Inbound Selling

In this new edition of Gaining Control, the authors present best practices for optimizing control of manufacturing processes to meet business objectives. This reliable resource includes real solutions for measurable improvements in effectiveness, employee engagement, and morale. Written by leading experts, it’s perfect for anyone who manages production facilities or supply chains and includes updated coverage of many new developments.

No longer restricted to the engineering industry, project management has at long last crossed over to mainstream business. Project Management for Business Professionals is the definitive reference on the essentials of contemporary project management. Featured here are some of the foremost practitioners and researchers from academia, consulting, and private industry, sharing their various areas of project management expertise and providing a wide range of perspectives on everything from risk management to resource planning to ethics management. Focusing on both the technical and human sides of the field, this unique resource follows the main points of the «project management body of knowledge»-the certification standard of the Project Management Institute. The experts address the procedures and processes for planning and managing projects and explore project team/group dynamics, examining the interpersonal relations and the political and organizational considerations that can impact a project.

Follow the «Proven Path» to successful implementation of enterprise resource planning Effective forecasting, planning, and scheduling is fundamental to productivity-and ERP is a fundamental way to achieve it. Properly implementing ERP will give you a competitive advantage and help you run your business more effectively, efficiently, and responsively. This guide is structured to support all the people involved in ERP implementation-from the CEO and others in the executive suite to the people doing the detailed implementation work in sales, marketing, manufacturing, purchasing, logistics, finance, and elsewhere. This book is not primarily about computers and software. Rather, its focus is on people-and how to provide them with superior decision-making processes for customer order fulfillment, supply chain management, financial planning, e-commerce, asset management, and more. This comprehensive guide can be used as a selective reference for those, like top management, who need only specific pieces of information, or as a virtual checklist for those who can use detailed guidance every step of the way.

Put buyer experience and selling resources front-and-center to boost revenue Sales Enablement is the essential guide to boosting revenue through smarter selling. A thorough, practical introduction to sales enablement best practices, this book provides step-by-step approaches for implementation alongside expert advice. In clarifying the sales enablement space and defining its practices, this invaluable guidance covers training, content, and coaching using a holistic approach that ensures optimal implementation with measureable results. Case studies show how enablement is used effectively in real-world companies, and highlight the essential steps leaders must take to achieve their desired sales results. Smarter buyers require smarter selling, and organizations who have implemented enablement programs attain revenue goals at a rate more than eight percent higher than those that do not. This book provides a 101 guide to sales enablement for any sales professional wanting to enhance sales and boost revenue in an era of consumer choice. Understand sales enablement and what it can do for your company Implement enablement using techniques that ensure sustainable, measureable performance impact Adopt proven best practices through step-by-step advice from experts Examine case studies that illustrate successful implementation and the impact of sales enablement on revenue Consumers are smarter, more connected, and more educated than ever before. Traditional sales strategies are falling by the wayside, becoming increasingly less effective amidst the current economic landscape. Companies who thrive in this sort of climate know how to speak to the customer in their own terms, and sales enablement keeps the customer front-and-center by providing sales people with the resources buyers want. Sales Enablement provides a scalable, sales-boosting framework with proven results.

During the last thirty years, a wide range of product companies throughout the Western economies have considered moving into or setting up service businesses. Some have rejected the idea after careful consideration, some have wandered into competitive services without any real idea of what is involved and others have deliberately executed a carefully considered strategic manoeuvre. Included in this debate are some of the most famous business names in the western world: Unisys, Ericsson, Michelin, Nokia and HP. For IBM it was Lou Gerstener’s ‘big bet’; at GE it was one of former CEO Jack Welch’s ‘four major strategies’ and, at General Motors, the financial services arm was its most profitable business for many years. Yet very little has been published on this profound transition. As a result, myths and idiocies abound. Some routinely claim that the ‘evolution from products through services to solutions’ is inevitable. Others think that manufacturing is being outsourced to China and India while American or European teenagers face a career in hamburger stalls. The truth is much more fascinating. To succeed in a service business, most functions of a product company need to change. Operations, management, recruitment, finance, sales, new product development and marketing must all be adjusted. So the move into service therefore involves huge risk caused by disruptive and radical change. What has pushed realistic business people in such widely different industrial sectors to take so large a risk? Does their experience contain lessons or warnings for others? Is the trend likely to continue and affect other parts of the world as their economies develop? Will India, China or other developing economies need to learn how to export service once their manufacturing industries mature? Written by a successful businessman who has been at the heart of these changes in several companies and, with case studies from companies like IBM, Unilever, BT, Michelin, Ericsson and Nokia, this book explores the experience of those who have made the transition; and some who have resisted it. It covers in depth subjects such as: strategic focus, change management, service operations, branding a service business, service sales and service marketing. It is the first major work on this subject. “This book is a ‘must read’ for those considering the plunge into service growth and innovation. Even those companies that have already taken the plunge will gain fresh perspective” Jim Spohrer, Director, IBM Almaden Research Centre, USA “Laurie Young details in very practical ways the reasons and methodologies for change … I would recommend this book to every one of my customers.” Douglas Morse, Managing Principal for the Services Transformation and Innovation Group LLC “I am thrilled with the publication of this much needed book. In my work with businesses around the globe, I find that grappling with the challenge of transforming a company from products to services is a compelling priority for increasing numbers of firms.” Stephen W. Brown, PhD, Carson Chair, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Services Leadership, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University