The Profit Zone

December 1, 1997
For many businesses, the quip "we lose money on every sale, but we make it up in volume" is not a gag, which the authors of this sensible guide well understand. Business consultants Slywotsky and Morrison and freelance writer Andelman focus on the number-one rule of the marketplace: make money. While their suggestions for bringing that about--concentrate on your customers' needs, wants and desires--are hardly new, their approach is. Along with worksheets and checklists, they provide profiles of how the heads of several customer-oriented companies (e.g., Coca-Cola, General Electric, Microsoft) apportion their work days in order to give readers a road map that will allow them to focus--or refocus--their companies on the customer. The guide is illustrated with many gimmicky charts and graphs that in any case are not always needed to make the authors' points.