#04 Five Lessons From a Community Manager With Over 99% Retention
This past weekend we celebrated my Mom’s 79th birthday. We had a group together at her house celebrating all day long when her phone rang. This call wasn’t a birthday message– it was one of her community members, and without skipping a beat she answered. The member proceeded to complain about her neighbor’s dog while my Mom listened and then gently calmed her down explaining that the neighbor wasn’t breaking any rules and encouraged her to kindly share her frustrations with her neighbor.
In the moment I teased her by saying, “Mom, it is your birthday and it’s also a Sunday. You shouldn’t pick up a work call! From now on I’ll pick up your phone and tell them if it isn’t an emergency to call back tomorrow.” She chuckled and changed the subject.
My Mom, Darlene Pierson, has been the community manager of a mobile home park (she never calls them trailers) for over 30 years. When she started with the company she was a saleswoman. They were adding 42 new homes to the existing 78 home neighborhood. She sold 40/42 herself. After that she began collecting their lot rents. In mobile home parks the homeowner typically owns the house but rents the land that it’s on. To give you an idea, the highest lot rent today in the park is ~$700/mo.
It didn’t click with me that I first learned about community building from my parents until I watched her pick up the phone on her birthday. Throughout my life I’ve watched my Mom (and Dad) have hour-long phone calls with community members about their personal lives, cook meals for them, stay up all night to resolve a water-eletrical-gas-you-name-it issue, and more.
My Mom is a servant leader, willing to meet every situation with empathy and tough as nails when needed (like when you don’t put your laundry away 👀). I interviewed her to write this essay and I’m sharing her secrets for building a community that sticks around, feels supported (even loved), and supports a profitable business.
When I asked her if we could have this chat, she said “I do a lot more than management” and well, that’s the point.
How cute is she!?
Let’s talk metrics.
There’s no questioning that my Mom has the receipts:
Over the course of her tenure there has been over 99% occupancy on average (1/120 homes vacant) with the exception of ~2019 when they replaced 3 homes at once. This occupancy rate is unheard of for a mobile home park.
Today she has 5 families late on their lot rent. 2/5 are only less than 30 days late. People don’t typically pay on time in mobile home parks, but again, not the case here.
These numbers above are good for the business but she has mastered the craft of balancing both the business and the customer. She has the beautiful community receipts too. In 1993 community members threw my Mom a baby shower (hello, me). She was nearly finished selling the 42 homes at this point. My parents even let some of the community members live with them before their homes were ready to move in to. When I asked if she feels like she knows most of the community members well she laughed and said, “they’re kind of like extended family.”
Masters of UX know that there is a sweet spot between business and the customer that if achieved results in a win-win-win. If you’re building community-driven products then these lessons are for you (+ fit with trailer mobile-home park stories).
Lesson #1 Show up again & again.
Community management is not a job you show up and do when someone joins, leaves and when their rent (or subscription) check is due.
“I always thought of these people as my customers and I did everything I could to take care of them. I wanted them to be so happy and love their new home, and feel comfortable in the community.”
After people purchased their homes my Mom made sure they had what they needed to be happy. She recalled helping one woman in a wheelchair, “I helped her unpack and hang up her pictures and everything.”
Related to digital products:
We can design optimal onboarding sequences all day but not everyone will have the same experience onboarding. Some might need a quick 1:1, an extra loom recording of how to use a feature or a word of encouragement that they’re on the right path.
If you think of your customers as individual community members instead of focusing on hitting an over 90% retention, you just might hit that nearly 100% that Darlene has fostered.
Lesson #2 Get to know your community.
There are a few community members my Mom still doesn’t know personally but she makes it a point to get to know as many as possible on a personal level.
She likes to know their kids names and what their lives are like so that she has a personal connection with each of them.
This allows her to approach challenges as they come up with empathy– like being late on lot rent. She knows about their lives– if they have a health issue or if they’ve lost a loved one recently.
