Here’s 5 Reasons OTHER Church First Impression Team Leaders Think YOU Should Attend the Guest Experience Boot Camp

by: Bryan Rose

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There are quite a few reasons I could come up with to encourage you to participate in Auxano’s upcoming Guest Experience Boot Camp in West Palm Beach, FL. Given the vast array of conferences and workshops you could attend, you might be wondering if bringing a team to Florida is worth the investment of time and resources? So rather than hear my reasons, I thought it would be great to hear from recent attendees of our Guest Experience Boot Camps.

Here are five reasons, when asked what they liked best about their Boot Camp experience, other Guest and Church Hospitality leaders think you should attend:

1. Because hoping to create a better Sunday experience is not the same as actually creating an intentional plan for welcoming first-time guests.

“We loved the space and coaching to think intentionally – and create a plan for our church.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp is the only conference, workshop or seminar that includes the time and tools to create an actionable plan.

2. Because your church is not like any other church, yet has the potential to learn something from every other church.

“Our team really enjoyed how practical the whole thing was. You understood each church had a different dynamic and gave us opportunities to discuss but also learn from others.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp fosters church-to-church interaction and collaborative learning from other leaders across the country.

3. Because learning from experienced practitioners helps more than listening to accomplished speakers.

“I thought the presenters were knowledgeable and engaging. I also enjoyed the Disney references.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp trainers have worked with hundreds of churches and leverage real-time experience in your real-world context.

4. Because leading a team over the long term requires practical tools that supplement training.

“The workbook is gold, and if I lose it, I will probably cry. Thank you for developing such an incredible resource!“

The Guest Experience Boot Camp workbook functions as an “evergreen” resource in training your new, and seasoned leaders to create an atmosphere of hospitality every Sunday.

5. Because engaging, fresh content creates more energy than watching yet another talking head speaker.

“The passion that Bob and Bryan demonstrated for what they believe will make a difference through the stories they shared.”

The Guest Experience Boot Camp combines the inspiration and information you are looking for with a plan for implementation that creates second-and-third time guests.

Details and registration information available here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Guest Experience Boot Camp, Hospitality, church hospitality

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Generospitality Part Six – One Last Reminder About THIS WEEK’s Guest

by: Bryan Rose

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Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.  – Ephesians 5:1-2 CSB

First-time guests may not remember any of the points in your message or any of the words of your music, but they will remember every moment of your welcome.

A culture of joyful, or joy-full, generosity rests on a foundation of careful, or care-full, hospitality. A church that shows their love for strangers is a church that shares their love with each other, for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. Every step we take toward welcoming strangers with love moves us forward in sharing with the body in love. If the Early Church couldn’t separate loving each other from loving every other, then we shouldn’t try to either.

Consider what may be the most important metric for you to monitor: new givers. How many new people or families began to live in obedience through Biblical generosity this last year? For the most part, many of those first-time givers were also first-time guests. Your culture of welcome set the standard for their commitment to giving from the first time they visited your website. Smiling faces, manicured hedges, and helpful signage all speak to the love your church has for the stranger, those whose names we’ve not yet learned. Your church will demonstrate generosity in their hospitality before you ever communicate about giving in a membership class.

It remains then that Generospitality changes everything for you, your church body, and for your guests. Loving each other, and then loving every other, are actions that will change everything for someone this Sunday.

Stop and consider your guest one last time.

Right now the Holy Spirit is at work in someone’s life, stirring him or her to be your guest this Sunday. Some kind of crisis or challenge has moved them to make this the week they finally attend your worship service. The risk of going to your church to find God will finally be less than the risk of facing another week without Him. Your guest this Sunday will have seen your building or your website. They have likely heard someone else talk about your church. Chances are high that a friend or family member already attends and extended an invitation. They have probably prayerfully invited them for years. Of all the reasons why and how, one simple fact remains: they are coming.

This is their week to attend, and this is your week to love.

This Sunday will be the next opportunity to love each other in generosity. It will also be the next opportunity to love every other, through hospitality. It’s your chance to love by means that change the direction of someone’s life as well as the destination of their eternity. This Sunday, the Lord will add to your number those who are being saved.

Are you ready?

