I've been promising David Wolfe of Ageless Marketing to write a book review about his latest book, Firms of Endearment, and...I have so far failed to do so.
Now, this is not because the book isn't an outstanding look at business in a 2.0 world, nor is it because I found myself dragging my way through it, nor is it because the book makes claims it can't support. No, far from it. It's the EXACT opposite of all those things. This book is so outstanding, I've been loathe to write something quickly - as I write most of my posts.
Since life is not cooperating with me - I mean, it's not letting up, I decided I would write the book review and hope I capture all of the value and truth in this book - so that you will all go out and buy a copy. Let's see how well I do in less than half an hour, because that's all the time I have today.
First of all, David Wolfe writes about the baby boomer market with such insight that I cannot recommend his blog highly enough. I discovered David via that blog.
Now, I am even more impressed. This new book, Firms of Endearment, published by Wharton School Publishing, and co-authored by Raj Sisodia and Jag Sheth, shows the world that being nice isn't something to avoid - it's something to embrace. When I talked to David about the book, it was clear that writing the book wasn't something he did for fame and fortune - but it was something he did from the heart. He not only believes the book's premise - he lives it.
Let's look at some pieces of this book - and how they relate both to marketing to women (online or off) and to doing business in the new millennium...
P.43: "Loyalty of any sort turns out to be more a function of how one feels than what one thinks." As women have long known - you do something or buy something because it feels good. The more you, as a company, understand that, the more successful you will be. Firms of Endearment
A little further on in the book, the authors touch upon this web 2.0 'thing' by saying, "Informal networks are emerging that link influential non-governmental organizations, giant corporations and governments that want to solve social problems. These networks develop new rules that become industry standards." The basis for firms of endearment, perhaps?
Here's a quote that should knock your socks off, "It takes a different mindset than the one that produced the twentieth-century marketing paradigm of hucksterism to get in sync with the twenty-first-century marketing paradigm of healing."
WOW!
I could quote endlessly from this book - but then you wouldn't get the stories and the case studies and the research that was done to reveal the truth of doing business as a "firm of endearment."
Our own Wegmans grocery chain headquartered here in Rochester, NY is noted in the book as one such company. Southwest airlines is 
another. Companies that put people ahead of profits - but, make no nevermind about it - they value profit, too. After all, in order to take care of the employees (who then take care of the customers) a company has to make a profit. But they know how to show they care - for the employees AND the customers.
I think you need to read this book for more than the stories of all the firms of endearment David and his co-authors discovered (although they are some of the best parts of the book).
I think you need to read this book to truly understand how to conduct business in a bottom-up world, where user-generated content on the net, and customer interaction with your brand or products, is claiming control of the sales and marketing landscape. Don't be misled into thinking we're returning to those olden days of "the customer is always right." That's partly true, yes. But, it's so much more.
It's about bringing humanity back into business. It's about remembering that your customers and your employees are one distinct thing above all else: they're people. They're people that you know. People that you live near and break bread with and share stories with. Are you treating them like people - or are you forgetting that before they will buy from you, they need to trust you? Trust is an emotional response, now, isn't it?
While you're reading Firms of Endearment, keep this thought in the back of your mind: Women are controlling more and more of the wealth in this country. Women are leaving corporate America to open new businesses at exciting rates - twice the rate of men. Women are using intuition and emotion and caring - to build success. You want to do business with us - you need to do business with us; as partners, colleagues, and as clients. Endear yourselves to us and we just might work with you.
The how-to is in David's book - what are you waiting for?
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