She shared how important it is to be friendly with everyone. In the summer she walks around and tells them how beautiful their flowers are and talks to them about the trees in the neighborhood.
My Mom proudly stated “some of them even send me Christmas cards.”
Related to digital products:
The better we know our customer/audience/user/member the more you can show up for them in a meaningful way. The better we understand their problems, the more opportunity we have to come up with solutions.
Starting here allows you to make community the heart of your product strategy.
Lesson #3 Believe in your product.
My Mom recalled the very beginning when they were purchasing the 42 new homes. She was the saleswoman and therefore insisted on being involved in the selection of the products. She said, “You want to be proud of what you’re offering.”
When I asked her what she would share if she were to teach community management she quickly answered that you have to believe in the product yourself. She said that meant making choices that she believed, as a community manager, had value, were reliable and beautiful.
She recalled upgrading the window trim so they had less of a metal-trailer vibe. “I made sure they were nice and that I would be happy with it myself.”
Related to digital products:
When value perception (sales cycle) doesn’t equal value experience (post-purchase) then you have a problem. Your customers are unhappy and your product is a failure.
It’s important that marketing, product & community all have a clear collaboration strategy so that we can avoid this frequent reality. And its good to frequently check in with the full team– do we believe in what we’re selling? If not, let’s do everything in our power to get there.
Lesson #4 Tough love is okay too.
You might be thinking it sounds like she is best friends with the community members and that can be dangerous– that doing this in a management role means you’ll be taken advantage of.
My Mom calls bullshit on this sentiment. Her philosophy? You can be both a friend, a confidant and also provide tough love and be serious when you need to be.
She shared that when people call her about not making rent or having a tough time with their bills she meets them with empathy. She makes sure to understand what’s causing the issue and if the reason is an illness, a lost loved one, a lost job, etc then she has her approach to work with them. But if their reason is that they overspent on a grandchild’s birthday present (true story) or they have spent their rent money on other bills she levels with them– “Your home is the most important bill to pay every month so that you have a place to live.”
Over the past 30 years my Mom has helped people do their budgets so that they can prioritize their home. She approaches problems with “let’s solve this together.” And in the few times this scenario has resulted in an eviction, she shared that she knows she did everything she possibly could to support them and do her best to avoid that escalation.
Related to digital products:
Look, the customer isn’t always right. And it’s okay to re-direct, set realistic expectations and in some cases ask them to leave. Products can have toxic customers that spoil the experience for others and in that case it’s important to meet them with tough love until the track is reset.
Upset customers generally want to feel heard. If you approach their frustrations with “No problem, let’s solve this together” that one statement can completely 180 the energy and take them from upset customer to raving fan.
Lesson #5 Your members are only human.
My Mom shared that one of the most important aspects to her management approach is that she recognizes her community members are only human, just like you, just like me. No seriously, I didn’t use any AI assistance to write this essay.
She shared “It’s only human that you lose your job or your way every now and then.” I asked her what the most challenging aspect of her role has been over the last 30+ years and she said “One thing that has been the most difficult is when they lose a spouse. On top of the emotional toll sometimes they can’t make the lot rent. I work with them and help them get up to date.”
She continued, “People work hard and they don’t want to disappoint you. I look for the best in people and I treat them like they’re my friends.” When members know they’ll be 1-2 days late with their rent they call to let her know. Her management style has resulted in trust & rapport.
Related to digital products:
I believe that product leadership is about service. Service to our community, customers, team and stakeholders. At the end of the day we are serving humans that have real lives, stories, challenges and unique experiences. Isn’t that amazing?
My Mom has proved that her strategy of leading a community with empathy has been good for business, good for the community and rewarding for her. Whenever she finally retires (lol) she shared, “I really believe all my work leading this community has been a good thing. And I feel comfortable and happy with that.”
I hope you loved this essay– it was really special for me to write it. If you enjoyed it let me know by replying to my newsletter and sharing it with a friend. If you’re not subscribed to my newsletter yet you can do that here.