Do you still have customers, or do you have fans?
Fri, April 8, 2011 at 9:20 
What is better for your organization: To have 100 customers, or 100 fans?
Do you think customers are better? I guess 90% of you do. The bad news: You are stuck in industrial-age thinking. Times have changed and the question is whether you are ahead of these changes, or you go under.
Why is that? Customers are your past, fans are your future.
Fans love what you do: your product, your brand, your excellent customer focus, or whatever you decide it should be. And here comes the trick: Fans are multipliers. They tell others that they like you, and so others will turn into fans.
Is this new? No, but it has never been easier and faster than today. The speed and impact of fans will increase dramatically over the years to come. So, what to do about it? Here are some tips:
- Creating fans is not about having a nice Facebook page. It is about being excellent in one or more things that you do. No other chance, YOU HAVE TO BE EXCELLENT!
- You must offer an emotional value. You think emotional value does not apply to your heavy machine industry or the financial services that you offer? Yes, it does! Buyers are ALWAYS people and people ALWAYS buy based on emotions.
- You need to tie your products or services to emotions to turn your fans into a steady customer base.
Let me suggest this:
Make a list of at least twenty reasons why people should be excited about your offering. Run a brainstorming session in your next leadership team meeting.
Hint: If you don’t get buy-in from your leadership colleagues. then they might not be fans themselves. This can be an eye-opening outcome!
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© Copyright by New Pace Consulting SA, 2011. All rights reserved.
Reader Comments (1)
Your fans are the heart of your tribe (as Seth Godin would say). A nice post, Volkmar.
John