The Remi Group BOOK
CLUB is back again and this time it’s with a review of Gary Vaynerchuk’s The Thank You Economy. Vaynerchuk is
a successful entrepreneur, best-selling author, and public speaker; he
co-founded a wine retail store with a popular video blog at one time, as well
as a social media consulting agency. Vaynerchuk has won a handful of awards, is
a family man, and hopes to own the NY Jets someday.
The Thank You Economy
was written as a follow-up to Vaynerchuk’s Crush
It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on your Passion; both books landed him
on the New York Times Best Sellers list at #2.The book has 13 chapters and
spans 240 pages that are broken up into five parts – Part I Welcome to the Thank
You Economy, Part II How to Win, Part III The Thank You Economy in Action, Part
IV Sawdust, and Part V How to Win in the Thank You Economy, the Quick Version.
I have to be honest, when I first started reading this book,
it was slow and I was unimpressed. Vaynerchuk came across as a little arrogant
and talked way too much about his wine business. However, as I kept reading,
something clicked and I got it – I finally started to grasp the concept of the
Thank You Economy. From that point on, the book was entertaining, intriguing,
and brought me back to a time when companies behaved like mom and pop shops who
truly cared about their customers, not just their bottom line.
The basic theme of the book is that companies, big and
small, need to learn to harness the power of word of mouth and that investing
in social media will help build valuable one-on-one relationships. Vaynerchuk
spends a whole chapter, #3 Why Smart People Dismiss Social Media, and Why They
Shouldn’t, in the book dispelling various myths businesses give for not using
social media. If you need help convincing management that using social media is
in the best interest of the company, then this chapter is for you.
As a customer, employee, or business owner in the Thank You
Economy, it’s a win for everyone. Vaynerchuk understands how customers and
employees want and need to be treated. He’s not just blowing hot air either
because he’s a business owner as well and practices what he preaches. In the
Thank You Economy, only the businesses with strong customer relationships and
employees that are empowered to make customers feel like they matter will come
out on top. In the words of Vaynerchuk, it’s innovate or die; businesses are
going to have to get creative and personal in order to meet customers’
expectations. My favorite line in the book is, “work is always about giving –
efficiency, entertainment, relief, free time, peace of mind, opportunity,
comfort – to other people.”
Part III in the book, which encompasses five chapters, gives
real-life, relevant, and relatable examples of how companies like a hotel,
burger joint, and dentist are living the Thank You Economy, utilizing social
media, and harnessing the power of word of mouth. He lays out in detail what
the company did right and in some cases, how the company fell short and could
have taken a particular marketing campaign one step further.
As I look back on my notes, there are a several bullet points
that I highlighted and wanted to share them with you. Here they are in no
particular order: buy a pair of shoes from Zappos and then return them just to
experience their customer service; learn to play Ping-Pong between traditional
marketing and social media to extend life of a marketing campaign; content is
still king, but it needs to be followed up with genuine customer engagement;
social media is like a marathon and meant to build long-term relationships;
learn to shock and awe customers; and finally, to watch a “Will it Blend?”
video on YouTube…which I did and it was highly entertaining!
Amazon reviews give The
Thank You Economy 4.5 out of 5 stars and I completely agree! It’s one of
the best books I have read this year and I look forward to more from Gary
Vaynerchuk. Have you read the book? How many stars would you give it and why?
Share your thoughts with us – we’d love to hear from you.
