The difference between loyal customers and customer evangelists
What’s the difference between loyal (repeat) customers and customer evangelists?
If you are running a business, you love loyal (repeat) customers. You love loyal (repeat) customers because they buy from you on a regular base. But here’s the thing. Often loyal customers get mistaken for evangelists.
A loyal customer might buy from you because it is convenient, or his loyalty can be driven solely by prize. He doesn’t necessarily promote your business to other people. An evangelist does. An evangelist sticks with you, they recommend you to their friends and family, they forgive you if the quality is lacking at times, they can’t be bought and they feel part of your brand/business.
The big question off course is, how do you create customer evangelists? And more importantly, can they be created?
People have come up with lots of different strategies. Lets take a closer look at some.
More information about these strategies can be found at Creatingcustomerevangelists.com/cce/, or you can buy this excellent book at Amazon called Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force by Ben McConnell & Jackie Huba.
Customer plus-delta
This means professional, friendly, remarkable customer contact that results in a joy-joy experience for the customer. Treat the customer like you would like to be treated.
Napsterized knowledge
Make it a point to share knowledge freely. Transparancy. Don’t be afraid of your customers. They are not out there to hurt or steal anything from you.
Create a community
What’s better than bringer all of your customers together and have them talk about how great your product/service is?
But, here’s the kicker for most companies/businesses. They forget about their own employees.
If you want to create customer evangelists, why not create employee evangelists first? Take a look at the follow picture.
(photo from beyondrobson)
So you are out there working day and night for your business. Your health, your family, it’s all worth it (relativize ofcourse). But in the mean time, you’ve got employees who don’t necessarily agree with you, or who just don’t see your mission statement like you do. Maybe they just don’t care? Maybe they just want to work 9 to 5 and get it over with?
How do you prevent this from happening to your business?
Newsflash, you can’t. But you can try…
The first thing you have to do is search for believers.
Focus on those who get your business, who feel your statement. Get rid of the non-believers, the shrewd, the covert, the jarring and the underhand. These are the ones that hurt your business from the inside out.
When you’ve established your believers, it’s time for step two.
Make it easy to work. This can be from something small to changing the way your business/organization works. Do they have to fill in 3 blanks of papers in order to get a new pencil? Stuff like this. Do they have to give up weekends for things? Don’t ask them to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.
Step three. Let your employees grow.
The more you show them the way your company is heading, allow them to expand their knowledge and mentor them, the more they will pass on the evangelism to your customers.
Be a people’s manager/boss
People are driven by emotions. And emotions can’t be turned off. So it’s only a matter of time before you get confronted with employees and their (personal) problems. As a people’s person, you should genuinely help your employees. That doesn’t mean you have to pay off their debts :) but a little love does wonders. What’s that slogan from the Coca-Cola ad again?
“You give a little love and all comes back to you”
That’s a little something about evangelists.
A small concept, strived for by many, acquired by few.