How Putting Fans First Will Transform Your Business

The Fans First Playbook for Transportation Leaders

Imagine going to a baseball game where a dancing umpire busts moves between innings, players sometimes hit in kilts, and grandma cheerleaders (the “Banana Nanas”) steal the show. Sounds crazy, right? That’s a typical night with the Savannah Bananas, a once-unknown collegiate team turned viral sensation. The man behind this circus-meets-baseball phenomenon is Jesse Cole, the owner who always dons a bright yellow tuxedo and lives by a simple mantra: “Fans First.” In fact, he literally renamed his company Fans First Entertainment. Cole’s book Fans First: Change the Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience shares how focusing obsessively on fans (not just “customers”) took the Bananas from empty seats to a 3.2 million-person ticket waitlist.

So, what’s the big idea? In Cole’s world, fans are more valuable than customers. “Customers come and go... Fans never leave,” he says. By creating raving fans instead of casual customers, the Bananas have sold out every game and spend $0 on marketing – fans do the marketing for them by spreading the buzz.

How did Cole do it? He threw “normal” out the window (literally whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite became his rallying cry) and innovated every aspect of the experience to delight fans. The result: Fans getting Bananas tattoos, babies on waiting lists to be the next “Banana Baby,” and people driving 40+ hours to attend games. That level of devotion wasn’t bought with ads or discounts – it was earned through unforgettable moments and fan-centric thinking.

Cole’s Fans First philosophy boils down to five key principles (the “Five E’s”) that any business can apply to turn customers into loyal fans. Whether you’re running a trucking company, a freight brokerage, or a logistics tech firm, these principles can help you stand out in a world of “normal” businesses. Let’s summarize each principle and see how you can put it into action in your own company.

1. Eliminate Friction

Think of all the little annoyances and hassles your customers face – and obliterate them. Cole says innovation starts by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and ruthlessly removing their pain points. For the Bananas, that meant reimagining the entire baseball experience. Games too long and boring? They created “Banana Ball” with a two-hour time limit and zany rules to keep things moving. Hate hidden fees at events? The Bananas made every ticket all-inclusive – one flat price covers your seat and all the hotdogs, burgers, drinks, and even taxes, so no fan ever feels nickel-and-dimed. They even changed the fine print stuff: the hold music, the voicemail, the invoices – every touchpoint was made fun and easy. The message is clear: any time there’s friction, you risk losing a fan.

Now, imagine your transportation business. What friction points drive your customers bananas? 😜 Lengthy contracts? Long wait times for quotes? Confusing websites or surprise fuel surcharges? Take a hard look at every step of your client’s journey – from the first call to final delivery – and do a “friction audit”. Then get rid of anything that causes frustration. Simplify paperwork, give real-time tracking updates (so customers don’t have to chase you for info), and be transparent about pricing. The goal is to make doing business with you as smooth and easy as possible – no hurdles, no “Gotchas.” When you eliminate friction, you show customers you value their time and sanity even more than squeezing out extra bucks, and that earns genuine loyalty.

2. Entertain Always

Jesse Cole likes to say, “Whatever business you’re in, you’re in the entertainment business”. In other words, don’t just transact – engage and delight people at every turn. At a Bananas game, fun is engineered into every moment. Before fans even arrive, they might get a goofy email with a banana-themed road trip playlist to jam to. Pulling into the parking lot, you’re greeted by “Parking Penguins” handing out frozen treats to your kids. Head to the restroom and – surprise! – the urinal cakes have the rival team’s logo (talk about literally pissing on the competition, haha!). The Bananas make sure no part of the experience is boring. First impressions, last impressions, even in-between – everything is a chance to give fans a smile. And if things ever do go wrong (rain delay, anyone?), they have a wacky script and dance routines ready so the party never stops. Cole lives by P.T. Barnum’s saying: “The noblest art is to make others happy.” Entertaining always isn’t about being silly for its own sake – it’s about making people feel good whenever they interact with you.

