How to Unlock the Power of Influentials
🌟 Dive Into Your Customer Database for Brand Ambassadors
When searching for “influentials” to elevate your brand, start where it matters most: your customer database. This approach worked wonders for me with NFL Hall of Famer and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris.
📲 SPRINT PCS – Revolutionizing Digital Wireless Communications
Back in the day, I was part of an incredible team launching Sprint PCS, a pioneer in digital wireless communications in Pittsburgh and across western Pennsylvania. Despite being the third market to launch in late December 1997, we were tackling an industry-first challenge.
🚀 Our Bold Challenges:
1. Persuading customers to choose a $150 digital wireless phone over a free analog one.
2. Launching with just a third of the necessary cell tower coverage.
3. Managing expectations in our ambitious “The Replacement for Cellular is Here” campaign.
We faced high customer returns due to our overpromising and underdelivering approach. Given Pittsburgh’s unique terrain with bridges, tunnels, and rivers, the spotty coverage in the tri-state area led to numerous dropped calls.
Our sales mantra focused on “Call Clarity, Coverage, Value, and Why Buy Today,” but we didn’t stress enough about our limited coverage regarding where people lived, worked, and played.
It’s easy to understand why, due to the challenges commissioned salespeople face. And often, our eager customers—especially those who want the latest, shiniest new toy—didn’t listen closely enough to our pitch.
🔄 Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Meeting with my boss, Doug Cotton, and Mike Cusick, our head of sales, we discussed our returns and how some people like what we’re selling. We knew our call clarity value proposition was undisputed and critical for our turnaround. So, we narrowed our focus.
Mike’s sales team started to find success with local professionals like real estate agents, construction workers, plumbers, restaurateurs, and more who didn’t need extensive coverage. He and his team did such a great sales job that many customers held on to their old analog phones to handle coverage issues and bought our phones for call clarity and security.
Our message was getting through, but we needed to sell more! We needed to keep targeting those people who desired and valued call clarity and could wait for our network buildout.
And I thought, “Could we find interesting, popular, and trustworthy people who love our service and be brand ambassadors?”
đź’ˇ The Franco Harris Epiphany: Sprint PCS – Immaculate Reception!
While reviewing our B2B customer list, I stumbled upon a game-changer: Franco Harris of Super Bakery, a Steelers icon and NFL Hall of Famer, who was listed with FIVE phones and his contact information.
Mama Mia!
It was December 1997, and as a lifelong Steelers fan, I knew that on the 23rd of the month, it was the anniversary of the NFL’s most famous play—Franco’s Immaculate Reception! His catch gifted the Pittsburgh Steelers their first-ever playoff victory by defeating the Oakland Raiders.
An idea was sparked! I thought, “What if we could marry Franco’s historic catch with us?”
Sprint PCS – Immaculate Reception!
đź’Ą Striking Gold with Franco Harris
Excitedly, I proposed this idea to Doug and Mike and told them if Franco liked our service and call clarity value proposition and would agree to be a brand ambassador, we would offer him a cash and trade deal.
Doug and Mike enthusiastically agreed to move forward, and so did Franco!
We crafted an incredible campaign featuring:
• Outdoor and print ads featuring Franco
• In-store appearances that were a total hit
🏆 The Impact: A Resounding Clear Success
1. Our team’s enthusiasm for our brand and their role skyrocketed.
2. With a renewed focus on call clarity, we saw a big decrease in returns and an uptick in sales.
3. Franco’s appearances brought in massive in-store crowds and led to other Steelers legend appearances, such as Hall of Famer Jack Ham joining in.
4. We garnered front-page attention in industry publications like RCR and Wireless Week.
5. This success led to a lucrative national partnership for Franco with Sprint Long Distance.
🌟 Final Takeaway: Customer-First Brand Ambassadors
Remember, the most authentic brand ambassadors are often your customers.
They bring genuine experience, authenticity, and passion to your product, unlike paid actors who have no experience with your product or service.
Dive into your customer database – you might find your next Franco Harris!
It’s December 23!
Happy Heavenly Immaculate Reception Anniversary Franco!
You were the greatest!
