At the recent Service World Expo, people attending were celebratory. The seminars were full. Contractors wandered through the expo hall with smiles on their faces. The evening events were characterized by laughter and celebration. This was more than a conference. It was a community. Communities matter. Every contractor exists in multiple communities. Here is why they matter to you.
What Defines a Community?
Merriam-Webster defines community as, “a unified body of individuals.” What does this mean? A community is a group of people with a common interest. People who make up a community have a way of interacting with and engaging each other.
Members of a community work together towards common goals and support each other. There is a sense of belonging, of kinship. Since human beings are tribal by nature, this sense of belonging to a group fills a longing of the human spirits.
The disastrous reaction of most of the world to Covid, disrupted many of our communities. The response of people at Service World showed just how much people craved a return to this and other communities.
We all belong to a number of communities. Each is important by itself. Each fills a need. Each makes us whole. Even the most independent introvert needs other people. Communities give us that.
Communities offer a support network of people who will listen, empathize, and advise.
Moreover, because we are tribal, we trust and seek to support others in our “tribes” or communities. This makes communities good for business, even if that is not our motivation for involvement.
Communities Offer Support
Unless you like to shoulder every burden by yourself, communities offer a support network. These are people who will listen, empathize, and advise. They will pick you up when you are down and give you the strength to persevere during tough times.
Communities Offer Acceptance
When you belong to a community, you are part of it. You are accepted for who you are and where you are. This is something
that we, as human beings, crave. Like every school kid, we crave acceptance. Our communities accept us.
Communities Offer Connections
From connections come relationships. Business is built on relationships. The more relationships you form, the more business that comes your way. It is when we lack relationships that we turn online to look for service companies.
Communities Foster Sharing
When you are part of a community, there is less need to reinvent the wheel. Someone in the community has information or experience to share with you that will save time, agony, and mistakes. It’s the community that brings you together so the sharing can take place.
What are Your Communities?
There are many communities a contractor can belong to. Here are a few:
- Your family is your most intimate and important community, starting with the nuclear family and radiating out to the extended family.
- Your sports teams, like your softball team or golfing buddies are a community brought together by a shared love for a game.
- Your neighborhood is a community with a shared interest in fellowship and your keeping up your surroundings.
- Your church is an important community for those of faith.
- The parents of your children’s schools represent another community that you will be part of until you children are grown.
- Your clubs, including hobby clubs, alumni groups, and service clubs are all communities of people united around a common interest.
- Your town on the whole is another community, which is the community you serve as a business.
- Your local trade association is a community of professionals who want to stay up on current requirements and promote the industry.
- Your business alliance is a larger community that puts you in touch with contractors from around the country.
All of these and many more are communities that you are part of. All of these represent the best opportunities for business. Who would you rather buy from, a company you discover through an Internet ad or a company owned by a fellow Rotarian, church member, or even the guy down the street?
Seek to become part of as many communities as possible and you will grow a personal network that becomes an unpaid marketing machine. Over time, referrals will flow your way when people in your communities recommend you to their friends in different communities.
The more involved in communities you are, the more support you will have when you need it. The less you will need to reinvent the wheel. And, according to behavioral research, you will be happier personally.
The best community in contracting is the Service Roundtable. Join today for $50. Just visit www.ServiceRoundtable.com and look around. Check out the “Free Stuff” tab. You’ll be glad you did. Or, call 877.262.3341 and ask for a tour of the private part of the website.