You might be thinking, “My business is trucking/software/freight – not exactly Disneyland. How am I supposed to ‘entertain’?” Granted, you probably won’t have clients doing the Cupid Shuffle in your loading dock. Entertaining always in B2B simply means look for opportunities to inject joy, surprise, or personality into the experience. Maybe your support team sends a funny meme or a personal thank-you video instead of a plain email. Maybe you celebrate a big delivery with a small gift or a joke that’s inside to your industry. Even a trucking company can have a sense of humor on social media or throw a customer appreciation BBQ with a dunk tank (dunk the boss, why not!). The key is to be memorable. Don’t be afraid to be a little different and have fun. As Jesse proved, people remember and love the businesses that make them smile, in industries of all kinds. Figure out how you can turn ordinary moments into a mini celebration. When your clients actually enjoy working with you, they’ll come back for more – and bring their friends.

3. Experiment Constantly

One of Cole’s favorite sayings is, “Whatever’s normal, do the exact opposite.” If you want extraordinary results, you can’t do things the same old way. The Bananas became a hit by constantly trying new ideas – many ridiculous, some brilliant. Jesse committed to brainstorming 10 new ideas every single day; naturally, most of those 3,650 ideas a year were terrible. (He jokes that about 2,800 of them are flops.) But that’s the point – you have to swing and miss a lot to hit a home run. “If you’re not getting criticized, you’re playing it too safe,” Cole says. The Bananas’ experiments led to gems like the first base coach dancing “Cupid Shuffle” (the video flopped, but later experiments blew up their TikTok to 10 million followers), or hiring a breakdancing coach, or putting players on stilts – all now legendary. Every crazy stunt either succeeds or becomes a funny story for the next book. By embracing failure as part of the process, the Bananas unlocked ideas that literally changed the game. In Jesse’s words, “You either have a success or a story,” so there’s no downside.

For your business, Experiment Constantly means building a culture where new ideas flow freely and it’s okay if not all of them work. Try something new, no matter how small, every week. Could be a new service offering, a quirky marketing idea, or just a different way of doing an old task. Encourage your team to propose wild ideas (you could even steal Jesse’s 10-ideas-a-day challenge in your Monday meetings). Importantly, don’t punish failure – celebrate it. If a bold experiment fails, share the story, laugh about it, and ask what you learned. For example, maybe you attempt a 24/7 live chat for customers and it falls flat – fine! You learned your clients prefer a phone call. Try something else next time. The goal is to keep innovating and iterating until you find that game-changing idea that makes you stand out. As Will Ferrell (another master of trying lots of things) said, “Keep throwing darts at the dartboard; you’ll eventually hit the bullseye.” So keep throwing those darts – one of them could turn into your industry’s next big thing.

4. Engage Deeply

If you want fans, you can’t treat people like numbers. Cole preaches: “Do for one what you wish you could do for many.” It’s about making personal, heartfelt connections, even if you can’t scale them to every single customer. The Savannah Bananas excel at this. They find special ways to honor individual fans: sending flowers to a fan in the stadium who’s celebrating a birthday or anniversary, or spotting a superfan on social media and inviting them on-field to dance with the players. Those one-on-one moments create stories that people never forget. Cole’s philosophy is that if you create one amazing moment for one person, the ripple effect will be huge – that person becomes an ambassador, your team gets inspired, other customers feel the positive vibes. It builds a culture of caring. “If you know what’s important to people, take care of them,” Jesse says simply. It might not be efficient to engage so deeply on an individual level, but it’s profoundly effective in building loyalty. Fans feel like family because they’ve seen that personal touch.

