Publishers Weekly
04/15/2024
Hodak, cofounder of the marketing agency Bright Ideas Only, debuts with a breezy program detailing how fledgling businesses can earn loyal customers. Her “SUPER model” encourages readers to “start with your story,” “understand your customer’s story,” “personalize,” “exceed expectations,” and “repeat.” Breaking down each step, Hodak urges business owners to humanize their brand by sharing how life events or personal passions inspired them to start their company. As an example, she points to a metal business card producer whose automated responses to email inquiries recount how the company grew out of a model train manufacturing business the owner started as a teenager. Recognizing customers’ desires is key, Hodak asserts, suggesting that readers focus sales pitches on the lifestyle transformation enabled by a product instead of the product itself (for instance, she notes that a tool for boosting productivity could be marketed as creating more time for family). The conversational prose is tinged with humor that enlivens the shrewd business advice (on the importance of personalizing customer service: “Is it annoying having to send a paper statement to that one guy who refuses to go paperless? Of course it is. But it makes Jeff happy, so keep doing it”). The result is an animated and pragmatic guide to how small businesses can convince customers to keep coming back for more. (Self-published)
From the Publisher
Superfans gives you not just the playbook for making it happen, but also the playlist. The smart, simple advice and pop culture references put CX into terms your team will relate to, remember, and—most importantly—really use.” —Jon Acuff, New York Times-bestselling author, Soundtracks
“These pages are filled with powerful stories, specific examples, and a complete framework for turning customers into the engine of your business. I particularly love the section on understanding customers’ stories.” —Jay Baer, bestselling co-author, Talk Triggers
“I know firsthand what it means to have loyal, dedicated fans. Whatever your ‘thing’ is, you’ll find advice in Creating Superfans to help you go further, faster, with a loyal tribe cheering you on.” —Bobby Bones, New York Times-bestselling author; TV and radio personality
“Creating Superfans contains the secrets your business needs to stand out in a crowd and to attract, engage, and retain your own raving fanbase.” —Dorie Clark, Wall Street Journal-bestselling author, The Long Game; executive education faculty, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
“This is the customer experience soundtrack that you’ll want to play on repeat for months on end until the ideas, stories, and principles are so embedded in your psyche that creating raving fans will be as easy as 1, 2, 3…” —Joey Coleman, Joey Coleman, Wall Street Journal-bestselling author, Never Lose a Customer Again
“Maybe you prefer to spend countless sums on advertising, and countless hours constantly chasing and attaining new customers. Or maybe Brittany Hodak’s masterful guide will help you flip that relationship on its head—instead of selling to people, you’ll create advocates and superfans who do the ‘selling’ for you.” —Jeff Haden, contributing editor, Inc.; author, The Motivation Myth
“Creating Superfans is the must-read manual for turning your customers and employees into superfans. If you have customers, you need this book—period.” —John Hall, senior contributor, Forbes; serial entrepreneur
“There is nothing stronger than third-party advocacy. It’s what every marketer wants! But how do you create the elusive ‘superfan’? Start with this playbook; fun, accessible, and full of practical ideas you can implement right away. A must-read for any marketer in the digital age.” —Shama Hyder, bestselling author, The Zen of Social Media Marketing; CEO, Zen Media
“When your marketplace is crowded, the ultimate catalyst to conversion is the creation of an army of supporters, fans, and ideally superfans. This book delivers the formula to achieve exactly that!” —Phil M Jones, bestselling author, Exactly What to Say
“Brittany Hodak is a master at helping brands connect with their audience in a way that creates deep loyalty and meaningful, authentic bonds. The strategies in Creating Superfans are priceless!” —Rory Vaden, New York Times-bestselling author; cofounder, Brand Builders Group
Kirkus Reviews
2022-12-22
A strategy guide for turning casual customers into ardent fans of one’s company.
“Too many businesses fall into the trap of becoming something lots of people ‘sort of’ like instead of intentionally creating an experience the right people can’t stop telling their friends about,” writes Hodak in her colorful nonfiction debut. “Don’t be filler; be unforgettable.” It’s a tall order—and the implicit goal of every marketing book ever written—and she lays out a program for achieving it that’s intimately connected with a phenomenon that most of her readers will have experienced: fandom. Hodak looks at organizations, such as Disneyland, Amazon, and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which have generated “superfans”: customers who, on their own initiative, create other customers. She then attempts to distill how these organizations manage to do this (and are able to continue doing it). By looking at a range of businesses and drawing on the insights of their leaders, she boils down this type of success to its essence: a focus on caring attention to detail. “The quickest way to get someone to care about you and the things you care about,” she writes, “is to demonstrate that you care about them and the things they care about.” Using well-designed graphics and bulleted key points, Hodak effectively takes her readers through the important components of improving their customer relations. Readers may find her organizing mnemonic to be a bit hokey (“SUPER,” with “S” standing for “Start with Your Story,” “U” for “Understand Your Customer’s Story,” and so on), but the concept behind it is conveyed with consistent can-do energy and an appealing lack of pomposity, with relatable personal touches, such as the author’s confession that Rocky IVis her favorite Rocky movie. Her emphasis on the core value of customer service as the key ingredient of superfan creation will likely be of use to many readers.
A high-energy series of pointers for building customer enthusiasm.
