How to Be a Fierce Competitor

Jeffrey Fox (Chester, CT) is an accomplished consultant, popular speaker and the acclaimed author of a series of the?international business best-sellers, How to Become CEO, How to Become a Raimaker, and Secrets of Great Rainmakers, among others. Fox is the founder and president of Fox & Company, Inc., a marketing consulting firm that specializes in marketing strategy development, innovation enhancement, selling skills training, branding, and various applications of a proprietary value-selling methodology called dollarization. Prior to starting Fox & Co. Jeffrey was Vice-President, Marketing and a Corporate Vice President of Loctite Corporation. He was also Director of Marketing for the wine division of The Pillsbury Co., and held various senior level marketing jobs at Heublein, Inc. including Director of New Products. Jeffrey is the winner of "Sales & Marketing Management" magazine's Outstanding Marketer Award; winner of the American Marketing Association's Outstanding Marketer in CT; and the National Industrial Distributors award as the Nation's Best Industrial Marketer. He is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study that is rated one of the top 100 case studies, and is thought to be the most widely taught marketing case in the world. Jeffrey graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. He served as Trustee of Trinity College, and has won several alumni awards including Person of the Year. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Saint Francis Hospital, one of the nation's top 100 hospitals.For more information, please visit Fox & Company's website: www.foxandcompany.com

• Preface xiAcknowledgments xiii1 The Fierce Competitor Company 12 Bad Times Are Good Times 43 Hustle. Hustle. Hustle. 64 Leadership Is Not ‘‘Pushership’’ 95 The Difference Between Leaders and Managers 116 Know Your Company’s Raison d’Etre 137 Manage As You Would Invest 158 ‘‘I Visit Customers in Stores’’ 189 Always Answer the Phone 2010 Pile Up Cash 2411 Be Ever Fearful 2712 Show Fearlessness 2913 Play ‘‘What If?’’ Games 3114 Leadership Is Full Disclosure 3315 Get a Kitchen Cabinet 3516 Always Have a Plan 3717 Stay Off Magazine Covers 3918 ‘‘I Never Made a Dime Talking’’ 4119 Never Take Your Hand Off the Tiller 4320 Control or Roll 4621 Get Out of the Office 4822 Walk Around the Company 5123 Never Forget the Third Shift 5324 Be Obsessive About Execution 5625 Get Rid of Executive Parking Spaces 6026 Fight Unionization 6327 People Are Not the Most Important Asset 6728 Nurture Those You Hire and Acquire 6929 Prune All Deadwood 7130 Bulldoze All Silos 7331 Broom Out All Bureaucracy 7532 Scoop Up Newly Available Talent 7833 Forget About Pedigrees 8034 Pay for Performance, Not for Activities 8235 Continuously Rip Out, Tear Out Bad Costs 8536 The Do and Don’t Cut List 8937 Forget Monthly Reports 9138 No Money, No Meeting 9339 Be Fanatical About Selling 9640 Don’t Fire Sales People 10041 Hire Fiercely Competitive Sales People 10342 Banish All Selling Thieves 10643 Always Conduct Daily Sales Meetings 10944 The Big Opportunity 11145 Never Cancel Batting Practice 11546 Double the Training Budget 11847 Love That Cranky, Fickle, Demanding Customer 12048 Fire the ‘‘Strategic Customer’’ 12249 Customer Service Is a Survival Strategy 12550 Worship at the Altar of Quality 12951 Get Rid of ‘‘Mr. Ought-to-Be’’ 13252 Always Leave Flowers, Floor Mats, and Footprints 13453 Don’t Cut Prices 13754 You Are Never on Vacation 14055 Lock, Load, and Launch 14256 Sue the Blankety-Blanks 14457 Welcome Serendipity 14758 Go Green! 14959 Be a Master Gardener 15160 Summary: Characteristics of the FierceCompetitor Companies 154About the author 159