Keep customers 9 of 19 in this group
SOP 141
Connect members to each other
What this page is for. Use it when your customers are held to you, or to your group, by a single thread and you want ties that hold. It gives the principle, the ways to connect members, and the action step.
SOP-141-Connect-members-to-each-other.md
1. Connect them to each other, not to you
Connect members to each other, not to you. Helping members make several deeper connections scales better than one single tie to the group. Sayings from the gym world make the point: "It's easy to quit a membership, it's hard to leave a relationship," and "They come for the bikini. They stay for the community."
2. How to connect them
- Run group events.
- One person who runs an online group moved from one-to-one onboarding to onboarding six people at a time. The aim was not to make it less personal but to connect people on purpose and introduce them to each other. As a result, her churn was low.
- At the gyms described, group events ran often. People came for the six-pack and stayed for the community.
- Connect people by hand. If you think one member would benefit from knowing another, introduce them.
- Start a community podcast. Interview members on it.
- Raise up micro-celebrities in your community. Call them out in public channels and praise them for their particular area of expertise.
3. The action step
Host group events. Connect people by hand. Start a community podcast. Raise up micro-celebrities in your community.
4. What this page does not decide for you
- How often to run group events. This page gives no figure for group events. Member events on a set cadence are habit 4 in section 3 of SOP 133 — Run the five retention habits and expect the first-month rise.
- Who to raise up as a micro-celebrity, beyond praising each for a particular area of expertise. Not established on this page.
- What a community podcast covers beyond interviewing members. Not established on this page.
- How many people to onboard at once. The one example moved to six at a time. Not established on this page.
5. The checklist
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| The aim | Members tied to each other, not to you |
| Group events | Run them; in one example, onboarding six at a time so people meet |
| By hand | Introduce any member who would benefit from knowing another |
| Podcast | Start one for the community; interview members |
| Micro-celebrities | Call them out in public channels; praise their particular expertise |
6. What this page does not cover
Connecting the 4 to 6 people after an onboarding is section 3 of SOP 139 — Onboard customers to the activation point. Keeping the group's posts good, and removing people who spoil it, is SOP 142 — Correct or remove bad customers. Offering incentives for activating and staying is SOP 140 — Incentivize activation and time unlocks past churn points.
Terms defined on this page
- Community linking
- Tying members to one another, not only to you, since several deeper ties hold better than a single tie to the group.