6 Tips for Great Member Experience in Coworking Spaces

Creating a great member experience in coworking spaces requires a lot more than offering desks and offices.

It’s a warm, welcoming attitude, excellent communication, being responsive to questions and requests…

It’s about making people feel happy and delighted while using your services.

It’s about providing an environment that empowers people to unleash their potential, feel productive, and create valuable connections. 

And there’s no rocket science here.

The key is the simple understanding of the fact that people need to be treated well. And it’s what hospitality, one of the main pillars of successful coworking spaces, is all about.

Find below 4 tips that will help you create a great member experience in your coworking space.

Tip 1: Start with a warm, welcoming attitude.

Communication with your visitors might begin far before they enter your physical space. They may call you on the phone or send you an e-mail to receive more information or ask anything related to your space or service.

A warm and welcoming attitude might set the scene in the right way for your relationship with them going forth. Regardless of the communication channel (in person, Facebook, e-mail…) or intention to become a member or not, make sure to be kind and welcoming.

You cannot make a first impression twice. Every person matters. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. It’s about how you communicate, how you onboard new members in your space, how you treat them during their stay.

When welcoming visitors or responding to prospects, the following tips will help you make a good impression:

• Make sure to greet visitors when they enter your space. Small things matter – a smile and a “Hello” can do a lot!
• Be welcoming and kind via your digital channels as well – Facebook page, e-mail, chat, etc. Don’t be too long to message back. The faster your response time gets, the more you prove that you care.
• Try to react to requests as soon as possible. Don’t leave people to wait too long. If you’re busy at the moment, try to find somebody else from the team who can help. If that’s not an option, give them an exact idea of when you’ll get back to them.
• Give people enough information – whether they ask you about available desks, membership plans, working hours, etc. Be available if additional questions pop up and let people know how they can reach you.

When welcoming new members, the following practices will make them feel special:

• If you have a pre-arranged meeting, make sure to be there on time! Welcome them properly, offer a coffee/water. Show them their desk and the most important areas/spots in the space that the person will need.
• If your new member is not from town, take a little time to send them information about local restaurants and places to visit.
• Before you go about your other tasks, make sure they have everything they need. Also, check them during the day – just to see if everything’s fine or if they need something.
• At the end of the day, ask them about their day at the space. Do they have any recommendations/questions/feedback? Would they need anything for tomorrow if they’re coming back?

Tip 2: Be there. Be available.

Hospitality doesn’t end with greeting visitors and members at the entrance. It’s about everything that happens in your coworking space and how you behave.

Visitors and members of your coworking space should know how and where to find you and be able to reach out to you easily. Don’t be that magic unicorn everyone has heard of but no one has seen.

Make sure to have someone at reception/entrance area most of the time – ideally, all the time. If hiring a dedicated person is not an option for you, think about leaving a phone number at reception or placing a ring bell.

Using a visitor management app can also help you streamline the process.

Tip 3: Listen. Respond. React.

Be around your members and be all ears.

Chat with them.

Ask them questions.

Communication is key. It will give you a lot of insights on how things are going and how to improve the member experience.

But have in mind listening is not enough – you should take action!

Leaving a message without a reply or not taking any action after someone has told you about a problem in the space is a big no-no!

Regardless of how busy you are, take some time to respond to people. If you’re not able to provide an answer to their question, let them know that you’ve received their request and you’ll notify them when there’s an update.

Let coworking members know what communication channels they can use to reach out to you if they cannot talk to you in person. If you check Slack regularly but rarely open Facebook, for example, communicate that so members know where you’ll be most responsive.

Keep people informed about work in progress. Sometimes solving a problem takes more time than expected – even though you don’t have a solution yet, let them know you’re working on it.

When they have a suggestion or an idea, listen to them. If it’s applicable, make it happen. If not – show you appreciate the suggestion and kindly explain why it won’t be possible to implement it. It’s essential to have open communication with your members.

Tip 4: Collect feedback.

You must embrace feedback if you want to be successful. Period.

Sometimes members will share their thoughts about your coworking space without being asked, which is great. However, relying solely on them being proactive is not enough.

Taking the initiative and asking them about their opinion is a genuine sign that you care about them. 

Different apps and tools can help you be more efficient in collecting and sorting all types of information – whether you want to know what music your members prefer to be played in the hallways, or if the idea of starting a series of marketing events thrills them.

Some useful options to collect feedback or conduct polls are GoogleForms, SurveyMonkey, Typeform, polls on Slack.

Tip 5: Rely on technology to keep track of membership data.

Imagine the situation when a member comes to you and ask you when their membership plan ends or how many credits for meeting rooms they’ve left with.

If you have a small community, you’ll probably recall most of these details with ease without even touching your computer. 

But how would you cope with this situation when you have 100+ members? Or 500+?

How much time would it cost you to go through the endless Google sheets on your laptop to find the answer?

Can you be sure that all data is syced and up to date? 

Relying on technology when scaling becomes crucial. A coworking management software that keeps and syncs your data can be extremely helpful. It’s much more reliable, accurate, and efficient than the good old sheets. 

It will also help you automate and streamline a huge burden of your operational tasks – from membership management, to billing, to managing maintenance issues.

Ultimately, this will help you respond to question fast and adequately and improve the quality of service you offer to your community.

Tip 6: Walk the extra mile

Coworking is about people. The better they feel at your coworking space, the more reasons they have to visit you again.

Small things matter. It’s what makes other people feel special and is a clear sign that you care.

It might be a welcome pack, a favor you do for them, or that you remembered their birthday and bought them a cupcake.

Providing basic services is one thing, but giving a little more on top of that is something not so many people do. And when done, it won’t be left unnoticed!