How Community Transforms Customer Experience for Site Care Consultants

Listen to any athletic coach and they will tell you they are trying to “build a culture with their team.” It really doesn’t matter the sport, that’s what they will say.

What they are really saying is we are trying to build community. That usually means they are instilling certain shared values and commitments. After all, to be a team, it takes everyone’s dedication.

So, when we talk about building a community in the business world, there is a sense of shared dedication. Perhaps the dedication is in the product or service of the staff. Perhaps the dedication is improving each person’s business by customers. 

If you have ever been involved in a business networking group, that is something you see. Each business person is trying to improve and grow their business or career.

Some marketing experts or pointing to the community as being the last great marketing strategy, and, in some cases, differentiate themselves from other companies.

Today, I want to explore what that means. We are going on a journey and I am not promising all the answers. I have become fascinated with this idea of building a community for businesses and have been exploring that for a while now.

Those that know me, you can characterize me by coffee, content and community. The centerpiece of all of that is storytelling.

So today we are going to look at what it means to build a community for service businesses like site care consultants. 

A Buyer’s Revolt

Buyers are wise (tired?) of our tactics. You know and I know it. They are wise to our FOMO, superlatives (“best burger in town”), and our lead magnets. 

Perhaps it is marketing fatigue.

Also see “Marketing Rebellion: The Most Human Company Wins.”

When was the last time you got a cold outreach message on LinkedIn? In your inbox? 

My mom comments all the time about the number of emails she gets from various eCommerce companies. 

Sure, it’s true that your customers may not be getting as much as we get in the marketing field, but they still get them. One thing I’ve learned about business owners is that they are very busy. They work from sunup to deep in the night, trying to make their business work.

I’m not sure they get all my messages. They are busy! Some of my customers don’t even know what an email newsletter is. When I talk about it, they are usually wide-eyed with amazement that this thing exists.

So, we have all types of customers, but most have fatigue, especially in the B2B world. They have a dozen other companies trying to get their attention, just like us!

How can we break through all that noise? 

How can building a community help?

I believe that creating a community (or community) will better serve your customers. Creating (a) community can help with support and customer service. 

Look at what MainWP is doing. MainWP has launched a Discord server where we keep our community apprised of things happening in the WordPress and website security world. 

Additionally, on Tuesdays, Marc hosts a live office hours where he goes over a different feature of MainWP. I have used MainWP for about 8 years and learn something new almost every office hour.

Finally, Ivica Delic, longtime MainWP user created a Facebook group for users and the MainWP team is present answering questions. MainWP has fostered a sense of community. All of this, combined with official customer support via tickets, has given MainWP an advantage in the WordPress management space.

There is another advantage for creating community. Creating community allows customers and the team to connect on a more human level. Customers know our names. We might even know something about you and what you like to do.

Not everyone wants that level of connection, but for those that do, it’s a bonus. 

I believe site care consultants can do the same thing. Building community doesn’t have to only be for product companies. Building community creates a better customer experience.

Ways to create community

Here is the thing about creating community. It’s more about what you do than the platform you use. 

I’ve looked at them all. Okay, I’ve looked at many of them. There are platforms built on WordPress and SaaS platforms. There are platforms built on social media and other types, like Discord. 

Don’t get caught up in the platform. A platform can help centralize everything, but it isn’t the only way to do what you need to do.

To get started, you need an audience. Already have a newsletter? You have an audience. Already have customers? You have an audience. Now you just need to harness that audience.

Next, you need engagement. Engagement is a give and take between you and the audience. If you spend your time talking to the audience, they may get the visual of a man standing at the top of a test tube shouting in a megaphone to them inside the test tube. Your audience needs to know there is feedback both ways. 

Finally, you need something to talk about, conversation. Your audience has something in common, improving their business. How do you do that? 

Communities do this with training, teaching, and questions that serve as prompts. The most engaging communities I am in do this and they are consistent. 

David McCan does this very well in his community, Dynamic WordPress.

He is always sharing articles, tutorials, highlighting members and asking questions from his audience. And consistency matters when creating conversation.

These three things, An Audience, Engagement, and Conversation, are essential principles. Everything else is extra, a bonus. However, you can really create a great customer experience by maximizing your community’s effectiveness. 

Wrapping it up

I believe one of the best ways you can differentiate yourself from your competitors is by using MainWP to manage your websites. I also believe that creating a better customer experience will differentiate you as well. 

And building community among your customers and your prospects will go a long way to creating a better customer experience. 

What ways have you created a community for your site care consultancy? Let us know on Discord or in the MainWP Users Facebook Group.