What you need to know about your customers Now more than ever, every interaction you have with customers is critical. Customers today have unlimited information at their fingertips and can influence the purchase decisions and behaviors of millions of others. With this comes a shift in the balance of power, and every company must come to terms with the fact that the customer is in control. Interacting with customers in the way they want is an essential business strategy and in many industries, the key to business success. Executives still refer to B2B and B2C business models, as though companies control demand by going to customers with products and services. But as Bill Price and David Jaffe (authors of The Best Service is No Service) show, a new business model is emerging in which the customer directs the relationship. It is becoming a world of "Me2B" one in which the customer, not the business, dictates the terms of engagement. In order for your business to thrive, you must create positive experiences to fulfill a range of customer needs. Though the mediums for customer engagement continuously evolve, Price and Jaffe show that customer needs remain unchanging. In Your Customer Rules!, they define a critical hierarchy of seven needs that your company can meet and apply as a methodology. Throughout this practical guidebook, Price and Jaffe share examples of companies who succeed by meeting these seven needs, including Amazon, Apple, IKEA, Nordstrom, USAA, Shoes of Prey, Vente-Privee, and Yamato Transport, as well as those that didn't. Your Customer Rules! offers tailored advice for companies at every stage, from nimble startups to legacy firms with established customer service practices and everyone in between. With a simple, elegant solution for driving lasting value for customers, Your Customer Rules! is a clear guide for strengthening customer relationships and competing on more than price. It is essential reading for executives at all levels business owners, marketing managers, and anyone who works directly with customers.

The recent rediscovery of Rubens's Massacre of the Innocents (bought by Lord Thomson for GBP50 million in 2002) offers an important opportunity to reassess the painter's early career. Of Rubens's works immediately following his return to Antwerp in 1608, it is the most assured, achieving a remarkable complexity both compositionally and emotionally. David Jaffe, Senior Curator at the National Gallery, London, considers the work in its context, discussing the numerous sources and influences - both visual and literary - from which Rubens drew. He also compares it to contemporary works by the artist, such as the London National Gallery's Samson and Delilah, and publishes new research illuminating the career and profile of the Massacre's first owner, the Milanese merchant resident in Antwerp Jacopo Carenna. In association with the Thomson Collection, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Skylet.

Profit from the legal wisdom of the National Association of Home Builders staff attorneys! The authors provide new information about warranties based on research for NAHB members on hundreds of warranty issues. The second edition of Warranties for Builders and Remodelers helps inform and protect builders and remodelers. It addresses the changes to state statutes of repose applicable to construction and changes and additions to the mandatory notice provisions in states that have these laws. This Second Edition, presents: Clear explanations of implied warranties, statutory warranties, warranties imposed by courts, and more; Sample language and formats for warranty documents; Your rights and responsibilities and the recommended practices and procedures; Tips for drafting warranties that really work; State-by-state list of cases and statutes applicable to construction claims. Builder and remodeller warranties are among the most important issues affecting the construction industry. With the guidance of your attorney and this book, you can learn how to properly use warranties to market your services and avoid expensive mistakes.