Customer Reviews

Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts Into Personal and Professional Success

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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I just finished listening to this book (3.5 hours) and found it to have both big ideas and practical advise that could be applied immediately. As soon as I finished it, I restarted it again from the beginning. Because of the audio format, I obviously wasn't able to do the exercises at the end of each section while driving to work.

I'm looking forward to applying some of David's concepts at work to help my team grow.

David - Thanks for the Insight!

Time is the ultimate commodity. We all wish we had another hour in the day, right? You might be wondering, "Who has the time to read another business book?" Well, this is the only book I have read recently that saved me time. By putting to use David's recommendations, my "time to successful outcome" has been cut in half.

David Nour is an unequaled expert on how to build effective business relationships. Relationship Economics offers insightful tips and robust methodologies for building relationships to strengthen your business.

Business is becoming more global and technology is displacing many interactions that formerly took place face to face, yet relationships are more important than ever. Trust is the foundation of any relationship, and David shows us how to build it in the most sincere and mutually beneficial way.

Unlike many books that focus on building relationships to "get the sale," Nour has a much broader scope. He looks both at relationships within organizations and those that reach externally. He shows how relationships help you to make better decisions, to be more innovative, and to accomplish more.

Drawing from diverse examples, he gives us a road map for making relationships more strategic, fruitful and fulfilling.

"Networking doesn't work for me." I have heard many people bemoan their lack of satisfaction at what they term "networking." In response, I suggest they read David Nour's book, Relationship Economics. David takes the tired, simplistic actions many call networking and sets them aside by providing a new model for building relationships as an effective means for conducting business. Relationship Economics balances the theory of social capital concepts with anecdotal examples of how the process of building relationships actually works. The book suggests key actions that one can take to make the most of their relationship building activities. Often frustrated with their "networking" efforts, entrepreneurs, consultants, and executives and senior managers in career transition, will find this book especially helpful.

This book has lots of details and how-to examples to enable you to become a master relationship builder. David Nour has though clearly about concept of value which drives good relationships. I like the fact that he takes an objective viewpoint - basically that there must be a balance between what you give and what you get in relationships, that an imbalance - in either direction - is wrong. I also like the fact that he has chosen to leverage the arcane science behind the study of relationships by bringing it down to simple, desirable steps we all can take. I've been in business - and in the business of relationships - for a long time, and this book still made me re-think and re-tool recent decisions I've made.

The IBM Competitive Edge Book Club, open to all Sales, Marketing, and Communication professionals at IBM, voted and selected "Relationship Economics" as the Q2 2011 book selection. Overall feedback from the members was good. In the feedback from the members, we ask them the question - "What will you do differently in your job since your study of this book?" Some of the replies directly from the members included:

- "Put some thought into how I will leverage social media and change the way I network."

- "Better maximize the value of my network base to drive more results..."

- "Try to do a better job of maintaining relationships and finding ways to provide value to others."

- "Review contacts I have been out of touch with and looking at opportunities to reconnect."

- "Try to be more intentional in my relationships."

I would like to personally thank David for being apart of the IBM Competitive Edge Book Club experience, for his positive and engaging energy, for sharing with us the importance of building and nurturing relationships, and for reminding us that we all have a brand - "The Brand Called You."

Best Regards,
Brien Convery
IBM Business Operations Leader and Competitive Edge Book Club Leader

In explaining how to transform your valuable business contacts into personal and professional success, David Nour's book will prove helpful for all those who read, practice and implement his very specific recommendations.

The book is a very easy read and is supported by interesting and important case studies, facts and statistics.

Ultimately, his two word title - Relationship Economics - will prove prophetic for those seeking a fresh approach in today's economy.

After following the masses during my job search over the past year, trudging through online job posts and overly crowded job fairs, it was a professional workshop with Mr. Nour that changed my approach. David's book (and website) changed the course of how I looked for my next opportunity. Sure enough, I landed a job (the right job) through a personal approach to the CEO, which was the deciding factor in his hiring decision to bring me on board. The foundation of Relationship Economics brings about a new perspective on the value of personal relationships both pesonally as well as professionally. Thank you David!

"One thing I have learned as a Project Manager and Entreprenuer is that I CANNOT do it all on MY OWN! My project successes and my company successes have been a result of my relationships with my team, stakeholders, executives, customers, mentors, mentees, students, vendors, partners, instructors, consultants - in essence, people. Building and nurturing relationships is no easy task. People used to ask me HOW I did it and I would say "it is not easy and there is not a book to tell you how" - NOW THERE IS and David Nour has written one. I recommend this book and the associated course David Nour has written for Project Management Professionals that can be found at [...].

In Relationship Economics, David Nour masterfully blends theory, examples and real world solutions for building effective business relationships. David's strategies can be used by everyone from CEOs to small business owners to recent college graduates and are applicable to today's fast-paced, technology driven world.

I can personally see the positive changes in my relationships after applying just one or two strategies and have since recommended this book to the members of my networking groups.