Raving fans: Business owners have long pursued this elusive target, described by legendary management expert Ken Blanchard.

Raving fans are those clients, employees, vendors, and other trusted referral makers who are so impressed with your company or the products and services you provide, that they will take an active role in helping you build your business.

How do you cultivate (and sustain) raving fans? In a word: engagement.

We know that:

· Engaged customers are more inclined to open your emails, visit your website, read your content, attend your events, and tell their friends and colleagues about you.

· Engaged employees are powerful brand ambassadors who will provide your clients with better customer service and stay with your company longer.

But what is engagement, exactly?

Engagement is a popular buzzword that means different things to different people. If we were in a management workshop throwing out words associated with engagement, the list might look like this:

· Relationships

· Connection

· Understanding

· Community

· Interaction

· Trust

· Buy-in

In my experience, however, I’ve come to understand that engagement can’t be defined in any one term. Rather, it’s a combination of many aspects that come to be associated not only with your brand, but also with you as a representative of your company. And finding just the right combination will be your company’s winning formula.

Next we will talk about how to how to gauge your audience and determine where they stand.