Review of "Digital Sense: The Common Sense Approach to Effectively Blending Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technology and Customer Experience," by Travis Wright and Chris J. Snook

Review of

Digital Sense: The Common Sense Approach to Effectively Blending Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technology and Customer Experience, by Travis Wright and Chris J. Snook ISBN 9781119291701

Five out of five stars

 No one can dispute the quality of the content of this book, the changes in human society based on the power of digital computers, the amount of data they can operate on, the quality of the algorithms and the speed with which they can process the data is reaching an inflection point. Once that situation exists, there will be a dramatic loss of jobs, probably faster than new jobs to replace them can be created. For example, there are slightly less than two million drivers of long haul trucks, there is no question that most of them will be put out of a job by self-driving trucks. The financial and safety advantages of self-driving trucks are just too great. Furthermore, those jobs will disintegrate very quickly, most likely over only a few months and within the next two years.

 The phrase “digital sense” refers to the knowledge of changes of this form as well as how the new online forums and other access points allow the modern business to communicate effectively with customers as well as engage in effective internal messaging. Much of the focus is on creating quality customer experiences, to some that is coddling, but to the people that have to satisfy a bottom line it is just good business.

 The book opens with Travis Wright sending an angry tweet about the ownership of the Kansas City Chiefs football team being cheap regarding paying the salaries needed to attract quality player. A member of the social media team of the Chiefs responded almost immediately with a very negative message. It turned out that at the time, Travis’ Twitter account had more followers than the Chiefs’. Needless to say, it did not turn out well for the Chiefs organization.

 While extreme, this example does demonstrate the fundamental lack of knowledge of the power of digital messaging, especially when you do it wrong. Although it does not flow as well as it could, Wright and Snook give the reader a great deal of solid advice mixed with actual situations that they faced and dealt with. Given that a digital sense is now essential for success in almost all businesses, the lack of this information could be a killer of your hopes for business success. Business is now human to human or #H2H, only the contacts are electronic and multifaceted rather than face to face or by phone or snail mail.

 Success in business is never guaranteed, but failure is fairly easy to achieve. Reading this book will help maximize your chances of success, if you don’t take it seriously others will and leave tread marks on your scalp.