Appreciation to the Youth Delegation (Photo credit: Transguyjay)

You Lost Me. Why young Christians are leaving Church …and rethinking faith. David Kinnaman. 2011. ISBN 9781441213082.   To those of us who subscribe to any kind of a faith journey, we may have had doubts about it through our life. I know my science background really threw me for a long journey “away”.

Evidently in the US the abandonment of the Church by youth is at an all time high.   This author asked the question why and carried out extensive surveys/interviews with “youth’ from 16 through to 30. This is a very thorough study that is very well written and teases out some universal truths..  He identified stages and groups that disenchanted Christian youth move in and out of,  using labels of nomads, prodigals and exiles.  He has some useful thoughts and suggestions for leaders to help them better understand what drives youth away from faith (often it is the institution of the Church vs a loss of faith).  The insights and questions that are brought up are interesting and provocative.  I really liked the “50 suggestions” section at the end from participants and forward thinking (but very reflective) Christian writers.  My take away is that “because we have always done it this way” will no longer cut it.

• UnChristian – Book Review (worthyofthegospel.wordpress.com)
• You Lost Me – Review (worthyofthegospel.wordpress.com)
• Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church (asyougodiscipleship.wordpress.com)
• The Millennial Church: The Future of Christianity (Pt.2) (mikefriesen05.wordpress.com)
• Week in Review (worthyofthegospel.wordpress.com)
• Why young evangelicals are leaving church (cnn.com)
• Is Youth Work Working: Thoughts on Krish Kandiah’s article (smoorns.wordpress.com)
• Study: Younger Christians Care Less About Church By Setrige Crawford (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• Is youth ministry subtly sabotaging college ministry? (wayfarerblog.wordpress.com)
• Sick From Religion (benjaminbradfordwhite.wordpress.com)

Image via Wikipedia

How to Use Google + Business Pages.  A concise guide and action plan for using Google + in your business.  Jay Sleighter. 2011.  A short concise why and how to set up Google + business pages.  The strongest part of this  free Kindle ebook is the checklist at the end. It is comprehensive and works.   An easy and very short (20 min) read that delivers what it says.

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Building a Winning Sales Force: Powerful Strategies for Driving High Performance. Andris A. Zoltners Ph.D, Prabhakant Sinha Ph.D., Sally E. Lorimer.2009.  ISBN 978-0814410400. I confess I missed this book and the others put out by ZS Associates. The website is a good resource, but they do not blog so their online profile is low to invisible.  Too bad because the work they do is of the highest caliber and thoroughness when it comes to comprehensive sales management books.  This one even contains a very useful chapter on sales and marketing alignment. A new VP of Sales and Marketing could do much worse than to devour this book. They have a useful model of upstream and downstream work, this whitepaper on the website gives a pretty succinct view.  This is good work they do.  What was missing for me was the guide of where to start and what to do in what sequence.  For that bit I recommend this SalesBenchmark whitepaper . Enjoy

Sale (Photo credit: Gerard Stolk (vers le Mardi gras))

High-Profit Selling. Win the sale without compromising on price. Mark Hunter. 2012. ISBN 9780814420096. This a core book for your sales library on selling value and not discounting on price.  But that’s not all this book is, it is chock full of great sales strategies and the tactics to pull them off.  In a slump , and had a really bad sales call?  Bounce back by calling your best customer and rebuild your confidence.  Torn with what to do with RFPs, here are four approaches that you may want to consider before you do not respond. ie how to win even if you chose to lose the bid. What you want to work through the Christmas to New Years break.   How to get a sale from a buyer on a Friday afternoon.  A very valuable, clearly organized and well written book. A must buy for sales and sales managers.  His blog is a great resource.

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• Bottom-Line Selling. The sale’s professional’s guide to improving customer profits. Jack Malcolm. (regnordman.com)
• Hunter and farmers – it’s time to change sales strategy – A STC Classic (customerthink.com)
• What Great Salespeople Do. The science of selling through emotional connection and the power of story. Michael Bosworth & Ben Zoldan (regnordman.com)
• Sell Now! Adaptive Strategies for Today’s Marketplace.Stacia Skinner. (regnordman.com)
• Pricing and Profitability Management. A practical guide for business leaders. Meehan, Simonetto, Montan & Goodin. (regnordman.com)
• Selling to Sales People With War Stories (frontofficebox.com)