What It Means to Be a Community Manager at Rewire
Being one of the pioneer community managers at Rewire, I can’t help but be proud of how far our communities grew over the last 3 years. What started with a small group of Filipino users who I communicated with via WhatsApp, is now a Facebook community of over 2K members, which continues to grow on a daily basis.
Today, Rewire powers 4 independent communities, which go far beyond the context of Rewire and offer an open and friendly space for migrants to ask questions, get financial advice from each other, share their knowledge and thoughts about money matters, even organize (online) events, and so much more. It’s exciting to see how these communities became independent and stand on their own regardless of Rewire.
Still, there’s a lot to manage. A lot more than you may think.
Maintain freedom of speech
When I say the communities are powered by Rewire but are completely independent, I mean exactly that. You see, our goal is to create a safe space where migrants can interact with each other, learn from each other’s experiences, and consult with one another without interference. For example, we would allow positive content about competitors and opinions about Rewire’s service (as long as these are posted by an unbiased source), discussions about general money matters, thoughts and rants about life as a migrant, and basically anything that a community member wants to share or consult about.
The only time we would intervene in the discussion or censor posts would be when the content includes disrespectful comments or even hate speech, inappropriate adult content, or ads of any type (unless the admin of the group pre-approved it).
Support everyone — whether they are Rewire customers or not
Every user situation is different. Whether it’s a mother who’s sending money for her child’s educational needs, a nurse supporting her or his family, an engineer remitting money to increase his or her savings, or a father covering hospital bills to help out relatives from afar. We support everyone, which makes empathy the most important skill a community manager should have.
While in the case of Rewire customers I can actually help by checking status and providing real answers, many of our community members are not Rewire customers. This blend is what makes this community so special. So in case a community member needs help, he or she would get it — whether it’s from me as a point of contact with Rewire or from other members of the community who simply have knowledge or experience with the specific issue in discussion.
As community managers, we know how to act and react to various situations — always with an ample amount of sensitivity, and compassion in every situation.
Major Contribution to Product Development
I remember someone who once told me that she is a brutally difficult client. She always pushes the wrong buttons, hence, people avoid her. My response to her was that while hearing complaints may be uncomfortable at first, it is always better than the alternative, because if nobody complains, then we wouldn’t know how to improve our services and products (also, sometimes the most difficult clients become the most loyal ones).
As community managers, we are trained to observe, listen and voice out information that could be vital to product improvements. Escalating complaints and pain points are actually disguised opportunities for innovation. We love to hear everything — the good, the bad, and even the neutral.
For example, Rewire has recently launched its SSS payment service, which enables remote social security payments for Filipinos living abroad. This service was born out of a deep understanding of the pain points that accompany Filipinos as they migrate to other countries. How did we come up with this specific service? We listened.
Always a Marketing Channel
My unique position as a community manager allows me to work alongside Rewire’s marketing team and come up with unique promotions, and celebrations that would benefit the members of my community.
In a way, my role here is twofold: on one hand, I work with the company to achieve its KPIs, and on the other hand, I have a responsibility towards my community and a promise to cater to their unique needs. By the way, these do not contradict each other.
When it comes to managing the Filipino Expats and Migrants in the EU community, I always jump out of my comfort zone. It takes a lot of valuable skills and creativity to be a community manager. One needs to be dynamic, articulate, open-minded, flexible, and sensitive to the needs of the community. This leap is also the most rewarding part of my job.
