In this quick read, co-authors Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles begin by establishing that “Satisfied customers just aren’t good enough,”  and the three principles to creating Raving Fans, as delivered by a Fairy Godmother named Charlie, are as follows:

1. Develop an ideal vision of your service
   • Without a goal it’s impossible to know when you’re off course
2. Continually engage your customer’s on their ideal vision of the service, giving special attention to overlaps and clashes
   • Learn where customers place the greatest value, and either adjust your vision to accommodate, and recognize when their needs would be better served somewhere else
3. Consistently deliver on your promises and improve the service with minor adjustments
   • Continual customer engagement keeps you in touch with trending needs and enables nimble adjustments to your service ¹

While these points cover the major ideas in the book, there are several happy workplace nuggets of wisdom that make this a worthwhile read.  Still unsure?  Check out this free preview of Raving Fans.

Principles in Action

As I read this book, I found myself comparing it to the 37signals philosophy, and specifically to the recently released customer feedback application called Smiley.