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Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Newest Book Review


Love is the Killer App, by: Tim Sanders
A-

I really enjoyed reading this book, I finished it in 3 days because it is such a good read. To sum it up Tim suggests the business world has changed and is changing. The old "mad dog" mentality that says just keep pushing, and tell your partner, prospect, or client, everything you can do for them, just doesn't work today. Instead Tim has become a "love cat". The opposite of a "mad dog", someone who implements these three tenants. Share your knowledge, network and love(compassion).

He divides the book simply into these three sections. The biggest part in the knowledge section is not what your product or service can do for your client or partner, but centers around knowledge you have gathered from books, articles, magazines. This may or may not be directly related to the business deal. Example: You are conversing with a prospect and he/she mentions they are going through a lot of change at the office right now. You could recommend a book on adapting to change or depending on the situation buy it and send it to them.

A person's network has become a golden calf in the business world nowadays, and Tim says that your network will do more for you if simply share it with everyone. This the one area of the three, where Tim warns to be smart with how you give it away. He cites an example of losing a huge multimedia deal because his prospect connected with the contact he recommended and in turn shared with the prospect another contact that closed the deal.

Compassion was the most interesting to me. He makes the case that the workplace has "lost that loving feeling", and that this can create community and close relationship by sharing love and compassion with both peers and clients. He gave examples of becoming so close that clients expected hugs when they met. This seems very awkward and he stated it is not the same compassion with everybody, but nonetheless everybody needs love.

I would recommend this book to you regardless of if you are in the business world or not, because it is really about interacting with people. In some arenas that interaction can make you money, in some arenas that interaction can get you things that money can never buy.

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