> Download the Seven Checkpoints of an Engaging Guest Experience Tool here.

> Read more from Bryan

Want to improve your church’s Guest Experience? Learn how at the Guest Experience Boot Camp coming to West Palm Beach, FL February 26-27!

Tags: Bryan Rose, Church Guest Experience, Generospitality, guests

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3 Unpardonable Sins of the Guest Experience

by: Dan Reiland

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Some of your visitors are looking for reasons not to return.

These guests are difficult to please. If they look for the flaws in your church, they will find them. There are no perfect churches, and pleasing everyone is impossible.  Do your best to love everyone, but the prospect of chasing people who are intent to run is usually a futile process.

Some of your visitors are looking for reasons to stay.

These guests are looking for a few things that are important to them, such as friendship, spiritual growth, help in a crisis, or a healthy environment for their kids. If they find a few things they care most about, they will overlook a few less than ideal aspects of your church.

In fact, it’s amazing how forgiving people can be if you treat them well as a person.

The musicians on your worship team may not be world class, or perhaps you don’t have enough parking, or maybe your student ministry isn’t what you want it to be. But if you treat people well they are usually pretty forgiving.

This is not an excuse to ignore the things that need attention, but it’s enough grace to know that you can still do great ministry while you work on what needs to be improved.

First time guests and people new to your church will give lots of grace for the flaws and shortcomings if you treat them with:

• Kindness
• Respect
• Love

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Dan Reiland, Guest Experience, Hospitality, Welcome, church hospitality

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7 Things Disney’s New Attraction Can Teach Church Welcome Teams

by: Bob Adams

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Throughout the history of Disney theme parks, from the opening of Disneyland in 1955, to each new park and land opening all the way through Shanghai Disneyland in 2016 and even up to the latest land coming to a “galaxy” near you, there has been one common denominator that is the foundation of their success…

• It’s not the amazing design and concepts of places you can go only in your imagination…
• It’s not the intricate attention to detail that makes you feel like you’re really there…
• It’s not even the stories that pull you in and make you a character in them.

It’s the Cast Members – men and women who bring all the above to life.

And there’s no better example of this than the newest land, Galaxy’s Edge, which opened in Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2019.

Pictured above are Disneyland Cast Members, a few days prior to the opening of Galaxy’s Edge on May 31, 2019.

Pictured above are Disney Hollywood Studios Cast Members, a few days prior to the opening of Galaxy’s Edge on August 29, 2019.

Cast Members have always been integral to the concepts and ideals of Disney’s theme parks. Walt Disney summed it up very well in this quote:

You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world…but it requires people to make the dream a reality.

In Galaxy’s Edge, Disney has given Cast Members more “connection” to the experience than ever before. Cast Members are being told that this is a place where they too play a role in helping the Guest Experience come to life.

Many of the Cast Members are part of the Resistance. They are supporting Guests in the queue at the coming Rise of the Resistance, and at various other venues. In other locations, such as Docking Bay 9 and up on the Star Destroyer, you’ll encounter those associated with the First Order.

The residents of Black Spire Outpost make up the remainder of the Cast Members. They handle much of the support for food and beverage as well as retail. In their role, some can lean toward either the Resistance or the First Order. Or, they can maintain a neutral or even “I could care less” position about who is in charge. But as it relates to the story, they are “caught” between the pull of both sides.

J. Jeff Kober, a former Cast Member who was instrumental in the writing of Disney’s “Be Our Guest” book, provided me with the above information. He went on, adding the following thoughts that are applicable to your organization:

• Are you staffing your organization with people who have the right attitude and the critical thinking skills needed?
• How are you using the implementation of new products and services as a chance to reward your team members with new growth opportunities?
• What resources are you providing your team members to set them up to do their job successfully?
• What “role” are you asking your team members to play?
• What efforts do you have in place to train and develop your staff? What things can you not assume? What things must they be able to experience themselves? What must you do to develop them long term?
• How are your team members – especially those behind the scenes – supporting your front line staff?
• What are you doing to treat your team members as assets and not liabilities?

The concepts above are crucial to the success of your hospitality ministry. But they don’t just appear out of nowhere. Today’s Galaxy’s Edge Cast Members started their journey the same way Cast Members have from the very beginning – with the vision and values of Disney.

