Enchanting Your Tribe

If you hang with me long enough, you’ll figure out I’m a foodie.

Hopefully not the insane variety (“I shall only eat that gravy if you replace the trumpet mushrooms with shitake”), but rather firmly ensconced in the Mediterranean food-is-at-the-very-center-of-life camp.

So when we moved recently, finding my new local food sources was right at the top of the list.

Step 1 after the Farmer’s Market? A go-to grocery store for everything from specialty produce to meats and fish to paper goods.

My first foray was to the Von’s closest to my home: big, clean, brightly-lit, the typical American chain grocery store. As I roamed the produce aisle and worked my way through the store, something immediately felt off.

I chalked it up to not knowing the store layout yet. But as I finished shopping from my list and filling my basket, it hit me. They just didn’t have all the usual choices I expected from a giant grocery store. And the people—both customers and employees—seemed unaccountably surly.

When I mentioned the experience to a friend, she immediately sent me to her store— Pavillion (another Vons brand)—five miles further away.

When I started walking the aisles, it was like the angels started singing (I’m a foodie—I live for this stuff). The produce section was HUGE with everything I could think of to ask for (even the lemongrass I was hunting that day). When I scooted over to the meat/seafood department, the man behind the counter knew his products and was excited to share. Yes, he actually smiled while he wrapped up my bacon—here was a guy who loved his work!

When I checked out, the manager on duty jumped into the line to help bag, joking with customers and generally being helpful.

The deal was sealed—I’d found my new store.

I believe it’s like this for our clients too.

They enter our “space”—almost always virtual at first—and decide whether they want to stay and “shop”.

They look around—are people like me “shopping” (reading, watching, commenting) here?

They decide to stay and try it out—what’s it feel like to be served by you?

Maybe they buy something, maybe not.

And then they decide whether to come back.

So it’s up to us to keep the right ones in our orbit.

By clearly designing our space—think websites and blogs especially—for our sweet-spot slice of audience.

By writing, selecting images and sharing video with that client firmly in mind.

By appreciating that not everyone will (or should) love us and using that as fuel to double down on our core message.

By turning bad-fits away early—and bonding more deeply with our true tribe.

We’re not attempting to capture a broad swath of the market.

We just want to build our tribe one angel-singing interaction at a time.

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