Book Review: Creating Customer Evangelists

Seems like I have a new book review every week. But they’re all so good and I want to share them with the world! Reading is like breathing, eating, and sleeping to me. (Along with loving, running, singing, and writing…)

Anyway, I just finished a fantastic book called “Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force.” This is a slightly “older” book (originally published in 2003), but it is oh so relevant. The authors, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba weave relevant research and techniques with inspiring stories to create a piece of literature that is not only useful and practical, but also motivating and challenging.

The book outlines “the six basic tenets of creating customer evangelists:”

• Customer Plus-Delta: Find out from your customers what works and what doesn’t work on a continuous basis.
• Napterize Knowledge: Companies who share knowledge freely do well in the customer evangelist arena.
• Build the Buzz: Word-of-mouth is the best advertisement. Good companies know how to create a buzz.
• Create Community: People who love your product or service want to talk to others about their experiences.
• Make Bite-Size Chunks: Find a way to give prospects/customers a taste of your product (so they can get hooked!).
• Create a Cause: What is good business? Making the world a better place and making money doing it.

I am particularly interested in bullets 1, 4, and 6. Let me take a moment to share my thoughts on these topics…

Continuous Feedback

We all know that getting continuous feedback from prospects and customers is a good thing. However, few of us make this a top priority. How many customer sites have you visited this year? How often do you take a customer to lunch just to listen to their business challenges to understand where you might be able to offer better  solutions? Do you have a way for customers to provide feedback through your product or website?

I have a personal goal this year to reach out to as many customers as I possibly can. I am especially interested in talking to customers who use our products as a key component of their daily work life. However, talking to infrequent users is helpful as well, as they have completely different needs (like remembering how do perform their tasks).

Challenge: Set aside one or more hours each week to call/visit with customers. Prepare a list of questions to ask the customer. (”Creating Customer Evangelists” has a great list of questions in the Customer Evangelism Workshop section.) Block off your calendar and have a calling list with several contacts handy (since not everybody will be available). Enjoy good conversation, idea sharing, and increased insight into your customers’ needs.

Create Community

This is an area that has become a lot easier with the advent of the Internet, email, and social media. For software, having a forum for customers to share insights, ask questions, and discuss industry topics is a clear choice. This may require moderation, but the insight you gain from it is invaluable. This is also a great way for your company to interact with users, whether it is customer support, product management, or development.

Challenge: Think about how you can build community for your customers. Create an action plan and make it happen!

Create a Cause

The authors emphasize that this doesn’t have to be that you donate 10% of your profits to a charity (although, that would be cool…). It can be a dream, like Southwest’s dream of freedom. Or creating more fun in the world, like the Dallas Mavericks. People like to feel like they are working for a cause and buying for a cause. I know I’m willing to pay a little extra to help protect the world or if some percentage of the proceeds go to a worthy cause. Finding the right cause for you customer base is key.

Challenge: Determine if your company has a cause. If not, what is a cause that your company and your customers would value and be able to rally around and build community around? This is a big task, but an increasingly important one for creating and retaining customer evangelists.

The book also includes seven awesome case stories which highlight seven exceptional companies that have done a great job creating customer evangelists. Each company is rated against the six basic tenants above. Fun, educational, and inspiring.

Bottom line: If you haven’t already read this book, you must.