Much has been happening recently, not that it is evident by my posting schedule here. (That is, being busy doesn’t decrease my update frequency when posts are so rare anyway.) The biggest change is that I recently relocated to Burlington, VT to start a new job. Still a Web Dev—and actually really a Front-end Dev with none of that pesky backend work—but on an entirely different playing field.
I can’t say how that will affect this little piece of Internet real estate. It probably won’t much (see comment about post frequency above). But I did want to share a bit of professional development with you.
My new company is crazy about creating raving fans. They never directly referenced it, but I have a feeling this tenet of their philosophy has origins in the early-90s book Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service
It was a quick read, but really too cutesy-parable for my taste. It could have been condensed to a blog post shorter than this one, but of course that doesn’t turn into money (and such a thing didn’t even exist in 1993).
So, in short, to create a raving fan you:
Create a vision of what you want to provide, so clear you can see it vividly when you close your eyes.
Find out what your customers (or potential customers) want.
Find a way to make your vision mesh with what your customers want, but don’t be afraid to tell them to look elsewhere if they expect something that is beyond the scope of your vision.
Always deliver more than what they expect, consistently. Always work to better your delivery, a little bit at a time.
Once you do, that raving fan will go out and evangelize for you.
My goal for 2013 Q3 is to get a great start in my new position by creating raving fans of my work.
Do you strive to create raving fans?