What Spotify Can Teach You About Serving Dads

One of the things I do to relax and reduce stress is listen to music. On most weekends, and sometimes after work, I put on my Beats headphones, launch Spotify, and transport into a world populated by my favorite artists.

I discovered Spotify during my 25^th wedding anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas. At the time, I listened exclusively to Pandora. After I arrived in Cabo, I discovered that I couldn’t access my Pandora account. Flummoxed, I wondered how I could lounge around the pool and listen to my favorite tunes.

Fortunately, I recalled that one of my daughters had recommended that I should check out Spotify because, according to her, it offers a superior customer experience compared to Pandora. Being the stubborn, stuck-in-my-ways person that I can be, I ignored her recommendation. But now that I was in a musical pickle of sorts, I wondered whether I could get Spotify in Mexico. I launched my web browser and found that I could. I had saved my anniversary.

Lest you think I spent all my time listening to music and ignored my wife during this rather significant anniversary, let me set your mind at ease. We had an incredible time together—an experience more than worthy of the occasion.

But I digress.

Since I started to use Spotify, I have indeed learned that it offers a superior customer experience. One of the pillars of the Spotify experience is the Daily Mix, a service I think of as Spotify’s concierge. Like a concierge focuses on helping guests get the most out of a travel experience, the Daily Mix helps listeners get the most out of a listening experience. Spotify describes the Daily Mix in this manner:

“Introducing the music you love, minus the effort. Daily Mix is the perfect line-up of tracks ready to play at the touch of a button. Based on the different styles of music you regularly listen to, each mix is loaded with artists you love, plus a sprinkling of new discoveries that fit the vibe too. What’s more, it grows with you. As your music taste evolves, so does your Daily Mix.”

I was blown away the first time I launched my Daily Mix. Its algorithm pegged my listening preferences so well that I added 10 of the first 12 songs in the mix to my main playlist. It was kind of creepy how well it knew my musical tastes.

You can leverage the Daily Mix’s creepiness factor to better serve dads. Specifically, by using its three interdependent pillars.

• How well it gets to know you.
  
  
• Its uncanny ability to customize a playlist with artists and songs to suit your musical tastes.
  
  
• How it evolves as your musical tastes evolve.

Think of these three pillars as a three-legged stool that creates an excellent approach to serving dads.

• Get to know dads as deeply as you can—their history, current circumstances, and desires for the future (e.g. for involvement with their children).
  
  
• After you get to know dads, customize a holistic approach for each one that will help him to become the best dad possible.
  
  
• Recognize that as dads become better dads, their involvement with their children will evolve. Dads won’t be static in their approach to father involvement.

Ensure that whatever fatherhood program or service you have or want to create integrates these three pillars.

How well do you get to know each dad you serve?

How well do you customize an approach for each dad’s involvement with his children?

Does your approach recognize that dads’ involvement evolves over time?