Create Raving Fans By Treating Them As Customers
As we get close to wrapping up this section on marketing, I want to leave you with two mindset shifts, sometimes called "mental models", to help you with the way you think about marketing.
Mental models are shortcuts, often a single phrase that helps you make consistent decisions.
"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" is a mental model.
It can be used every time that you interact with someone.
That's a shortcut, a mental model that will serve you throughout your entire life.
So, here are two more, one in this chapter, and one in the next.
Lead with value.
I love this one, because there are two ways you can take it.
You can emphasize lead with value. Show up as a leader, charge forward and set the standard. That will help you attract followers as you set a vision for the future that you're working toward. It could also mean lead as in taking the first step. You act first, rather than wait to react to the way the people you meet choose to show up and interact with you.
The other is lead with value. That means that you have a mindset of service, of being helpful, of caring about other people's problems and helping them solve them. The more value that you can create early on, the more value will come to you in your life.
There's one caveat to this mental model.
Lead with value happens even before any transaction has happened.
This model isn't just for your clients and customers. It applies to everyone that you interact with - in life, at events, on social media, etc.
Treat everyone as though they are a customer already in your care, even before any money has changed hands.
This mental model is how you create raving fans.
People that talk about you unprompted. People that share your work, pay for everything you create, and can't wait for your next piece of content. All the signals that we talked about in the previous chapter.
Those raving fans are how you build your business. They're the foundation you build on when it comes to your audience, they help you define the culture, and help your business grow.
Treat them like your best clients even before any money changes hands, and they'll quickly see what it's like working with you. They'll want to become your clients because of how well you treated them in the early stages of the relationship.
You can use this mental model starting today. Think about how it can impact everyone you engage with - in person, on the phone or zoom, or online.
Lead with value, and the value will return to you with abundance.