One to One Field Book [Paperback]

Like many business principles, one to one marketing can be summed up by the simple idea of treating different customers differently. The Fieldbook begins by outlining four steps for implementing a one-to-one marketing program: identify your customers, differentiate your customers, interact with your customers and customize your products. Then the book suggests detailed steps for planning, implementing, evaluating, and upgrading any firm's relationship-marketing program. Each chapter leaves you with specific, manageable, measurable tasks to improve your one to one marketing efforts.

I found the book less a "toolkit for implementing a 1 to 1 marketing program" than a crash refresher course in basic marketing concepts. That's not all bad though. Many readers will find the step-by-step advice on differentiating customers a real blessing to addressing this frequently difficult problem. Some chapters are better than others are though. I was especially disappointed in the chapter on information systems. Most of the checklists presented here are too "high-level" to be of much use. The chapter on channel management, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise - providing lots of good advice to improve your relationship with your channel partners.

As an added value, The Fieldbook comes with an electronic password that allows readers to access a special one-to-one group Web site. There you will find electronic versions of all the book's checklists, along with extensive bibliographic references and useful spreadsheets that will save you time.

More importantly, if you are shopping for Customer Relationship Marketing software, you should insist that your potential suppliers read this book. And take its messages to heart! Every CRM developer on the planet will quote the wonders of one to one marketing as they attempt to sell you their wares. Yet, very few of these people really walk the talk and provide software solutions that will help you implement these strategies! For example, I cannot think of a single CRM program that makes it truly easy to broadcast an appropriate stream of e-mail messages to various prospects at various stages of the sales cycle. This capability essential to effectively interact with your customers!

So, should you buy this book? Most definitely, yes. The dozens of checklists for implementing relationship-marketing programs, along with self-analysis tools and questionnaires for evaluating a firm's progress or readiness for such programs are worth the purchase price alone.

Rich Bohn

Every chapter includes lists and meeting notes for what to do at every step in the process. I wish I had this book when I began developing relationship marketing programs. With this book you are not alone in developing a 1 to 1 program. In addition, the book has a very valuable accompanying web site where you can print off the check lists and other helpful interactive tools. Before you buy the book you may want to look through their web site at 1to1.com. There you'll find more information on 1 to 1 marketing and CRM than anywhere else on the web. Martha Rogers and Don Peppers have truely shown that they are the masters of CRM in this book and their other titles.