Winning Behavior: What the Smartest, Most Successful Companies Do Differently

by David G. Pugh, Terry R. Bacon, David Pugh

Book Overview

Behavioral Differentiation is emerging as the "final frontier" in competitive strategy, and this book shows how leading companies use it to exceed expectations and outperform competitors.In an age... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814471633
• ISBN13: 9780814471630
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Amacom
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 17 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Clients Needed? Then you need this book!

The name says it all..."Winning Behavior". Pugh and Bacon provide real life examples of why behavior towards our clients cannot be turned on and off like a lightswitch. Their book expands on those studies to show why and how today's best companies have sucessfully developed an understanding of their clients needs amd made them "their own." WINNING BEHAVIOR shows why that understanding is crucial in today's highly commoditized world. Pugh and Bacon walk through the finer points of what today's most successful companies do to exemplify Winning Behaviors. Evidence the large change in the contracting landscape today. Great names from the past that were once giants in industry are no longer. Why? Terry and David provide the answer. They lead you through why the companies that have endured are the ones that have subscribed to the principles David and Terry write about. Winning Behavior truly is a "Must Read" for anyone wanting the insight into today's way of developing long-term relationship based clients. In order to develop that relationship, one must take the steps necessary to acheive the type of behavioral change required - Terry and David's book provide the roadmap!

Hard-Won Wisdom

In a marketplace where everyone claims to be the best, anyone can sell for less, and no-one can maintain the lead on new technologies, Pugh and Bacon demonstrate that the only way to beat the competition is to out-behave them. Your mission statement means nothing if you don't make it your way of life. The authors place a wealth of hard-won wisdom at your fingertips in the eloquently-written Winning Behavior. Exercises at the end of each chapter lend an interactive feel to the book, making the information more pertinent to the reader's experience. A pleasure to read and packed with profound insights, this book is a must-have for anyone wishing to succeed in any market.

STERN'S MANAGEMENT REVIEW FINDS THIS AN EXCELLENT BOOK!

Based on a study of highly successful companies, the authors have identified nine domains of differentiation, all of which can be copied. What is unique are new ways to create a positive chemistry with customers through four major areas of behavioral differentiation. These are: 1) Operational: institutionalizing behavior through practices, policies, procedures, and employee education and training. 2) interpersonal: interpersonal skills and attitude. 3) Exceptional: when employees go out of their way to help customers; 4) symbolic: behavior that reflects the company's key product, service, or messages and values (aligning the company's behaviors with it's intended image and promises). The book gives examples that show ways winning organizations create these behavior differentiations. While most of the book is devoted to B2C companies, a chapter also addresses B2B firms. The authors provide a treasure trove of illustrations. An excellent work, rich in real-life details.

Do you want to Win More than Your Fair Share?

In a world where new offerings are commoditized as soon as they are recognized - differentiation quickly vanishes. This is true for widgets and professional services alike. So how do you overcome the reality of excess capacity of most everything? Bacon and Pugh bring us an antidote for overcoming the excesses of a market that is characterized by Darwinian behavior. Here the authors provide a portal into Winning More Than Your Fair Share via a very special intangible - WINNING BEHAVIOR. While behavior isn't centric to the ether filled business theory books that are being cranked out by the score, here Bacon and Pugh present clear and concise recommendations that are backed up with something that rings true in every board room, in every country - the evidence of PROVEN RESULTS. As one who has been in the successful driver seat of deals reaching from a few million to more than a billion dollars the wisdom and guidance of the authors has made a difference for my sales force not to mention my career. Seeing the resulting delta between those that have established the quality relationships at each touch point in the customer's organization along with their solid offering compared to those that merely reverse engineer their "copy and paste" proposals quickly clarifies which is the smart path to follow. Seeing is believing! There's nothing quite like putting up that PowerPoint slide that shows the addition of a third comma in the backlog of profitable contracts at your quarterly or annual performance review. Trust that the Gods of the Board Room are far friendlier when the numbers are heading north rather than south. Buy it. Read it. Implement it. Deliver it. The process is simple. The discipline is the tough part. Perhaps that is why we all heard mom say more than once - BEHAVE!

A Winning Concept and Book!

Terry Bacon and David Pugh have a real "winner" with this book. Using interviews and other detailed research, they make a compelling case for the understanding of organizational behavior as a foundation for business success. The book is easy reading, contains great narratives, and gives us the "inside story" on companies and executives that have found success in very competitive markets. Every manager and business owner NEEDS to read this book!