PREFACE

Shortly after the AICPA asked me to write this book, I asked a friend, who is a CFO, to read the draft outline.

‘Very interesting,’ he said with a rather unconvincing nod, and he slid the outline back toward me.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked. You don’t like it.’

‘It’s not that I don’t like it,’ he said. ‘It’s just that I’m not sure I’d read it. What does marketing have to do with me? I’m the CFO, not the marketing director.’

It’s a reasonable question, and if someone else put this book in your hands, as I did with my CFO friend, you may be asking yourself the same question. In that case, let me explain what this book can do for you—and then provide the simple suggestion that turned my CFO friend from a sceptic into an enthusiastic fan.

Does your company do these things?

• Work continually to improve the company’s ability to serve its customers?

• Cultivate a culture of curiosity that gives exceptional insight into the market’s needs?

• Align everything the company does with the goal of meeting the needs of the market?

• Execute unwaveringly on plans to improve performance?

• Consistently outperform its competition?

If it does, this book is for you.

If this describes your company, you are probably working within a company that is a leader in the market. This book is about how your company got there, and what you need to do to stay there.

If it doesn’t, you should still read this book.

If this description doesn’t match your company, this book will share the secrets of companies that do fit that description. You’ll find out that they don’t define marketing the way you do, and that the way companies who do outperform their competitors define marketing as the key to their success. Companies that outperform the rest of their peers do so because they understand the concepts in this book.

You will too, if you read it. And that could make an enormous difference to your company, your career, or both.

And if you still have doubts, read the ending first.

But if you still need some encouragement, I have another suggestion. Read the ending first.

That’s right, it’s okay to peek. See how the story ends. More specifically, sharpen your pencil and take the Marketing Performance Evaluation in chapter 17.

The Marketing Performance Evaluation is based on my company’s research about what makes a market leader’s marketing so much more effective. By comparing the best practices of market leaders to those of your own company, you’ll know where to focus your attention and what areas of this book will be especially relevant to your company’s situation.

You might find the evaluation itself provides some value. That was the impact it had on my CFO friend. When I followed up with him after sharing an earlier draft, my reluctant reader had become much more interested.

‘Okay, your evaluation got me thinking and hooked,’ he said. ‘I am interested in reading your book.’ In fact, he offered to read and comment on the draft and to be the first paying customer.

So, if you’re sceptical about whether this book is relevant to you, go ahead and read the ending first. Then, I hope you’ll return to the beginning and resume the journey to becoming a market leader.