Building Community Through a Funnel
Building Community Through a Funnel
Building a thriving B2B peer community is less about the "hard sell" and more about a series of invitations where potential members continue to raise their hands to participate. To successfully launch your group, you must design a recruiting sequence that moves prospects from curiosity to commitment.
Stage 1: The Community Social (High Value, Low Friction)
Start with a free social event to expand your brand. This isn't just a "meet and greet"; it’s a proof of concept. You can structure this event in many ways. Here are three:
- Topic Tables: Facilitate small-group discussions around a single business topic so prospects see the caliber of other "smart, capable people" in the room. This could be sales best practices, what AI people use on a daily basis, or any number of topics.
- Resource Swaps: Encourage attendees to bring one tool or insight to share, fostering immediate reciprocity. This works because when people prepare ahead, they are more engaged, and you are teaching people that your group requires preparation and thought ahead of time.
- Project Spotlights: Allow guests to share current wins or hurdles to build rapport. They can share about a real challenge with a client without naming the client name.
Stage 2: The Information Session or Trial Meeting
Once they’ve experienced the community, move them to a Call to Action (CTA) for an Information Session or a "Guest Seat" at a full meeting. This allows them to see the specific ROI and the roadmap of the group's curriculum. The right middle step will involve more vision-casting about what you are building vs. modeling if you don’t have members yet. If you have members, simply invite the guest to participate.
Stage 3: The Invitation to Commit
The final step is the invite to join and pay. You might choose Open Enrollment, a seasonal model like in the insurance industry where you can only join at certain times. Or, you can allow people to join any time. Either way you’ll want to think about how to onboard new members and help them feel welcome.
Every new group requires launch steps. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. It’s better to launch imperfectly and be faithful in your outreach than overthink, overplan, and never get started.
If you have questions about starting your maintaining your B2B peer community, visit All Things Groups where I teach a little about running groups and we have a good length of time for discussion and questions. Register here. Everyone is welcome to visit twice at no change.
