Resources
What you'll find here is a nearly complete list of the resources we offer. Some are paid and some are free. It's easier if you limit your search by topic or format (see the menu at the left or right). Or you can use the search bar at the top right.
Podcast: Relationship Between Business Development and Account Service
David C. Baker explains how new business can help account service manage clients well, resulting in lots of money and significant impact on the client. The control comes from your willingness to replace bad clients with clients who are a better fit.
Download PodcastPosition Paper: Saying “No”...Or Caring Too Much about the Wrong Things
Caring too much about something can put you at a distinct disadvantage.
Car salespeople know this when they detect even the slightest interest or sense any desperation on your part. Savvy negotiators sniff out this weakness when working their magic at the final hour. Kids know this when they look up at you and ask for something you wouldn’t normally allow but hope that they can tug at your heart strings with that special look.
Read MorePosition Paper: Changing Client Perceptions
Ever return to a reunion and been frustrated when former classmates are surprised at your success? It may be human nature to pigeonhole each other, and since (most) clients are human, they have a natural tendency to make assumptions about your abilities that will be tough to change.
Smaller ships turn quicker, and your capabilities are likely to expand more rapidly than client needs will evolve. You are a smaller firm than your client, and are likely adding capabilities very quickly. That’s another way of saying that clients may have you in a rut.
Read MoreBlog Post: How to Become an Expert
Have you ever had a huge corporate client and delved deep inside the organization only to find incompetence around you? I have, and it makes me wonder how we've become the richest nation in the world. It's also encouraging, because the bar is set very low and therefore it's pretty darn easy to be an expert!
One thing I get asked a lot is this: "What is an expert?" There are many ways to define that, but here's how I think about it. I picture myself keynoting a conference. In the auditorium are 3,000 people. After my presentation, I open it up to questions from the audience. There's a microphone on a stand in the center aisle, and soon a line forms with people who want me to elaborate or they want to disagree with me.
Picture yourself in that place. How do you feel? Prepared? Nervous? Naked? Eager? Being an expert is flat knowing that you can answer any question about the narrow field you serve. By the way, you don't need to be some amazing speaker or a strong extrovert to captivate an audience. Essentially, it boils down to two things: do you know what the hell you're talking about, and are you presenting it with a personal authenticity.
So the next question is how you get to that place where you think of yourself as an expert, and where markeplace acceptance confirms that belief. Here are my seven specific, practical suggestions:
Read MoreBook: Financial Management of a Marketing Firm
This manual, by David C. Baker, is the compilation of 16 years of analyzing 650+ firms. It contains 270 pages and sample financial statements and utilization forms, all in a handsome looseleaf format for years of use.
Read MoreBook: Managing (Right) for the First Time
This book is intended as a field guide for first time managers, or for managers who want to begin doing a better job. The author worked closely with 650+ companies and interviewed more than 10,000 employees, then summarized the findings in an interesting and imminently readable form. Read this book and you're likely to understand management and leadership like you never have before, but also learn very practical steps toward becoming a better manager.
Read MorePress Item: Expert Endorsement on Focus
The advisory board of Focus granted David C. Baker "Expert Status" on their information network. As such, he participates regularly in answering questions releated to his expertise.
Read MorePress Item: The Education of a Design Entrepreneur
Edited by Steven Heller and published by Allworth Press, David C. Baker kicked off this book with the opening chapter, entitled "How Hard Can This Be, You Ask?
Read MorePress Item: The Head and Heart of Customer Service
This monograph, penned at the request of the Counselor’s Academy (a subgroup of the Public Relations Society of America), was written in 2002. From the summary:
“Baker's thesis is that before you can serve clients well, you have to find the right clients, then formalize a relationship with them to set expectations and clarify roles. He stresses the importance of ongoing marketing, describes how to achieve the ideal client mix, lists the elements of a typical client agreement, and presents detailed advice on how to communicate effectively to and on behalf of clients in order to keep them satisfied.”
Read MorePress Item: Wall Street Journal Listing
In an article by Perri Capell in the Wall Street Journal, the author featured a discussion board that David C. Baker owned and nurtured to 12,000 members as an excellent resource for adventure travel, describing www.bmwsporttouring.com as a “privately owned web site that promotes on-line, on-road community."
Read More
