Book Review: The Now Revolution

I was chosen to read and review the Now Revolution by Jay Baer and Amber Naslund… and this is the review. I decided that instead of focusing a short blog review on the entire 200 page book, I would instead highlight one of the most inspiring ‘Shifts’ (as they call them) that it is time to make to your business.

Answer the Social Phone

This shift struck home with me, as I wrote in an earlier post that social is the new 800 number.  Having personally run a few businesses straight through letter/phone call/email phase of communication being the dominant way customers requested interaction, I know this Shift is true and it already hashappened. In other words; even if you are not aware of it right now, your customers are using social media to comment on, rate, complain about, and attempt to contact you. More eloquently that I, Jay Wrote:

“Instead of picking up the telephone or even sending an email, your customers are sending a tweet, posting notes to your facebook page, or asking for help in community forums. You can’t afford to ignore these calls anymore than you can the ones coming in on your phone line. Simply put, your customers and prospects are reaching out, and they are expecting you to answer.”

To the business owner, this is a new responsibility that has developed over the past few years, and yes it is an unavoidable part of running your business. The book outlines several ways that monitoring the social phone, often called ‘listening’, can be incorporated into an organization and it suggests tools to use in doing so. I have to admit the level of detail they include is impressive and to some may be a bit overwhelming. To those that are ready to recognize the impact the social chatter actually has, and who are ready to implement a system to handle it professionally, this book will be an invaluable resource. It reads more like a roadmap than a sermon which I appreciate, and I think most small business owners will as well.

Finally I would like to encourage you to check out Jay’s blog and the videos of him at speaking engagements, his style is what caused me to become a fan of his in the first place. Today there are a lot of snake oil salesmen, self made experts, and others who want you to Know they Know a lot, but never tell you very much so that you could actually know for sure. Jay isn’t one of those guys, which makes reading his book that much better. You can find it on Amazon at the link below.

You can also Win the book by sharing the experience that led to you realizing customers were using social avenues to express sentiment that previously would have been received via other means. Jay and amber have provided a copy for me to give away, and I will to the one that catches my attention the most.

The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter and More Social