Product Description

If you market a product, service, or idea in any business, industry or organization, you must read Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs, a guide to understanding and meeting the needs of consumers, whether or not they make those needs clear. An easy-to-follow six-step process developed over the past 15 years can help you address unsolved problems, recognize buyer personas, quantify impact and create breakthrough experiences. Stop wasting time by guessing what your market needs and start understanding consumer desire.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1395 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This well-reasoned and useful guide argues that successful innovators can develop products that resonate by connecting deeply with consumers. This simple idea is delivered in a conversational tone and illustrated in well-structured chapters laying out a six-step Tuned in Process and examples that span borders and industries. From anecdotes about countryside hotels that sprouted up to provide respite for Japanese salarymen to Nalgene plastic bottles, which escaped the laboratory to achieve cult status and ultimately mass market consumer appeal, fascinating case studies abound. However, as appealing as the concept and the many examples are, the enthusiastic presentation begins to grate; the repeated invocation of the Tuned in Process may tire readers looking for more subtlety and fewer sound bites. Still, there is sufficient fodder for anyone who wants to shake the sleep out of an organization and renew a focus on creating the kind of value that customers are willing to pay for. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
This well-reasoned and useful guide argues that successful innovators can develop products that "resonate" by connecting deeply with consumers. This simple idea is delivered in a conversational tone and illustrated in well-structured chapters laying out a six-step "Tuned in Process" and examples that span borders and industries. From anecdotes about countryside hotels that sprouted up to provide respite for Japanese salarymen to Nalgene plastic bottles, which escaped the laboratory to achieve cult status and ultimately mass market consumer appeal, fascinating case studies abound. However, as appealing as the concept and the many examples are, the enthusiastic presentation begins to grate; the repeated invocation of the "Tuned in Process" may tire readers looking for more subtlety and fewer sound bites. Still, there is sufficient fodder for anyone who wants to shake the sleep out of an organization and renew a focus on creating the kind of value that customers are willing to pay for. (June)  (Publishers Weekly, April 7, 2008)

"...helpful summaries...lively read for sales and marketing departments" (Training & Coaching Today, September)

From the Inside Flap

Product and service sensations like the iPod, Starbucks, and FedEx were seemingly successful overnight. But it wasn't luck, creativity, or clever marketing that led to their breakthroughs. Anyone can create hits that resonate if they stop guessing what people need and start spending their time building real and deep connections to what their buyers value most.

A proven strategy for dominating markets developed over fifteen years, Tuned In reveals the secrets that separate market leaders from followers and failures. It shows you how to stop wasting time and money trying to be innovative and start creating"resonators"— great products or services that peoplebuy because they solve the problems they have and make their lives better.

Using a simple six-step process, Tuned In teaches you how to discover real and meaningful insights into any market. You'll learn how to identify unresolved problems, understand what buyers really want, create breakthrough experiences, and establish strong, sustainable connections to your market. Through dozens of real-life examples across a wide variety of industries, you'll learn how leaders create products and services that resonate—and the traps many others fall into when they don't.

Anyone can use Tuned In to replicate the model for success. It works for well-known companies like Ford, Apple, and GE, as well as those not-so-famous companies like GoPro and Zipcar. It works for realtors, doctors, ministers, and even rock stars. Tuned In teaches you how to transform your everyday activities into those that create the kind of culture that builds market leaders.

If you want to win in today's marketplace, stop pushing products your buyers don't want with expensive, meaningless advertising. Instead, read Tuned In and discover how to connect to what people really want, and—most importantly—how you can become an organization they trust.

Customer Reviews

The Universal Rule
Great Book!! Your own personal opinion is irrelevant no matter what situation you are in. You can accomplish more than you've ever imagined in your personal and professional life by observing and listening to others and what they want. And whether it's right or wrong, let it go. Just give them what they want and the paybacks will come. This book is another great spin on the principles of Dale Carnegie.

A Book for Every Marketer
This book is a must read for all entrepreneurs and their marketing department. If you're lucky enough to read this book before developing your business plan, you're going to benefit greatly. This book really helped our team dig at how we were developing and marketing our application and our business.

The examples of the book are unique and interesting, supporting the entire premise. Perhaps the best feature of the book is that it can easily be used as a checklist for your company, your product or your service. This book must be purchased by you and must be read by your staff.

It's all about "connections"
This straight-talking book is a great addition to any entrepreneur's bookshelf. When positioning a company or a product - or a candidate for public office, there are several rules to follow, among them: Who is your customer? What is important to your customer? And how does your service or product meet the "perceived" needs of your customer? The key words are "perceived needs." You must know what your customer is buying and why, and what they want to buy. You also need to know what they are not buying - and why. It's all about establishing authentic connections, or as Myers, Stull and Scott say, how we tell our buyer that we've solved their problems - so that they listen to what we have to say, buy our products or services, or vote for us. (The reviewer is author of two books:Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU and Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command.)