Raving Fan Value

Hey, everybody. Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach, coming to you live with this week's video version of Freedom Friday Focus. And this week, I want to talk about raving fan value. Talk about how do we kick it up a notch to where customers are willing to wait outside in inclement weather just to do business with us. See, I'm in Denver for a while on business. I got to fly and go do a few different things, but I'm here and there. There's a great play that I hear about called the Book of Mormon that was created by the creators of south park and it's been started on Broadway. It's gone all over the place. We almost went and saw it when we were in London last summer, but other things came up. So it's making a return trip back to Denver. And they had, as soon as tickets went on sale, boom, they sold out in a matter of minutes. So tickets are hard to get. I've been trying to find them, looking on Craigslist, looking at ticket brokers this and that, and then we found out they do a ticket lottery every night, two hours before the show. So Tuesday night, Christy and I go down, get our jackets on, we go down there and they have a limited number release of tickets that they put out every night. And basically, you put your name in, you can only get two tickets, tops. And these people show up and then they have the thing, they turn the deal in the lottery and this thing spins around. They pick out and call a name, right? Well, long story short, we didn't win. But all these people show up, hundreds of people standing outside waiting for a chance to buy a ticket. Now, I don't personally play the lottery. I can afford a ticket to go to the show. That's not what this is about. This is about the fact that they've created such buzz, such a level of raving fans of people that want to see this show, that they're willing to go outside and wait and burn up some of their own personal time just at a shot, just at a hope, just out of possibility of doing business with their company. Holy smokes. What can we learn from this, ladies and gentlemen? Ken Blanchard wrote a great book called Raving Fans with Sheldon Bowles several years back. And you know, along any of you that have read anything that Ken's put out over the years, I got to see him speak back in 2001. Great speaker, one of the greatest management gurus of our time. And, and he's very, very good at being very clear, simple, concise, to the point but it's powerful. And so I just want to share with you three keys as we think about creating raving fan value in our own businesses. Based on what Ken talked about in his book. And the first thing he said is decide what you want. And I talk to contractors every single day that seem to. I don't. I want a bigger company. I want to grow. I want to make more money than decide what it is you want. Are you in the service business? Are you in the construction business? If you're blended, how are you split? Are you doing plumbing, heating and air? Are you electrical only? Is it the right time to be adding a line extension? All too many contractors add too many lines before they get to a decent size, Right? So get really good at what you're doing before you add on these types of things. But what do you want as a leader from your business for your life? Your business should be serving your life as a leader, as a manager, as an owner, whatever level you're at. So first and foremost, decide what it is you want. Get some clarity there. The first dimension and the six dimensions of change. Get clarity about what it is you want. Then number two, Ken says you've got to discover what it is the customer wants. What do they want? Well, obviously the creators of south park know that customers want to laugh. And customers might even have a little bit of a sick sense of humor that want to follow them and want to want to invest in the products that they put out and the programs that they put out. Right? So what does your customer want? What is it specifically? Is it all about price? Is it all about time? Is it all about quality? What's the blend? See, too often we're afraid to ask our customers because why? They might tell us the truth. They might tell us something we don't want to hear. Right? So we need to be mindful of this because, you know, we all have customers that are willing to wait. If we can't get there today, they'll wait until tomorrow, they'll wait, wait until the day after, whatever the case is. Oh, I want a specific technician. He's sold a three day job. He's not going to be available until Tuesday. I'll wait till Tuesday. Those are raving fans, and we need to create more of them in our businesses because you can go out and deliver things, but what are you delivering as far as a raving fan goes? Because Ken Blanchard says one of the third things that we've got to really focus on, deliver the vision, deliver the value plus 1%. Now that's the big differentiator that's the difference between such a sea of mediocrity and the companies that really crush it month after month after month. Just a little bit more. That's raving fan service. Because if you deliver what you say you're going to deliver, then that's great customer service. And it's enough to get a customer to come back. You'll create repeat customers, you'll create referrals. That way you. But you won't create raving fans. You won't create customers that are willing to go out there and go, wow, I'll stand out here all this time just for a shot to do business with this company. Think about how you can apply these three keys to your business and create more raving fans. Because then the customer wins. They're excited, they're on fire. You win, you can attract more team members because it's such a great environment, great culture. And oh, by the way, don't forget, you'll have more money in the bank, too. I'm Kenny Chapman, the blue collar coach, coming to you with the video version of Freedom Friday Focus. Until we talk again, have a better than fantastic week and I'll see you next time.