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 ReviewThank 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.
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.
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.
Presently one of the most influential books in the business world.
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.
A relevant competitive advantage gives buyers a reason to choose you over your competition.
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.Compelling! The clarity in which Jaynie presents her message is particularly valuable. Finding and using your competitive advantage is the key to not only survival but more importantly, profitable survival.
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.
Jaynie’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms of content value and presentation effectiveness.
Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent is about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards.
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!
Relevant Selling is a playbook for all times, all geographies, and all products and services. It is universal in its wisdom and makes that wisdom crystal clear.
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.
Jaynie Smith’s Relevant Selling is the perfect complement to her first book, Creating Competitive Advantage. She challenges you to think like your customer.
