Read time: 7 minutes

It’s been a head-spinning year for businesses, and many have adapted to the recent challenges by tapping into their communities to gain support and drive growth. Towns and cities have rallied around small- and mid-sized businesses, who make their communities special. Our experts discuss how businesses can continue building and growing within their local communities.

As 2020 continues, what can small- and medium-sized businesses do to boost sales, increase loyalty and sustain growth? The answer is to connect, activate and engage with their passionate community of supporters to build a mutually beneficial relationship that will endure.

We chatted with Karen Mirkin, SVP, Business Engagement at Synchrony; Melanie Travis, Founder and CEO of New York City-based Andie Swim; and Brian Morgan, Co-Owner of Austin-based Austin Couch Potatoes, to hear their take on what support from communities look like in creating business success. 

Q1: What are you seeing in terms of how communities and businesses are coming together?    

Melanie Travis (Andie Swim): Community has always been important to Andie. In the beginning of 2020, there was still a line between the brand and the community. Now that line has been completely erased. I started speaking to customers directly from my email address. We ran ads on social networks with photos of our team in our suits. We reached out directly to people in our community, saying “We’re here, chat with us.”

The amazing response I witnessed validates that people are seeking a human connection more than ever before. Our customer support team members are swim fit experts, but they became therapists overnight.

Brian Morgan (Austin Couch Potatoes): It's just amazing how our business and people in the community came together so quickly to help each other, and our health care workers. We put the idea out on social media with the hashtag #FurnishTheFrontLine and offered materials and instructions for those who wanted to sew masks at home. It’s been really neat to watch everyone join forces. For example, right now we have four generations of one family working side-by-side at our factory.

Q2: How important is it for businesses to take action to stay relevant??

Karen Mirkin (Synchrony): It’s critically important. Consumer expectations have shifted, particularly when it comes to digital tools and shopping online. All businesses, no matter how small or large, need to make sure they have digital capabilities, from a simple CRM solution — which is a must without walk-in traffic — to online payment options.

I’m afraid that small businesses that don’t develop these digitally focused skill sets will struggle because there may be a permanent shift in the way consumers behave.

Morgan: Action is everything to us. We’re in the furniture business, and our job is to make people comfortable. But when it turned out that we had the raw materials to help our community and protect our people on the front line, we took off our sales hat and put on our compassion hat.

People will remember that. I don't think anyone will think of our business as just selling furniture anymore. We are part of the community, and we're here to help everyone.

Q3: How do you see businesses being buoyed by local communities right now?

Mirkin: It started with the community buying gift cards, offering endorsements on social media and ordering takeout. In response, businesses got incredibly creative. Businesses are truly  pivoting and adapting to these new situations — doing curbside pickup, offering digital payments, connecting on neighborhood apps and building a digital storefront and offering outdoor eating/shopping where applicable. That’s how they’re keeping in touch with their communities, which allows them to survive.

Travis: We are a swimwear brand and there are travel restrictions, and we thought: How is this going to work? But the silver lining has been the strength of the community coming out of the woodwork and supporting us. It might be tough to get to a beach, and people might not have a pool, but they are buying swimsuits.

Seeing that happen was heartwarming and validated our efforts to nurture the community we’ve built over the last three years. Sales certainly buoyed us, but so did the notes I got from customers about how they were so happy to have a swimwear brand by and for women, so they shared it with their friends.

Q4: What are digital tools businesses should consider using to remain competitive?

Mirkin: I’m seeing a bigger push on social media. Even if a small business didn’t have a social presence previously, I’d recommend that they create one now to keep their name, brand, message and product top of mind for their customers.

Also, I’ve noticed that there has been a shift in communication on these channels. For example, a small business creating and sharing a brief video, nothing fancy, with just their cell phone is resonating with customers. It could be a heartfelt message on something related to the business like what you are doing in-store to make it safer. Customers recognize that level of grittiness and realness because they understand that things have shifted.

Travis: Now is the time for experimentation, to see where your people are and get creative. We’re doing a lot of fun, short social videos — one of them was for a giveaway contest. It’s also important to take advantage of the full range of tools, such as smart email triggers or SMS. You just need to be available and out there.

We’ve also gone in the opposite direction: We found our customers were craving connection and wanted to chat on the phone, so we arranged pre-scheduled phone chats — that we capped at 10 per day — and those slots are now always booked.

Morgan: Before COVID-19, 30 percent of our store traffic started through online chat. Now, chat allows us to fully connect with customers that don’t want to leave the safety of their homes. We are their eyes and ears. Our salespeople will host video chats and show them exactly how a piece of furniture will look and fit. 

In addition, we realized we had an opportunity to engage a customer segment in a new way while helping our employees find balance. Our salespeople wanted a non-traditional schedule to reach customers after 8 p.m. So I suggested, why don’t you work a 7 p.m. to midnight shift using online chat, since that’s when most parents can find the time to shop for furniture. I don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago.

Q5: What should businesses expect as they continue to evolve?

Mirkin: Shoppers will be more controlled and protective of their personal safety and their families. Consumers who didn’t shop digitally now realize how easy and convenient it is. That means  small businesses need the right digital capabilities to support what customers want. It all goes back to cultivating an omnichannel approach.

Travis: I certainly don’t think there’s any going back to hiding behind a brand curtain going forward. We have leaned so heavily into being transparent with our community about who we are. It clearly works, so I can’t imagine not doing things in the same way over the long-term. I’ll keep the phone lines open. I’ll keep putting up photos of myself in a swimsuit. I think our customers care more than ever and will continue to care about our business.

Morgan: I think businesses should expect to learn from what they’ve gone through over the past six months. For example, we’ve implemented new tools that are paying off, such as text-to-pay, which we had never used before. Finally, we’ve been forced to become really lean, and focus on what we can do that no one else can.