Likeable Business: Why Today's Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver - Hardcover

Kerpen, Dave; Braun, Theresa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 007181373X ISBN 13: 9780071813730

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2012

Synopsis

Includes access to 3 exclusive ebooks for hardcover readers only!

It pays to be LIKEABLE!

“Dave Kerpen has explained why customers expect more, and he gives you the tools to deliver on your brand promise. Be honest, be transparent, and be authentic. If you want to be likeable in business, you must read this book!”
―Jeffrey Hayzlett, bestselling author of Running the Gauntlet and The Mirror Test

“Dave Kerpen’s manifesto on becoming a likeable leader of a likeable business applies equally well to social entrepreneurs and the nonprofit sector. Gratitude is his concluding principle, and I sure am grateful to Dave for writing this book.”
―Charles Best, founder of DonorsChoose.org

“Kerpen demonstrates how building a likeable culture may be the most vital and rewarding strategy of all.”
―John Jantsch, author of The Commitment Engine and Duct Tape Marketing

“This important, persuasive book will change the way you think about and operate your business. Anyone who hopes to lead successfully in the twenty-first century needs to read this book.”
―Meg Cadoux Hirshberg, author of For Better or For Work: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs and Their Families

About the Book:

You can have a rock-solid business strategy, unlimited resources, and the most talented people on staff. But only one thing is guaranteed in today’s hyperconnected society: if your business isn’t likeable, it will fail.

Dave Kerpen knows how important it is for a business to be liked―by customers, employees, stakeholders, and the general public. He wrote the book on it. His groundbreaking bestseller Likeable Social Media changed the way businesses interact with their customers on a daily basis. Likeable Business lays out 11 strategies for organizations of all sizes to spur growth, profits, and overall success. Dave Kerpen reveals the remarkable returns you’ll get when you gain the trust of your customers and stakeholders. In today’s social media world, it literally pays to be likeable.

Likeable Business helps any leader at a smallor mid-sized company increase profits and spur growth by applying the 11 principles of business likeability, such as:

• LISTENING―to customers, colleagues, shareholders―and competitors
• AUTHENTICITY―because today’s savvy customer always knows when you’re faking it
• TRANSPARENCY―honesty builds trust, and any deviation can destroy your reputation
• ADAPTABILITY―managing change and finding new opportunities is critical to success today
• SIMPLICITY―in design, in form, and in function
• GRATEFULNESS―every “thank you” is appreciated . . . and generates surprising returns!

Likeability spreads. As a business leader, you set the tone. Be likeable and your staff will be likeable―which in turn creates a more likeable customer experience.

The blueprint for everlasting business likeability is in your hands. Apply Kerpen’s basic principles day in and day out, and profits and growth are sure to follow.

About this title

Review:

Q&A with Author Dave Kerpen

How did you come up with the term Likeable?

Carrie, my wife and President of the company, and Jenna Lebel, then a strategist and now our Global VP of Marketing, were sitting at a restaurant in Boston, brainstorming. We had decided that theKbuzz, our original name, was no longer fitting for a larger social media and word of mouth marketing firm. We knew Facebook was about to launch the "Like" button for brands, and Jenna and Carrie suggested "Likeable Media!" I immediately loved it! I called up my friends Randi and AJ who worked at Facebook, and told them our plan They loved it too, but warned me that Facebook changed things so often and so quickly, that if "Like" didn't take off, they'd change it and we could be stuck, Luckily, of course, "Like" did take off- and so did Likeable! The cool thing about Likeable is it means way more than just getting likes on Facebook - it means being worthy of being liked, and talked about.

Of the 11 strategies you outline in the book, are there ones that are more important than others?

They're all important, but the pyramid in the introduction of the book shows the relative importance of each one, and the ability to integrate more sophisticated, challenging strategies on top of one another. Listening (Chapter 1) is the most basic, fundamental concept to get right first, and gratefulness (the last chapter) is the most challenging but spiritually rewarding to get right.

What are your most important tips for a new entrepreneur to become ‘likeable’?

Listen to everybody, especially those who have more experience than you. Don't think you have it right yet, because you probably don't. If you're not a good salesperson, become a great storyteller. Be transparent, humble and grateful, and yet persistent.

What do you think is the next trend in business?

Businesspeople seem obsessed with "Big Data" these days. I'm not a data junkie myself, except for baseball stats. But I agree that capturing, understanding and then leveraging the massive amount of data available to today's business - is a promising development. Being likeable isn't a trend of course - has always been important as always will be.

From the Publisher:

Dave Kerpen is cofounder and CEO of the marketing firm Likeable Media, included in the INC 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States for both 2011 and 2012. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Likeable Social Media and a frequent keynote speaker. Likeable was named one of the best places to work in New York City by Crain's in 2012.
Theresa Braun is a marketing executive at Likeable.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 007181373X
• ISBN 13: 9780071813730
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220