What exactly is a raving fan?

Definition:   we are compelled to talk about the things that excite us.  A great book, favorite restaurant, hair stylist or vacation spot.  Someone we know that we think is so fabulous that we want the entire world to know about him…or her.

We initiate conversations about whatever it is we’re madly in love with and don’t rest until we have shared our excitement and endorsement with the world.

Raving fans are genuinely interested in promoting

what we believe has value without expecting any form of pay back.  We truly believe that everyone we know will benefit from whatever our latest “rave” is.

One raving fan that I know was individually responsible for sending $25,000.00 in new business to her favorite store.  Wouldn’t you like to have that person as your raving fan?

Some of the best raving fans are your neighbors.  As an example, when my family moved into our neighborhood, we found our plumber and snow plow guy by asking our neighbors who they used for these services.  Turned out, every single neighbor raved about the same two guys.

Two years after we moved in, we watched as one of our neighbors had a guy come out and fence their backyard.  My husband and I loved what this guy did. We got his name from our neighbor and had him fence our side yard. 

We weren’t surprised at all when the neighbors down the street from us asked us for the name of the guy who had fenced our yard.  Eleven years after we fenced our yard, we continue to hand his contact information out to anyone we know that mentions they’re thinking of fencing their yard.

It helped that the fence guy was really good. What made my entire neighborhood raving fans is that we loved (and continue to love) his work, and, want everyone we know to know this.

Raving fans listen for conversational opportunities to naturally start talking about what we love. Even better, we’ll make sure we have business cards for whatever “it” is we love so we know our audience can find their way to wherever or whoever we’re recommending.

Not sure if you can be a raving fan?

Think again.  Everybody can be one.  What do you love more than anything else? What are the things that make you smile? That you like to talk about? 

As a student:  who was your favorite professor? Did you recommend this teacher to at least one of your friends?  What about a favorite restaurant?  How many times have you recommended that restaurant to people you knew?  Have a favorite local hang out? Do you talk about it? Favorite web site? How often do you tell your friends to check it out?

Are you getting the hang of this?  It’s really not that hard once you get started.  You just need to be selective about whatever it is you decide to rave about.  Be honest. Talk about the things you get really excited about.

Why do you want to be a raving fan?

Raving fans provide value and, over time, people you know will begin to seek you out because you do provide value.  Who doesn’t want to know about the latest and greatest new restaurant in town?  The best place to work out?  Where to a great hair cut? What about the car dealer – that guy who wasn’t pushy or abrasive – the guy that took the time to answer your questions and help you research your options so that you could buy the car of your dreams?  Think your friends would want to know about him?

As you pick and choose your favorite raves and talk about them, you will begin to solidify your reputation as someone that knows really cool places to go and great people to meet.  This ability to celebrate and introduce people you’re meeting and places you’re discovering to other people will become part of what you are known for.

Over time, your raving fan status will be one of your more easily recognized talents.   This recognition gets added onto the list of characteristics that define you professionally in your community. 

It’s important to develop a professional identity – a personal brand – that sets you apart from your peers.  When you’re just starting your career, your personal brand won’t be distinct. Your lack of actual on-the-job experience will outweigh other factors that color your brand.

Here’s how you can tip the scale of job inexperience in your favor and begin to build your brand.  Ask your friends and family, someone you’ve worked for, a favorite teacher or coach to write a brief testimonial about you. Up to ten sentences is enough for your purposes.

Ask them what words come to mind when they think about you as a student, athlete, friend, neighbor, community volunteer?  Their collective testimonials will be based on their relationships with you. When you receive them, sit down and read them carefully.

Speaking for myself, this was a very humbling exercise.  I asked several people in my own circle of business associates as well as peers in my industry if they would write testimonials on my behalf.  I specifically asked them to comment on how they saw me as a professional networker.

I asked for these testimonials after I had been actively building my professional brand in my city for more than ten years. What was gratifying for me was to find out that my perception of myself was echoed in the testimonials that I received.

If you are just getting started – first job out of college – this exercise is important to do for two reasons.  You want to know how you are perceived by people you know. Part of their descriptions may be easily transposed onto a resume or will be useful when you have to talk about yourself in a job interview.

You also want to evaluate these perceptions to determine if there are aspects of how other people see you that you would like to change.  This is the hard, personal growth part.

Raving fans are all about taking the right actions that lead to making friends and building relationships.  What better way to make a friend than to tell them your mission in life is to be their number one raving fan?  I love to see the looks of unabashed delight when I lean over a counter, or take someone aside, look them in the eye and confide:  “Do you know what a raving fan is? I am going to be yours.”

If you have the deliberate intention to incorporate raving fan status into your daily routine, you’ll look back on your actions in three-five years and be astounded at what you have accomplished.  In a nutshell, that’s what happened to me.

Remember that raving fans are passionate about the things and the people they like. I have always been attracted to certain types of jewelry, great hand bags, shoes and clothes. I am  a fashion diva! 

Not too long ago, I went to a house party a good friend of mine was hosting. Walking into her kitchen, my eye was immediately drawn to the island in the center of the room. It was literally draped with the most decadent collection of gems: over-sized necklaces, crystals, earrings and bracelets.

Like a bee to honey, I was pulled into that room, watched as my arm snaked out and my fingers closed around a gorgeous necklace. Claiming it immediately as “my” necklace, I introduced myself to the tiny woman standing alongside of the island. She explained that she was the designer and we talked.

Instantly, I became a raving fan. 

Over the next 2 weeks, I visited this woman’s design studio several times.  During one of those visits, we sat and talked about her goals for one of her unique jewelry lines. She wanted this specific line of jewelry to be sold in specialty boutiques nationwide. 

When she confessed that the salesperson she’d hired to help her launch this line in local shops hadn’t worked out, I looked her in the eye and said, “Why don’t you let me see what I can do?” Less than two weeks later, three local, upscale boutiques had committed to carrying this jewelry line and there was a fourth shop under consideration.

Pretty fast scenario, wouldn’t you say?  The truth of the matter is that the work leading up to my ability to target these stores for this product line started over seven years ago.

That was when I deliberately decided I wanted to become known in my city as a master connector –  the person that you sought out if you wanted to be introduced to someone. I selected a local chamber of commerce and was an active member for the next two years.

I was asked to volunteer my services on a Board of Directors for a fledgling chamber music organization, which I did for one year.

I went to after hours networking events, met a lot of great people, listened more than I spoke, and as I came across people and places I became passionate about, I became an enthusiastic raving fan many times over. Add to this my active role as an Assistant Director for the Business Network International (BNI) franchise in my city for a three year time frame.

By the time I sat down with my new friend, the jewelry designer, my professional brand as a master connector/relationship marketer was firmly established. I had built relationships with hundreds of people and numerous organizations. It was easy for me to introduce her to the right people for her purpose.

Ah, the power of raving fans!  If we can get behind your product or your service; if we can get behind you, we can rock your world.