Book Review – Raving Fans
I first read Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service by Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles over 15 years ago. I was transitioning roles from a consultant to a manager and was looking for books on management. I stumbled on The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and liked his simple approach and started reading his other books. Since then, I have reread Raving Fans many times and have gifted it many more times. Often when I have suggested the book, the readers just don’t get it! Most come back and say, that really wasn’t a sales book or how could a grocery store map to my tech sales world? The book is ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMER!!! How couldn’t that relate to any sales? Reality is that too many sales people forget about the customer and their overall experience!
This book is NOT a guide or how to for customer service, but rather a parable that shares a mindset about customer service. When I gift the book or suggest it, the one take away that I want readers to get it that our business, your business, everyone’s business has only one goal: create Raving Fans!
Again, I often hear from readers that they don’t work in a grocery store or don’t work in a department store. I respond with something like ‘do you have customers’? Caution your inner critic when you read this GREAT parable about customer service and hear the message that you need to know your business model, listen to customers and deliver 101%!
The three secrets revealed in the book are:
- Decide what you want
- Discover what the customer wants
- Deliver that vision plus one percent
In the story, Charlie, helps a business leader see the path to creating Raving Fans. No, it isn’t rocket science, but I do see my peers and those around me almost daily take steps to just make a customer happy. Happy customers are not enough anymore. As hard as we all work to get a customer, we seem to work a lot less to create Raving Fans. Often we take them for granted! Learn how to create Raving Fans from this book and you too may reread it every so often to remind you that creating Raving Fans is your top priority. Once you do, you will be surprised how easy it is to keep doing business with those Raving Fans!
Final thought! When was the last time you reached out to a customer when you weren’t trying to sell them something? I find it is very rare and a lot of stories I hear are still about finding pipeline or deals. Customers know what you are doing! Read our Call 10 article to find ways to stay in touch without trying to sell something every time you reach out! Surprise someone today, tomorrow and next week!
Find the book on Amazon, here
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