Tribe Building

Am I a Member of a Tribe?

Sure.  Everyone is a member of many tribes.  Sometimes being a tribe member is as simple as feeling associated with particular people (political party, etc.).  Other times, tribal membership requires a barrier to entry (initiation, etc.) 

When you’re feeling an association with certain people, you’re probably a member of a tribe.  Consider these examples:

- You really like Barack Obama, you agree with his ideas and find yourself feeling connected to others who support him.  Although you’ve never met him or his supporters, you’re in the Obama Tribe.

- You feel strongly about your 2nd Amendment rights.  You feel there are too many gun control laws already.  You want more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens and less guns in the hands of criminals.  You’re in the gun rights tribe.

- Here’s a more traditional tribe.  You’re a member of a church.  You’re a member of that particular “tribe”.  You’re connected to the Church leader and the other members.

- Here’s a less obvious, but very large tribe.  You love Diet Pepsi.  You identify better with others who like Diet Pepsi and wonder how anyone can possibly drink that “other stuff”.  You’re in the Diet Pepsi Tribe.   

- Tribes are everywhere and they’re here to say.  What makes them so important now is the Net.  An explosion of tribes have formed on the Net.  If you use the Net, you’re probably a member of many tribes that wouldn’t have been possible without it.

Connections.....Can you please elaborate?

Pam asks:  "Can you elaborate a little more about connections as you use the word in your tribes manifesto?"

When thinking about connections and tribes, it's important to remember there are varying degrees of connections.  Some are loose, others are strong and everything in between.

However, we are all connected in one way or another.  What defines a tribe is being connected to each other, a leader and an idea.  That idea can be a product, a website, a business, a concept, a political party, etc.

You need not even know someone in order to make/have a connection with them.  For example, Pam asked this question, I'm now politely responding via this blog post - thus, we have a "connection".  My hope is that when she reads this response, Pam recognizes the connection and retains it in the future.  Perhaps she'll continue to read this blog?  Maybe she'll read future ebooks I write.  Regardless, it's important to realize the subtleties of connections and the importance of those connections in the business world.  If I were to have ignored Pam, she might walk away with a negative opinion of me, never read (or refer) my blog, etc.  When you think of the positive word-of-mouth I lose - that's a HUGE wasted opportunity.

From almost any perspective, a positive connection leads to good things.  With the Net and tools like Twitter, tribes and connections are inevitable. 

Connections and Feelings

At one time or another, everyone is a customer and everyone has feelings. In case you haven’t noticed, people are generally driven by their feelings.

Successful businesses (and people) are able to establish connections that generate good feelings in other people and themselves. Think about it, when you walk away from a business transaction with good feelings, don’t you feel more connected to the business?

So here’s the big question: If you’re looking to build a successful business, why would you ever engage in a transaction with a customer (or potential customer) that didn’t stimulate good feelings in that customer? The answer, of course, is that you would never want to do that.  Right?

If you would like to learn more about the power of connections and how those connections relate to the concept of tribes, check out my newly published manifesto on ChangeThis.com.

http://www.changethis.com/55.04.CustomerTribes

Enjoy!