Your Best Customers Haven’t Bought Anything Yet

The most powerful customer network is the one you didn't build.

Old North Church, Boston, MA. Photo Credit: Colin Black

“...By the way, before you hang up… I noticed that you’re calling from Singapore. We have about 10 students in Singapore, but we don’t know why. Do you know anything about that?”

“Oh, yeah, they all go to my church group. My children haven’t been old enough to take your classes until now, but I heard about your company a few years ago and have been referring all my friends”

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This was a conversation I had on the phone with a customer back around 2015.

Turns out, sometimes your best customers are the ones who haven’t even bought anything yet.

When I worked in online education, I managed an online high school program with students in over 10 countries around the world. Most of our students were from the U.S. but we had a steady minority from military bases, missionary outposts, and private schools in other countries.

Most of the time, we didn’t even know how these pockets emerged, although we knew it had something to do with word of mouth.

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains the importance of network effects. He uses the example of why most Americans have heard of Paul Revere, who warned his fellow patriots about which method the British would use to invade the Massachusetts countryside during the early days of the American Revolution.

In addition to Paul Revere, there was another rider: Richard Dawes. Yet, most of us have never heard of him. Or, if we have, he doesn’t immediately come to mind.

Both men rode similar routes, and yet few people responded to Dawes’ call to arms, or even reported that they remembered talking to him.

Gladwell concluded that the determining variable of their success had nothing to do with that fateful night. It had everything to do with what happened before.

You see, Paul Revere was what Gladwell called a connector.

Networks aren’t linear. They’re more like a bicycle spoke than links in a chain.

Prior to his famous ride, Revere served on a committee to implement Boston’s first streetlights, as health officer during epidemics, and even helped found a fire insurance company. He was known up and down the northeast as a key member of many social groups.

When Revere and Dawes set off on their respective routes, Revere already knew who to warn in order to get the word out to each community. So his messaging was more targeted. He knew how to tap into small, existing networks to get news to travel fast.

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When we were trying to grow our online high school program from 400 to 1600 students (and actually make a profit for once!), I realized that we needed to tap into the network effect.

When Facebook started, they specifically targeted colleges. Why? Because colleges already have built-in networks. Once a few students on a college campus had Facebook, other students wanted it too, so they wouldn’t feel left out.

In other words, it’s a lot easier to convince a group of 2,000 friends to do something than it is to convince 2,000 disconnected people.

But when you have a small team, it can be difficult and time-consuming to invent new networks. So, it’s better to use digital and physical channels to connect to networks that already exist.

In our case, it was private schools, church groups, missionary outposts, military bases, and homeschool groups. Basically, any decentralized group looking for quality, online classical Christian education.

Who are the networks for your business?

If you own a coffeeshop, it might be a local church group looking for a place to host a Bible study. It might be students at a local college. It might be employees from a law firm across the street. It might be fans of a musician you asked to come play on Friday night.

If you’re an author, it might be your own online blog community. It might be book clubs, library groups, businesses in need of guest speakers, conference organizations, or other similar groups.

We’ve all seen examples of businesses that struggle because they don’t plug into existing networks. It’s tempting to want to be “self-made” and try to build a business without relying on the help of others. Being self-made is a good story, but it’s also a fool’s errand.

You can use referrals, social media groups, partnerships, and other tactics to leverage the power of communities.

But plugging into networks only works when someone already believes in your product or your mission. In essence, referrals and community building aren’t just about meeting a need or selling a product.

They’re about alignment.

So, don’t sell to disconnected groups of strangers. Get to know communities that already share your values and sell to them.

Remember, sometimes your best customers aren’t the ones who buy consistently, or even buy at all.

Your best customers are the ones who already believe in the same things you do.