Creating Customer Evangelists

Creating Customer Evangelists
By Ben McConnell, Jackie Huba, Guy Kawasaki (Foreword)
Sep 10, 2005, 11:00

"Evangelism marketing" is the process of getting buyers to believe in a product or service so much that they are compelled to tell others about it. Here's how some of the most successful organizations have transformed customers into passionate and influential evangelists. Readers of Creating Customer Evangelists will learn how to develop evangelism marketing strategies and programs that will create communities of influencers who can expand and drive sales for a company.

"…the entire world is drenched and debauched in content and advertising, and we need evangelism even more…. The next step is fueling the fire of customer love, and this is what this book explains…. I wish I had written this book…."
—from foreword by Guy Kawasaki, CEO, Garage Technology Ventures

Turn Buyers into Believers!

When customers are truly thrilled about their experience with your product or service, they become outspoken "evangelists" for your company. Savvy marketing professionals are discovering that this group of satisfied believers can be converted into a potent marketing tool to grow their customer universe.

Authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba know how to take your company’s best customers and build them into influential, loyal, and enthusiastic evangelists. In Creating Customer Evangelists, you will learn how to develop evangelism marketing strategies and programs that will create communities of influencers who can drive sales for your company.

From their research into the best practices of some of the most forward-thinking companies, McConnell and Huba outline and explain the six basic tenets of creating customer evangelists:

· Customer plus-delta: Continuously gather customer feedback.
· Napsterize knowledge: Make it a point to share knowledge freely.
· Build the buzz: Expertly build word-of-mouth networks.
· Create community: Encourage communities of customers to meet and share.
· Make bite-size chunks: Devise specialized, smaller offerings to get customers to bite.
· Create a cause: Focus on making the world, or your industry, better.

McConnell and Huba profile eight highly successful companies to illustrate these tenets and prove how solid customer relationships build and sustain companies through good and rocky times. These in-depth company profiles provide real-life examples of evangelism marketing at work, including the opportunities and pitfalls of specific campaigns.

Creating Customer Evangelists explains how organizations as diverse as Southwest Airlines, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, The Dallas Mavericks, IBM, and others successfully built their customer base and created targeted marketing programs to involve their biggest fans. These programs have produced legions of unofficial salespeople and a cost-effective and powerful marketing force.

By deepening customer relationships, successful organizations create communities that generate grassroots support and value for their products and services. Creating Customer Evangelists focuses on this ultimate marketing approach. McConnell and Huba demonstrate how you can convert good customers into exceptional ones who willingly spread the word.