Book Reviews for CMOs

Purple Cow – Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Be Remarkable — be an outlier!
Be perfect to a specific and narrow niche.
Be different.
Solve their problem in a better way.
This great book outlines the WHY, the WHAT, and the How of Remarkable!

MOVE By Sangram Vajre and Bryan Brown

Go-to-Market (GTM) Framework which is excellent!
MOVE: Market, Operations, Velocity, and Expansion
Companies go through three growth inflection points:
1. Problem/Market fit (start-ups)
2. Product/Market fit
3. Platform/Market fit
Relevant questions to ask at each stage of growth

The JOLT Effect by Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna

Book about overcoming customer indecision to close deals more effectively.
Studies millions of deals. 87% of deals have some sort of customer indecision at work.
Most sales reps just sell on “FOMO” – Fear of missing out.
But their is a significant degree of “FOMU” – Fear of messing up. Especially with current economic headwinds.
JOLT process;
1. J –  Judge the Indecision
2. O – Offer your recommendation
3. L – Limit the exploration
4. T – Take risk off the table

Obviously Awesome by April Dunford

Great book on positioning your brand and product.
10-step process.
Determine your best customers and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Determine competitive alternatives to your brand/products.
Understand your unique attributes.
Determine your value  (along with proof) of your uniqueness.
Understand target market characteristics.
And— understand relevant maket trends that may help your brand. (e.g. your products leverage AI/ML)

Customer-led Growth by David Jackson

CEO guide on how to grow a SaaS company.
Controlling customer churn.
How customer success drives valuations.
B2B Customers are actually people— treat them as such.
Don’t sell — nurture buying!

The Business of Expertise by David Baker

CEO guide on how to grow a SaaS company.
Controlling customer churn.
How customer success drives valuations.
B2B Customers are actually people— treat them as such.
Don’t sell — nurture buying!

The Trusted Advisor by David Maister

The Trusted Advisor my David Maister is an excellent read about becoming a trusted advisor with your clients. To me, there’s nothing more important than our personal reputations and building real trust with clients who know you always look out for their best interests. This book outlines the process of building and maintaining trust which is really critical for consulting, fractional executives, or just quality personal relationships!

The Innovator’s Solution by Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor

Create and sustain successful growth.
Sustaining vs. disruptive innovations.
Builds on Joseph Schumpeter’s (19th century Austrian economist) economic theories of “Creative Destruction: on how all markets and companies change, over time.
Excellent reference guide starting on page 56 — Disruptive strategies and companies.

No Forms, No SPAM, No Cold Calls by Latane’ Conant

Excellent book by Latane Conant, CMO/CRO at 6Sense
Only 5-8% maximum of your web visitors will complete your “contact-us” form to become a marketing qualified lead (MQL).
Most web visitors remain anonymous. 
You must see which companies and buying groups are searching your websites and competitors anonymously and understand their behavior at different points in the buying journey.
This will enable you to create and serve up the right content and the right moments in time to optimize your corporate growth and improve cross-functional alignment between sales & marketing.
The world has changed and modern marketing & sales infrastructure must transform and fully leverage intent data and signals to be successful.

The Irresistible Guide to Winning Clients by David A Fields

This masterpiece by David Fields is a tremendous resource for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs who initiate consulting and fractional CXO firms. David outlines how to position and grow consulting practices efficiently and create lasting relationships with clients. He begins with his term: “right side up thinking” meaning always bit the customer and their needs first before yours!

Marketing is NOT a Black Hole by Chris Burggraeve

Stock market investment analysts have no common way to value the marketing competencies of B2B or B2C companies. Marketing has a strong influence on brand power and goodwill as a financial asset. Marketing and Finance need to be much better aligned. Alpha M Audit, Version 2.0: Proposes a great marketing audit framework to value marketing and maximize goodwill. Marketing Audit framework includes TANGIBLE EVIDENCE for each of the following: (Each have points to allocate)
1. Pricing power.
2. Purpose: Purpose -driven thinking on a corporate brand level.
3. Marketing organization: company is marketing/brand-driven\n4. Marketing Expertise: Marketing and firm’s senior executives have actual and real marketing expertise.
4. Customer Experience-satisfaction driven as part of brand health.
5. Brand Health: Company systematically tracks and leverages customer satisfaction, customer experience, and brand health data.
6. Value propositions: How clear is the value proposition of the core brand(s)
7. Way of marketing: Proprietary way of marketing at the form.
8. Excellence culture: Firm has a systematic way to learn, allowing continuous improvement in excellence.

The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann

Alan Gonsenhauser of Demandrevenue.com reviews The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. This is the best book about networking and paying it forward that exists! Long-term success accrues to those who just give without expecting anything in return. It’s all about giving liberally in life, Not by expecting reciprocity. The book is an easy read, set in parabe stories and is a real gem!

Winning on Purpose by Fred Reichheld

Winning On Purpose by Fred Reichhard is the bible on customer-led growth! Fred created Net Promoter Score (NPS) 20 years ago and this book discusses NPS 3.0 and a new metric called Earned Growth” which = Net Revenue Retention + New Business referred from existing customer promoters and advocates. Fred also points out that only 10-11% of firms know how to really love and take care of customers properly. The companies that do are far more valuable and have pricing power. This is a masterpiece that all CEOs, CFOs, CSOs and CMOs should read and heed!

Demand Revenue Book Review

The Fourth Industrial Revolution by K Schwab

The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum outlines how new technologies have developed and disrupted industries and numerous companies.

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