From Training to Marketing: Your Summer 2017 Reading List

Summer is around the corner. So is diving into a good book while beach side. If you’re looking to add to your summer reading list, look no further.

These books were selected by our team and touch on multiple job functions and skills that will make your return to work from summer vacation to work more bearable:

The Art and Science of Training

Written by Elaine Biech

Like the title suggests, Biech fuses the worlds of art and science in her approach to training. The Art and Science of Training delves into the science behind learning. The book also tackles how to succeed when training goes awry, including how to manage reluctant learners.

At the book’s core Biech shows how successful training practitioners can create content but facilitate the content in a compelling and creative way.

Together, Biech explains how learning science can be married to the artistic approach of instructional design and facilitation to contribute to a successful learning experience. This is a must-read source for the fundamentals of training and for creating a game plan for learning.

Great read for:  Training and L&D professionals, talent development teams

The Phoenix Project

Written by Gene Kim, George Spafford, and Kevin Behr

The Phoenix Project is a business novel that follows an IT manager, Bill, who has been given a unique task straight from the company’s CEO:  he has 90 days to rescue an IT initiative, code-named the Phoenix Project.

The initiative is both overwhelmingly beyond the budget and overdue. To top it off, Bill faces nearing project deadlines on top of his previous responsibilities. As the pressure piles on, Bill, his team, and the guidance of a board member eventually change their workflows and processes.

Like Bill and his comrades, Mimeo’s IT team works alongside other organizational teams to increase our efficiencies and optimize our lean capabilities.

Great read for:  IT and DevOps professionals, other business teams

Customer Success

Written by Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman, and Lincoln Murphy

Customer Success places customers at the center of the organization. A new model for customer management, customer success teams are being created throughout modern organizations. The end goal? Drive high lifetime value through retention.

Among other proactive success activities, Customer Success is a guide on how to:

• Increase customer and company success
• Decrease customer churn
• Boost upsell activities
• Create free marketing through customer advocacy

The key tenet of a successful company is a successful customer base. This is a theme we employ throughout our organization. In fact, one of Mimeo’s core values is to drive customer success.

Great read for:  Customer success teams, marketers, sales professionals, and the C-suite

All Marketers Are Liars

Written by Seth Godin

Well, maybe not liars. But a great marketer is a great storyteller.

To summarize this book in one sentence:  “All Marketers Are Liars is based on the idea that we believe whatever we want to believe, and that it’s exactly this trait of ours, which marketers use (and sometimes abuse) to sell their products by infusing them with good stories – whether they’re true or not.”

Successful marketing tells a story that people want to believe in. Storytelling, although an ancient practice, remains powerful. Stories are shown to change attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. However, as Godin warns, only authentic stories will thrive.

Great read for:  Marketers, sales enablement teams

The Advantage

Written by Patrick Lencioni

According to Lencioni, “Organizational health will one day surpass all other disciplines in business as the greatest opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage.”

Healthy organizations tend to be highly productive and experience low turnover of high-performing employees. The Advantage suggests creating a strong leadership team in pursuit of organizational health. The team makes decisions and communicates the decisions out to the rest of the organization.

Other factors that contribute to an organization’s health include cutting politics and holding effective meetings. An underlying theme throughout The Advantage is the idea of using time most effectively, in every tier of an organization. Time and efficiency are some things we’re big fans of.

Great read for:  Management teams, HR

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management

Written by Kevin Kruse

With an obsession of giving back our customers their time, this book was an obvious pick from our staff. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management presents the findings of Kruse’s study. A study in which he interviewed ultra-productive people including:

• 7 billionaires
• 13 Olympic athletes
• 39 straight-A students
• 239 entrepreneurs

Some of the activities are surprising. For example, ultra-productive people make it home for dinner. (Something you can do too while building a successful training program.) Kruse’s research also shows how high-performers identify real priorities, curb procrastination, remove social media distractions, and run meetings like Apple or Google. Plus, how to leave work at 5 without a sense of guilt.

Great read for:  Every professional!

Predictable Revenue

Written by Aaron Ross and Marylou Tyler

Predictable Revenue transforms traditional sales attitudes from continually closing deals to asking, “Is there a mutual fit?” In short, creating predictable revenue within an organization involves:

• Understanding and using Cold Calling 2.0 tactics
• Creating a scalable sales process
• Investing in customer success
• Hiring quality salespeople

Marketers, salespeople, and customers alike benefit from organizations that employ Predictable Revenue’s techniques. Throughout this book, Ross inserts examples from his past experience at Salesforce — amplifying how these sales models can prove successful.

Interested in learning more? For an in-depth review, check out this detailed summary.

Great read for:  Salespeople, marketing teams, the C-suite

The Toyota Way

Written by Jeffrey Liker

Liker summarizes and explains the culture and principles implemented at Toyota in The Toyota Way. Toyota’s philosophy and concepts can be applied to any business, not just manufacturers. This approach is something Mimeo uses across our lean organization.

The Toyota Way outlines 14 principles and other behaviors that contribute to the success of Toyota’s managerial approach and production. Among the many principles, two important factors to Toyota’s philosophy are continuous improvement (a goal of lean thinkers) and developing people.

Great read for:  Manufacturers, management, IT