In case your coworking space is not as popular as you’ve expected, it means that it does not provide people with an amazing coworking experience. Nowadays more and more computer users prefer working remotely and the number of employees who fulfill their professional tasks online has grown by 400% since 2010.
Such a quick increase has caused a real rivalry among the space owners for members who prefer the exceptional service, of course. So keep reading this guide to learn more about the methods that work well for enhancing your working space and customize them according to your clients’ needs.
1. Have a Social Media Strategy
Make use of various social media networks to interact with your members. Follow them and potential clients on Twitter. Induce or support the chats with various niches to build professional relationships. Create promotional campaigns using Facebook Ads and make certain that you have a page devoted to your space.
Nowadays Facebook newsfeeds serve for getting more traffic for your business, so our recommendation is to benefit from it. Besides, when advertising on Facebook, try your best to concentrate your ads on local areas to target the people who will join your coworking space.
Instagram is a great platform for presenting the interior of your building, showcasing your members, and telling about the events you organize. Besides, this social media network is quite handy for attracting more followers, generating more traffic, etc. Your task is to make certain that the posted images have high resolution and are accompanied by hashtags.
Do not hesitate and spend your budget on the sponsored Instagram posts that will appear on everyone’s feeds. Turn to a professional image editing service like FixThePhoto to get the high-quality and appealing photos of your space to present them to potential customers.
2. Use Apps and Software for Easy Booking and Storing Data
Spend your funds to address popular app development companies to develop applications for your coworking space to improve your business performance and make the process of booking for the clients easier.
Try to develop a handy application that will allow members to book their desks with ease. Make sure it contains sections that describe the advantages, complementary services, open doors, support, meeting room bookings, etc.
However, it’s even better and more cost-efficient to purchase a ready-made app for your coworking space that provides the users with the opportunity to self-service themselves without the help or involvement of a community manager. In such a way you will be able to bring your business to the leading position in the market by focusing on a member-oriented approach.
Our recommendation is to drive the benefit from such coworking management software as Spacebring. The platform is like night and day in terms of reliability, effectiveness, and accuracy than keeping data on Google Sheets.
Discover how hundreds of spaces worldwide unlock success and grow better with Spacebring
3. Create Multiple Zones
When running a coworking space you need to keep in mind that the members have various purposes and preferences when fulfilling their work. For instance, a program developer and a fashion designer may fulfill their tasks on the same floor. You need to build a coworking space that will meet everyone’s needs and interests.
By devoting each section to some specific theme you can make the work of each member more convenient. It would be also a great idea to create both team and private rooms, offices, and leisure settings. Simply put, you need to consider the requirements and desires of your prospects to make their coworking experience effective.
Take into account that all the members of your working space are different and all people appreciate a change of scenery and versatile approach. Creating a recreation room is one of the most effective methods to cheer up the workers. You can put a tennis table, video games, a collection of books there, etc. Another piece of advice is to provide the people with a separate room for smoking.
4. Manage the Noise Levels
According to the research made by Clutch, almost fifty percent of workers claim that noise is one of the most frequent and annoying problems. A coworking experience involves using an open office layout, meaning that the members’ concentration will suffer from various sounds and activities.
So owners of the coworking spaces consider the cubicles as the solution to this problem, but the workers find them comfortless and inconvenient. The members often complain that they get distracted by too loud conversations or presentations.
Decrease the noise level by putting the bookcases, plants, shelves, and other partitions to divide the open space and create obstructions for loud sounds. By breaking up the work areas with some furnishing items you can make the working space of an employee more private.
Create private booths for members who often interact loud or provide them with a soundproof meeting room. To minimize the noise pay attention to soundproofing the ceilings and the walls.
5. Include Additional Services
Providing such extra services as organizing a full-fledged cafeteria with healthy snacks and dishes would be a great advantage. Members will definitely appreciate the place where they can comfortably eat their lunch without leaving the building.
