The New Law of Demand and Supply: The Revolutionary New Demand Strategy for Faster Growth and Higher Profits

The central argument Mr Kash makes is dead on: After decades of building businesses based on what a company can make, companies have to build their businesses on what consumers demand. A simple principle but, as the author makes clear, one that is hard to execute as it is so contrary to how most business people have been trained to plan. I've worked on a project once with the Cambridge Group, Mr Kash's firm, and this book summarizes the philosophy that has made this firm one of the best marketing strategy firms in the country: Get past the old thinking of selling what you think the consumer will buy. You have to do the hard work of analyzing the consumer market from understanding their true needs and then building your business to deliver on those needs.A must read for every marketer who wants to lead their businesses overall strategy.

As a strategy executive at a Fortune 50 company, I am constantly reading the business press for practical, new ways to take good business concepts to the bottom line. Rick Kash has them.In "The New Law of Demand and Supply," Kash presents a proven approach for making businesses larger and more profitable by putting demand ahead of supply. In practice, this means that companies must expend more effort understanding demand in the marketplace before they start developing new products, streamlining supply chains, or incenting sales reps. Unless these activities are targeted at the right sets of customers, they may actually end-up destroying rather than creating value.As some reviewers have noted (disparagingly), the approach is based on basic business truisms. But rather than highlighting a weakness, this observation is a comfortable reminder that the recommendations reflect the day-to-day business world and are not merely interesting academic ideas. In the business world, success comes less from blazing insight than from effective execution. "The New Law of Demand and Supply" presents a clear step-by-step methodology for companies to grow their businesses around their most profitable and valuable customers.Most companies have large, entrenched organizations that effectively work against focusing on their most profitable customers. Sales, manufacturing, and engineering/product development organizations simply want more volume to keep commissions, plant utilizations, and employee curiosity high. It takes strong leadership to stand-up and say," We do not know more about our customers than our competitors do," or "Our products are not highly valued by our customers." But "The New Law of Demand and Supply" persuasively makes the case that the alternative is an inevitable decline in market position and financial viability.Many once dominant U.S. industries and companies have been humbled by their lack of true understanding of demand or of institutional will to act on it. Rick Kash is telling others how to avoid their fate.

Rick Kash presents an essential thesis for developing a profitable business in today's volatile marketplace. He clearly explains why developing profitable customers is the only realistic future for any business. The book is easy to read. The first three chapters explain the Law of Demand and the remaining chapters provide the backup and proof. I have been a marketing consultant for over 25 years and this is one of the most practical and significant books I have read.

Rick Kash has captured vital insights into the question "What has happen to our businesses?" Kash demonstrates how listening carefully to the customer and doing careful demand-side research can save companies that have in the past just built capacity, priced aggressively and used their balance sheets as staying power. His message is that management will need to focus on fewer products and fewer features; focus only on those products and features that are strongly confirmed by buyers as being "value." We have excessively complex financial services and financial products today that will cause significant losses for their providers if they don't pay careful attention to this demand strategy concept. Businesses cannot afford to be even slightly off the mark today,and Kash shows them the solution. Expert listening is perhaps the best business tool ever!

I found this book to be well-written and through-provoking. It gave me a new way of structuring business thinking, and was invaluable to my career development....