The new, 2nd edition of the Key Account Manager's Pocketbook gives practical advice on how to keep and develop important customers, thereby maximising ongoing revenue streams, reducing sales costs, improving investment planning and increasing market knowledge. It opens by describing the key account manager's role and then goes on to describe how to rise up the so-called customer perception ladder, moving from a simple commodity supplier to developing a solid, long-term business partnership with your key customers. The author next explains how to develop the 'key account development plan', how to increase your influence with the decision-maker in your key account (relationship management) and how to win new business. The final chapter runs through the essential steps of key account handling. There are short exercises throughout which, if carried out, will help to reinforce the key learning points.

The new, 2nd edition of the Key Account Manager's Pocketbook gives practical advice on how to keep and develop important customers, thereby maximising ongoing revenue streams, reducing sales costs, improving investment planning and increasing market knowledge. It opens by describing the key account manager's role and then goes on to describe how to rise up the so-called customer perception ladder, moving from a simple commodity supplier to developing a solid, long-term business partnership with your key customers. The author next explains how to develop the 'key account development plan', how to increase your influence with the decision-maker in your key account (relationship management) and how to win new business. The final chapter runs through the essential steps of key account handling. There are short exercises throughout which, if carried out, will help to reinforce the key learning points.

Key techniques to help maximise the effectiveness of your next sales meeting. The Sales Excellence Pocketbook explains how to make the right initial impression, how to discover customer needs, how to present the best possible case and, crucially, how to close successfully. Also gives tips and techniques on how to prepare for the sales meeting and how to follow-up effectively. The Journal of International Selling and Sales Management said of the book: 'A very practical guide to adapting the sales approach to specific customer needs. This Pocketbook could be regularly used with advantage by anyone engaged in selling'.

The Manager's Pocketbook is aimed at team leaders, supervisors and people managers of all levels. The 5th edition of this popular title in the Pocketbook Series will be published in March 2014. Using the acronym POLCA, the pocketbook teaches the five essential management skills: 'P' for 'planning'; 'O' for 'organising'; 'L' for 'leading'; 'C' for 'coaching/correcting'; and, 'A' for 'achieving'. There is a separate chapter on each of these five skills, preceded by an overview of the manager's role. The Manager's Pocketbook is extensively illustrated and concisely presented, reflecting the lively, right-brained approach that author John Townsend has developed throughout his long career in helping managers excel and deal with the many challenges they face.

Sixty practical suggestions for reducing absenteeism are detailed in this title, followed by a look at the legal aspects of employment and advice on how to introduce an absence control policy. The author - management psychologist Max A. Eggert - also looks at the costs of absenteeism (monetary and psychological) and five ways of measuring absence. This is a new edition of "The Controlling Absenteeism Pocketbook" (978 1 870471 64 0), first published in 2000. Other pocketbooks by the same author include: "Assertiveness"; "Managing your Appraisal"; "Motivation"; and, "Resolving Conflict".

Performance Management is about getting results, getting the best from people and helping them to achieve their potential. Employee engagement has an important role to play in this, it is about the emotional commitment to the organisation and its goals. In this second edition of the Performance Management Pocketbook, readers will find plenty of tips and techniques to enhance their performance in the following areas: leading others to achieve results; understanding the impact of their own style; engaging and motivating others; creating high performance teams; setting clear objectives; managing performance difficulties and coaching and delegating effectively. The book contains illustrative case studies and each chapter has a helpful review and actions section. The author Pam Jones is a member of the Ashridge Business School open programme management team. Her responsibilities cover a suite of programmes encompassing performance management, influencing and general management skills. "In an ever-demanding and competitive world, OK and average simply aren't enough - performance matters. If you want to get the best out of your people, then this book is packed with advice and ideas on how to do that." Lydia Hatley, Leadership Change Manager, Argos "Very useful - a practical and comprehensive guide for all leaders who truly value their team." Claire Dobbs, Managing Director, Havas Life London.

How to find, keep and get the best from the people who can make an enterprise thrive is the subject of the Talent Management Pocketbook, now in its 2nd edition. It features checklists and self-assessment tools to gauge current talent management strategy and pinpoint where improvements can be made. Included too are examples of outstanding talent management practices. How do you judge with confidence that someone will succeed in a bigger role? The book describes how the 'potential profiler' can help identify potential talent in the key performance areas. It is one of several helpful models described. Blending talent in order to build talented teams is another focus of this illustrated pocketbook. It deals with its subject in clear, concise terms with the emphasis on providing practical solutions. The Talent Management Pocketbook has been written for trainers, HR and recruitment professionals, and for line managers with responsibility for retaining and developing talented team members.