“I’ll take your brains to another dimension, pay close attention” The Prodigy
Back in the 90’s I loved that song. Listening to it now brings back electric memories of euphoria, of hands in the air like we just don’t care. Banging tunes, flashing lights and happiness. Crazy spontaneous, mass happiness. It was a wonderful time to be young and I was a Raving Fan.
30 years on from when that song was released, although the world has changed a lot, people’s need to find activities that inspire them and make them feel good, has not faded. To the contrary, in today’s post pandemic world, that need may well be greater than ever.
In this blog I want to talk about what it means to be a “Raving Fan” and why you want these people in your life.
But before I start, if you haven’t identified who your ideal customer is yet nor how your business stands out from the crowd, then stop reading this right now and head over to my ‘The World and It’s Dog’ and ‘Purple Cow’ blogs and download your FREE workbooks today. I need you to do the work in there, before you join me at this rave party.
If you have done the work, then let’s get the strobes on the road.
I am going to take your brain to another dimension. Pay close attention!
What is a Raving Fan?
Over the last 10 years I have sold thousands and thousands of tickets for events, workshops and classes across the UK; it wasn’t easy. The likelihood is that selling will take up at least 70% of your role as a business owner, so you need to get good at it. You need to be effective.
Over those 10 years I’ve walked the streets with my trusty bag of fliers, I’ve toured parent groups, I’ve run articles and posted in magazines, I’ve entered and sponsored awards and I’ve spent thousands and thousands on copy, media assets and online marketing. I’ve also taught a franchise network how to do it too but today, I want to focus on one word:
Retention Retention Retention
Imagine the scene:
You’ve done it. You’ve laid the ground work, put in the time and done the research. You know who your ideal customer is and they’re hooked. They’ve bought tickets.
Then the big day comes.
They arrive at your venue, raring to go. The children are buzzing. You give them all a big warm welcome, explaining what will be happening and how the class will work, so they feel at ease.
During the class both parent and child are fully engaged in the activity. You use their names when talking to them and you make sure that the child feels special by giving lots of encouragement and praise.
At the end of the class you give your call to action. You ask them to post their photos from the event to your Facebook page and to leave you a review. You also make sure you ask your “First Time” customer if they have enjoyed the class and remind them to secure a booking for the next class, if they haven’t already signed up.
Later that day you get a Facebook page message. They are thanking you for everything that you did and go on to give you some great feedback.
Well done, congratulations you’ve taken the first step into turning that ideal customer into one of your Raving Fans.
As the weeks pass, that parent posts their photos to your page. They comment on your posts, they like your Instagram reels, they tags friends into photographs, they enter your monthly competitions and they leave you cracking reviews.
This customer is an advocate of you and your business. They love your classes and they renew without hesitation. They even go on to buy merchandise like T Shirts, Bubble Guns and Glow Sticks. They book their child’s birthday party with you without asking about the price. They see the value in you and your business.
They have become a Raving Fan or a ‘Top Fan’ as Facebook calls it (if you have that functionality switched on in Facebook).
These are the people you need at your classes and you need more of them.
Why do you need them?
These people love your classes. Booking their tickets makes them feel good. The build-up to your class makes them feel good. Their children’s excitement on the day makes them feel good. The moment the doors open and your customers enter your zone, they and their families are happy, and they will keep coming back because they know they can get exactly what they need from you.
They have been RETAINED!
So what, you might ask?
Every customer you turn into a Raving Fan, every customer you retain, is one less customer you need to find, to market to, to replace.
Investing your time, energy and love into your customers and the creation of Raving Fans, will pay dividends. Raving Fans will inherently attract significantly more customers than a customer who forgets you the moment they leave your class.
We want our Raving Fans to do some of the marketing leg work for us. We want them to tell their friends and their friend’s friends. We want them to convince others that they need to come to the class, to experience what they have experienced.
The more customers our Raving Fans can attract, the more time you can dedicate to focusing on what you love doing, which is developing our fantastic programmes and teaching children and less time on marketing.
It’s time to take your customers to another dimension. In this fantastic (and free) audio training you’ll learn some simple and effective tips that you can start using right now to turn your ideal customers into your raving fans.
