"Cancelled flights, damaged goods, botched bills, locked-up software--these are the service screw-ups that leave customers angry, disgusted...and determined to never buy from you again! But these mad-as-hell customers can be wooed back through skillful, planned ""service recovery."" And, surprisingly, customers who experience world-class Knock Your Socks Off service recovery become your most loyal customers--and are a source of continuing business for years to come. Building on the popular, breezy approach of the Knock Your Socks Off Service series, the authors provide managers with an upbeat primer on creating a first-class recovery system. Enlivened by John Bush's witty illustrations, the book explains: * The economics of recovery--what it costs when you lose customers, and how little it can cost to win them back * The processes, policies, and technology a company must have to ensure an effective, real-time recovery system * The manager's role in sustaining an outstanding recovery system--through training, coaching, empowering, supporting, inspiring, and rewarding great service providers."

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This unique Advanced Introduction offers an insight into how sales leaders seek and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage for both organizations and customers. Lawrence B. Chonko explores how sales leaders take professional selling to the next level by focusing on serving the customer. Discussing the key skills of sales leaders - technological proficiency, managing change, and harnessing and using knowledge - Chonko analyzes how sales leaders are distinguished from other sales professionals. Key features include: analysis of how sales leaders anticipate future events focus on sales leaders emphasizing long-term customer relationships rather than transactions discussion of how sales leaders have adopted the servant leadership philosophy in order to enhance the overall customer experience. This Advanced Introduction will be a useful resource for scholars and advanced students studying marketing. Its focus on the qualities of sales leaders will also be beneficial for sales professionals interested in enhancing their customer relations skills.

"The Telesales Handbook" is written for everyone facing the daily challenges of the telesales and call centre world. It is written in a clear and no nonsense way and packed with useful tips and advice making it a great reference guide to those just starting out and those who've been in the industry for a while.

Teaching Marketing prompts the reader to reflect on why marketing is taught, how it is taught and what should be included in curricula in tertiary-level programmes. The international contributors have a wide range of expertise in marketing education and provide their own perspectives on these questions while considering a variety of different points of view so encouraging the reader to develop their own opinion. Topics range from all-encompassing issues such as the importance of grounding marketing education on a sound ethical foundation, to focused explorations of how to teach subjects that marketing students typically find tricky, such as research methods, business-to-business marketing, and marketing science. The use of new classroom techniques such as business simulation games is also covered, as well as how to teach marketing theory and critical marketing. With sound advice from experienced marketing educators at both curriculum and classroom level, this book will be essential for those looking for assistance with curriculum development and programme planning in marketing.

Bringing together different theoretical perspectives on brand co-creation and discussing their practical applicability and ethical implications, this Research Handbook explores emerging notions of brand construction which view brands as co-created through collaborative efforts between multiple stakeholders. Chapters contribute to clarifying the ontological and epistemological assumptions underlying brand co-creation, gaining deeper insights into the co-creation of intangible and tangible brand assets, as well as uncovering the ethical implications of brand co-creation. The impressive selection of contributors also foreshadow and critically reflect on possible future developments related to brand co-creation, and illustrate practical applications in the form of case studies. In an ever more interconnected business environment, this timely Research Handbook will be an ideal read for students studying courses related to branding, marketing, innovation and business ethics. It will also be welcomed by scholars conducting research in these fields, as well as practitioners and managers implementing co-creation strategies.

One key for success of an entrepreneur is to obtain sales (revenue) and profits as quickly as possible upon launching the venture. Entrepreneurial Marketing focuses on the essential elements of success in order to achieve these needed sales and revenues and to grow the company. The authors build a comprehensive, state-of-the-art picture of entrepreneurial marketing issues, providing major theoretical and empirical evidence that offers a clear, concise view of entrepreneurial marketing. Through an international approach that combines both theoretical and empirical knowledge of entrepreneurship and marketing, this book informs and enhances the entrepreneurs' creativity, their ability to bring innovations to the market, and their willingness to face risk that changes the world. Key components addressed include: identifying and selecting the market; determining the consumer needs cost-effectively; executing the basic elements of the marketing mix (product, price, distribution, and promotion); and competing successfully in the domestic and global markets through implementing a sound marketing plan. Numerous illustrative examples throughout the book bring the content to life. The mix of theoretical content, examples, empirical analyses, and case studies make this book an excellent resource for students, professors, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers all over the world.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This cutting-edge Research Agenda for Place Branding explores ideas and debates that inform a refreshing take on the future of place branding and marketing. It argues that we are at a juncture where the logical and sensible step is to push the 'reset button' on such activity and fully reconsider its purpose and goals. Chapters span a range of important themes in contemporary place branding and are organised into sections covering place branding governance, contexts, experience and creativity. Drawing on contributions from key international scholars across a variety of academic disciplines, the book showcases an interplay of oppositional perspectives - ranging from those who see place branding as a potential means of improving the economic vitality of places, to others who consider much existing place branding activity exclusionary to certain sectors of society. Providing a wealth of creative and innovative suggestions on how place branding can be done, thought about and researched differently in the future, this Research Agenda will be a key resource for research-oriented academics and students in marketing, geography, planning and tourism.