Again, thanks to J. Jeff Kober for the inspiration!

Your team is THE most critical part of creating an Exceptional Guest Experience. They make your Guest Experience “real” every weekend!

> Read more from Bob.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Interested in bringing your team (up to 5 people) to Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp coming to West Palm Beach, FL on February 26-27? Find out more here.

Tags: Cast Member, Church Guest Experience, Church Welcome Team, Disney Hollywood Studios, Galaxy's Edge, Guest Experience, Star Wars

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Are Your Guests Stuck?

by: Annette Franz

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Editor’s Note: During our August focus on Guest Experiences, we are honored to have some of the best voices in the world of Customer Experience provide guest posts for the Vision Room. As you read the content below, simply think “Guest” in terms of the “customer” the author is talking about – and you will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of these great minds.

I originally wrote today’s post for Forbes. It appeared on the Forbes site on October 18, 2018. I’ve made some slight modifications since then, as it turned into a two-part series.

The good news is that you’ve embarked on a customer experience transformation journey. The bad news is that you don’t think your organization has evolved as much as you’d hoped it would by now. Perhaps you started to see progress, but it suddenly seems like forward movement has stalled.

You’re not alone. A lot of companies are, or claim to be, working to improve the customer experience, with little or no visible evidence. Companies are still treating customers poorly. And customers are still complaining.

What’s going on?

In this two-part series, I will provide my thoughts on why customer experience transformation efforts stall or slow. In part one, I’ll focus on those reasons attributed to company leadership; in the second part, I’ll outline reasons associated with employees and operations. (Ultimately, it’s all on leadership, but I’ll drill down a bit in part two.)

1. Misplaced or Mistaken Focus
You know the old “acquisition vs. retention” debate. Acquiring customers is so much easier than retaining; retention is hard work, and it’s a huge part of what the customer experience transformation work is all about. Focusing on acquisition yields a much faster ROI, especially when companies are driven by growth metrics.

Because retention — and hence customer experience transformation — work is slow and difficult, people get bored and tend to fall back into their old habits rather than relentlessly driving toward the ultimate goal. It’s important to recognize that a customer experience transformation is all about baby steps. In order to keep people energized and focused, share quick wins, and celebrate successes as you progress.

2. The Revenue Conundrum
Related to the misplaced focus on acquisition is that message you receive from the CEO that starts with, “Revenue is down this quarter. We need all hands on deck, focusing on drumming up new business.” Suddenly, all of your customer experience transformation resources are shifted to business development and sales efforts.

Interestingly enough, the first question the CEO should ask is: “Why are sales down?” Is it a quality or performance issue? Is it that you’re getting Blockbuster’d? Do you really understand what your customers’ needs are and what jobs they are trying to do?

I’ve seen this scenario play out a few times, and each time, if they would’ve fixed what was ailing them, then sales numbers wouldn’t be down. Don’t take your eyes off the ball. Stay focused on the customer and the customer experience. Stay focused on the work that you’re doing to improve the experience. After all, a poor experience is likely why customers aren’t buying.

3. Actions Speak Louder Than Words
It’s a fact: in order to successfully transform your culture to be one that is customer-focused, customer-centric, and customer-obsessed, you must start with executive commitment. Without that commitment, you will not get the resources – human, financial, capital, or other – that you’ll need to implement real change.

But… And there’s always a “but,” isn’t there? But, if you get a verbal commitment that’s not supported by the actions (e.g., actually assigning the resources, modeling the behavior, walking the walk, etc.) or if you got a commitment that had initial support (actions) that has since waned, you’ve got a problem. You’re now in a holding pattern until actions once again shore up the words.

4. It Hasn’t Been an Enterprise-Wide Effort
When you have executive support and commitment across the entire organization, the change efforts will have a much greater chance of taking hold and being successful. If you don’t have organization-wide support, or (especially) if the CEO isn’t on board, sure, you can start making changes within pockets of the organization, but you won’t get far. A true transformation must involve all departments; there can be no silo’d efforts. Customers actually know when the focus (and the experience) is silo’d!

