How KoWorks Uses Automations to Build a More Connected Community

For Adam Hyman, founder of KoWorks, coworking is a way of life. His vision is to promote freedom and wellbeing while empowering people to live and work on their terms. From the beginning, he saw creating a network of fully autonomous and self-serve coworking spaces as a way of bringing this vision to life. 

So when his team unexpectedly shrunk from three to one, he knew automation would be the key to helping him operate leanly while staying true to his mission of being community-first. He decided to go all in on Optix Automations to help him run his business during a challenging transition — and the results have been better than he ever could have imagined.

Now almost six months later, Adam is expanding his operations and getting ready to grow, all while delivering an exceptional member experience with a lean team. Here’s exactly how Adam is able to do it all with Optix Automations.

KoWorks and Automation:

• With a lean team, he’s able to operate a thriving coworking brand with three locations and 800+ members 
• In six months, he’s automated over 6,000 manual actions automated which translates to more time to invest in community and experience
• He’s increased revenue from new members and upsold existing members, all while delivering a personalized, consistent experience
• The entire business can operate while Adam is on vacation (in Bali!)

Before Automations: Personal touch at a high cost

As a seasoned entrepreneur and a strong believer in human connection, Adam understood the importance of knowing his members and anticipating their needs. The problem is, he was doing all of this manually.

Every time a user downloaded the KoWorks app, Adam’s team manually recorded information about them. They kept track of who they were, where they came from, when they joined, and other unique user properties on a manual basis. This personalization was critical to the KoWorks experience, but was extremely time consuming for his team.

Adam used a spreadsheet to keep track of all member activity. His team manually recorded how many times a user had checked in, so they could reach out and send them a free day pass. Great for business, but highly inefficient.

When the team unexpectedly shrunk, Adam decided there was no better time to dive into learning how automation could fundamentally change how he ran his business, than now.

Getting started with Automations: Mapping the member journey

When it came to Automations, Adam began where we recommend all of our clients begin: by mapping the member journey and existing processes, and identifying all of the human touch points. He started to think about which touch points could be automated and which were better left to people. Community and connection is central to the KoWorks brand, so it was important for him to strike the right balance between automation and the human touch.

Then, Adam mapped out his acquisition funnel from lead to member using Account Types in Optix. Account types are custom tags that allow Optix users to manage their sales funnel and create custom automations for users based on where they’re at in the funnel. 

Finally, Adam began building out his automations in Optix. By using Optix as opposed to another external automation system, all automations could now be enriched with Optix data. That means user data like plan date, next booking date, and number of check-ins could all be tracked and used in automations.

Mapping out these processes and building them out with Automations not only helped to deliver a consistent, personalized experience for members and save Adam time, it also provided the foundation for scalability.

After Automations: More time for what matters

Today, Adam is running nearly 30 automations to over 800 members. What this really translates to is more time to build genuine connections with members, create exceptional experiences, and pursue his mission of helping people live and work on their terms. His automations help him reach his goals by:

1. Building relationships with his community: many of Adam’s automated messages or emails come personally from him, helping members feel at home and connected right off the bat.
2. Creating serendipitous moments: serendipity is a magical element of coworking, and Adam has his sights set on creating it automatically—like connecting two members who share a common interest and inviting them to chat with one another.
3. Increasing human capacity: Adam has been able to reallocate as much as 20 hours a week of admin work and put it towards deepening connections and furthering the KoWorks mission.
4. Protecting the KoWorks experience: now, Adam can deliver a consistent, personalized experience to every member, strengthening the KoWorks brand and enhancing the member experience.
5. Operating more intentionally: with the average community manager’s salary costing $50,000 USD a year, Adam is able to run his business more intentionally while being thoughtful in how he grows his team in the future.

Perhaps most importantly, Adam has continued to refine and update his automation processes based on user feedback to ensure members stay at the center of the experience. If something feels off or impersonal, Adam is quick to adjust and iterate, helping him strike the right balance between automation and the human touch which is so central to the KoWorks brand.

Automate your coworking space like KoWorks with these 3 automations

Which automations can Adam not get enough of? Here are three that help make running KoWorks possible!

1. Connect with users after they make an account

Adam uses his white-labeled app as a way to generate leads, keeping the app open and accessible to anyone who finds it. A few days after a lead creates a KoWorks account, they receive a message from Adam checking in and asking why they’ve joined the community and what they’re hoping to get out of it.

Adam is hoping to capture the why so that he can understand members better and create more tailored experiences for them. Plus, it’s a great way of helping new members feel welcome.

2. Remind users to book again

When it comes to upselling and cross-selling, timing is everything. Adam has this nailed down with an automated message that gets sent out to users after they’ve made a booking, inviting them to make another booking. So if it’s the evening after you booked a hot desk for a day, you may receive an invitation to save your spot for tomorrow. All personalized, all sent at exactly the right time.

3. Welcome members after their first check-in

The first time someone checks into the space, they receive a personalized message welcoming them to the community. Then, that person gets automatically added into a group chat where they’re introduced to the community. 

This is a great way to get people to immediately feel a part of the community, while opening up the opportunity for more in-person experience from fellow members or Adam himself.

Automation as the driver of connection

Some operators think that “automation” means a cold, inhuman experience. But Adam proves that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

He sees automation as a way of deepening genuine connection and increasing human capacity. Coworking space operators and community managers are often spending more than half their day in technology tools. By automating some of these redundant, manual tasks, operators and their teams can open themselves up to having more time to do the meaningful work that brings the most joy and has the biggest impact.

At the end of the day, coworking is rooted in community and connection. Automation can help founders and operators achieve the growth they’ve always dreamed of, without sacrificing any of the things that makes coworking special.

Hospitality is central to the coworking experience. Operators like Adam are helping to create a better experience not just for the people who are in them — but the people who run them.