Why you should never treat your fans like customers
Have you ever wondered why a seemingly loyal customer or member suddenly leaves you?
Maybe it was because you didn’t recognise them as a fan and kept treating them like a customer.
After all, fans are different to customers. Aren’t they?
Fans and customers engage differently with a brand, and this can be identified in their behaviours and attributes. Let’s review what is a fan and what is a customer.
What is a fan?
A fan is a person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing (e.g. a football fan) and is an abbreviation of the word fanatic.
While the relationship may be primarily commercial, the engagement extends beyond the transaction into something more like a social connection. A fan sees themselves as part of a community and adheres primarily to social norms when they engage with the brand.
What is a customer?
A customer is a person who buys goods or services from a shop or business or a person of a specified kind with whom one has to deal.
The relationship with a customer is a commercial relationship bound by market norms and expectations. A customer buys a product or service, and the vendor or supplier provides it.
See the difference?
It used to be that fans were perceived as followers of a sports club, and that is still a perfect example of a fan. But brands have been progressively catching up to even the biggest sporting clubs in the market of fandom.
Just look at the long line of Apple fans that are queued up outside an Apple store waiting for the latest version of any Apple product. The Urban Dictionary even has a term for them: an “Apple Fanboy”. Which is defined as:
a person who believes in almost anything that Apple says and gives into its marketing strategy.
a prime target for apple marketers to impose their superfluously costing products to.
a person who honestly believes that Windows XP or Vista is Archaic, Inferior, Does Not Work, or just plain ripped off ideas from the Mac OS.
one who waits in line for days in some instances, for Apple keynote speeches.
one who believes adding an "i" prefix to anything is automatically superior to anything that does not have an "i" in front of it.
Can you think of any other non-sports club brands with avid fans?
How about Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Prada, Starbucks, Disney, Nike, Harley Davidson, let’s face it – fans aren’t always about sport.
There are many reasons that people become fans, but it is mainly due to one or more of the following motives:
The brand they follow makes them feel privileged and provides unique experiences, information and deals that are only available to them, rewarding them for their loyalty and support.
The experience of being a fan is a positive experience that enhances their lifestyle and status that they enjoy and want to share with others like them.
They feel as if they are a valued member of a community and something much bigger than just themselves.
Customers in contrast want to get the product or service they paid for, and for it to fulfil its value proposition.
They know that they are paying for a product or service and expect it to be provided exactly as promised.
They are looking for the best deal for them and when they get it, they expect the product or service to be delivered in accordance with the terms of the deal.
They expect to be compensated when service is delayed, or the product does not perform to expectations.
There are some who would have you believe that fans are simply happy or loyal customers. Don’t be fooled on this point – if the relationship you have with your customer is a commercial relationship based on market norms – you cannot assume that they are a fan – it’s most likely they are a customer.
Brand fandom can be a little like religion and a lot like family. Passionate fans can be irrational and subjective about the decisions they make when it comes to the brand they support.
A customer is someone who ponies up some cash to buy your product or service.
A loyal customer is someone who does this repeatedly and may even refer others.
A fan is a die-hard follower that will buy whatever you are selling, without quibbling over price, and tell everyone they know about it. They will denounce any critics and will sell your virtues like they are on a commission.
A fan’s level of engagement is so personal that they see themselves as part of the brand and have a sense of ownership and responsibility for the brand.
Take sports clubs. Have you ever heard a fan of a team make comments like:
“We played really well today.” Or “We really need to improve in the second half if we’re going to win this game.”
They’re not playing, but they see themselves as part of the club.
Now let’s look at a bank. Do you see their customers wearing bank merchandise and saying things like “Wow, looks like we’re going to make a big profit this year”? Or chanting the Bank’s name as the staff enter? Of course not. Banks provide a service and as customers we pay for it, and many of us would change banks for a better experience or deal without hesitation.
Try getting someone to change their football club or swap their Mac for a Dell – it doesn’t happen.
The norms a person supports for their engagement with a brand also has an impact on their behaviour, and their expectations on how they should be treated by the brand. Studies from sociologists suggest that we live in two worlds, one where social norms dominate and the other where market norms dominate. When we engage with fans, it is often based on social norms. When we engage with customers, we engage mainly on market norms.
