Want Your Brand to Have a Cult Following?
December 14, 2016
It’s easy to mock people who get ultra obsessed with a product or service, but as a business owner, isn’t that exactly what you want for your brand? Organizations with cult followings not only tend to explode with new business opportunities all at once, but they also continue to grow steadily and thrive throughout the years. Now, of course, the only question is how to achieve cult status. Fortunately for you, there’s no need to waste an entire day scouring the internet for advice on how to do so. Instead, we’ve put together four simple tips for taking your brand to the tippety top:
1. Recognize the Value of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth is everything when it comes to reaching cult status. Whether it’s good or bad, the fact is that people trust the opinions of their family and friends much more than they’ll ever trust your bold advertising claims. This means that you need to be on the ball when it comes to delivering an extraordinary customer experience, and when addressing customer complaints.
2. Treat Your Customer’s Problems Like Your Own
When your customers are struggling with a problem, you and your team may have a tendency to think, “Well, that sucks for them, but there’s nothing more that I can do about it.” This mindset is exactly the reason why you haven’t achieved cult status yet! Although unfortunate, today’s consumers have come to expect that customer service reps won’t really do much to help them solve their problems. The good news for you is that this creates an opportunity for you to put on a cape, save the day, and really stand out from your competition. A perfect example comes from Casper mattresses. When Casper sold out of more mattresses than they had in stock, they found that some of their customers were going to have to sleep on a cold, hard floor while they waited for their delayed deliveries. Casper stepped up and provided these folks with air mattresses until their permanent bedding arrived. Talk about genius!
3. Go Above and Beyond Customer Service Norms
How well do you know your customers, really? Consumers are most loyal to brands that take the time to see, hear, acknowledge, and appreciate them. This means more than memorizing their first name and product preferences, though. Train your staff to take an interest in the customer’s whole life — their family, their hobbies, their health and wellbeing, and more. In doing so, you establish real, meaningful relationships that make all the difference in your success as a business — all while enriching your life, the lives of your staff members, and the lives of your customers.
4. Empower Your Team to Deliver Unique Customer Experiences
Customer experiences begin with the level of service that they get from your employees, and employees who feel a sense of pride and ownership towards your brand will be more likely to deliver something truly special and unique. This means that you can’t be totally rigid about what your team can and cannot do. While a certain level of expectation and uniformity are necessary, your employees should have a little wiggle room for creative license. Take SoulCycle, for example. They train their team members to work within certain boundaries, but allow them to develop their own workouts and playlists.
Achieving cult status isn’t some mythical or elusive thing that only happens to a few inexplicably lucky brands. Instead, it’s the businesses who are 100% committed to offering something new and truly exceptional to their customers that achieve this coveted ranking.