5. Communications Aren’t Open and Continuous
I heard this great quote from leadership development experience Susan Scott the other day: “What gets talked about in an organization and how it gets talked about determines what’s going to happen or isn’t going to happen.” So true! Communicating the vision, the how, the why, the what’s in it for me, etc. is so important when you’re going through this type of transformation. And the communication must be open and ongoing. Provide progress updates. Answer questions. Talk about and celebrate quick wins. Keep the conversation going. Things that leaders talk about are deemed important by employees; things that are not, well, are not considered to be important.

6. Sense of Urgency Wasn’t Established/Maintained
According to John Kotter, the first step of any change initiative is to create a sense of urgency. What’s the burning platform in your business? Pick one: Customers are leaving. Employees are leaving. Costs are rising. Processes are out of whack. The culture is a mess. Bankruptcy. Impending hostile takeover. They’re all bad. If you haven’t clearly communicated, including ongoing reminders, to your employees what the burning platform is and created that sense of urgency, they forget the why. Thoughts shift to, “Things aren’t so bad; why should we change?” or “It’s just business as usual; what’s the big deal?” And then you lose them.

No one ever said that a customer experience transformation was easy. It’s a lot of work and requires a dedicated and relentless focus on making things better. If you’ve seen your progress slow, evaluate your efforts against the six items I’ve written about here. And stay tuned for several more reasons coming in the second part of this two-part series.

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. -Warren Buffett

Read the second part here.

> Read more from Annette.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Annette Franz, Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience

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Every Decision Comes Back to This

by: Shep Hyken

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Editor’s Note: During our August focus on Guest Experiences, we are honored to have some of the best voices in the world of Customer Experience provide guest posts for the Vision Room. As you read the content below, simply think “Guest” in terms of the “customer” the author is talking about – and you will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of these great minds.

I’m honored to be the keynote speaker later this year at Office Pride, a franchisor of commercial cleaning service companies. All of the franchisees will be attending their annual meeting to network and learn about the latest and greatest opportunities happening in their industry. My job is to talk to them about customer service.

As part of my homework, Todd Hopkins, their CEO, shared the Office Pride Culture book. As I was reading it, I came across a concept worth sharing. While Office Pride has created a great set of core values, Todd describes them as decision filters. He writes, “Our core values filter the outcome of what we, either impulsively or mindfully, decide to do.”

Core values are what an organization believes and stands for. These are the principles and beliefs that guide an organization – and the employees of that organization. Many organizations’ core values include words like honesty and integrity. Office Pride’s core beliefs and values are as follows:

• Honor God
• Always Do What is Right
• Increase Brand Value
• Demonstrate Honesty, Integrity, and Hard Work Ethic
• Total Customer Satisfaction
• Go the Extra Mile
• Persevere with a Servant’s Attitude
• Accountability to Commitments

The key for core values to work is to keep them in front of you, memorize them, and be conscious of how they tie into your daily behavior with your customers and employees. Just writing them down without acting on them is simply a writing assignment.

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, came up with ten core values for his company. In his book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, Hsieh says he hires for those core values. He will also fire for a lack of any of the core values. That’s how important they are to the health of his organization.

It was Tony Hsieh’s book that inspired Hopkins to write his own culture book, which is a great exercise for an organization to consider. This short 84-page book devotes a chapter to each of his eight core values, supported by examples of how Office Pride employees and franchisees live by them.

So, back to Mr. Hopkin’s concept of core values being a filter. If you are working for a company or going to work for a company, take time to understand their core values. Do they align with what you believe in? Can you live by these values? Is this the culture that you want to be a part of? If the answer is yes, then let the values be the natural filter that guides the way you perform and treat others.

> Read more from Shep.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Core Values, Guest Experiences, Shep Hyken, Values

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Why “How It Feels” is as Critical as “How It Works”

by: VRcurator

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It’s fairly easy for volunteers on your team to state what they do. It’s also pretty easy for most volunteers to talk about how they do what they do. However, few volunteers can actually articulate WHY they do what they do.

The reason? Stating WHY goes to values, and values are often talked about but more often misunderstood.

A church without values is like a river without banks – just a large puddle.

