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Creating Customer Evangelists
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Creating Customer Evangelists

How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
Kaplan Publishing, 2003
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What does it take to get your customers to see the light, to praise your product like evangelists selling their creeds? How do you create customer evangelists whose word of mouth will convert other acolytes to your product? Authors Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba offer chapter and verse. They tell you how to encourage customers to preach your message for you. However, before consumers will take to the pulpit, you must have an excellent product or service that converts their thinking. There’s good information here, though not much new. The last chapter sums everything up as nicely as a homily, and the appendix provides additional tips on e-mail marketing and jump-starting the evangelical process.

Summary

More Than Just Loyal

Evangelists are everywhere. Anyone who’s ever waxed prolific about the virtues of a restaurant, a movie or a chocolate-chip cookie has been an evangelist for a product. At a time when consumers are attacked with more promotional messages in more places than ever, referrals from trusted people remain the most powerful form of marketing Thus, today’s companies seek ways to harness that power and use it to turn their products or services into superstars.

In recent times, the concept of the customer evangelist has gained increasing popularity. A customer evangelist is a loyal customer, but loyalty is only a part of the profile. Customer loyalty is often tied to rewards, such as better prices or incentive programs. When the reward is no longer offered, a consumer’s loyalty can turn into bitterness, which can lead to vigilante-like behavior. On the other hand, customer evangelists feel an intrinsic attachment to a product or service. The product means something more to them; it reflects their values or their way of seeing the world. Evangelists’ devotion is expressed as enthusiastic referrals and makes them feel close to the company. It makes them want...

About the Authors

Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba are the founders of Wabash & Lake, a marketing consulting firm that helps create communities of evangelists for client companies. McConnell and Huba were formerly executives at an Internet marketing firm, where they helped develop and expand the online marketing strategies of Fortune 500 clients. They often speak at sales and marketing conferences.

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