mornin’ merrymakers 🎯💎🤝✨🛍️
do you know your best customer?
not just their purchase history. like truly know them. where they live, how they take their coffee, the name of their partner/pets/children. why they chose & keep choosing you over everyone else.
i'm shocked by how many business owners and leaders can't answer this.
we're all so hungry for more in business & life. more customers, more followers, more reach. growth at all costs.
which means we’re overlooking where there's just as much value (usually, way more).
getting and giving more to your best customers.
the ones who already love you.
in today’s letter, you'll learn:
→ the wild math of why 10 loyal customers beat 100 new ones
→ the definition of a true fans
→ why small retailers have an unfair advantage over big chains
→ how to identify your top customers without fancy crm tools
→ the exact script for reaching out (copy-paste ready!)
quick shoutout to this month’s merry partner
✨ marqvision ✨ with this very timely collab.
speaking of protecting your best customers, did you know that 78% of brands are losing 5%+ revenue to counterfeits?!?!
the moment you go viral, fakes appear within a week. your fans unknowingly buy knockoffs, get disappointed, and blame you.
true for digital & physical stores.
marqvision created an enlightening report explaining this costly ai tax & sharing with exactly how you can fight back to reclaim your revenue.
the quick math
say you need to generate $10,000 for your business, you could:
spend $$$$ acquiring 100 strangers who might spend $100 once
or
spend $ on coffee with 10 loyal current customers to get them to increased their spend by $1,0000.
same revenue.
wildly different effort.
completely different relationship quality.
plus the true fan path gives you bonuses the new customer rarely do:
organic marketing: they tell everyone about you
feedback gold: they'll give you honest insights to improve
stability: they keep coming back, reducing revenue volatility
community: they bring friends and build your tribe
these people are considered "true fans."
true fans
in 2008, wired magazine's former executive editor published an article that keeps going viral every few years. tim ferriss loved it enough to include in "tools of titans."
the author, kevin kelly, is part computer nerd, part hippie. a fasicinating individual.
the article is called "1,000 true fans."
tl;dr stop focusing on millions of customers. get 1,000 true fans spending $100/year in profit. that's $100K annually. not a fortune, but a living for an individual creator (especially in 2008).
the core principle of this idea is that a true fan is worth way more to a business than just another customer. true for many industries, including retail.
what i particularly like is how he defines a true fan:
a true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce.
these diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book; they will purchase your next figurine sight unseen; they will pay for the “best-of” dvd version of your free youtube channel; they will come to your chef’s table once a month.
kevin focused on how fans drive personal success.
but for retail, there's an even bigger reason to want them.
why true fans are the goat
this is about more than just money spent.
it's their energy. true fans:
tell their friends (word of mouth on autopilot)
bring their friends (free customer acquisition)
show up to events (guaranteed attendance)
post content unprompted (ugc without begging)
buy your swag (walking billboards)
embody your brand (sometimes better than your employees)
they become your marketing department, focus group, cheerleaders, and proof of concept rolled into one.
the local intimacy advantage
big corporations suck at this.
they're built for scale, not intimacy. everything's automated, templated, transactional. they can't connect with individual humans even when they try.
plus loads of read tape.
you or your local store manager are probably within 20 minutes of your true fans. you might see them weekly. you can remember their name.
remembering someone's name beats a corporate "here’s a discount to thank you for $1000 in purchases" email every single time.
personal beats programmatic. always.
how to identify your true fans
step 1: define "best customer"
usually a combination of:
time as customer: longevity matters
$ spent: lifetime value or annual spend
social media posts: do they tag/mention you?
referrals: have they brought friends or coworkers?
nps scores & comments: would they recommend you?
if you only have sales data, start there. add more variables as you can.
step 2: build the report
create a spreadsheet that ranks all customers by your criteria.
step 3: identify your top 25
if you're multi-location identify top 25 per store
want a template for this report? just reply & i'll send one over 🤓
how to connect with your true fans
have your local leader reach out personally. email or text.
copy-paste script:
hey [name]!
this is [your name] from [store name]. you're one of our biggest supporters in town so i wanted to personally say thank you.
your support means everything to our team and i'd love to buy you a coffee/drink to hear more about what brings you back. plus, i have a little thank-you gift for you.
would you have 20-30 minutes in the next couple weeks to meet at [location]?
thanks again for all your support!
[your name]
i bet you get a pretty high response rate since these customers already love you so much.
the meeting game plan
when you meet, your goals are:
show genuine appreciation make them feel valued, not studied
get to know them personally: you want to find more customers like them!
learn their social media preferences: where do they hang out online?
find out what groups they're active in: communities you should know about
ask for honest feedback and ideas: they'll tell you the truth
build a real relationship: nothing about this should feel transactional
ideally start doing this on a quarterly rhythm.
by year-end, you'll have connected with your top 100 customers.
that's 100 people who feel seen, valued, and even more committed to your success.
the unexpected benefit
a huge bonus to this approach for you & your team is that building your business this way makes it so. much. more. fun.
you're surrounded by people who like you, appreciate you, want you to win.
your team's happier too. humans crave familiar faces. regulars create rhythm. rhythm creates community. community creates meaning.
a few years back, i went as far as writing a nursing school recommendation essay for my esthetician at a facial studio because i loved her that much.
the studio never acknowledged my loyalty. never asked how i found them. never thanked me for years of monthly visits.
they had a true fan & didn't even know it.
don't be that studio.
p.s. i’ve been doing this exact thing for my newsie over the past month & loved chatting 1:1 with readers. y’all are so cool. if you’ve got thoughts, id love to hear them!