Book: Raving Fans
This little book is a quick read but has a lot of great insights about developing a customer base that ultimately is comprised of “Raving Fans.” Raving Fans is a unique book on customer service that provides some good insights for ministry.
The book is set up in a narratival structure with the main protagonist stepping into a new role where he is ordered to delivery vastly improved costumer service than his predecessors. Early on he encounters Charlie, is guardian angel of sorts who loves Golf about as much as he loves helping others unlock the secrets to creating Raving Fans.
Ultimately the book is about creating amazing experiences for people that keep them coming back for me. In that, I believe one can find some valuable cross pollination for ministry. After all, isn’t one of the things we’re trying to do about creating irresistible environments where people can experience God, find connection with others, and serve the world?
Essentially the story chronicles keys to creating Raving Fans through the eyes of practitioners that Charlie has previously mentored. The first key is “Decide What You Want.” Here you must decide what it is you want your experience to look like. You have to have some vision of what you’re trying to do (and not do) so as to better serve people. Discovering what you’re not going to do may be just as important, in my mind, as envisioning what you will do.
The second key is “Discover What the Customer Wants.” This may seem at odds with the first, how can you decide what you want as well as focus on what the customer wants? Won’t these be at odds with one another? In fact these actually complement one another because you cannot discern from the customer what is important for you unless you have a clear vision of who you strive to be. But you must be willing to tweak your end game based upon the needs/wants of the customer.
A ministry application here might serve as an example. As a church planter I know we can’t do everything in LifeConnection at the beginning. There are going to have to be lots of things we say no to. For instance, if someone comes in and describes their want for a singles ministry, we’re going to say no - that’s outside what we can and will do right now. But if there comes a point where we have 200 singles connecting we might need to rethink our vision a bit to meet the needs of those to whom we’re actually connecting.
The final key is “Deliver Plus One,” shorthand for “Deliver the Vision Plus One Percent.” Here the idea isn’t to under-promise so you can over-deliver. No the idea is to deliver on your vision (promise) and then some. This not only helps to create raving fans but it also helps you to continually move forward in your organization. If you are not moving forward you will stagnate and stop growth and creativity and innovation. So deliver plus one will help you move ahead.
In all this was an interesting little book with some good insight on connecting with people. It helped to spark some creative brainstorming in me as I think about LifeConnection. It caused me to think of places where, as a user, I’ve had good experiences and why (and vice versa). If you have a few hours this might be one to pick up (that’s all it will take to read it).
