Go the Extra Mile … Raving Fans

Although Raving Fans was written 24 years ago, its claim to be a “revolutionary approach to customer service” still holds true. Many customers have reduced their expectation levels, which is why companies who focus on the principles within this book make such a huge impact with their clients, even in today’s world.

Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded. –Author Unknown

At Juice, we divided the Raving Fans book into eight sections and have been discussing each section at our weekly team meetings. The goal of the book is learning to create raving fans, not just satisfied customers.

Here are 5 Key Takeaways

  1. Systems.
    As Charlie states in the book, “Systems are beautiful.” They are the core to a well-run company. Establishing them and training are necessary to make systems effective.
  2. Decisions.
    As business owners, your first step is deciding what you want. Close your eyes and envision the perfect environment for your customers. With that vision in mind, you can work out the kinks to really bring it to life.
  3. Discovery.
    Next, you overlay your customers’ vision on yours and adjust accordingly where appropriate.
  4. Credibility.
    With this revised vision, you look at ways you can take it a step beyond but always in small increments so it’s doable and can be done consistently and therefore maintains credibility.
  5. Flexibility.
    With a flexible approach, you can make meaningful adjustments, because the needs/wants of your customers are always changing.

In summary, it comes down to a blended vision then an action plan, applying ongoing improvements, and altering your course as needed … and of course, only promising what you can consistently deliver.

As a team, we’ve enjoyed reading this book and discussing it together – probably more than we expected. If you have any books that would make for a great read as a team or company, we’d love to get your insight so Juice and all of our blog readers can see what might be a good option for their next book!

By the way, we did a quote from the book each Friday on social media … click here to see some of our favorite quotes from the book.