Values are the shared convictions that guide the actions and reveal the strength of the church. They are the values that represent the conscious and collective soul of your church because they express your most deeply held ideals. They define your ministry’s ethos.

Values are filters for decision-making and springboards for daily action. They are the constant reminder of what is most important to your church.

As with any organization, your church has a set of shared values underneath the surface of everyday activity. The problem is that they stay weak because they are unidentified and unharnessed in guiding the future.

The role of the leader is to identify the most important values and pull them above the waterline of people’s perception. Once they are in clear view, the leader can nurture their development, enabling the church to do more of what it does best.

What is true of your church as a whole is also true of individual ministries in your church – such as your hospitality ministry.

THE QUICK SUMMARY

The key to growth as a church, youth ministry, or a business is getting first-time guests to come back. And as any good manager of a hotel, a store, a restaurant, or an attraction knows, the key to getting guests to come back is not actually the rooms or the product or the food itself; it’s how guests feel when they’re there. It’s about hospitality. No matter how much effort and time we spend on excellence–stirring worship time, inspiring sermons, a good coffee blend in the foyer–what our guests really want when they come to our churches is to feel welcome, comfortable, and understood.

Written by a church consultant and a hospitality expert, The Come Back Effect shows church, ministry, and even business leaders the secret to helping a first-time guest return again and again. Through an engaging, story-driven approach, they explain how service and hospitality are two different things, show how Jesus practiced hospitality, and invite leaders to develop and implement changes that lead to repeat visits and, eventually, to sustained growth.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

No matter how over-the-top your service, if it doesn’t connect with the emotions of your guest, it isn’t hospitality. Hospitality is about the feeling.

Life is so hurried and hectic. What if the church could be the place where a guest feels the least hurried? Where the relational moments could provide a safe environment – safe to process through difficult moments in our life?

Decide proactively what you want your guests to feel, then look for ways to create environments that will help them experience that.

When the emotion is there, it doesn’t feel like someone’s doing their job. It’s like they’re your friend. It feels like they’re rooting for you and that doing their job is a way to support you – not just a means to perform a task.

Hospitality is about caring for the emotions of the guest just as much as it is about serving them, if not even more. That means knowing when it’s time to go above and beyond the call of duty or when it’s time to walk away. Hospitality is about merging the function – the tasks – and the feeling.

Every time a guest experiences us, we should honor them enough to deliver the same level of hospitality in every experience. But that same level of hospitality might mean responding differently each time, because the experience is about the guest. It’s not about making ourselves feel good about the service we provided. It’s making the guest feel good about the hospitality we showed.

Many ministries have been “doing” this serving thing for so long that all they worry about is “doing.” We need to reimagine what it means to be the guest and what it means to add feeling back into it. This means prioritizing the feelings of the guest over the tasks we perform for them.

The question to ask when faced with this information is obvious: Do we simply let the tasks go in exchange for the feeling? No. This idea of merging function and feeling is about a perspective shift more than anything. It’s not strictly a behavioral change, though this will affect your behavior. It’s about focusing on the feeling of the task – not simply the task itself.

Jason Young and Jonathan Malm, The Come Back Effect

A NEXT STEP

Serving is task oriented; hospitality is feeling oriented. Simply performing tasks is not enough to compel a guest to come back. Hospitality should change the way we perform our tasks. Tasks are important, but it’s the intangible feelings we transmit that turn them into moments of hospitality.

At your next team meeting, expose your team to both the good and negative feelings so they can know what good feelings to deliver in order to replace the negative emotion. Using the list developed by the authors below, highlight the positive feelings that stick out to you. What are some additional feelings your team would add?

You want your guests to feel:

Confident                   Pleased                       Included

Safe                             Comfortable               Refreshed

Satisfied                     Excited                       Challenged

Accepted                    Interested                  Secure

Hopeful                      Valued                         In control

Acknowledged           Relaxed                      Delighted

Empowered               Welcomed

Educated                    Familiar

Now, underline the negative feelings you’ve experienced in guest services environments. What are some additional feelings you team would add?