Time and time again, businesses deploy loyalty programs aspiring to turn their customers into fans and behaving like they are “friends”. Then comes the time when a customer asks for something outside the normal offer; is late paying their invoice; or lodges a complaint. And they respond with a “Sorry can’t help you” response; or a late fee; or counter the complaints with references to detailed policies and terms and conditions.
Not really acting like “friends” nor necessarily repaying the loyalty.
Once a business treats the customer like a transaction, they have shown the relationship is not one of loyalty and friendship, but a commercial one bound by market norms.
When a customer has been courted like a friend (a fan) they believe the relationship is personal, meaning they won’t get treated like the masses. So, when they are slapped with a response governed by market norms, they feel betrayed which creates negative feelings toward the brand.
Social and market norms don’t mix and therefore brands can only be in one world at a time when engaging with customers, or if they choose one, they need to be consistent.
Not all customers want to be treated like fans, and those who are fans don’t want to be treated like customers. You need to make sure you know who is a fan and treat them accordingly, likewise your customers.
When people are engaged under social norms, money is less important than doing what is right. In contrast, when engaged under market norms, getting what they paid for is more important to people. Again, look at sports fans. They front up year after year to pay their membership even if their team loses – which I am sure is not what they pay their membership hoping to see.
They pay their membership to belong to a community, and as part of the community they feel a sense of ownership and commitment to their club.
Social norms versus Market norms
Let’s explore a scenario that will be playing out this year in light of the impact of COVID-19 on sports clubs. Sport is where the real business of fans is mission critical and especially when we look at paid up members – the ultimate fan.
In 2020 many sports clubs were unable to have crowds attend any of their games due to restrictions. Club members, the ultimate fans, who had paid their annual membership or season tickets received no real value or return for their investment to be part of the Club community. They paid for seats at games, and privileges at events, that they could not attend or enjoy.
Clubs, desperate to retain the revenue and support of members, critical for securing sponsorship, implored members to not cancel their membership and support the club. They tapped into the social norms of a member being part of their community and asked their members to help them out in what were extraordinarily difficult times.
Some clubs even went a step further asking fans and members to help them with fundraising by making charitable donations. This is behaving like their relationship is bound by social norms.
But what happens in 2021 when a member has fallen on tough times and when their membership invoice arrives and they can’t pay their fees?
Does the club, remember that the member stuck by them when they needed them, and look for a way to help them with a payment plan, or extended credit? Do they promise to retain their status and recognise their loyalty until they are back on their feet?
Or does the Club, suspend, or cancel their membership due to non-payment and pass the collection of any unpaid dues to the accounts receivable team, or a debt collector?
One course of action is reacting on social norms, the other purely on market norms. If the club applies market norms in their response and says that the fan hasn’t paid so they don’t get membership or access to any of the benefits, what do you think will happen to the relationship?
The fan will feel betrayed by their Club. They will probably remain a supporter, but they will seek the lowest cost way to follow their club in the future. They will not respond to marketing offers and fundraising requests. The relationship has been defined as being bound by market norms, and that is how they will engage forever more.
Many clubs understand the relationship they have with their fans and treat them like family, respecting the social norms that bind their relationship. But there are many who don’t. They pull out the “we’re in this together” card whenever they need something, then revert back to commercial service provider when the “fan” needs something.
Dan Ariely reminds us in Predictably Irrational that you can’t have it both ways. You can’t treat customers like family one moment and then treat them impersonally like they are a nuisance minutes later, just because it is more convenient or profitable.
When it comes to marketing, it is critical to honour the brand promise and value proposition. Understanding the fan and engaging with them personally with help, relevant offers and communications via the medium they prefer is key to engagement. Knowing them means understanding the nature of how and why they engage with your brand – as a customer or a fan and then treating them accordingly.
Clubs who engage fans as part of their community need to be able to express their appreciation and understand what is important to them so they can enhance their experiences and reward their loyalty. In a year when the fan has given up a lot with little return, even more so.
After all, in sport, it’s the fans who really own the club - as it is with any brand.
References:
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Urban dictionary https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Apple%20Fanboy
#fans #fanengagement #marketing #cmo #sportsmarketing #behaviouraleconomics #analytics #segmentation #behaviouralscience #brandvalues #loyalty #sportsdata #behaviouralinsights
Note: Graham Plant is CEO of metafan, a company committed to helping organisations understand and engage their fans through data and insight.