Guest Post: 5 Tips to Foster a Customer Community in Your Business

This week we feature an article by Davis Nguyen, the founder of My Consulting Offer. He writes about how to cultivate a customer community.

All company leaders know that their customers are the lifeline of their business — without loyal customers who would rather choose your product or service over one of your competitors, your business could ultimately become stagnant and fail. So it’s vital to do what you can to provide top-notch customer service and make your buyers or clients feel appreciated and heard. One way to do this is by fostering a strong customer community in your enterprise.

When you cultivate a customer community, you will create a network of loyal fans who may refer your company to their own business associates, friends, and family members. It is a fantastic way to grow your customer base and enhance your enterprise’s success. If you are wondering how to cultivate a customer community, here are tried-and-true ways to accomplish just that.

Send a Personal Welcome

This will really make your customers feel appreciated and like they are part of your business’s inner circle. There are many ways to send a personal welcome — for example, if you own a software business, send a quick introductory video that addresses them by name and offers helpful tips and info they may need. If you manufacture a product that stores and other sellers purchase in bulk to sell to consumers, send handwritten notes to every new seller after their first big order. Thank them for their business and let them know you can answer any questions.

If you own or work in the marketing department for a service business, you can also send personal emails to all of the company’s new clients. For example, if you work for a recruitment agency that helps people get placed in new jobs, you can send a personalized email welcoming all new clients to your company and offering links to articles about first-round interview questions or other helpful topics. The goal is to make your clients feel valued and supported.

Celebrate Your Customers’ Birthdays

This is a nice, personal touch. If your company acquires your customers’ birth dates for orders, appointments, or other reasons, send them a special gift on their birthday. For example, you can send them a $10 e-gift card for products on your website, no strings attached. Or, you can email your customers a coupon for 50% off one of your business’s services during the week of their birthday. Another fun thing your enterprise can do is celebrating your customers’ birthday month, where you email them a unique discount code valid for the whole month of their birthday.

Shout Out New Customers on Social Media

Another great way to cultivate your customer community is by welcoming your new clients and buyers on your social media platforms. For example, if your products business secures a contract with a new brick-and-mortar store or e-commerce seller, share on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram how excited your company is about the new partnership. If you work for a B2B service business that acquired a corporation as a customer, say “We are so excited to announce that we are working with XX company” on your social media. On top of this, also post about any big wins your customers have on your social channels.

Reply to All Comments & Posts on Your Social Media Pages

Get your team involved in reading and answering all of the posts on your company’s social media platforms, rather than just having the company page “like” positive posts or only reply to negative posts. For example, every time someone posts a comment on your page that praises your enterprise’s products or services, reply to this person to let them know that you appreciate their business and that you are glad they are satisfied with their experience.

Further Enhance Engagement

When appropriate, you want to encourage conversation and the exchange of ideas among members of your community. You can do this by monitoring the conversations on your social media platforms to identify topics that are relevant to the active members. Then, you can share interesting articles about the topic and ask questions for your followers to answer in the comments. Also, make sure to always send email updates on new products and services.

To Wrap It All Up

Without your customers or clients, your business wouldn’t be the success that it is today. Foster a strong customer community by sending a personal welcome to new clients & buyers, celebrating your customers’ birthdays, and doing social media shoutouts. Also, reply to all of your customers’ posts and comments on your social media channels and encourage conversation and the exchange of ideas amongst your followers. Doing all of this will help you build a customer community that will help your enterprise progress and grow.

Davis Nguyen is the founder of My Consulting Offer, a top program that helps people land their dream jobs in management consulting.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Are Your E-Commerce Strategies Working?