How KWENCH is using Automations to Build a Better Community

As a hospitality-driven work and social club, KWENCH members are the lifeblood of the entire operation. An exceptional member experience is not just a nice-to-have – it defines the entire brand.

The KWENCH member service team plays a critical role in creating a positive, safe, and memorable experience for all members. When clunky, manual processes were getting in their way of serving their community, the team knew it was time to make a change.

Caleb Van Der Kooi, Club General Manager at KWENCH, set a goal to redefine their operations and the role of Member Services at KWENCH. To achieve this, Caleb set out to automate as many operational processes as possible while maintaining the human touch that members have come to know and love.

Here is how Optix and Automations is helping the KWENCH team transform their operations, empower their team, and achieve their goal of creating an even more memorable experience for KWENCHers.

Before Automations: Manual, clunky processes

• Internal processes were dependent on human resources
• Relied heavily on Google Calendar and disjointed tech tools
• All member communication was sent manually

Before getting started with Automations, the KWENCH team relied heavily on human resources to execute internal processes and keep track of what needed to be done. With over 450 members, this was a daunting task for their member service team.

They worked with a disjointed system of Google calendar and other tech tools which slowed down key operations. If they needed to send an email or message a member, it had to be done manually. 

Not only did this overburden their team, it also prevented them from being able to find key efficiencies and connect with their members.

Getting started with Automations

Creating Automations was fun, straight-forward, and intuitive for Caleb right off the bat. We worked directly with the KWENCH team to ensure their automations fit into their existing operational workflows, but in the process, Caleb found new opportunities to both improve their operations and create new workflows to support their team even more.

Part of Caleb’s success in creating so many effective Automations was taking the time to reflect on all of KWENCH’s standard operating processes (SOPs). Automations helped bring about an awareness of all operating processes and where things needed to be tightened up.

As one of the first Optix clients to get access to Automations, his experience and feedback was instrumental in helping to ensure Automations would be impactful for not just KWENCH, but other coworking and flex spaces.

After Automations: Recurring tasks on auto-pilot

• Automating all recurring tasks for their team
• Streamlining internal member service processes
• Personalizing automated communication with members

In just 60 days, the KWENCH team has set up over 30 automations, helping them automate over 2,500 additional actions that would have otherwise been completed manually, for a total of over 5,000 automated actions in Optix.

Caleb has been able to use Automations to streamline all of the recurring tasks the member experience team was performing manually, from onboarding new members, following up with day pass users, to adjusting users’ account types and statuses in Optix. The team can now reinvest that time into connecting with the community and making a bigger impact on their members.

The best part is, they haven’t lost any of the human touch that people have come to expect from KWENCH. In fact, Automations has freed up the team’s time to do more of exactly that.

How is KWENCH using Automations?

With Automations, the possibilities for what you can achieve are endless. Here are three areas of the business that Caleb and the KWENCH team have been able to transform with Automations.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Automations extends the member management potential in Optix, including CRM capabilities. Caleb is using Automations to automatically adjust the account types of members based on their membership plan and nurture different types of members accordingly. 

The team then sends custom messages to different segments of members based on their unique account type, helping to deliver the right information to the right people at the right time. 

For example, if a new member makes a drop-in booking, then their account type is automatically adjusted in Optix to “Drop-in” and they receive an email outlining important information specific to their drop-in booking. 

Member Communication and Engagement 

Communicating with members is a time-consuming but essential task for member experience teams, especially at community-focused spaces like KWENCH.

Caleb has created automations to take care of recurring member communications for welcoming new members, following up with issues reported, event invitations and updates, invoice follow-ups, and so much more. 

With personalization tokens, these emails and in-app messages feel just as special as before, without taxing the team.

Task and Project Management

One of the greatest benefits of Automations is how it integrates with all of the other existing Optix features. One such feature that is made infinitely more powerful with Automations is Tasks.

Caleb has created automations that automatically create and assign tasks to different members of the team. For example, every time a private office is leased, a task is automatically created for Ethan, their Assistant Club Manager, to check-in on their membership and ensure they feel welcomed and supported in the space. Ethan is also using Tasks to run all his monthly recurring reminders essential to his role.

What’s next for KWENCH?

At KWENCH, their number one priority is supporting balanced, happy humans to lead engaged and inspired lives. And boy oh boy, are they ever succeeding in this mission! By automating as many operational processes as possible, their team is able to spend more time with their members, doing the things only a human can do. 

Expansion is on the horizon for the KWENCH team. With a thoughtful and dedicated approach to refreshing and automating their operations, Caleb is focused on scaling their operations while providing a consistent experience across multiple locations.

We’re proud to partner and power this incredibly inspiring community and are looking forward to growing together with this extraordinary team of change-makers!