You don’t want your guests to feel:

Confused                    Doubtful                     Frustrated

Unsafe                         Angry                          Uninitiated

Skeptical                     Hurt                            Overwhelmed

Cynical                        Distrustful                  Uncomfortable

Suspicious                  Processed                  Out of control

Ignored                       Rushed                        Helpless

Annoyed                     Uneasy

By knowing and understanding the negative feelings that can happen, your team what’s possible by replacing those negative feelings with positive ones.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 99-3, released August 2018.

Interested in bringing your team (up to 5 people) to Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp coming to West Palm Beach, FL on February 26-27? Find out more here.

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

Each issue SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

> > Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Jason Young, SUMS Remix, The Comeback Effect, Values

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5 Next Steps to Create a Next Visit for Guests

by: Thom Rainer

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We are living in a world of post cultural Christianity. Our churches can no longer expect guests to show up just because we have the doors open. We have to be prayerful. We have to be intentional.

This post is, by its nature, very practical. But it can be a positive step in Great Commission obedience as you seek to expose people to the gospel and create more gospel conversations.

These, then, are five key steps to reach and retain guests. Most of these can be implemented in your church right away.

1. Create a culture of inviting. One of the primary reasons our churches do not have guests is straightforward: We are not inviting people to come. In my research for the book, The Unchurched Next Door, we found that nearly eight of ten unchurched persons would come to church if we invited them and accompanied them to the worship services. If we invite them, they will truly come. I will address this issue more fully next week.
2. Make certain you have a positive “guest flow.” Nelson Searcy, in his book Fusion,created this guide for the number of first-time guests each week in our worship services. If the number of first-time guests in your church is fewer than 5, you need to find out where the challenges reside.

• 3 first-time guests for every 100 in worship attendance: maintenance mode
• 5 first-time guests for every 100 in worship attendance: growth mode
• 7 first-time guests for every 100 in worship attendance: rapid growth mode

3. Be prepared for the guests when they arrive. The studies we have seen indicate we have between five and seven minutes to make a good first impression when the guests do arrive. Again, I will elaborate on this issue more in future posts.
4. Find a way to get contact information from guests. Ask guests to complete a guest card, but remember less is more. If we simply ask for an email and a name, we are likely to get higher responses. And if we say we will make a contribution to a local ministry (such as $5 for every card turned in), we will get even a higher response.
5. Contact guests within 24 hours. If you have their email address, send them a quick but personal email. If you have their mobile number, send them a text. These contacts can be brief, but they almost always increase the likelihood of a return visit. Your goal is not only to reach guests, but to retain them as well.

As you have requested of me, I am being more intentional about suggesting practical resources to accompany these blog posts. A good resource is “How to Retain Guests More Effectively.”

Reach guests. Keep guests. Have gospel conversations.

See what God will do.

> Read more from Thom.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Next Steps, Thom Rainer, reach and retain guests

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Three Things That Make Your Guests Feel Welcome

by: Scott McKain

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Editor’s Note: During our August focus on Guest Experiences, we are honored to have some of the best voices in the world of Customer Experience provide guest posts for the Vision Room. As you read the content below, simply think “Guest” in terms of the “customer” the author is talking about – and you will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of these great minds.

How can we reward our customers for doing business with us — which will increase the likelihood that they will come back and do more business in the future?

You redirect their attention to an enhanced experience.

Think like a Hollywood director and re-shoot, re-cast, or re-edit your brand.  These three steps could involve everything from your image, packaging, employees, and even your customers.

Here’s how:

Re-shoot 

Maybe there’s nothing wrong with your product; perhaps all you need to do is revamp your image to attract a new audience. And sometimes, all that calls for is a reshoot of your products.

Motorola figured that out when they realized they should go beyond marketing themselves as nothing more than an electronic device but as a symbol for fashion and lifestyle. Now, to compete with the iPhone, Motorola is trying to convince you they aren’t just selling you a smartphone — instead, they are delivering an accessory that helps complete your overall look with everything from phone design to an add-on projector, and more.

Re-cast

Find approaches to “re-cast” your employees or customers in a manner that creates an enhanced customer experience. Look at your target customer and see how your business needs to change based on how your customer has changed.

We’ve seen Vegas do this by recasting themselves from the gambler who hits the buffet…to the “hip” person who hits the Strip, parties, shops, and makes memories that require making pacts that, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Re-edit

How can you re-edit and enhance the experiences that your customers have to deliver them more “hands-on” time with your products and services?

