Customer Message Management: Increasing Marketing's Impact on Selling (American Marketing Association) [Hardcover]

Tim Riesterer (Author), Diane Emo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0324313160 | ISBN-13: 978-0324313161 | Edition: 1

In today's complex market, product advantage is fleeting. It is no longer what you sell, but how you sell it - meaning it is now vital to bridge the gap between sales and marketing. CUSTOMER MESSAGE MANAGEMENT does just that, eradicating the disconnect that for years has plagued the two departments and, in the process, increasing the effectiveness of both. With its thorough, practical coverage of CMM, this comprehensive guidebook gives readers invaluable insight into how to create effective brand, marketing, and sales messaging based on customer business roles and goals. It also equips readers with the skills to deliver those messages efficiently and effectively across all selling touch-points in a way that can be personalized for each prospect and customer. More than just creating customer-ready messages for the sales force to use, CMM helps companies discern how best to create messages, stimulate conversations, and continue customer dialogues that activate purchase intent.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

TIM RIESTERER, CEO of Customer Message Management (CMM), developed this approach for creating more customer-relevant messaging and sales-ready marketing, communications, and sales support. He has lead CMM initiatives for world-class companies such as American Express, Manpower, Caterpillar, FedEx, ADP, AmerisourceBergen, HP, Oce Systems, Unisys, and others. Tim has presented training seminars on the CMM approach for more than 1,000 companies and 19,000 participants over the last three years. Together with the American Marketing Association, he has created the Customer Message Management Leadership Series (www.marketingpower.com/cmm), which produces webcasts, Internet radio broadcasts, regional conferences, newsletters, and reports dedicated to the topic. He is co-host of the AMA¿s Internet talk radio show -- Marketing Matters Live. Prior to co-founding CMM Group, Tim was Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Strategic Services for Ventaso, a provider of sales and marketing effectiveness software and consulting services. Tim also was president and CEO of Brady Marketing Group, a 60-person marketing communications services firm, specializing in B2B clients.

DIANE EMO is the president and co-founder of Customer Message Management. She co-developed the CMM approach for creating more customer-focused, sales-ready marketing, communications, and sales support. She has led CMM initiatives for companies such as Caterpillar, Experian, SAS Institute, AmerisourceBergen, Cisco, IBM Canada, Covance, Galileo/Cendant, and ChartOne. Diane is the American Marketing Association¿s training program designer and lead instructor for marketing and sales integration, and has taught the CMM process to hundreds of AMA members and marketing practitioners in world-class companies. Prior to co-founding Customer Message Management, Diane was the vice president of market development with Ventaso, a San Francisco-based provider of sales and marketing effectiveness software and consulting services.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cengage Learning; 1 edition (July 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0324313160
• ISBN-13: 978-0324313161
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #661,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding methodology for creating customer-focused communications September 1, 2010

By Renee Munro

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Customer Message Management is an excellent resource for Marketing Communications professionals who are striving to truly deliver valuable tools to the sales organization. The approach outlined in the book is highly collaborative with the sales organization and other key stakeholders, engaging them in the process throughout which helps ensure the end deliverables are on target. The book provides a logical method for developing key messages as well as identifying the types of sales tools needed and effective deployment of those tools to the sales force. The authors promote a customer-focused, value-selling approach instead of the common features-and-benefits, vendor-centric focus.

The best part about this book is that it doesn't just talk about what a marketer should do, it tells you how to do it. The overall methodology proposed is logical and solid, although it is somewhat complex, so taking the overall principles and simplifying the process and customizing it for your organization may be a better approach.

Once you have completed your customer message maps, it's like having the answer to all the tests in your hands. The maps serve as the foundation for every customer touchpoint - brochures, websites, advertisements, sales scripts, sales training, ... When you get that last-minute request for a presentation, you won't ever have to start from scratch - you'll already know exactly what to say (and not say) based on your audience. While undertaking a message mapping initiative requires a significant amount of time by several people, in the end it will save you copious amounts of time and - better yet - will ensure that all of your communications are integrated and on-message.

After reading this book, I undertook a customer message mapping initiative for one of the divisions at my company, which is a large global organization. It was highly successful and the sales organization loved it (they felt like they were finally being heard and given tools that would actually help them in their daily activities). The Sales VP for the division attributes the new tools with higher sales productivity and shorter ramp up time for new hires. A word of advice: it's critical that the head of the sales organization be completely on-board with the new approach and agree to champion it with the sales organization. Getting this alignment early on will make the overall process easier with higher quality outcomes, and it will help ensure all of your efforts are adopted in the field.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Customer message management for Sales & Marketing June 7, 2009

By Laurie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this as a follow-up to a MGMA class I attended at which the author was the presenter. The book was almost better than the presentation. It really drives home the need to listen to what your customers are saying and the importance of using language they understand - not just what you think they're saying. It also takes the guess work out of creating marketing communication messages. Sales managers the concept of developing a common message make this a MUST READ for new and experience sales people!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sound principles, but implementation could be simpler June 6, 2007

By Janice King VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This book presents sound principles for how marketing can better help sales in communications with customers. The detailed activity lists will be useful in putting a customer messaging program into action. However, the processes proposed by the authors are overly complicated and may be impractical for many marketing departments to implement. The book would also be more useful if it included attributed, real-life examples and results.