Discover The Raving Fan Progression
Posted by naxumadmin / September 4, 2015
So many things in life remind me of the game of baseball. In our fast paced world, many people think that in order to be successful they must consistently hit home runs. The truth is, to be successful you must get on base. It’s not the team that hits the most out-of-the-park grand slams that wins, but instead it is the team that constantly gets on base and moves the men around the bases who scores the most runs and in the end wins the game.
“The Raving Fan Progression” is a thought I have been sharing with clients that I find is helpful in our referral marketing business when envisioning the experience of a member in our company.
We don’t win the war because every person that sees our opportunities immediately joins and recruits 30 people in the next 30 minutes. We win the war of our business when we consistently engage new customers. Because of their experience with our products and services, they are then prompted to want to share them with others, and then over time decide for themselves how much time and energy they would like to invest in growing our company.
Understanding that this is the real long-term growth plan of the most successful companies, there are a couple of questions to answer and processes to put in place for your business to grow through the “raving fan progression”.
#1 A product or service worth sharing
It goes without saying, but in light of litigation, it is important to say that you have to have a valuable product or service worth sharing. There are no companies that experience long-term success in the referral marketing industry that have poor products or shoddy services.
#2 Make it easy for people to experience your product or service
How simple is it for someone to become a retail customer and experience your product or service? Do you have a sample pack of product I can purchase for $20? How long does it take to get shipped to my house? Do you have a free trial on your service? Is there a money-back guarantee?
#3 When people experience your product, do you have rewards in place to share?
I’m not talking about cash or financial rewards for sharing a product or service. Do you have a non-cash reward (gift card towards future purchase, free product, discounted future service, swag) that is of real value we can give customers to incentivize them to share with others? This will allow our biggest fans from our pool of customers to “raise their hand” as someone who is passionate about what we do and open to promoting us.
#4 When they promote you for a non-cash reward, invite them to play the bigger game
Someone sharing your product to earn a non-cash reward is a great filter to qualify them as a candidate to play in the bigger game of earning real money sharing your products and services with others. By having a non-cash reward in place for customers, you can meet with the ones who are interested and share your marketing system for being an affiliate of your company and earning real cash rewards. After all, once a customer has referred a customer to earn a non-cash reward, isn’t the next natural step for them to want to earn a bigger better reward for more referrals?
Crafting a process around the progression with rewards and incentives at each level can create a culture where viral activity amongst a company’s “fan base” is maximized.
What is the progression in your company? Is it getting you the results you desire?
