This article originally appeared on catjohnson.co.
When someone visits your coworking space, what do you do with them?
I imagine you do your best to make a good impression while you show them around the space. But do you have a clear strategy or process to bring those visitors further into your community?
And if you do have a process in-place for people who tour your space, what about the:
- guests
- day-passers
- drop-by visitors
- event attendees
- meeting attendees
- speakers and teachers
- aligned neighbors and leaders
Are you capturing their info and inviting them to come to the next event, come by for a day of coworking, schedule their next meeting in your space, learn more about what membership entails, present in your space, or otherwise join your extended community?
Because bringing someone into your extended community — whether or not they ever become a full member — is good for your community and your business.
Be the go-to hub
Establishing your coworking space as the go-to local hub for entrepreneurs, remote workers, creators, small business owners, and purpose-driven organizations and people means that your space is being talked about, written about, thought about, and recommended.
And it’s nearly impossible to track this stuff.
Which is why I love it so much.
What’s the value of a conversation in which someone tells an entrepreneur friend that they went to a great event in your space and they should check it out.
What’s the value of a local writer pitching a story about your programming to their editor?
What’s the value of someone bringing two friends to your next event?
If it happens consistently and across different circles, the value is infinite.
People are talking about you
Earlier this year, I had someone tell me that they learned about the Park City Marketing Club, which I run, from someone on a ski lift.
This is the most Park City thing ever.
And, that person showed up at an event to check our community out, told me how they found out about it, and have since come to a number of our gatherings.
You never know when or where someone is talking about you, your space, or your community. But I assure you, there aren’t a lot of conversations happening about the fact that you rent desks and wifi.
Be extraordinary
If you want people to talk about you, you need to be extraordinary. And one of the ways to be extraordinary is to invite people into your space who may never join, but who will anchor your space and brand as the place to be.
And you need to live up to the promise of being the place to be, because you never know when people will come back for a deeper dive into what you’re about.
I once overheard a visitor come into a coworking space and say, “I toured a year ago and I’m ready to join.”
A year later.
It makes me wonder what they were doing that whole year, but they remembered the space and joined the community when the time was right.
Always have a next thing
So make sure you’re capturing the attention and information of people who come into your space in the ways that work for you. Maybe capturing the emails of people coming in for a meeting feels too heavy-handed — or maybe not.
Can you offer the meeting host free day passes for their team to come back another day? Or can you invite the whole team for an afternoon coffee break? Or to your next event?
And when you have larger groups in for events, step up to the mic, tell them who you are, who you serve, and what you’re about (not just about your desks and wifi), and invite them to the next thing.
Always have a next thing to invite people to.
Even if it’s a simple happy hour or Waffle Wednesday.
Invite people in. Give them a reason to come back. Create a sense of belonging that they want to be part of.
