Community marketing is the practice of actively engaging with an audience in a non-intrusive conversation with prospects and customers. This approach can be highly effective for entrepreneurs looking to increase brand awareness, drive innovation, improve customer retention, and enhance overall customer experience. In the latest episode of The Roadmap, host Ted Jenkin sits down with Steve Beecham, CEO of Home Town Mortgage, to discuss how effective community marketing strategies can benefit businesses.
As an unofficial, unpaid mayor of Alpharetta, Georgia, Beecham divided his job responsibilities to better suit his skills. Although he was initially told that his primary focus should be on closing sales, Beecham’s unique learning approach led him to study how to attract customers and encourage them to spend money.
Key Takeaway:
1. During his studies, he wrote a book, Bass-Ackward Business: The Power of Helping Without Hustling, which depicts how to be the mayor of your village. In the book, Beecham explains that the “village” refers to the sphere of influence or the people who want to surround themselves with you.
2. Even today, Beecham relies on traditional methods to expand his network. For example, he prefers in-person meetings to build relationships and expand his ‘sphere of influence.’ Moreover, Beecham believes that if someone is referred to him, then the one who referred them is his customer. He also believes that these types of referrals significantly affect business growth.
3. Beecham aims to build trustworthy relationships with people and not sell them anything. He wants to bring his assets to the table and help people grow their businesses by introducing them to the right people. In short, his agenda is not to sell anything but to help people grow.
4. “Wherever you get involved, grow the trust factor there, get more referrals, and become consistent at doing that, then it becomes a habit and your business will double in value every time,” Beecham asserts.
5. A few years back, Beecham used to drive around the park with his Hummer that had his business logo on the side. To this day, people call him, hoping to do business with him. He believes, “Though the park was filled with kids and a parent or two, I made it a habit to drive the same route every day, and I’m still getting calls from parents who remember seeing my Hummer.”
6. After the world shut down, Beecham started sending out e-letters. However, he quickly realized that people tended to delete emails that mentioned mortgages. So, he decided to seek feedback from the community and adopted a new philosophy: “Don’t Delete Me”. Once people stopped deleting, they began sending information about the community instead. As a result, he now has roughly 6,000 people from the community engaged.
"If you help enough people get what they want, some of those people will help you get what you want." – Zig Zelger.
