Scottsdale, AZ July 8, 2008 – A culture and strategy founded on the belief that revenue and sales are always the most important goals rarely produces hit products, say the authors of Tuned In the hot new book about uncovering the extraordinary opportunities that lead to business breakthroughs. A sales and revenue culture often emerges soon after an initial round of fund-raising or some other infusion of capital and is a critical time in a company’s growth.

According to the authors, when companies enter a perceived growth phase (dictated by the strength of a market opportunity or some early wins), it is common for outsiders (such as investors, the board of directors, or your spouse) to insist on a strong sales focus. In larger organizations, a highly charged sales executive is often hired; some companies even make the new sales person the president and/or COO.

Because the revenue-driven company will often resort to signing any contract to make the numbers, lowering the price to bring in the business, or telling any story to close the sale, it’s not long before the organization becomes tuned out to the real market problems of buyers,” says Phil Myers, President of Pragmatic Marketing and co-author of Tuned In. “Then the salespeople start making promises that the company can’t afford to keep. Non-revenue-generating departments (such as marketing, customer service, and product development) often suffer from reduced influence and resources, and can even face elimination. In response, the company ends up acquiring more and more resources to support the dynamic requests of sales, often resulting in a death spiral that requires the sale of the company, a merger, or even bankruptcy.”

The authors of Tuned In offer a model for success used by many companies to create breakthrough products and services. Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott is published by Wiley on June 27, 2008 and available wherever business books are sold. ISBN: 978-0470260364

Anyone can use Tuned In to replicate the model for success. It works for well-known companies like Ford, Apple, and GE and those not-so-famous like GoPro and Zipcar. It works for realtors, doctors, ministers and even rock stars. Tuned In will teach you how to transform your everyday activities into those which create the kind of culture that builds market leaders.

Authors Craig Stull and Phil Myers lead the team at Pragmatic Marketing, the company behind Tuned In. David Meerman Scott is an online thought-leadership strategist who teaches the New Rules of Marketing seminar for Pragmatic Marketing.