MAVEN MARKETING.

Maven--"an expert; a really knowledgeable person;
a good judge of quality; a connoisseur."
       --The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten

They trickle in almost unnoticed--fan letters, suggestions, quick e- mail notes from grateful customers. Usually, no one is quite sure what to do with all this random customer correspondence. A few letters get posted on the company bulletin board; the rest end up in a filing cabinet, unanswered.

In fact, says Mitch Russo, these letters and notes represent a priceless opportunity to cultivate company "mavens"--people who take great pride in being influencers and trend-setters. "The vast majority of people don't even think about sharing their opinion of a company," says Russo. "If you hear from a customer, you can be pretty sure they have a real passion about what you're doing. With just a little encouragement, your mavens will tell everyone they know how wonderful you are."

Russo--who admits to maven tendencies himself--says he's found and cultivated networks of company fans in both business and consumer markets. His first software company, TimeSlips Corp., sold a time and billing program that was widely adopted by lawyers and other professionals; he now runs a Web-based "search engine for furniture" that helps consumers locate retail outlets for home furnishings. "It's no accident that the company is called FurnitureFan," says Russo. "Our focus is on the fans, the enthusiasts, the mavens who are the true market influencers."

We recently talked with Russo about his approach to maven marketing:

Mitch, you seem to have good luck generating fan mail. What's the secret?

"There's no secret--people write because they want to, not because we offer any incentives. And the reasons vary. At TimeSlips in the early 1980s, we attracted technology mavens who were really enthusiastic about computers and software. We had hundreds of letters that we framed and hung in the hallways. The FurnitureFan letters are different: We get five or six e-mails a day from people who tell us how excited they are by the friendly personality of the site and the convenience we offer."

Five or six people? How can a few fans like that make a difference?

"Over a year, we'll probably hear from more than a thousand fans, and most of them are people who are especially active in creating word-of- mouth referrals. Here's what one of our fans wrote the other day: 'I work at a hospital and the day after visiting your site I told all of my co-workers about it. And I know for a fact that my daughters told all their classmates. I like to think that I am a discerning shopper and I always try to find quality as well as reasonable prices. When you find a site that is as personable as yours, you consider yourself very lucky and become a customer for many, many years.' A few thousand mavens like this lady can be a very, very powerful force. We don't do any real advertising, and yet FurnitureFan is the most-visited furniture site on the Internet. You have to wonder who's generating all that traffic."

But do mavens really stick around? Or do they eventually lose interest and become someone else's fans?

"Mavens drift away if they feel ignored. That's why it's so important to acknowledge their letters immediately, thanking them warmly for their time. I think it's also a good idea to send them a coffee mug or a t-shirt or a mouse pad--something they can proudly wear or display to show their friends that they have a relationship with you. At TimeSlips, I personally responded to every letter, and many times I'd send the people who wrote us a free upgrade or an add-on product. And when I was on business trips, I made a point of taking a maven to lunch or dinner. At the time, my software cost $99.95, so I often spent more on the lunch than we ever made in direct profit from that customer."

Is it always the CEO who should handle the maven network?

"Well, it should be someone with enough authority to make sure that good suggestions don't get lost. I remember once a maven told us our user manual 'stunk,' and I challenged him to rewrite it. He submitted a proposal, I accepted it, and his version was substantially better than our manual--so we published it. Would the rewrite have happened if someone else had been handling our mavens? Realistically, probably not."

What about people who write in to complain? Most companies seem to ignore negative comments, or they reply with a form letter.

"That's a mistake. When we get negative mail, we still think of it as a chance to create a new maven. We acknowledge the letter and address the issues raised by the customer. Most of the time, they're absolutely right about their criticisms, which took time, effort, and courage to communicate. The fact is, complaints come from outgoing, vocal people. It only makes sense that if they're left unsatisfied, they'll jack up the volume and tell their tale of woe to everyone who'll listen. I don't want that to happen, so we go out of our way to make sure they're happy."

Mitch Russo, chief executive officer, FurnitureFan, 142 North Rd., Sudbury, Mass. 01776; 978/371-2590. E-mail: [e-mail].