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What are your customers thinking? Wouldn’t it be great to identify what they want in a product or service? Business owners understand the value of market research for uncovering customer needs and desires, yet the cost is often prohibitive for companies on a small budget, where research is considered too expensive and time-consuming.

According to author Lloyd Corder, a seasoned marketing research strategist, you can conduct research in little time at very low cost using a “snapshot survey.” A snapshot survey is ten to fifteen customer-designed questions that include two or three open-ended questions. His book gives tools and ideas for anyone from senior management to human resources to design and administer a quick survey. Chapters explain how to test customer awareness and marketing programs, and how to identify prospects. Different survey types, customer satisfaction, brand assessment, message evaluation, and employee surveys are also covered. The information gathered using a snapshot survey can test marketing strategies, create publicity, size up the competition, and evaluate your attributes, select the right marketing mix, or simply validate a hunch.

Brief, straightforward, and simple to follow, the advice is well suited to many small-business owners. The survey tools, however, are not necessarily appropriate for larger firms with more complex research needs. [HBS Working Knowledge Annoation]

Guy Kawasaki has compiled his best wit, wisdom, and contrarian opinions in handy book form. From competition to customer service, innovation to marketing, he shows readers how to ignore fads and foolishness while sticking to commonsense practices. He explains, for instance:

- How to get a standing ovation
- The art of schmoozing
- How to create a community
- The top ten lies of entrepreneurs
- Everything you wanted to know about getting a job in Silicon Valley but didn’t know who to ask

Provocative, useful, and very funny, this “no bull shiitake” book will show you why readers around the world love Guy Kawasaki.

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Although a long book, the chapters are short and bullet-pointed for easy digestion. He also has prominent guests in the book such as the author of The Elegant Solution, Matt May, Made to Stick authors Dan and Chip Heath, Influence author Robert Cialdini and author of The Strategy Paradox Michael Raynor, among many others. Many are Q&As, such as Chapter 13: The Inside Scoop on Venture Capital Law, in which Guy asks Fred Gregarus of the Silicon Valley law firm Fenwick and West "the most common questions entrepreneurs ask their attorneys--or that they don't ask their attorneys and later regret not asking."

Considering the $500 dollar an hour cost of most corporate lawyers, Guy suggests that the chapter with Gregarus alone is worth the cost of the book. I would argue that many chapters in this book are worth that cost, and there are 94 chapters, all clear and concise and addressing a new issue. [800-CEO-Read Annotation]