Take into account that when serving food you need to consider the tastes of all the members. Make sure that the cafeteria offers vegetarian dishes as well. So the menu should list the snacks with a great variety of ingredients to meet everyone’s taste.
The parents will appreciate child care services, whereas the startups will benefit from a special mentoring program for promoting their companies and making them more successful. Of course, not all the members will drive the benefit from these extras, so your task is to decide on the niche and provide the services to the particular members you are eager to attract.
6. Prioritize Ergonomics
To spend 8-10 hours on work is a real challenge not only for the mind but for the body. So when creating a great coworking space ergonomics and appropriate furnishing should be your priority. Choose the most convenient chairs and desks to create optimal working conditions.
Global Coworking research has shown that 70% of people find an ergonomic chair as one of the most important parts of a great working space. So your task is to choose the pieces of furniture like desks and even couches that have an ergonomic design.
Another piece of advice is to choose the desks and chairs that can be adjusted according to the body of any person. In such a way you can make sure that they will be convenient for everyone.
7. Offer Membership Perks
To attract more members to your coworking space, offer various bonuses for them. One of the most popular perks is to launch a member referral program: a member will get a discount, in case he/she brings in a successful referral.
As the survey of Benjamin’s Desk has shown, more than 20% of the inquiries are made by referrals. Another bonus is to offer free coworking days. It would be a great idea to let members and non-members fulfill their professional tasks in your space free of charge.
Create and introduce a special menu that's only available during happy hour. These can be little snacks, coffee, and even wine (on some holidays). Such an incentive is quite successful, as a pleasant coworking experience involves tasty food in the working place.
You can also offer some discounts on rent or membership fees in exchange for use of your members’ professional skills. For instance, the talent of a graphic designer can come in handy for producing a poster to advertise your coworking space.
8. Train Your Staff to Be Hospitable
Returning customers are one of the brightest markers of a successful business. The loyal members can bring with them 50% more clients. Many customers complain that the receptionists or the ushers at some coworking spaces are not courteous and make them feel uncomfortable. So the staff should follow the next tips when welcoming visitors or answering the inquiries of the potential customers
⦁ You should welcome the visitors with a warm smile or a simple “Hello”!
⦁ Show your flex space to new members and tell them about the main components that make the coworking experience effective and describe the most important selling points. Induce the visitors to provide their feedback and comments on the coworking space.
⦁ Respond to the requests in the shortest possible time. Do not make people wait for long. If you have some important tasks to do at the moment, entrust this task to some member of your team. Otherwise, provide the visitors with an exact idea of when you can join them and tell more about your coworking space.
⦁ When you train your employees, make sure to teach them to provide people with as many details about your shared workspace as possible. Deliver the info about the available desks, membership packages, working hours, and more. Answer all the questions and let the visitors know how they can contact you.
9. Focus on Creating Vibrant Interiors
Try your best to make the coworking space comfortable and inviting. A dull and poorly designed premise won’t attract any members. The interior is very important for organizing a welcoming shared space with an optimal atmosphere for fulfilling professional tasks.
It would be also a great idea to include a great variety of green plants to make the room fresher and cozier. When designing your office, try to include some vibrant colors along with pastel tones.
By adding whiteboards or wall writing spaces you can improve your space by inducing brainstorming and conversations. Gebesa ensures that the proper high-definition and natural lighting can create a safe working environment making the members’ coworking experience more successful.
10. Ask Members for Feedback
It is also very important to collaborate and interact with the members of the coworking space. Ask them to tell you about the pluses and minuses they’ve noticed when fulfilling their duties. Such a customer-oriented approach can help you improve the working space and increase productivity.
To improve the space’s social culture we recommend hosting mini-events each month. Try to sort and prioritize the feedback messages to define the most important tasks. Our advice is to create categories by the area for enhancement and the work you should do to achieve the aim. In such a way you can identify the improvements you can do immediately and those ones that require longer-term investment.
