Keys to communities : relationship building

As mentioned in the previous post, the basis of relationship building is community networking.

“Once you start getting involved with social media, it becomes very apparent that it takes time and resources to build relationships, within your community” (Liana Evans- www.simplemarketing.com).

Plan well and be selective in your choice of tools and opportunities to create interaction, including asking for feedback through your website.

This approach to community networking encourages a company to focus more on building and replenishing customer trust, adherence and satisfaction, which in turn may result in building durable relationship.

Even though the contact line until the sales may be less direct and it may take dedicated resources such as listening, responding and getting into a dialogue with customers, it is a valuable investment in relationship building

Once the relationship is there and trust has been built, a customer may make the step to a purchase (Mathon works in this way).

For instance, customers who know they’re heard instantly are certainly more confident about their relationship with the company.

Lastly, you should not be afraid to include into your communication, diverse and even negative voices from the community.

If our own story is authentic, it will shine through.

Written by Claire with the material from the forthcoming book of John Sadowsky.