My articles tend to be inspired by things like industry trends, reader suggestions or the people I run into, on or offline.  In every case, the idea is to present you, fair readers, with nuggets of knowledge to apply in your businesses.   This month Lynn Gordon, the Founder of French Meadow Bakery, is my muse.  The power of her customer connection is what I hope will inspire you.

Let me start by saying, French Meadow Bakery, like plenty of businesses out there, is not a textbook example of a company using every available marketing channel perfectly.  Especially for products like their breads, that hit a trend just right and then explode in popularity, it can be hard to grow a business in an intentional way. Lynn very openly admits that the French Meadow web site does not currently represent the company the way it should.  (Re-design is on her lengthy 2003 to-do list.)

The growth of French Meadow had always been strong, about 15% every year, since the company was established.  Since the introduction of the Woman's Bread in late 1999, and the other special breads that soon followed (Men's Bread and Hemp Bread, among others), things have gotten even better.  The company's growth was at 22% or more in 2000 and 2001, and has a predicted growth of about 20% even for slow-economy 2002!

The amazing success of French Meadow is a testament to how the passion of an owner/founder can lead to customer connection like no other. 

Inspiring Customer Passion, And How

Because French Meadow Bakery bakes and sells a product with incredible emotional appeal (nutrition/health), the company doesn't even have to ask for feedback.  As eating right has become such a trend in the past few years, their ultra-nutritious breads simply jump-start word-of-mouth and market themselves. 

And then there's Lynn.  Lynn is French Meadow's key customer touchpoint, and is a veritable magnet for consumer questions on nutrition who has a talent for knowing how a woman buys.

Lynn receives hundreds of weekly emails of appreciation, recipe suggestions and pleas of desperation from across the country for French Meadow products to become available in more stores.   Add to that all the people she talks to on planes, at conferences and in the grocery stores - where she lingers late at night observing customers and talking with shelf stocking staff - and you've got customer connection on a grand scale.  Each nugget of input helps with new product development and gives Lynn ideas for extending the reach of her breads. 

Intuitively Delivering To Women

Lynn Gordon, with her company commitment to providing certified organic and highly nutritious breads and her personal willingness to hit the pavement as a 24/7 education resource for everyone she meets, intuitively knows how women want to learn and buy.  Lynn starts by knowing what she herself wants and then listens to her customers for fine-tuning.  Let's take a look at how French Meadow applies some of the "how she buys" truths:

• Women are constituent-driven.  French Meadow breads present solutions for women who want to maintain their own health and who are concerned for the health of their loved ones.  For example, after introducing Woman's Bread, Lynn heard from many women on behalf of the men in their lives (in addition to hearing directly from men) that there was a huge need for a Men's Bread.  And, a new French Meadow product was born.

• Women seek peer and expert validation.  Women more openly discuss experiences, ask questions and solicit opinions from friends, family and experts.  Lynn has always been a direct source of information that customers can easily access.  Lynn's constant interaction with customers reflects the French Meadow human touch, which helps women move forward in their buying processes.

• Women value their network of connections.  Women appreciate doing business with companies with which they have an existing connection and through which they can also connect with other like-minded women.  Lynn's own focus on nutrition and health is what also guides her company, and that health-driven cause is shared with many women these days.  By reading the testimonials alone, prospective French Meadow bread customers can begin to feel less isolated in their growing dietary concerns and more like a member of a large group of organic food-aware people. 

Grassroots Relationship Building

Beyond the personal connections she makes whenever she is in public or in correspondence with web site visitors or new French Meadow fans, Lynn uses a few more methods to keep her grass roots spreading, for example:

• Connecting with industry experts: Lynn stays on top of the nutrition industry, making sure to read the latest in diet, nutrition and health books and magazines.  Lynn also sees to it that recognized industry experts and authors receive a personal letter from her and a shipment of bread samples.

• Being a resource: Many of the emails Lynn receives are not necessarily specific to the core business of French Meadow, but rather are questions about certain ingredients or general nutrition plans.  She always reminds people that she can't claim to be the final source, but Lynn does provide further information and refer to studies and research to continue the customer's self-education process.  Her customers have grown to trust her and seek her wealth of knowledge because of it.

Customer Experience That Resonates With Women

To clone a bit of Lynn's customer connection in your own business, a goal should be to identify that one person who can be your naturally passionate public persona (say that 3 times fast!).   That enthusiast may come from within company ranks, of course, but you may also want to seriously consider recruiting from within your existing fan base. (An example of that recruitment method would be Lynette Chiang of Bike Friday. There is great profile of her on the Wabash and Lake site - see the link below.)

And, even if you don't yet have some sort of programmed database building or email inquiry sorting system related to your Internet presence, it might be worth adding a customer profiling and feedback monitoring task to someone's job description (and truly allowing them the time to work on those things).

Finally, many small businesses wouldn't be in business if they weren't particularly good at making a certain product or providing a unique service.  Consider your industry expertise worth its weight in gold in terms of forging great customer connection, and share your knowledge!  If your site becomes the absolute be all and end all resource for information about your specialty, you won't be able to handle the customer interest in connecting with your brand.

Customer-Propelled Growth 

Lynn embodies the core demographic of her market.  She knows, firsthand, the concerns and health issues of the women her company and products serve.  Over the years, she has worked hard to further develop her expertise and her ability to serve as an educational resource about nutrition. 

I'd guess that French Meadow customers feel like #1 in many ways, and that they consider their access to Lynn a special resource for a sort of in-the-know nutrition "club." All of which means women customers, especially, are likely to get really comfortable with the company and refer more of their friends to French Meadow breads - which is just the ultimate in customer propulsion.

Links:

French Meadow Bakery: http://www.frenchmeadow.com

Profile of Bike Friday's Lynette Chiang: http://www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com/resources/evangelists/lynette_chiang.asp

Lynn's warm and informative way one me over, for sure, and I brought a loaf of Woman's Bread along on a snowboarding trip last week.  With 14 g of protein and 80 mg of soy isoflavones per serving (two thin slices),  and only dried cranberries as the dose of sweetness, the slices were a great (and healthier) alternative to the nutritional bars on the market.  

My chairlift mates may have thought I was a nut as I opened my little baggie of bread - but I felt energetic all day.  

Well, look at me.  A woman inspired by a great product to spread the word. ;-)

 
Take care until next time,

Andrea


P.S. Yes!  Write me with your ideas, comments, or questions at: andrea@reachwomen.com