April 27, 2020

Identify your tribe

Kristen Fine – Assistant Account Executive

Whether you’re a huge company or small, locally-owned shop, it’s important to know who your “tribe” is, especially when the economic switch gets turned back on. Your tribe consists of the customers and supporters that consistently interact with you and care about the success of your business. Creating a strong, connected and positive relationship with your tribe starts with the basics of friendship.

Here are some friendship basics that can be applied on any business level:

Interaction
It’s important to not sound tone-deaf. Engage with your customers on a level that is not always business. Intentionally ensure that your customer knows you care.

Be mindful
Practicing mindfulness is important, especially when you have a regular customer who visits your business. Be mindful of their name, the day, the time and what product they are seeking.

Meet in the middle
Just like any friendship, you always need to be prepared to meet the person in the middle, even if you disagree with them. For example, a customer who dislikes their purchase and demands a refund that you don’t offer — what do you do? Offer to replace the item at no cost or offer store credit.

Once you have successfully implemented these basic practices into your business, it will be easy to identify your tribe of supporters and customers.

Here are a few tips to help identify your tribe:

Support
These customers support your business financially and actively on social media. When your shop closed, they were sharing your content and pushing their followers to shop with you.

Engage
These customers engaged with your business both before the doors shut and after (and will be there when the switch gets turned back on).

Advocate
These are the people that advocate for you and the people they come in contact with.

When the switch gets turned back on, it will be important to know who those people are and use them as your fellow brand ambassadors.

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