What is the Fan-Principle?

The Fan Principle is a holistic management control system that helps companies analyze and optimize their internal and external relationships and thereby increase their economic success.

With the Fan Principle, we increase the success of companies and organizations by aligning relationship management on the basis of fan relationships: identification and perceived uniqueness.

With the FanPrinciple, we measure, evaluate and optimize the quality of relationships with your most important target groups: customers, employees, journalists, investors, political decision-makers and others. In the case of associations and clubs, we consider the relationship with their members rather than the customer relationship.

With the Fan Principle, we provide you with clarity about the satisfaction and emotional loyalty of your target groups and help you to focus on your strengths, use your resources optimally and manage your organization successfully.

The Fan Principle opens the eye for an urgently needed paradigm shift in relationship management. The core idea: no longer try to have your customers be more and more satisfied with more and more performance and more and more outlay. Instead, reflect on your strengths – less is everything!

The Fan Principle thus stands for more profit with less outlay.

Fan Indicator

Our insight from over 20 years of research and consulting: Satisfaction is not sufficient as the only parameter and control variable for relationship quality. Because even highly satisfied customers behave increasingly disloyal. A further parameter is necessary to correctly evaluate the quality of corporate relationships.

In the search for this parameter, we found what we were looking for in the social science fan-research. After all, fans have a higher value, an emotional bond to their “star”. The classic relationships of satisfaction through performance are no longer valid.

We know from research: The automatism that turns fans into fans is an intuitive fit between the fan and the star’s offerings. This fit ensures identification. Subsequently, identification is the central motor for every fan relationship. But that is not all!

The fan is after repetition. He wants to experience again and again what once made him a fan.

It is therefore a matter of making identification something that can be experienced again and again and thus creating perceived uniqueness.

The prerequisites for emotional bonding are summarized in the Fan-Indicator and applied to the relationship between companies and their customers:

Identification

Perceived fit between customers' needs and the company's offer

Perceived uniqueness

The company is the most attractive provider in this area in the subjective perception of the customer

Fan Indicator

In this way, emotional bonding in relationships can be made measurable in a simple and practicable way: If a customer feels a high degree of identification and his provider is unique from his point of view, he is emotionally bound. With the Fan-Indicator we have discovered a new currency for the quality of relationships.

Fan Portfolio

In the fan-portfolio, we segment the target groups according to their emotional attachment and performance satisfaction. In this way, we identify a total of five types that have different values for satisfaction and emotional attachment: Fans, sympathizers, mercenaries, emotional captives and opponents.

Fan: Highly satisfied, above average emotional attachment. Loyal companion and ambassador.

Sympathizer: Similarly satisfied and bound as the fan, but less committed.

Mercenary: Satisfied, but without commitment. Performance-related (strongly oriented towards price).

Emotional Captive: Dissatisfied, but bound. Disappointed, e.g. because information is missing or the performance promise is no longer fulfilled.

Opponent: Dissatisfied but without commitment. Attention!: Tendency to express their displeasure and speak badly about the company.

The benefit of the Fan Principle:

  • We show you how many true fans your company has and support you in increasing your fan quota.
  • We analyze the central needs and motives of your target audience and show you the strengths and weaknesses of your company from their perspective.
  • We show you how to make your central messages come alive at the most important contact points.
  • We show you how to differentiate yourself from the competition.
  • Analysis and consulting based on the Fan Principle support you in your positioning.
  • The Fan Principle provides you with reliable forecasts for the future behavior of your target groups.
  • We accompany the implementation of the Fan Principle as a strategic and operational management tool.
  • The Fan Principle helps you plan and implement marketing, communication and sales measures for specific target groups.
Interesting lectures on the Fan Principle
Interesting lectures on the Fan Principle
Fan Scan

Measure your FAN-Quota

FanScan® is our unparalleled digital tool for measuring emotional customer relationships.

Use the FanScan® and find out!

An online tool for every company.

Start now

2HMforum. For best Relations. We have…

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customers helped worldwide

Why fans are so valuable!

2HMforum.

Fan Customers…

…are the guarantee for a company’s success. They buy more, they buy more often, they are less price-sensitive, they evaluate conditions more positively, they have the highest contribution margin and are loyal even in bad times. And fan customers are the best ambassadors.

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2HMforum.

Fan Employees…

…are a company’s greatest capital. They are faithful and loyal, they are more motivated and less at risk of burnout, they identify with the goals of the company and are happy to recommend employers and products. Fan employees burn for their company.

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2HMforum.

Fan Members…

…make member organizations and associations successful: they remain loyal, even if competitors try to poach them or services are no longer interesting. They are happy to pay higher fees, they volunteer their time, they are quicker to forgive – and they are the most valuable referrers.

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Jonas Lang

Your contact:

Jonas Lang

Member of the Executive Board, Head of Sales

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