Bag the Elephant: Book Review

In this book authored by Steve Kaplan the setting was focus on the current business situation where in order to overcome the challenges you have to be like â€Å"elephants† where being smart is not the only way for you to win these big companies but you also need to be strong, clumsy and slow and must have huge memory like elephants.In this book, it also provides a way on how a business can truly succeed in getting large companies rather than getting small ones, which for some it still in the present trend business do, because for them it is easier for them to do transaction, but in this book Steve explains that getting the â€Å"big elephants† provides a huge lift in your business because it does not only give your big profit but also helps you sustain for longer years and established stability in the long run.Bag the Elephant book does not just provide how important doing business with large companies, but also it gives a clear idea on how these big companies help est ablish other businesses also. Like take for instance if you work in big companies with their good financial standings and also partnership with other businesses, with that alone, it means that you could extend wider business connections and that would definitely give bigger opportunity for your business as well.In this book, Steve Kaplan also gives some advice on how to win big companies, like what attitude and character or right negotiations that are needed in order to win them and most especially how would you sustain this in the long period for your business to grow as well as how these companies would help sustain their business. II. Analysis and Evaluation In this book it provides why and how business people in particular focus on winning big companies rather than small ones, like the one that will put you over the top like improving sales and marketing strategy that can help you get that giant customer.How these Elephant helps you increase your revenue, profits and success. Mo re than a strategy book, Bag the Elephant is packed with proven tactics, tools, and techniques along with real-world examples from the author's vast experience that will demonstrate how you can put these powerful ideas to work. To prepare you for long-term success, this book â€Å"Bag the Elephant..† also provides the 6 keys for a successful big-customer focus †¢ how to map and use a big company's red tape to your advantage †¢ ideas and techniques for developing your own Elephant prospect list †¢ how to find champions who can become your inside sales reps †¢ how to build strong alliances that result in maximum sales †¢ secrets of negotiating with an Elephant without giving away your profit margins †¢ techniques for turning customer catastrophes into customer loyalty †¢ how to avoid the 5 killer mistakes that can put you out of business.This book also provides outlines on why getting big companies profitable rather than getting projects from small companies. The book Bag the Elephant is all about how smart and intelligent business owners can win and keep those all-important companies, make-or-break clients. This book also filled with dynamic advice and real-life examples, delivered in an energetic, straight-shooting fashion that gets right to the core of its powerful idea—how to land the account that will put you over the top.Here are six keys to achieving the elephant mindset and understanding the big customer. Mapping and using big company's red tape and irregularities to your advantage. This book also outlines how these big elephant needs you as much as you need it and how to do effective negotiations. In he first part, Elephant is Waiting, it shows how important and how business people must think that there is really high potential in doing business with them and these big companies are just waiting for them, if only they know what their needs are for them to have better business with them.On the second part, The Secret life of the Elephant, it somehow focuses on learning the ropes of big companies, the way they do business and how they actually do transaction. This is very important because knowing how to do business with big companies are far different than getting into small or medium sized companies. Like from the simplest knowing the discount schemes, red tape transactions, etc. this are vital because that is how business works for big companies and that must be well adhered in order to succeed.(Kaplan, S, 2005). Reading this book has provided better way of understanding the way how business works and how it should be applied in the real world. This book also explains that it is still very common these days that for some companies it is still important to maximize profit and reduce expense. But, this has been a little bit changed as the demand for innovation and technology and the need for process improvement are becoming an important factor for success of an organization.With thes e latest developments and trend in the business, companies with their top executives would always look intently what they need to improve or in other case needed to innovate. The main reason is that, in any case the managers with the executives of the company must carefully look on this need and should not give any drastic and not well-studied decisions. It is also where managers’ inputs are very important and they should not be just deciding for their own sake but it should be for the betterment of the whole company.This book also provides better discussion how big companies can be a big factor for profitability which is currently the main issue for companies to sustain their business. Secondly, it also focuses on competitiveness, how a company can be competitive in the midst of hardships in businesses. Competitive advantage, how does this become a very important motivating factor for some companies, particularly the global companies?Actually, there are two very common quest ions that are commonly address when it comes to competitive advantage and these are: is with regards to attractiveness of industries for long-term profitability, there is no company that does not want to have a long-term profitability. This is one factor that really drives company to continually be competitive. Strategies and efficient approaches are really well-focused and well desired activities that company needs to focus carefully.That is why there was no doubt that there are companies would even invest for research and development because that is one factor that contributes to long-term profitability and not just focusing on the customer satisfaction and efficient internal management. The second question why competitive advantage needs to apply by a company is in order for them to know their current status in the industry. In the second question it is simply carefully studying the current status of the company, is the company effective in what areas?Does the company established effective long-term plans and strategies? These types of questions would even help in establishing a sort of knowledge base or baseline before actual process improvement take place. This also provides a better reflection to current business situation that in order to really implement the right process for any competitive advantage that needed to be implemented in a company, there should be an effective long-term strategy that should be establish.And this strategy should focus mainly on operations management, this is very important that every company needs to start improving its own operation, there are other companies that fails to do this, the main focus here is that these companies needs to make sure that they improve first their own turf and that they are well prepared enough to work on for bigger challenges ahead.Some of the key factors and priorities that relates to operations management are the following: studying carefully what operation management style needs to be applied, secondly, understand the current demand and supply, third, the company’s current product and service offered, and lastly is what are the current consumer demand, variety of needs, diversity concerns, need for flexibility and other important issues that need to be address by the company.That is why with regards to operations management, it does not particularly focus on operations within the company but also more importantly is the external factors that affect it. III. Lesson, Thoughts and Experiences One lesson in this book is that for anyone, you should always strive hard into the top even though it is hard and sometimes seems impossible. Like for instance in school, it is important that we work hard in our studies because this will also be our main passport to our future career which would give us advantage against the competition someday.The most important lesson in his book is that, businesspeople must now be afraid of getting big companies, because this can provide long term success in the business. This does not just provide businesses long term stability but more importantly it provides much greater opportunity in the long run because their business also works with other big businesses and that alone can give you more opportunity to grow and that can help you sustain your business.Secondly, this book also gives business people an idea that learning the ropes of these â€Å"big elephants† must also be taken into careful consideration because this is not the same and really far different than going into transaction with small companies. Lastly, it also provides better explanation on how competitiveness and quality on the way you operate with these big companies is needed and much more expected because it is not just as simple as doing daily business with them, they desire better results and that is a growing challenge as you go along dong business with them.The longer you do business with them the more new and exciting ideas is needed that would also help them re-define their business and that would not just help them achieve their goal but more importantly help you attain your goal as well. Like it is also being said that if the company has been enhancing its capabilities on how they can serve their customers, it also makes the company creates its own distinctive competencies and this is now where innovations, efficiency, quality, and customer responsibilities form together as a leverage by the company to be competitive and work effectively in its operation.If the company continues to strive and maintain its vision of improving its competencies, it also brings the company in performing value creation in the organization. This value creation will also be the main ingredient for success on doing business for these â€Å"big elephants† in the business. So expect challenge in life and be ready to face it with all your mind and strength because that is the only way you can overcome it and for sure at the end of it you will win it. List of References Kaplan, S. (2005). Bag the Elephant!. How to Win and Keep Big Customers. US: Bard Press