The power of building a customer community with Heather Wendt, community strategist @HigherLogic

Welcome to Season 2 of SaaS Therapy! Today, Todd Kirk interviews Heather Wendt, a community strategist at HigherLogic, about the importance of building a customer community. They discuss how a community can expand the reach of customer success teams, foster organic and transparent communication, and provide a space for customers to collaborate and share insights. Heather emphasizes the difference between an audience and a community, highlighting the value of building relationships and empowering customers to contribute to the growth of the company. Join us for tips about creating a successful community and how you can make it valuable, easy to access, collaborative, aligned with company goals, and a tool for streamlining communication and support. Takeaways A customer community allows customer success teams to expand their reach and communicate with customers in a more organic and transparent way. Building a community fosters collaboration, relationship building, and the sharing of insights among customers. A community provides a space for customers to contribute to the growth of the company and offer feedback on new features and use cases. The success of a community is measured by its ability to meet customer needs, drive engagement, and support organizational goals. To create a successful community, it should be valuable, easy to access, collaborative, aligned with company goals, and used as a tool for streamlining communication and support. Contents 00:00 Introduction 02:53 Heather's Background in Community and the Rise of Community in CS 08:02 The Difference Between an Audience and a Community 11:20 The Value and Impact of a Community 35:22 When is the Right Time to Build a Community? 42:16 Homework Assignment: Reflect on Customer Engagement 42:44 Conclusion Resources ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Casey⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Connect with Todd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit the show page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get to know BrainStorm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Credits Show direction: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Debra Wilson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show design: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kensie Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Show manager: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Angela Allred