E-Commerce - A Southern African Perspective approaches the theory and practice of e-commerce from a developing-world perspective. It covers theory, business models, case studies and practical issues such as the digital divide and the law governing e-commerce transactions. State of the art technology such as mobile commerce and its potential in the developing world are also included.

The authors are experienced lecturers on e-commerce and are well qualified to trace developments in this fast-paced field of inquiry. This book is essential reading, for students and practitioners.

This title aims to provide junior marketing personnel and junior marketing managers with an introductory understanding of the principles of marketing and marketing management. The title starts with an introduction to the world of marketing by studying its various aspects, including a definition of marketing, the exchange process, the value adding functions of marketing, the role of marketing in economic development, the marketing process, marketing management tasks and, finally, the marketing concept.

This second edition of the Handbook of Business-to-Business Marketing provides an updated comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of business-to-business (B2B) marketing by leading academic scholars and practitioners in the field. Each of the 34 chapters is structured to provide perspectives of one B2B problem area both from an academic and a managerial perspective, a state-of-art review and summary, a research agenda for the domain, and implications for practitioners. Published in conjunction with Penn State's Institute for the Study of Business Markets, this extensive Handbook will expand research and teaching on B2B marketing and will improve the practice of B2B marketing for firms in the industry. It summarizes current knowledge about the realm of B2B marketing and addresses the most important unanswered questions there. This path-breaking Handbook is targeted primarily at marketing academics and graduate students who want a comprehensive overview of the academic state of the B2B marketing domain. It will also prove an invaluable resource for forward-thinking B2B practitioners who want to be aware of the current state of knowledge in their domains.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This unique Advanced Introduction offers an insight into how sales leaders seek and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage for both organizations and customers. Lawrence B. Chonko explores how sales leaders take professional selling to the next level by focusing on serving the customer. Discussing the key skills of sales leaders - technological proficiency, managing change, and harnessing and using knowledge - Chonko analyzes how sales leaders are distinguished from other sales professionals. Key features include: analysis of how sales leaders anticipate future events focus on sales leaders emphasizing long-term customer relationships rather than transactions discussion of how sales leaders have adopted the servant leadership philosophy in order to enhance the overall customer experience. This Advanced Introduction will be a useful resource for scholars and advanced students studying marketing. Its focus on the qualities of sales leaders will also be beneficial for sales professionals interested in enhancing their customer relations skills.

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) has come to the fore as a very important concept in communicating to an organisation's target audiences. In this title, the notion behind the IMC process is explained and the following issues are explored: Philosophy and evolution of the concept, ethics in marketing communication, co-ordination of the various IMC elements - advertising, media selection, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations (including marketing public relations), publicity (including marketing publicity), sponsorship and new media marketing.

Marketing research is one of a series of books specially written for South African undergraduate marketing students. The other titles in the series deal with distribution management, product management, pricing and integrated marketing communications. The objective of the series is to place specific marketing topics in perspective. This title focuses on the essentials of marketing research, and does so in a comprehensive, practical and extremely accessible manner. Most readers of the text will be users of marketing research information. For this reason, the title introduces students to the basic aspects of marketing research.

Although much has been said and written about the need for government to adapt to the new realities that resulted from the transformed paradigms in the Information Age, the world is lacking practical, tangible solutions on how to respond to these changes. This title analyses the trends that can be regarded as manifestations of transition, as the world struggles to get to grips with adopting deeply entrenched paradigms and traditional truths to enable effective service renderings and restore the declining relationship between government and its clients, the Information Age citizenry.

This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the 'country' and 'place' silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions. Chapters explore interdependencies among residents, visitors, brand managers, and consumers; image effects of place and social identity, cross-border acquisitions, popular culture exports, and sporting mega-events; country-of-origin research, cross-cultural consumer behaviour, international marketing, destination branding, and brand modelling; and cutting-edge methodological approaches and managerial best practices in place marketing. The book's interdisciplinary know-how and approach makes it an invaluable and comprehensive reference for researchers, managers, consultants, and students alike, in areas from marketing, place management, international business, and tourism to communications, social psychology, urban geography, and regional economics.

The lifeblood of any business is sales and marketing. Selling and marketing skills are essential for a business to succeed. A person's ability to market a product or service assists in the development of entrepreneurial flair, a much-needed attribute for people either seeking employment, or currently employed, in the southern African business environment. Fundamentals of sales and marketing - Discuss the development of sales and marketing skills in the southern African business environment; is unique as it presents the theory on both sales and marketing in one concise book; provides southern African examples and case studies; is written in simple, clear language which makes it easy to read an accessible to business; management students and practitioners in the sales and marketing fields.

