Ever see a concertgoer or sports spectator cheering at the top of their lungs and think:

"DANG, I wish our customers were that fanatical about US!"

Don't just wish. Make it a business resolution for 2022!

This article will teach you the basics of creating Raving Fans for your staffing agency - and using their enthusiasm to strengthen your business.

What Are Raving Fans?

Raving Fans are in that little green zone of loyalty. Reach that, and you'll enjoy up to 100% customer retention - and a healthier bottom line! Because as we all know, it costs much less to retain a customer than it does to find a new one.

We're creating Raving Fans - and so can you!

Earlier this year, the team at Haley Marketing executed a bold initiative to turn our clients into Raving Fans and then solicit feedback to strengthen our brand and online reputation. What worked? And what lessons can your staffing firm apply to your own business? Here's a quick overview of what we did:

The Challenge:

Our priority for 90 days was to find ways to:

• get closer to our clients,
• help them drive results,
• and get them to become our champions!

The Gameplan:

Phase 1: Kickoff

We held a kickoff meeting for our entire team to:

• Review our mission and core values - and how they guide the way we serve clients
• Review what Raving Fans are - and why they matter to business
• Explain tactics to create Raving Fans:
• Delivering RESULTS
• Making every client FEEL SPECIAL
• Giving clients the things they WANT / NEED MOST
• Communicating MORE / developing personal relationships
• Accelerating SPEED of delivery
• WOWing clients on every project

Phase 2: Brainstorming and Planning

Next, we broke into teams to brainstorm ways to delight and engage customers (each team was assigned a list of clients on which to focus their efforts). We started with the simple stuff, like:

• Making monthly review calls to clients with ongoing services
• Getting projects done on time and on budget
• Providing lots of communication
• Being responsive to client questions
• Anticipating problems and being proactive about solving them
• Providing unexpected little extras when serving clients
• Checking in with customers we recently sold to, to see how things are going
• Finding opportunities to better support clients we don't talk to very often

Then, each team considered other things they could do to move the needle on our client experience. Here are a few of their best ideas (which you can adapt for your own use):

Tactics for improving service and customer experience:

• Create customized nurture marketing campaigns to educate them and help them get greater value from your services.
• Offer a freebie to your best customers.
• Provide and review regular performance reports with customers to highlight successes and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ask customers how often and by what methods they like to receive communications to you - and then adjust to their preferences.
• Conduct a free annual review to help customers get the most from your offerings and plan for next year.
• Reach out to customers you don't interact with frequently to reintroduce your team and explain how you can help.
• Celebrate customer anniversaries - place a call or send a card.

Tactics for collecting feedback:

• Create a QR code that links to your reputation management landing page.
• Include a request (with links) in your email signature to leave a testimonial or review.
• Create simple call scripts and email verbiage any team member can adapt to check in on a customer and see what more you could be doing for them.

From there, each team created a game plan to implement the great ideas they generated.

Phase 3: Tracking Success:

Our goal was to make sure every client was thrilled with our service, and the easiest way to measure this was through client feedback. Using a shared spreadsheet and a simple scoring matrix, each team tracked their results:

Raving Fans Scoring:

Client-written praise for what we do	5 points
Client-written testimonial	5 points
Client video testimonial	10 points
Client NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 9 or 10	10 points
4- or 5-star online review from client	15 points

Over the course of three months, each team implemented their plan and recorded their results. To maintain momentum and keep our team's enthusiasm high, we shared successes in our company's "congrats" Slack channel.

The Results:

In 90 days, our company generated some AMAZING results:

Written Testimonials*	Written Praise	Video Testimonials	NPS Score (9 or 10)	Online Reviews
18	89	5	16	15

*Written praise includes unsolicited positive comments clients sent us via email, thank-you cards, etc.

Our year-over-year NPS score went up, too – by an astounding 21 points

We also had a whopping 88% success rate at turning anecdotal feedback (unsolicited praise we received over the phone or via email) into testimonials we could use. By sending a simple follow-up email requesting permission to use the select anecdotal praise in our marketing (we only pursued clients who provided remarkable feedback), we generated an additional 14 testimonials!

While we did achieve great results, the goal of Raving Fans was not to compete with each other. It was to do everything we could to deliver WOWs and shareworthy service for every client. It was about making our core values a habit and doing everything we can to be an essential partner in each client's success.

We had fun. We worked together. And we turned a bunch of our clients into Raving Fans!

Lessons for your staffing firm:

If you're considering implementing a Raving Fans initiative, here are a few tips for success:

• Explain the "why." Creating Raving Fans takes a healthy dose of discretionary effort and persistence. Get your employees invested in the initiative by explaining:
• Your mission and core values - and how they guide the way you serve employers and job seekers
• What Raving Fans are - and why they matter to your staffing firm's success
• How your staff's small, daily actions can make big improvements in customer experience
• Get everyone on your team involved. You'll see greater results, faster. What's more, executing a Raving Fans project strengthens team bonds, provides opportunities for recognition, and generally improves your culture.
• Test and adjust. Not every tactic will prove effective, so be flexible. Test ideas, adjust your approach and build on what works best.

• Ask for testimonials. Even if you deliver a great customer experience, customers may not feel compelled to go online and leave a glowing review. Proactively solicit feedback with a simple, automated process (we have a solution for that!).
• Ask for permission to use anecdotal praise. Praise that comes through on the phone or via email is fair game - if you have permission to use it. Send a simple follow-up email to request permission to use customer feedback in your marketing.
• Share experiences and reward success. Keep enthusiasm for the initiative high by celebrating the great feedback you receive from clients and candidates. Create fun ways to reward individuals and/or teams that achieve the best results.
• Make it a habit - not a one-time event. Incorporate the tactics that work best for you into your team's regular activities, your KPIs and the fabric of your staffing firm's culture.
• Leverage your best reviews and testimonials. Once you've worked hard to generate all that glowing feedback, put it to work for you! Showcase reviews and testimonials:
• On your website (we have a great tool for this!) In your sales collateral
• On your social media accounts
• On your company blog
• In your online advertising
• In your job postings and on your career portal

With a sound plan, a dash of creativity, and the diligent effort of your entire team, you can transform your customers into your firm's biggest cheerleaders.