Saga do Coração IV, by Ninho Morandini
So there I was, almost a year ago, struggling to build my business in a new city, wondering what I could possibly do to make ends meet and doing what anyone else would do: checking Twitter.
Naomi had said something – and even when Naomi was active on Twitter, when she said something, it was THE LAW OF THE INTERNET that you listen. She’d retweeted an idea from a lady with a crazy name, suggesting a month-long challenge to show your customers you love them.
Sounds a bit woo-woo, I thought. But what the hell, I was in the middle of Molly Gordon’s Self-Employment Telesummit, which was bringing all kinds of breakthroughs and that tended to veer from the very straight-laced to the very woo-woo without any kind of warning. Plus, this Customer Love malarkey was free, so what did I have to lose?
Rachael Acklin says:
Dear LaVonne, ever since you started the first CustomerLove challenge, I feel like I’ve been learning at your feet.
You taught me to leap and take risks, even if I’m scared I might flake out, because the risk is worth potential embarrassment.
You taught me to love people for the sake of loving people, and to consider selling them something as secondary to the relationship itself.
You taught me to trust that my perfect people were out there, and that I could find them by being as wonderful, generous, and loving as I wanted to be.
Most importantly, I learned, from watching you, that the best and wisest of us often masquerade as the least of us, although I see right through you now. 😉
Thank you for being so generous and wonderful. I truly feel loved by you. I wish you all the best and more.
Rachael, your customer-in-love for life
Customer Love made a subtle difference in how I approached finding new students. At the time, desperation had made me forget that my job was to help people understand maths, not to be a sleazy, ‘everyone come to me and give me money’ salesman. JFK said something like, ‘ask not what your customers can do for you, ask what you can do for your customers’ – and once I started following that advice, the leads started to trickle in.
The lady with the crazy name pretty much saved my business.
During that first, crazy Customer Love month, I landed a book deal. The proposal I wrote really focussed on making math easy and safe for people who find it frightening and/or impossible. Basic Maths For Dummies comes out on August 12th, and it owes a huge amount to the Customer Love way of thinking.
Karim Benyagoub says:
Thanks to LaVonne, I discovered so many great people in the #customerlove tweetchats, calls and already legendary challenges. I’m still discovering so many great people that I would have never met anywhere else. #customerlove is just magic like that; it spreads beyond the awareness of its participants, and I am sure LaVonne will spread its vastness even more in future!
This is the end of, what, the fourth Customer Love challenge? In that time, I’ve made dozens of amazing new friends around the world – from coaches to copywriters, designers to artists to ringleaders and frightening clowns. I’ve even met some of them (and plan to meet even more over the summer).
Because that’s what LaVonne does – she helps people on the internet become human to you. She turns the idea of ‘getting eyeballs on a page’ into ‘thinking about the heart behind the eyeballs’ (anatomy may not be her strong point). She brings people together, she accepts everyone for who they are, and she shows that you don’t have to be a hard-headed twenty-something MBA to make a go of online (or offline) business.
LaVonne: many happy returns, my dear friend. I love you to bits. Don’t ever change!
Drop LaVonne a comment in the box below and tell her how she’s changed your business and/or life. Gush! It’s her birthday.
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
How great to hear the history of Customer Love from this perspective! Thanks Colin for sharing your story in a way that shines the light on LaVonne. She really is a gem!
Thanks, Colin, for sharing this inspiring story – the beginning of it could almost be mine, so I take great heart from the positive things that you’ve had happen.
And a big thank you to LaVonne for creating the Customer Love community. I lurked for a while, and have only recently started to join in more actively. I’m only a little way down the road, but already I am noticing tangible benefits in my business. I am happier and more caring, and my customers are noticing!
But, just as Colin wrote, the benefits of Customer Love are more wide-ranging. I’ve been lucky enough to find a vibrant community of interesting and caring people, and I’m starting to make friends. And to an Aussie girl in Britain, that’s a really special thing!
Happy birthday, LaVonne!
Wow, what a sweet surprise to wake up to! I had no idea CL did that for you, Colin – that’s wonderful! And thanks to Rachael and Karim for such lovely comments. Wow.
Taking part in CL has been so awesome. It introduced me to a community of smart wonderful people. It helped me to find the courage, resources, and support I needed to get my biz moving in the right direction. LaVonne is so giving and I’m so thankful that she started CL and that I found it.
Happy birthday, LaVonne!!