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Summary: A powerful and practical way to the future
Review: This is a great business book! David has a gift for illustrating and predicting the future of the web. His scenarios are captivating and his practical tools allow corporate managers and entrepreneurs to get to work today. I am putting everyone in my company through his "boot camp" exercises -- what a great concept!
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Summary: Why I wrote FYE
Review: Hey readers, I've been working on web sites since late 1994, and I've had the opportunity to help a lot of companies think about their web sites. I'm lucky, because I've managed to write books before there was a need for them, and I've been encouraged by readers from around the world who appreciate the time and effort I put into my books. I've been asked by dozens of publishers if I would write a third "Creating Killer Web Sites" book, and the truth is I almost did it. I had a partner and we had a plan, but then he got a better offer and we decided to put it on hold. I'm sorry to disappoint the developers, but I can only write what I have the fire-in-the-belly to write, and this management book has been trying to get out of me for two years. I wrote "Futurize Your Enterprise" because I saw the pain companies were experiencing. They were trying to do what the "dot com" companies were doing. They hired engineers and they deployed e-commerce systems, but it all seemed so mechanical to me. Weren't they just trying to achieve old goals with new tools? Were they really listening to their customers? Didn't they see how different the Web was and the fantastic new opportunities opening up as more people came online? While other books tell us the New Economy is coming, most e-business books are still about customer service. I wanted this book to give companies a blueprint for rethinking their business models and taking their online customers more seriously. Undoubtedly, some people will criticize the book for not having enough real-world examples. But you can read real-world examples in all the hip business magazines. Why do you need me for that? I'm going for the big picture here, and a way to get there. I'm trying to shine some light onto the world of business I think most people have been missing. I think people in general are focused too much on the execution and not enough on the culture, the mindset, the approach, and their customers. I also think companies need to start empowering their employees in new and more human ways. Companies like ebay and Schwab.com are the darlings of their industries. But I think there's a lot wrong at those sites, and it has to do with providing value to customers. If you agree, I think you'll find my approach refreshing and targeted. I've put the last 2 years of my life into this book. I've held nothing back. It's all there, and it's about half the price of my previous books. So I hope you'll give it a try and, above all, let other readers know what you think. About the dedication. I don't blindly dedicate all my books to my readers. I think hard about dedications. It's an important thing for me. I have again chosen to rededicate myself to the people who pay their hard-earned money for this book. I have to keep them in mind as I edit and chop away at the garbage to make the book as good as I can get it, and then polish it until it is even better. For this book, I wrote almost 300,000 words, yet I only shipped 90,000 of them. I want it to be a gem you hold in your hand. It really is dedicated to you. If you're willing to take your precious time to read these words, I want you know that is the true source of my satisfaction in writing them. David Siege
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Summary: e-Customer-led Strategy
Review: "I wrote `Futurize Your Enterprise' because I saw the pain companies were experiencing. They were trying to do what the `dot com' companies were doing...Were they really listening to their customers?" (David Seigel). The focus of this book is, as the title indicates, "Business Strategy in the Age of the E-Customer". Seigel exhorts companies to build their web strategy around customers, rather than their own products or services, and to develop an intimate and ongoing `conversation' with each. Seigel believes that companies must allow their customers to dictate their agenda; "...all customer-led customers have the same basic mission statement: YOU'RE IN CHARGE". The book is divided into four sections: Principles, Practice, Prototypes and Predictions. Principles include dealing differently with different types of `e-customers' (e.g. on the basis of whether they are beginners, intermediates or experts) and the `truth economy' (the need for transparency and integrity on the part of companies). Practice describes implementation of these principles, in terms of the external customer relationship and internal customer management aspects. For example, Seigel describes how "you'll conduct the six most critical meetings in your company's history, transforming your organization into one that listens to customers in new ways". Prototypes involves Seigel describing hypothetically how different types of business - including magazines, banks and pharmaceutical companies - can be transformed when the principles and practice described in the previous sections become reality. Predictions is an attempt to visualise ways in which the Internet will alter the way people live and behave - as home makers, professionals, and so on - in 2010; the implication seemingly is that the impact of the Net is so profound that ignoring it is not an option. Although much of his advice is based on anecdotal rather than empirical evidence, it is clear that Seigel has drawn on his considerable experience in web design and consulting. The book provides stimulating and potentially useful thinking, and can be recommended to any one interested in gaining insight into e-customers.
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