Building Strong Connections: Creating a Thriving Community of Shared Local Businesses Customers

In a world that is becoming more and more connected, businesses are always finding new ways to improve how they interact with customers, partners, and other local businesses. While at one time, competition might have been how similar businesses viewed each other, many local businesses have discovered the power of partnerships.

By forming a community with shared customers, local businesses can pool their resources, get more well-known within the community, and create a helpful environment that benefits everyone.

To learn how, let’s talk about some of the benefits of building community with other local businesses and shared customers. Done right, you can increase teamwork within the community, get customers to love you even more, and enjoy a thriving business long-term.

Find Complementary Businesses

The first step in creating a community with other local businesses is to look for the businesses that will make good partners. They might share common customers but meet different needs. For example, a boutique clothing store could work with a local jewelry maker or a hairstylist to provide a complete makeover.

Working with similar but different businesses isn’t just about getting their people in your store and your people in theirs, either. It can be an amazing way to make the lives of your customers better, giving them a better experience at many local businesses.

It’s also a chance to create meaningful moments between you and the customer. An example (that we’ve personally experienced) is going to a barber and enjoying a spontaneous gift of a complimentary product. Moments can go a long way in showing your appreciation.

Talk to Businesses You’d Like to Team Up With

Before you can become partners, you’ll have to talk to the business owners you’re thinking of teaming up with. It’s important to communicate with would-be partners often! There are many places you can look for someone to team up with. Local networking events, industry-specific associations, and social media platforms can all help you connect with like-minded local businesses.

Speak up at events, share ideas, and ask if they’d be interested in teaming up on a regular basis. When you talk openly with them about your ideas, you can also talk about potential challenges, share knowledge, and brainstorm how to get even more customers into your businesses.

For a less labor-intensive option, could invest in new tech that’s highly focused on communication and teamwork in order to reach a common goal.

Show Up As a Team Regularly

Referrals and cross-promotion are great ways to develop powerful new partnerships, but there’s more that local businesses can do together. Working as a team with your community partners on promotions and events you’re equally part of or creating shared social media content can help you get your name out to the other businesses’ social media followers and vice-versa.

This can help you find new customers, so more people recognize you and your business. Working with other local businesses encourages customers to become your advocates, building strong bonds within the community.

Go Above and Beyond for the Community

Another way to foster strong communities? Go above and beyond for your community. Think about organizing joint events, workshops, or seminars where customers can learn a new skill, interact with the community, and hear tips from experts.

These unique experiences and educational opportunities can help local businesses increase customer loyalty and build a reputation as a community-focused hub.

Make It Easy for Customers to Recommend You

It’s important to make sure community partnerships are working effectively and encourage your partner businesses to be involved.

One way to do this is by making referrals irresistible to your customers. Create a referral program that rewards customers for referring others to businesses within the community. This will help each business become even more recognized in the community, creating excited and satisfied customers who become ambassadors for many businesses.

Work Together on Customer Support

Making sure that customers get awesome support and service throughout their journey is important to any business. If you want to build a strong community with other local businesses, you should also work together on a customer support system. This way, businesses can address customer needs and resolve issues as a team.

You can do this by sharing what you’ve learned and using tech that fosters community and helps solve problems. By offering great support, you build trust and loyalty, becoming BFFs with shared customers and with each other.

Measure and Celebrate Success

The final step? Don’t make the mistake of thinking there is a final step. As a business owner, it’s your job to consistently put in the work – not just for your customers, but to work together with your partners. That is how you will enjoy a strong local business community and the long-term benefits you’ve always wanted. Regularly check back on your community-building efforts.

To do that, you might keep a record of how many new customers come in every month, the number of referrals you get, and how many customers rave about how amazing your business is. You can even celebrate milestones and achievements within the community, thanking your business partners and your customers for their loyalty.

Recognizing and appreciating community members for being loyal customers can go a long way toward creating a positive environment that encourages continued teamwork and growth.

Local businesses that come together to form a community with shared customers see positive outcomes, gain a competitive advantage over corporations, and get more customers into not just their business, but other great local businesses.

By finding complementary businesses, talking to other businesses often, showing up as a team in the community, going above and beyond by offering training, making recommendations easy, working together on customer support, and measuring success, local businesses can create a thriving community that benefits everyone.