Create a Community From Your Customers
The world is changing at a faster pace than ever and the business world is changing with it. The days of having a one-way conversation with your potential customers via advertisements and marketing are over. Building a community with your customers, opening up avenues for two-way conversations and direct interactions, will help grow your company.
- Trust Your Customers
One of the most important aspects of any community is trust. Building a community with your customers involves progressive acts of collaboration, which need trust to survive. A common trend among companies struggling to keep up is an unwillingness to build a creative dialogue with their customer base.
At the end of the day, your customers are the ones you keep you afloat. Listen to their requests, consider their ideas, ask them what they want to see and what products they would be interested in. Companies such as LEGO have seen huge resurgences due in large part to collaborations with customers.
- Focus on the Who
When building a community, it’s not about the ‘what’, it’s about the ‘who’. Jumping to the ‘what’ without building a community of people who are invested is going to create a community where no one shows up. Focus on who the community is going to be geared to and build the community to accommodate them.
Community-building is the process of trusting and collaborating with people who are going to bring energy to your brand. Supporting these people is going to help foster a positive and active community.
- Treat The Community As a Long-Term Investment
Building a community is only the first step in setting up a successful collaborative environment. You should treat your community the same way you would treat any other long-term investment. Too often, companies build their community, then start shifting attention and effort to something else.
A continued focus on your community is going to instill an ongoing flow of collaboration between you and your customers. More importantly, it’s going to promote the continued growth of your environment. Showing your community that you’re invested in them is going to build the trust we mentioned earlier.
In today’s business world, it’s crucial to build a healthy community with your customers. Focusing on your community is going to promote a healthy two-way dialogue between you and your customers. The most successful companies in the world use communities to help grow their business.
Gary Brunson
gary@myclearfocus.com
Debra Rider
debra@myclearfocus.com
574.361.2674
Sustainable Growth & Profit Consultant, Coach, Mentor and Counselor/Therapist for Business Owners and Professionals.