Interactivity is one. (Yes, your customers can get “hands-on” time both virtually and physically.) Optimizing your distribution channels is another.

We all know someone who hates being the passenger. When they’re riding in the car with us, we can sense their foot pumping an imaginary brake. These people are used to being in control.

I believe many customers are experiencing a similar anxiety today. They, too, want to have their “hands on the wheel. Providing the customer with more authority and autonomy could be an important step to enhance the experience that our customer receives in this time of “show business.”

Great examples of interactivity today can be found in the video game industry, Pay-per-view movies and on-demand sporting events, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, and just about every television newscast that offers their viewers the opportunity to dial their “televote” line or connect via social media to register their opinion. The reason these work so brilliantly is that the interactive participant becomes an involved customer. And isn’t this a concept that we can acknowledge all started with show business?

This approach of prioritizing interactivity can also work on your own “show business.”

• The interactive customer becomes so emotionally involved and connected to the experience you provide that they become more than customers…they are loyal advocates of your brand who start promoting for you! 

I know that we’ve been focusing on change a lot lately here at Distinction Nation. But one thing that has remained constant despite all the innovations and evolving business landscape: “word of mouth advertising” remains the most powerful form of marketing.

When you re-shoot, re-cast, or re-edit your product or service, you enhance the likelihood that your customers will be delivering great “word of mouth” for YOU!

> Read more from Scott.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Create Distinction, Guest Experience, Scott McKain, Word of Mouth

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6 Non-Threatening Ways to Talk to First Time Guests

by: Danny Franks

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Q: 

When I spot a guest in the lobby that I don’t recognize, how can I approach them without coming right out and asking “Is this your first time?

A:

Hats off to you for recognizing that the “Is this your first time?” question can have a negative nuance associated with it. True, on the list of icebreaker question hills we should die on, this one is admittedly low on the list (“I don’t know who you are or who you think you are, but you’re sitting in my pew” is probably a much bigger deal.)

Here’s why I say it’s negative: I’ve found that “Is this your first time?” can put a first-time guest on the defensive. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to a question that makes them feel like an outsider and scramble to build a narrative that bridges the gap between you and them.

We should do all we can to absorb the awkwardness on behalf of our guests. That means we take the burden of weirdness off of their shoulders and place it onto ours. And that translates even into the small details of beginning a conversation.

So let’s say you’ve spotted that first-timer across the lobby (see six tips here for how to do just that). How do you kick off the convo? Here are a few of my favorite practices:

Walk slowly through the crowd. Making a beeline toward a first-time guest can make them feel like they’ve been put on the spot. It may be better to warm them up by letting them see you talking to lots of people, not just targeting them.

Start with generics, move to specifics. Eye contact, a smile, and a “good morning” always serves as a good kickoff. You don’t have to go in for the kill from the first moment.

“I’m not sure we’ve met.” This is my personal favorite line to use. You’re shouldering the responsibility for knowing them, acknowledging that you may have met before (which is great for forgetful folks like me), and giving them an opportunity to open up in conversation.

Assess their longevity. Now is the time to figure out how long they’ve been around, so that you can best help them. After initial small talk, you can ask, “How long have you been attending?” If they answer a few months or more, you have the opportunity to see how their connection process is going. If they say a few weeks or less or – even better! – this is my first day, you get to play the hero by being genuinely excited to meet them and suggest a simple next step.

Don’t assume their desire for proximity. Some guests may prefer to fly solo on their first visit. Others may really be looking for a friend. You can help with this by asking if they have someone to sit with, someone to go to lunch with, someone they’re meeting, etc.

Find a way to follow up. Remember their name and make a point to find them after the service just to check in. If appropriate, give them your contact info or swap for theirs. The first visit is a big deal, yes, but it’s often what happens just after the first visit (like a personal note) that will determine whether a guest comes back.

How do you start conversations on the weekend?

> Read more from Danny.

Want to know more about Guest Experiences at your church? Let’s talk! Connect with an Auxano Navigator here.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Danny Franks, Guest Experiences, first time guest

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