medicine for over 10 years and I have to rank it up there with one of the best.’ It takes a team of people to plan and execute such success. And, it takes a great roster of speakers delivering value that meets or exceeds attendee expectations in order to receive the kind of comments we are receiving.
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.
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.
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.
A relevant competitive advantage gives buyers a reason to choose you over your competition.
So many companies think that differentiation is the key to success. It isn’t. The key is knowing how to articulate what’s different or better about your product. Creating Competitive Advantage is a must-have for any CEO’s library.
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.
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.
