Books and CDs

It's time! You deserve to have your business and people enjoy the insights on increased profits, opportunities and how to have some fun. The 192 page hard-cover "Marketing Magic" enables readers to seize the moment.

Book Number 6 "Marketing Magic" is the sixth book by international author, conference keynote speaker and strategic planning workshop facilitator Barry Urquhart. Two of his other publications, "Serves You Right!" and "Service Please!" are the largest selling books on customer service excellence in Australasia.

At last! Another uniquely Australian book from Barry Urquhart, the nation's leading author, consultant, researcher and keynote speaker on Service Quality. "Service Please!" provides invaluable new insights and answers to questions about the most effective means to achieve increased sales, improved profits, enhanced client loyalty and greater staff motivation through excellent service.

Those answers lie within. Individuals must accept that it is they who are the driving force which will overcome inertia and ensure the aim of service excellence is attained and maintained. Traditional training methods and the concept of empowerment have been found wanting. There must be alternatives.

"Service Please!" shows the way. It is a true learning experience which will contribute to and foster a corporate culture based on continuous learning in which there are no rights, no wrongs, just experiences.

Barry Urquhart is author of "Serves You Right!", the largest selling book on service excellence in Australasia. His ongoing schedule of original research into many aspects of quality customer service reveals the distinctive attitudes, perceptions and actions of executives, staff members and clients throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The writing style is relaxed, easy to read and often sardonic.

"Service Please!" is a reference book whose repeated use will refine and develop one's appreciation of service excellence. It will enable people to break out of their own paradigms and parameters.

The period between September 27, 1983 and October 20, 1987 was great for West Australian businesses. The motor vehicle registration plates proudly declared the state was "Home of the America's Cup".

The local entrepreneurs seemed invincible.

Alan Bond had become the sixth largest brewer in the world with his regional breweries in the USA. His property tentacles extended to Hong Kong and he was viewing Tokyo.

Robert Holmes à Court was rampant on the bourses in the UK, USA and Australia. No company appeared to be safe from the threat of takeover.

Lord Grade had succumbed, USX and Texaco were under threat - and the bid for BHP by Bell Resources which had initially been summarily dismissed was a real possibility.

Ralph Sarich, along with Robert Holmes à Court now numbered among the three wealthiest individuals in Australia. He reportedly had major motor vehicle manufacturers interested in his new-concept motor vehicle engine. It was reminiscent of the boom of the 1960's when the word Poseidon echoed around the world.

Then it all seemed to fall apart on October 20 1987, the day the sharemarket crashed...or did it?

Researchers and consultants Dr Roger Smith and Barry Urquhart have studied the nature of WA entrepreneurs before and after the crash. They have concluded that the principles which stand them apart from their contemporaries are relevant for all Australians, Australian businesses, and industries. The country needs more wealth creators.

This book provides a unique insight into the attributes which lead to that status of wealth creator.

Australian entrepreneurs, particularly those from Western Australia are a much maligned group. In the period after the October 1987 sharemarket crash many Australian business people, almost lemming-like, continued relentlessly in pursuit of growth and high debt ratios. They disappeared into a black abyss.

Now business analysts Dr Roger Smith and Barry Urquhart have produced a book from interviews with a diverse range of business leaders. They have identified the presence of blue sky for Australian business.

That's good news! But it's not all good news and the lessons from the immediate past are bountiful. In the future big business will stimulate the economy. However, it will be small businesses that create employment and wealth.

"From Black Hole to Blue Sky" provides an invaluable insight to those who are keen to capitalise on, and from, the innate potential of Australia.

The book is similar in style to the authors' original publication "The Jindalee Factor - Insights on Western Australian Entrepreneurs". It is direct, insightful and full of telling lessons.

This is it. A must-read book which reveals and analyses the evolving nature of business and commerce. It cuts through the maze of theories and latest concepts.

The promise of the book is in its title, "Business Imperatives". Imperatives are the important, commanding, essential and pre-emptory factors to success.

Author Barry Urquhart provides insights on and answers to the very fundamentals for those contemplating or who are already operating a small to medium sized business. It is equally relevant to those who supply to, purchase from and service such firms.

Readers can become masters, not servants, of economic restructuring, workplace reform, re-engineering, outsourcing, the emergence of "category-killer" competitors and Local Area Marketing initiatives.

Refreshingly, many of the winning ideas will require little or no capital budget. Barry Urquhart shares the experiences and expertise in strategic planning and business development that he has accumulated since 1975. In that time he has been retained by small firms and by some of the largest corporations in the world. His writing style is relaxed, pacey, concise and easy to comprehend.

Significantly, the case studies, market research findings and anecdotes are contemporary and are centred in Australia and in New Zealand. "Business Imperatives" has been a long time in its coming. Its benefits, advantages and impact will be felt and enjoyed for a long time in the future.

To order:

To order any of these books, simply click here to open your order form (in PDF format).

John Hughes, is an exceptional businessman. With his operations centred in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia (servicing a local population of some 1.2 million), he is the largest Mitsubishi dealer in Australia and has a track record of having been the largest Hyundai dealer in the world.

Audiotape recordings of a public address delivered by John Hughes on behalf of Marketing Focus are featured in corporate libraries around the world. John does not detail how to sell motor vehicles. Rather, he outlines the necessities for operating a sustainable, successful business. It is a brilliant address.

A recent request from a client in New Zealand, whose business has grown sixfold, based on the philosophies espoused by John Hughes, has prompted us to digitally remix, edit and reproduce this “timely classic” address on compact disk.

I personally replay this 78 minute address at regular intervals, and unreservedly commend it to those who are keen to develop their own leadership skills.

“Make Your Business Work For You” is now available on compact disk for $35.00 (including GST and mailing).