Simply successful selling is a teach-yourself title for new salespeople in retail, manufacturing and service sectors. Selling is the lifeblood of any company. The title applies the latest selling techniques, such as neurolinguistic programming, which are currently at the forefront of sales training. It employs checklists and case studies in a practical, succinct manner and is ideally situated to South African conditions.

Marketing was designed to show today's social and digital students how marketing adds value and how firms maintain and rely on value for establishing lasting relationships with customers. The eighth edition represents the authors' most extensive revision today, exploring both fundamentals and new marketing influencers such as digital, social and mobile marketing, marketing analytics, and the psychology influencer on consumer behavior. Written in an engaging, highly visual format with up-to-date examples throughout for today's mobile and modern students and instructors. Accompanied by McGraw Hill Connect (R) with SmartBook (R) 2.0, our highly reliable, digital teaching and learning solution that embeds learning science and award-winning adaptive tools to improve student results as well as a robust suite of instructor resources and a regularly updated author blog.

At a time when quality in education and training for all sectors of the South African economy has become a crucial issue, many education, training and development (ETD) providers, practitioners and organisations are earnestly seeking ways to improve their education and training practices to ensure compliance with the national legislative requirements. This title suggests practical guidelines for ensuring quality in learning provision.

Distribution channels are the most complex element of the marketing mix to fully grasp and to profitably manage. In this Handbook the authors present cutting-edge research on channel management and design from analytical, conceptual, and empirical perspectives. The ultimate objective of this Handbook is a comprehensive theory of distribution channels for scholars presented in enlightened surveys of the literature to tightly reasoned investigations. Channel management topics include value creation, interorganizational knowledge transfer, contract design, governance and control, and relationship management. Channel design topics encompass coordination, supply-chain management, price vs. quantity competition, channel breadth, franchising, resale price maintenance, and bricks-and-mortar vs. online retailer competition. The book concludes with a sketch of a ''Comprehensive Theory of Distribution Channels'' meant to incorporate and extend current thinking. The breadth of this Handbook makes it appropriate for use in a doctoral course on distribution channels, or as a knowledge-broadening resource for faculty and researchers who wish to understand types of channels research that are outside the scope of their own approach to distribution. Contributors include: K.D. Antia, B.L. Baker, P. Bicen, C.P. Blocker, J.R. Brown, G. Cai, N.N. Chau, S.C. Choi, J.L. Crosno, T.H. Cui, Y. Dai, R.P. Dant, R. Desiraju, K. Eshghi, D.J. Flint, K.M. Frias, M. Ghosh, S. Gilbert, G.T. Gundlach, C.M. Harmeling, J.D. Hibbard, M.B. Houston, C.A. Ingene, K. Jerath, G. John, J. Johnson, M. Kacker, G. Lai, Z. Li, R.F. Lusch, P. Mallucci, A.J. Malter, S. Mani, A.L. Matthews, R.W. Palmatier, S.-J. Park, R.E. Paul, J. Raju, S. Ray, F. Sadeh, R.S. Sohi, J.M. Song, R. Staelin, A.S. Vinhas, M. Viswanathan, K.H. Wathne, S.K. Weaven, X. Xu, W. Zhang, Z.J. Zhang, Y. Zhao

TINY NOTICEABLE THINGS DISCOVER HOW TINY CHANGES AND ACTIONS CAN REVOLUTIONISE CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION TNTs are Tiny Noticeable Things. People don't need to do them, but when they do, they can have a phenomenal and explosive impact. From remembering someone's first name and recalling how they prefer to take their coffee, to sending someone a handwritten 'thank you' note, they are all the little cost-nothing engagers that create the biggest, longest-lasting impressions. They show you care, they blow people away, and they make a very big difference. In Tiny Noticeable Things, best-selling author Adrian Webster shares his ideas along with the personal experiences of over 100 contributors to help you harness the power of TNTs and take your organisation and personal relationships to the next level. Discover the tiny tweaks that elevate the most successful teams to astounding heights, find out what makes employees genuinely happy, hear from customers about the subtle 'human' touches that have put smiles on their faces, and gain invaluable insights into how just the smallest of things can give such a positive lift to those around us. If you want to differentiate yourself, don't overlook the TNTs! WARNING - THIS BOOK COULD SERIOUSLY IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS 'I often say at work no-one can help everyone but everyone can help someone. I once had one of three hundred volunteers on a community build say "I can't believe there's generosity on such a scale." The truth was each of those people gave what they could but the sum of those individual gifts of time and skill built a facility that changed vulnerable people's lives. That for me is what TNTs are all about.' Nick Knowles - TV Presenter & Motivational Speaker

Principles of Marketing is a streamlined textbook which covers the basic concepts of marketing in a practical manner. Students are encouraged to develop real marketing skills with the aid of useful tools in the textbook and online.

The new edition will expand on the South African focus with local examples and case studies. There is also additional information on the South African consumer, ethical practices in marketing, and an emphasis on communicating customer value.