Review of Guy Kawasaki’s New Book, Enchantment

A couple of months ago (June 2013) I received an email from Guy Kawasaki asking if I had an interest in getting a free copy of his book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions. He sent out the request to registered users of his Alltop.com website, an awesome website by the way. The book caters to business owners, which sounded interesting to me so I filled out the necessary information to have a copy shipped to my house.

A couple of months had already gone by and I never heard anything about it, so I thought I wasn’t chosen but then I saw an unexpected package in the mail. It was the book!

I immediately cracked it open to read the introduction. It pulled me in. I was already in the middle of another book at the time so I spent the next three hours finishing it up so that I could start on Enchantment. That’s how excited I was to read it. 😀

The basic premise of this book is to teach you how to ‘enchant’ your customers, employees and business partners.

Guy Kawasaki gets a lot of his inspiration from Apple, which is a company he worked for when they first started. He saw how they enchanted their customers and applied it to his own business endeavors.

I read Enchantment every night before bed and finished it in about a week. I learned a lot.

Guy mentions a lot of behavioral studies throughout the book, mostly about being persuasive. A lot of those studies come from “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive” by Robert B. Cialdini, another great book that I recommend reading.

One study, for example is that by providing social proof that people are embracing your cause or like the products you’re selling, you are likely to convince them of embracing it as well.

Another study shows that you should always speak positive. For example, instead of saying “25 million people every year die from smoking,” say something like “more than 2 billion people every year choose not to smoke.” Saying that message in a negative way could be telling your listeners, “25 million people smoke, so why shouldn’t you.”

Enchantment isn’t about using persuasive techniques to trick people into accepting you and your business. It’s about being genuinely likable.

Here are some other great examples from the book that I really liked. (these are notes I took down while reading. Not direct quotes)

– An authentic smile is one that’s so big that you have crows feet on your eyes. People can tell when you don’t mean it. Think of something that makes you happy. And if you don’t smile, you might come off as grumpy and people don’t like to do business with grumpy people.

– When meeting someone, dress as equals. Overdressing can show the other person that you think you’re richer or better than they are. On the other hand, underdressing shows that you don’t care. That you don’t respect them.

– A lot of people prefer contact through email and phone, but to build a strong relationship, physical contact is important. It lets you interact with others more and can turn an acquaintance into a friend. Digital interaction is good for maintaining a relationship once it’s already in place.

– If you want to be enchanting, it’s important that you are truly passionate about your business. (This one made me immediately think of affiliate marketing and how a lot of people go after big money niches they have no interest in.)

– If your employees aren’t enchanted, they won’t enchant your customers.

There was a whole chapter dedicated to enchanting your employees, which he followed up with a chapter on how to enchant your boss. Guy suggests that if your boss wants you to do something, you should drop whatever it is you’re doing and do it, no matter how unimportant you think it is. He also mentioned how this is a great strategy for husbands.

“If your wife asks you to do something, drop everything and do it. You may not think it’s important, but you aren’t juggling four kids, a career, and several charitable causes. You may think you see the “big picture,” but you don’t see her big picture.”

That’s some awesome advice.

At the end of each chapter, Guy also included inspiring stories from real people that relate to what that chapter was about. It was a great way to wrap up each section.

One of the reasons I really liked Enchantment is because everything Guy talks about are things that I feel are important in my own life. He talks about the importance of fulfilling promises, acting with honesty and focusing on actions that make the world a better place.

All of this got me thinking about the companies that have enchanted me.

  • WordPress
  • Apple (yes, I’m a Mac user too!)
  • Sony
  • BSN Supplements
  • Trek Bikes
  • SEOMoz

These are all great companies for a reason. I’m going to think about why they enchant me and use it for my own sites and with my clients.

As I read this book, I kept coming across things that I wanted to include in my own life. I’m actually going to read it again, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Enchantment was just released today, so I definitely recommend buying it.

P.S. – Writing a review was not required to receive a free copy of the book, but I liked it so much that I really wanted to share my thoughts. 😉

4 thoughts on “Review of Guy Kawasaki’s New Book, Enchantment”

  1. A lot of his advice seems to be like common sense, but once I thought about it, a lot of companies that I interact with don’t do these things and there’s no wonder why I stopped using that company’s services.
    I definitely liked the comment on dressing on the same level as your client. Instinct would tell you to dress very professional- perhaps a button up with a tie or a dress suit with demanding stilettos- to make sure your client believe that you know what you’re doing, you’re professional, etc… I think dressing on like terms is great advice.

    1. Yeah, it does feel like common sense, but it’s definitely stuff that a lot of businesses forget about. The book is filled with lots more actionable advice, you should read it 😀

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