Stop Chasing Customers and Start Creating Fans! - Seceon
                     Stop Chasing Customers and Start 
Creating Fans!
What does Jesse Cole, founder of Savannah Bananas, collegiate 
summer baseball team based in Savannah, Georgia have to say 
about building a great business?
“ Stop chasing customers and start creating fans!”
Under his leadership, his team has gained popularity for their 
unique fan experiences and marketing strategies and Jesse 
presenting during the Friday morning keynote at #ITNation this 
week. It was fun, educational, and inspirational! He taught us the 
3 core components of creating loyal fans which in today’s highly 
competitive business landscape, creating fans, not just customers, 
is the key to sustainable success.
#1 Eliminate Friction:
“Look in the mirror and make that change,” as Michael Jackson 
famously sang in “Man in the Mirror.” This principle applies to 
businesses looking to grow. To start, identify and eliminate friction 
pHoowintcsaninI hyoeluprycouus?tomer experience. Imagine 
yourself in your customers’ shoes and pinpoint what hinders their 
journey with your brand and
your competitors. For baseball, people who aren’t raving fans point out 
that the games are long, boring, and expensive. After Jesse himself took 
the time to go through the entire process as an attendee to many 
baseball games, he felt the same pains that the other attendees did.
It’s a long walk from affordable parking to the ticket booth. Once you 
buy the ticket, you realize that hotdogs are $12 and your favorite beer is 
$14 dollars. Bring your kids and this expense really adds up! Jesse then 
set out to remove the friction from the experience – he standardized 
pricing, eliminated extraneous fees, and shortened the game to also 
include fun and entertaining players and staff.
Micro-frictions, like voicemail or invoicing processes, can accumulate and 
drive customers away. To be a “friction fighter,” leaders should go through 
the customer experience themselves and resolve these issues. Sometimes, 
doing the unscalable (addressing unique customer concerns) can pave 
the way for scalable fan-building strategies.
Creating a script to turn a negative experience into a positive one is 
invaluable. Even when things go wrong, your approach can leave a lasting 
impression.
#2 Understand What Business You’re Really In:
Leaders, “What business are you in? What business are you really 
in?” These questions urge you to think beyond your products and 
delve into the realm of relationships. To create fans, you need to 
make people think about you, not just as another vendor but as a 
unique and trustworthy partner.
Jesse came to understand that if attendees avoid baseball games 
because they are too long and boring, that he wasn’t really in the 
“sports” business, he was in the “entertainment” business. This then 
allowed him to think differently about how to execute on growing the 
business, i.e. his fan base.
Differentiation is the key. Stand out from the crowd and be willing to go 
through the messy process of finding your greatness. Leaders should 
empower themselves to do something different and then inspire & 
empower their teams to follow suit.
#3 Experiment Constantly:
To stand out and create fans, you must constantly experiment. Most teams 
sell t-shirts and hats. Savannah Bannanas did that too, but also created and 
sold their Official Dolce Banana underwear selling out of those 
consistently.
Pete Rose and Reggie Jackson’s stories underline the importance of 
persistence and positivity. You can’t have the most home runs unless you 
have the most at bats! Keep swinging hard, even if you strike out, and 
maintain a positive attitude.
Conclusion:
To sum it up, the road to creating fans involves eliminating 
friction, redefining your business in terms of relationships, and 
constantly experimenting to stand out. Remember, it’s not about 
chasing customers; it’s about creating loyal fans who will stick 
with your brand through thick and thin. Embrace these three 
steps, and you’ll be well on your way to building a dedicated 
following that supports and promotes your business.
Address - 238 Littleton Road Suite #206 Westford, MA 
01886
Phone no - +1 (978)-923-0040 
Email Id - [email protected]
Website - https://www.seceon.com/