Customer Communities – Engage and Retain Customers to Build the Future of Your Business

Foreword by Dharmesh Shah Preface: Two CEOs Growing Up Lonely Acknowledgements PART I - Community Is the Future of Your Business 1. An introduction to the world of communities Creating a sense of belonging 2. Community as a business growth strategy The only sustainable long-term differentiator companies have 3. How the next generation of community drives success The new company wide strategy to drive Net Revenue Retention 4. A community for Customer Success, Support, Marketing, and Product teams How every department can benefit from a next generation community PART II - The 10 Laws of Community Building 5. Law 1: You can start anytime It does not have to be expensive and everyone in your organization can help 6. Law 2: You have to own the platform Engage with your customers on your own turf 7. Law 3: Community should be the heart of the Customer Journey Activate and engage your customers at scale 8. Law 4: Create content that educates and inspires Be the best thought leader you can be 9. Law 5: Build on your advocates Your most loyal customers are the gateway to success 10. Law 6: Everybody owns the customer Community is a company-wide strategy, not a department 11. Law 7: Offline counts more than you think An online community is strengthened by offline events 12. Law 8: You have to tie it all together in one Digital Hub Prevent a disjointed customer experience by integrating engagement and content 13. Law 9: Community should drive real business outcomes Don't get fooled by vanity metrics; demand real business metrics 14. Law 10: Bring your culture and values to your community Build with a human-first mindset PART III - How to get started 15. Building blocks to successfully launching a community 16. Common objections and how to overcome them Epilogue Index

NICK MEHTA is CEO of Gainsight, a leading customer success company, and the bestselling co-author of Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue.
ROBIN VAN LIESHOUT is CEO and Founder of inSided, a leading community software company.