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.
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.
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.
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’s presentation was one of the top-rated presentations at our meeting, both in terms on content value and presentation effectiveness
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.
Ninety percent of the information used in organizations is internally focused and only ten percent is about the outside environment. This is exactly backwards.
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.
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 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.
A relevant competitive advantage gives buyers a reason to choose you over your competition.
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 Smith’s Relevant Selling is the perfect complement to her first book, Creating Competitive Advantage. She challenges you to think like your customer.
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.
