How to Create Raving Fan Team Members

To create raving fan customers, create raving fan team members.

I received this email yesterday from one of our customers:

Dr. Reynolds,

            Your staff is wonderful.  I hurt my knee and went to see your people last night.  EVERYONE was friendly, empathetic, and informative.  The x-ray tech had to come in from home after 10pm and was a total sweetheart.  I just wanted to brag on your staff.  EXCELLENT!!

This is not a one-time event.  We receive letters like this every day.  Our team is bought into our purpose and our mission of taking care of and providing great experiences for our customers.

Much has been written about how to create raving fan customers.  There are strategies, techniques, and social media ploys.  While all of this is well and good, I have found the best way to ensure that my customers are raving fans is to create an atmosphere of raving fan team members.  If your team members are fans, you don’t need to worry about your customers—they will be well taken care of.

How do you create this environment?  You create it by creating a culture of the combination of hard work and fun.  Work is work but it should also be fun.  Yes, you have to earn your paycheck, but you should also have a team of people that care about you and love you.  Yes, you should be nice to each other at all times, but you should also be able to have hard conversations and hold each other accountable.

It starts by letting them know that you truly have their back.  That comes from knowing that leading is really serving.  My job as the leader is to provide every person with the skills and tools they need to be successful at what they do.  Each person needs to own their job and be the world’s expert at what they do.

These can’t just be words but need to be backed up by actions.  You have to do things to prove to them that you want to invest in them and their improvement.  You have to let them know that you care, both in their work life and in their personal lives.

This is a typical letter from one of our team members:

Dr. Reynolds

            This company truly cares about their employees as individuals.  They want us to be the best that we can be in every aspect of our lives.  They take great pride in our achievements when we succeed and have the patience of Job In helping us to learn when we fall short.  They are truly the most amazing group of individuals I have ever had the pleasure of working with. 

How do you think this team member will treat his/her patients and customers?   We don’t need to worry about them being rude or inconsiderate.  They will go out of their way to make the customer happy.  I know that, and since I do, I can have their back when it doesn’t work out just right.

I’m not saying we don’t think about and create plans to make our customers happy, because we certainly do.  But, more importantly, we spend a lot of time, money, and effort creating raving fan team members and leaving a legacy of leaders and that has made all the difference.

Living Every Minute,

Dr. Tim, MD