In the transportation world, Engaging Deeply might mean going the extra mile (sometimes literally!) for one client or partner to show you care. Think about a long-time shipping client of yours – do you know what matters to them beyond the next load? Say you learn a client just hit a business milestone or a personal one (like their kid graduated). Celebrate it: send a handwritten note or a small gift tailored to their interests. If one of your truck drivers or brokers has a baby, maybe you send baby gear with your logo and a heartfelt congrats. These are small gestures, but they’re huge in impact. You can also engage deeply by listening on social media. If a customer tweets about a problem or even a joy, respond personally (not with a canned line). The point is to show genuine care for individuals. Sure, you can’t do it for every person every time, but you can create a few incredible moments that set the tone for your brand’s empathy. Those stories will spread. Each month, challenge your team: “Who is one customer (or employee or vendor) we can do something special for right now?” It could be as simple as a surprise upgrade on their next shipment or as grand as flying out to visit a client just to say thanks. When you consistently engage on a deeper level, you stop being just another vendor and become a beloved partner – someone they’ll rave about to others.

5. Empower Action

The final Fans First principle is all about trusting your team. If you want to create remarkable fan experiences, you can’t script everything from the top. You need to empower your employees to act in the moment to delight customers. Jesse Cole sets the example by giving his staff and even players the green light to be creative and responsive. A great example is the story of Reggie. Reggie was a super-persistent Bananas fan who called every week asking for a job on the team. When they finally brought him on board, his positivity was so infectious that they made him the team’s official “Motivational Coach.” Now before every game, Reggie gives pep talks that hype up not just the players but the entire crowd. Cole points out an interesting twist: “People think we empowered him… in reality, Reggie empowers us.” By giving passionate people the freedom to shine, the whole organization got stronger. Empowerment also shows up in small ways: When the Bananas play in big stadiums, every team member – from interns to coaches – writes thank-you notes to fans sitting in the nosebleeds. No one told them to do that; it’s part of the Fans First culture, where everyone is encouraged to take action that creates fans. The result is an army of employees who think like fan advocates.

In your business, ask yourself: do your people feel empowered to wow your customers? Or do they feel stuck “following the rules” and passing problems up the chain? To embrace Empower Action, start by setting clear values (like “fans first!”) and trust your team to live them out. Give your frontline employees permission to fix customer issues on the spot, without needing 10 signatures. For instance, if a shipper’s delivery is delayed, an empowered employee could proactively offer a discount or arrange a token of apology without waiting for the boss’s approval. That quick action can turn a potential angry customer into a grateful fan. Empowerment also means celebrating initiative: when a team member goes above and beyond, shout it from the rooftops (make them “Employee of the Month” or tell their story in the company newsletter). This encourages others to step up with creative ideas. As a leader, be more like a coach than a controller – give your people the playbook and let them improvise. It might feel risky at first, but it creates a culture where employees are invested in the mission, not just doing a job. And when your whole team is engaged in creating amazing customer moments, your business becomes unstoppable. As Jesse Cole puts it, “If you create the stories, the sales will go with them.” Focus on empowering your team to create those fan-worthy stories, and the business success will naturally follow.

Wrapping it all up, Fans First is a reminder that business doesn’t have to be boring, even if you’re in an industry like transportation that isn’t exactly known for glitz and glam. Jesse Cole took a dusty old baseball team and turned it into a must-see experience by relentlessly asking, “Does this make fans love us more?” If it didn’t, he changed it or scrapped it. You can do the same in your world. Eliminate the friction that drives customers crazy. Entertain and delight them (find ways to make even routine interactions fun). Experiment boldly, rather than clinging to “how we’ve always done it.” Engage with heart, treating people like family, not faceless accounts. And empower your team to run with ideas that make customers happy. These principles can turn ordinary clients into passionate fans who stick around for life.

The best part? When you put fans first, the profits follow. The Savannah Bananas now have millions of followers and sell out huge arenas, all because they focused on joy over revenue – and the revenue took care of itself. You may not be aiming for TikTok fame, but by adopting a Fans First mindset, you’ll differentiate your company in a crowded market and build a loyal base that no competitor can easily steal. So go ahead – go a little bananas in the name of great fan experiences. Your customers (and your bottom line) will thank you for it!

Stay tuned for our upcoming deep-dive posts on each of the Five E’s, where we’ll unpack how to implement each principle step-by-step in your transportation business.