How we’re building a digital village (where everyone’s welcome)

How we’re building a digital village (where everyone’s welcome)

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I’ve always felt that calling a business a ‘family’ doesn’t quite capture what it should feel like. You see job ads everywhere: “Come join the [insert tech business name here] family!” But while the sentiment might come from a good place, family can mean different things to different people. For me, the idea of a community feels much more fitting.

Communities are about connection. They’re about helping each other, sharing knowledge, and working together toward a common goal. They give you a sense of belonging – like you’re part of something bigger. And for me, Signable feels exactly like that, a community. It’s that feeling of being connected to something meaningful that keeps people engaged, motivated, and, most importantly, sticking around.

That’s why, as 2024 came to a close, we decided to take this idea of community even further by launching the Signable Community platform. It’s a space for our customers to connect, collaborate, and share ideas – not just with us, but with each other. We didn’t just want to build a support channel, we wanted to create a digital village where everyone feels welcome, empowered, and part of something meaningful.

Why a community?

Keeping customers engaged and coming back is at the core of customer success – especially in a SaaS recurring revenue model. Building a strong community is a no-brainer because it fosters a sense of belonging and togetherness. Just like brand, culture, and values, a sense of community starts from within and grows outward, inviting others to feel like they’re part of something bigger. At Signable, we’ve cultivated our community from within, and now we’re extending the invitation for others to join.

Laying the foundations

So, how are we doing this? Well, creating a community isn’t as simple as “build it, and they will come.” It’s about laying strong foundations and then letting everyone contribute to building and shaping it. At first, I thought it was all about filling the platform with things like help articles, product updates, and “meet the team” posts – you know, all the warm, fuzzy content that feels very community-ish. But here’s the thing,  there’s already space for that in our blogs, newsletters, and social posts.

What we actually needed was to create a space for real engagement – somewhere customers could have conversations, ask questions, and share their ideas. So instead of overloading it with content, we started with prompts for discussions, ideas for topics, and clear signposts to the most interactive areas of our community, like feature requests and the user research panel.

The aim? To empower our customers. We want them to feel comfortable sharing their wins, challenges, and even innovative ways they’re using Signable. For example, with our public REST API, there are endless ways to integrate Signable with third-party software, and some of our customers are doing truly brilliant things. That’s why our first topic had to be the API – it’s where collaboration can really shine.

Welcoming people in

Once we had the foundations in place, it was time to invite people. While the doors to our digital village are open to everyone, it made sense to start with those who know Signable best – our account-managed customers. These are the people who send envelopes in their sleep and can offer brilliant advice to newer users. They’ve been invaluable in kicking things off.

From there, we’ve been spreading the word through newsletters, in-app messages, and social posts. The hope is that as more people join, the conversations will snowball, creating a lively, collaborative space that keeps growing.

Why this matters

Customer support today isn’t just about answering tickets, it’s about building relationships. A community not only connects us to our customers but also connects them to each other. It’s a space where real, unbiased experiences with Signable come to life – things no marketing campaign could ever replicate.

I’ll be honest: I’m biased. I have a deep understanding of what Signable does and why it matters. But if you were considering an e-signature provider, would you trust me or would you trust the advice of someone who uses Signable every day and has nothing to gain from sharing their experience? That’s the power of community.

By creating this space and encouraging discussion, we’re not just supporting our customers , we’re learning from them too. And honestly? That’s what makes this whole thing so exciting.

Want to join the Signable Community?

We’d love to have you! Whether you’re already a customer or simply curious about what Signable can do, you’re welcome to explore, contribute, and connect with others. Reach out to our team today to see how you can get involved and start building something incredible with us today!

Ellie Yates smiling directly at camera
Ellie Yates
Head of Customer Success

Ellie Yates is the current Head of Customer Success for Signable. As Head of Customer Success, Ellie oversees the customer support and success divisions at Signable and collaborates with the product team to continuously improve the platform and to advocate for customers. Ellie has over 10 years of Customer Success experience in start-up to scale-up SaaS organisations and has been in the e-signature space for nearly 5 years. She enjoys building excellent relationships with customers and creating Customer facing teams that project internal company culture out into the world.