Best Understanding Buyers Books

The full title of this book by Peter A Schaible is

The secret weapon of a master direct response online copywriter: How to position your brand for success, based on the research of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Four Stars. This means it is Good and Well Worth Reading.

Here is my book review.

Very interesting way to think about customers

The book explains how the three parts of the brain – reptilian (primitive fight or flight survival), limbic (emotions) and neocortex (rational thought) – are affected by marketing.

It then goes on to explain the 12 archetypes based on the work of the early psychologist, Carl Jung. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Amitav Chakravarti and Manoj Thomas is

“Why People (Don’t) Buy: The Go and Stop Signals“.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I rated it as a FOUR stars book, meaning it is good to very good.

This is what I wrote.

Fascinating but quite academic

In my business coaching, I sometimes talk about the Buy or Don’t Buy Scales where buyers weigh the reasons to buy against the reasons not to buy consciously or subconsciously.

This book takes the same principles in terms of buying go and stop signals but adds more more meat to my simple analogy. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Roger Dooley is

“The Persuasion Slide – A New Way to Market to Your Customer’s Conscious Needs and Unconscious Mind: Use Psychology and Behavior Research to Influence and Persuade“.

In my review of the book posted on Amazon.co.uk, I rated it at the Four Stars level. This means I consider the book to be good to very good.

Here is my book review.

A nice mental model of the buying process

Copywriters have talked about the slippery slope or greasy slide for many years. It’s a metaphor for building up momentum as the copy is read, as the person moves from “this looks interesting ” to “I must have this in my life, right now”. [continue reading…]

When I reviewed

Why People Buy by John O’Shaughnessy

on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it a Four Stars rating which means I consider it to be good.

Here is my book review.

A revealing book about consumer theory written for practitioners and academics but it’s nearly 30 years old

I’m fascinated by understanding why people buy what they buy, when they buy it and how they buy it. Generally I feel that far too much of the literature on sales and marketing ignores the buyer and his or her motivations.

This book was first published in 1987 and it was written for both marketing practitioners and for academics and students of consumer behaviour. [continue reading…]

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk for

“7 Secret Motivators That Drive Your Customers to The BUY Button“,

I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means I think it is good.

Here is my book review.

A nice introduction to why people buy

This is a nice, short introduction to buy people buy the things they do and, as a consequence, how you can link your products and services to one or more of these needs to encourage extra sales. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Lindsay Spencer-Matthews is

“Reading Customers Minds: Why Customers Don’t Buy From You And What To Do About It“.

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Five Stars. This means I think it is Excellent.

Here is my book review.

Very interesting and well worth reading if you have a colour screen

This interesting book is written by a psychologist with 20 years practical experience who has previously worked in sales and marketing.

The author contrasts what you know and what a customer knows using set theory diagrams. I’m a visual thinker so I like the clarity of this approach but unfortunately the diagrams don’t come out well on a standard Kindle reader with its black and shades of grey contrasts. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg with Anthony Garcia is

“Buyer Legends: The Executive Storyteller’s Guide“.

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means I think it is good.

Here is my book review.

Customer persona plus use situation and moments of truth

This book, by introducing the concept of buyer legends, tries to solve a problem with marketing where all the little improvements you make don’t add up to a big improvement because some cancel out others in a one step forward, one step back dance.

Basically a buyer legend is a story that combines a customer persona with a use situation and the moments of truth in the buying process. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Harry Washburn and Kim Wallace is

“Why People Don’t Buy Things: Five Proven Steps to Connect with Your Customers and Dramatically Increase Your Sales“.

In my review on Amazon.co.uk, I rated this book as Four Stars. This means I think it is Good and Well Worth Reading.

Here is my book review.

How to adjust your sales process to the different types of buyers

This is an interesting book and stands out from a traditional sales training book which looks at topics like prospecting, getting past the gatekeeper, handling objections and closing.

One minor gripe is that I don’t think the title reflects the book. I didn’t get the book I thought I was buying. The focus is very much on the customer or buyer, their buying process and how you can use buyer path selling. [continue reading…]