Who Are the Savannah Bananas and What Can We Learn from Them?: Episode 875

Episode 875

Who Are the Savannah Bananas and What Can We Learn from Them?: Episode 875

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Episode 875 – Who Are the Savannah Bananas and What Can We Learn from Them?: Episode 875

Today on the podcast, we have Lindsay Bjorklund here to talk to you about something a little different than what we normally do. A few months back, one of our members sent a book to Mike and Tracey called “Fans First”, by Jesse Cole. Mike was so intrigued by the concept that he invited our whole team to read it. As the client happiness manager, Lindsay was particularly taken with the concept and shares what is so memorable about it in the podcast today. Listen in to see why a baseball team that has nothing to do with cleaning can help you create the culture you’re looking for.

Crunch Time

When Jesse Cole bought the Savannah Bananas (they had a different name at the time), they were broke and had no support. They played in a 100-year-old stadium and hardly anyone ever came to their games. He decided to get the community involved to see if he couldn’t turn things around starting with a naming contest. When the name Savannah Bananas came up, he knew that was the one and started to create a brand around the banana mascot naming it ‘Split’ and having it visit elementary schools to get the kids excited as well. They played off the banana idea even selling underwear called ‘Dolce and Banana’ and having the first pitch be a banana.

The Fans First Way (The Five E’s)

The five ‘e’s that are introduced in this book at the following: eleminate friction, entertain always, experiment constantly, engage deeply, and empower action.

Eliminate Friction: In the book, the owner Jesse offered free food and drink once you bought a ticket for the game. Everyone thought he would go bankrupt not having people pay for their food since that is generally a huge money maker, but people loved the concept so much that they started selling out their games and even had a waitlist because people loved the idea of free food and drink included in the ticket.

Entertain Always: If you aren’t entertaining customers, you won’t have customers to entertain. Remember this even when it comes to a cleaning business. The more you engage, the more memorable your business will be to those you serve and those around you. As the ‘host’, you can make it an engaging experience with every client you have.

Experiment: Every time they had a new player, they ask them what they think should change so things can constantly improve. As soon as they had a suggestion, they would make changes immediately to ensure things were always changing and getting done.

Engage Deeply: Do for one what you wish you could do for many. For the team, they did military nights. Instead of showing service men and women on the big screen as so many other teams do, they decided to have the parents of kids show up so that it was a very emotional and beautiful night for all involved and so memorable.

Empower Action: They celebrate failures, and they reward team members. The author tells a story about when he had all these issues and he came to his boss and asked him about them. Instead of telling him what to do, his boss asked what he thought, and that allowed him to really think and be creative, and move forward. So we should be with our employees.

Final Takeaway: Think outside the box, don’t be afraid to do things differently, and be memorable, it will make all the difference.

Love the idea, but find it overwhelming? Want to learn the next steps like, what to actually say on the call? Jump on a call with one of our coaches and learn strategies on how to grow your cleaning company and start loving your job every day! Book here

Episode 875