We: The Ideal Customer Relationship

By Steve Yastrow

Book Overview

In this fresh, original book, Steve Yastrow turns conventional sales and marketing on its head by showing what really motivates your customers: A strong relationship with your business. Both a manifesto and how-to guide, We: The Ideal Customer Relationship will change the way you interact with customers.and change the way your customers think about you.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590791215
• ISBN13: 9781590791219
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Select Books (NY)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

There is no you or me, only We.

What a beautiful premise upon which to write a book that builds customer relations: "Man's will to profit and to be powerful have their natural and proper effect so long as they are linked with and upheld by his will to enter in relation." The above quote by philosopher Martin Buber in I and Thou wonderfully aligns with the relational process developed in We that goes from encounters, to relationships, to complementary goals, actions, and outcomes that creates mutual success for both the customer (small or large) and the client. This process "focuses on engagement, not experience." Steve Yastrow's writing style is easy, adaptable and thoroughly cognizant. It's a book for everyone, not just marketing professionals. The way in which he redefines widely used business constructs such as "the customer" and "teamwork" makes them wholly understandable and applicable. There is no you or me, only We. Yastrow takes business constructs out of the realm of mere mental images and buzz words to actionable goals and results that benefit the customer and client. The "Try This" sections include accessible attainable actions that can make a difference in results if applied. And the stories are gems, ones that we can all naturally relate to. The stories and the relational process developed here evolve out of a very natural place, a place that is familiar to all, that place of necessary relations with others. Yastrow frames the relational process by addressing both the individual and the group, giving the engagement process profound purpose in life and business. I highly recommend this book.

Another practical gem

Steve's first book, Brand Harmony, made a simple idea compelling. Although everyone "knows" that an organization's brand or a product's brand must be communicated consistently, this book helps employees "want" to be on the same page as their CEO. His second book, We, has the same simple and compelling impact. If we can motivate our employees to see customers as essential partners, they are more engaged and productive. These are books you can give to a shop floor supervisor, or a VP Marketing, and strike a chord.

A thoroughly 'user friendly' guide that is solid, practical, accessible, exceptionally well written

In "We: The Ideal Customer Relationship", marketing and branding consultant Steve Yastrow (who through his consulting firm Yastrow Marketing has services such clients as the McDonald's Corporation, the Cayman islands Department of Tourism, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Jenny Craig International) lays out a persuasive case for the necessity of a business (regardless of their product or service) differentiating themselves from their competition in the eyes of their targeted consumer demographics. Yastrow maintains that the best way to do that is to build strong relationships based on having the customer consider the business in terms of 'we' rather than 'us and them'. Backing up his argument with practical, 'how to' information and instruction, Yastrow has written a thoroughly 'user friendly' guide that is solid, practical, accessible, exceptionally well written and organized, and very highly recommended (and profitable) reading for entrepreneurs, company executives, and corporate managers.

The answer to explosive business growth

I read this book and felt that the messageis right on. The more opportunities we have to build dynamic strong "WE" relationships, the more opportunities for sales grow. In this book Steve has done a lot of his own research on why people buy products and services. By a large percentage purchases are made at companies where the customer has a relationship with people at the companies. The book was a real eye opener for me personally. I am now going to make stronger efforts to make "WE" relationships. I have already felt the outcomes of how people feel toward working with me when the effort is made to make to other person feel special. After reading many books on sales strategies, I think this book hit the message out of the ball park. Thank you for making this book available to us. Chad Coe

Attitude is altitude

Charles Lindbergh selected the title "We" for his autobiography because he wanted to acknowledge the importance of those who contributed to the first non-stop successful solo flight he flew across the Atlantic, from Roosevelt Field, Long Island to Paris in 1927, in the "Spirit of St. Louis." What we have in this volume is Steve Yastrow's explanation of what he considers to be "the most productive, profitable, and sustainable customer relationship." Moreover, the core principles he affirms also apply to all other business relationships, especially with one's associates in the given enterprise. He organizes his material within five chapters, first responding to an essential question, "Why We?" He then identifies the building blocks of a "We" relationship; examines the development of such a relationship from encounter, to relationship, and to an ongoing conversation; explains how continuity of that relationship can be sustained (i.e. how those involved complement each other); explores the nature of a "we among many" relationship; and concludes with an insightful discussion of enduring benefits that illustrate how and why what happens next "matters as much as what is." I cannot recall a prior time in human history when there were more opportunities to establish and then sustain "We" relationship and yet, paradoxically, I do not recall a prior time when there were fewer of them. High technology has essentially eliminated time and space by connecting people with other people almost anytime and anywhere. However, this connectivity primarily involves machines (e.g. computers and telephones) connecting with other machines or connecting people with a recorded message or (worse yet) with a series of them. Yastrow is well aware of all this, of course, and has probably experienced a number of frustrating, if not maddening experiences of his own. Here is what he recommends: 1. View each customer as a partner, collaborator, etc. rather than as a nuisance, if not as an adversary. 2. Be fully engaged "in the moment" of each encounter with the customer to sustain a "continuity of conversations" during which the "We" relationship becomes stronger. 3. Recognize and appreciate the importance of complementarity between and among "We" relationships: it shows how we stand in relation to each other, how we depend on each other, and why we are together. 4. Understand that organizational relationships are built from individual relationships. 5. Ensure that everyone involved understands how to build "We" relationships with individuals in other organizations...and then does it. What Yastrow proposes is hardly original. The great value to be derived from his book is found in his explanation of HOW to achieve these five (and other) objectives with a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program. Obviously, not everyone will be willing and/or able to engage in - and then sustain -- a "We" relationship. For that reason, I am intrigued by the potential value