The Worldly Philosophers or Hug Your Customers

The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers

Author: Robert L Heilbroner

The Worldly Philosophers is a bestselling classic that not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas -- namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines.

In a bold new concluding chapter entitled "The End of the Worldly Philosophy?" Heilbroner reminds us that the word "end" refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

Table of Contents:

I	Introduction	13
II	The Economic Revolution	18
III	The Wonderful World of Adam Smith	42
IV	The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo	75
V	The Dreams of the Utopian Socialists	105
VI	The Inexorable System of Karl Marx	136
VII	The Victorian World and the Underworld of Economics	170
VIII	The Savage Society of Thorstein Veblen	213
IX	The Heresies of John Maynard Keynes	248
X	The Contradictions of Joseph Schumpeter	288
XI	The End of the Worldly Philosophy?	311
	A Guide to Further Reading	323
	Notes	331
	Index	345

Book review: Mangoes or From Seed To Salad

Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results

Author: Jack Mitchell

A master of customer service reveals his proven secrets to developing long-lasting relationships and customer loyalty -- by making business personal.

Once a customer, always a friend -- that is the simple philosophy behind Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the nation -- and that is why Jack Mitchell, his family, and associates inspire the enduring loyalty and admiration of his customers, including today's top CEOs. Jack's two stores, Richards in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Mitchells in Westport, Connecticut, suit up discerning customers from across the country.

Now for the first time, Jack Mitchell shares the secrets of his family's innovative merchandising and management approach in his book Hug Your Customers.

It's a deceptively simple but winning approach to customer service -- that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack Mitchells' business philosophy is based on "hugs"-- personal touches such as knowing every customer's name and clothing preferences or handing out free coffee and newspapers on the commuter train platform.

Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings winning results.

Esquire

Simple but winning approach to customer service.

Matt Lauer

It's all about service! What pleasure buying clothing from people who make you feel like family.

David Komansky

They have been a beacon — and a leader — in developing sincere and deep relationships with clients.

Publishers Weekly

If you work at a Fortune 500 company and live in southern Connecticut or New York's Westchester County (two of Manhattan's most affluent suburbs), chances are you buy your suits at Mitchells (in Westport, Conn.) or Richards (in Greenwich, Conn.). These two independent clothing stores are some of the most successful in the business and outfit CEOs from Chase, GE, IBM, Merrill Lynch and Pepsi. Mitchell, whose father started the business, shares the secret of his success in this unoriginal but cheerful guide to keeping customers happy. Hugging your customers, he says, has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service. For Mitchell, that means literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color. It means going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events. It means serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays. Some might view this as fawning, but for Mitchell, it's the best way to keep customers coming back. His advice-know your customer, think outside the box, have a "no problem" attitude-is hardly groundbreaking. But those who work with customers daily have much to gain from this chipper, inspiring handbook. Agent, Jacques de Spoelberch. (June) Forecast: Blurbs from media and business high rollers, including Today cohost Matt Lauer, former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt and Merrill Lynch CEO David Komansky, will increase awareness, as will ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The CEO of Mitchells/Richards, two of the country's most successful independent clothing stores, here outlines his innovative and successful approach to merchandising and management: hugging, a mind-set that personalizes and saturates every aspect of one's business. Mitchell divides his text into eight sections of four to 11 chapters and concludes each section with a "Hugging Study Guide" that summarizes the highlights one should remember and put into practice. Among these are how to attract and keep great staff, lower marketing costs, maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues, and adapt Mitchell's ideas to any business. Readers will enjoy Mitchell's numerous anecdotes, and the personable, down-to-earth style allows readers to absorb new ideas easily.-Susan C. Awe, Univ. of New Mexico Lib., Albuquerque Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Hug Your Customers
The CEO of Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the business, professes his faith in showering customers with attention while offering numerous tips and techniques for satisfying customers. His secrets for long-term business success include advice about attracting great staff, lowering marketing costs, and maintaining higher gross margins and revenues. Mitchell uses colorful anecdotes from his own experiences to highlight lessons about running a successful family business. Copyright © 2003 Soundview Executive Book Summaries