Meet the Community Builders - Nicole Saunders - Zendesk
In this Meet the Community Builders I am delighted to chat with one of my community heroes - Nicole Saunders.
Nicole is Director of Community at Zendesk, the award-winning customer service software company.
Before, during and after the interview, we discovered we had much in common.
“I think I’ve always been a community builder. Being a community builder is just a part of who I am”, we both sing in community choirs, we share the same philosophy about community strategy and we live for the positive impact that it can have on both business and society.
Nicole was generous with her insights and advice for community professionals.
This is a must-watch for anyone interested in community building - especially in larger organisations, where the community function sits at the heart of customer insight and intelligence.
We discuss:
How Nicole discovered she was a community builder through a Twitter hashtag in 2011 (but secretly knew she was always one)
What community means to her - definitions of community and the importance of 'core groups' 'connections' and 'consistency and repetitiveness' in that definition
What the Community and User Programs teams do at Zendesk, where community sits within Zendesk and where there are overlaps with teams and departments in the organisation
The importance of cross functional relationships and empowering members as key ingredients of success for Zendesk's communities
How community professionals should adapt to Community Everywhere and Community Ecosystems - and why boundaries, bandwidth and focus is so important
Why she's hired a community team with diverse skillsets (and has a “small but mighty team”)
Why marketing and community are a good fit
Why the impulse to silo community is the wrong impulse
What she is most proud of in their community and the ingredients of success
The importance of listening to and acting on signals from your community members
Zendesk communities key measures for success and how Nicole and team measure them
How AI tools will help us better analyse and measure the impact of communities over time
Examples where things haven't quite as worked as planned in the Zendesk communities and the positive learnings from them
Why understanding human psychology, the art of gathering and how people connect is critical in community building
What increases engagement in community
Why Zendesk's Super User and Ambassador programmes are important to community success and what Nicole is working on right now
Famous (past and present) people Nicole would love to have in her community
Watch the interview in full below.
Zendesk customer champions enjoying an community appreciation dinner at Zendesk’s RElate conference 2024
More ‘Meet the Community Builders’ interviews
A treasure trove of insights, tips and advice some of the most experienced community builders and most progressive thinkers in community today.
‘Meet the Community Builders’ - Emma Sexton and Sarah Halfpenny from Inside Out Community
’Meet the Community Builders’ - Kian Bhaktiari - The People
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Photos © Zendesk
