You might be asking yourself, “What’s the STICKY Factor? And why on earth would I want to associate it with my serviced office center?” Well, the STICKY Factor is all the things about your serviced office center that inspire member loyalty: Service, Technology, Innovation, Community, Knowledge, and Yearly Improvement. This blog post will share why these different areas are important to establishing member loyalty and provide ideas on how to maximize their contribution to the STICKY factor.
Services at Your Serviced Office Center
If you are following the consultative sales approach (which I advocate that you do), your sales process should involve learning the members’ workspace needs and business goals so that you can provide a fitting solution at that time. After you’ve made that initial sale, you must continue to educate your members of the range of services that your center offers in order to establish it as a one-stop-shop for all their workspace needs. If a member began at your center using only address services, you must ensure that that member also knows that they also have access to meeting rooms and administrative support services there, too. Including service promotions and additions in your center newsletter is one way to make sure your center members are informed. You can also connect with your members on social media and post regularly about your center’s services and special offers. If possible, you can also include short notices regarding specials on your center’s invoices as well. The STICKY Factor begins with your members knowing every opportunity they have to use your center’s services.
Technology
Staying up to date on the latest technology should be a given for businesses in the workspace services industry. It is important that your center stays current on business-essential hardware and software that your members need. What really motivates member loyalty is how your center implements and grants access to those technologies. If your implementation of upgrades is not carefully planned and executed, you stand to drive some members away as some technology upgrades can seriously affect the way their business functions within the center. But, if you take care to vet the upgrades with key members, set your members’ expectations of how long the upgrades will take, communicate the value of the upgrades, and grant access to the upgraded technology at an appropriate price, the STICKY factor for your center will definitely improve. Your members will not only appreciate the new technologies now available, they will also value the care you’ve taken to incorporate them into your center’s offerings.
Importance
Your members are the lifeblood of your serviced office center. Look for ways within your organization to genuinely let your members know how important they are to you and your business. Recognize members’ businesses in your center newsletter by having a member of the month section. Feature your new members in your newsletter as well. Send personalized holiday cards. Provide donuts or fruit for breakfast occasionally. You can also throw random happy hours at 4:30 in the afternoon by supplying a couple of bottles of wine and a few cold beers. A simple cheese and cracker tray can add a nice touch.
I advocate that center managers should meet one-on-one with a minimum of 3 members monthly. That way, they can get to know their members’ business goals, learn about their experience with the center, and gain a better understanding of the services they can provide to better provide for their workspace needs. These meetings also help increase the STICKY factor by making members feel how important they are.
Community
Establishing a community culture at your center also helps increase the STICKY factory. You can do this by offering mixers and meetups where your members can connect with each other. Co-working environments also foster a sense of community. Lastly, using your center’s social media accounts to make introductions, share your members’ posts, and provide information about your center’s services can also help build a STICKY community at your serviced office center.
Knowledge
Selecting a staff with broad skill set increases the STICKY factor as well. When you have people at your center that are equipped with the knowledge to provide assistance, either paid or complimentary, your members know that they can count on your center for support service as well as workspace services.
Making sure that your regular and temporary staff know how to provide the service your members expect is key to maintaining your STICKY factor, too. Therefore, training is essential.
Yearly Improvement
Stagnation will surely lead you to failure as a business. So in order to keep members excited and engaged in their services, you must make an effort to develop and improve your offerings, staff, and facility. You must also focus on solving process inefficiencies and failures so that you can spend more time interacting with members and developing the relationships that make your serviced office center STICKY.
Final Thoughts…
I hope this blog post has given you an idea of what it takes to master the STICKY factor. I look forward to reading your comments about more features of your businesses that motivate member loyalty.
