Creating a Distinctive Guest Experience Requires Action

by: Scott McKain

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Editors 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 target the author is talking about – and you will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of some great minds.

Several times over the past several weeks, I’ve observed an interesting phenomenon.

At every presentation, I’ll be outlining the steps required to stand out in the marketplace of the group I’m speaking to — even with a slide at the end of each point saying, “What to do when you get home” with a list of actions every participant should take.

However, at the end of the presentation, I will now say to the group: “Before my last story, I want you to write down the first thing that you are going to DO when you get home to stand out from your competition.”

Invariably, some will instantly scribble a point, circle it, draw arrows pointing to it, and smile.  However, many in the group stare at the ceiling, rub their foreheads and write in fits and starts. (Even though I’ve already given them at least a dozen potential first steps during the presentation.)

Why?

Obviously, it’s possible that some just weren’t listening.  However, as I’ve observed them taking notes, that isn’t the correct answer for most of the ones involved.

Here’s my take — it’s a two-step problem.

• First, it’s one thing to see a list of potential steps you can take.  It’s quite another to decide which one you are going to commit to taking.

Many years ago, I was asked to be a judge in our local beauty pageant to be the queen of our county fair.  (The winner would go on to compete for the title of Miss Indiana State Fair.)  There were several talented and attractive participants.  So much so, in fact, that I had a very difficult time selecting one to be my vote as the winner.

In other words, when presented with the choice of many terrific options, it becomes very difficult to decide which is best.  A natural response is to either delay making a choice — or, to become paralyzed by the process.

• Second, there is something about writing out your decision that makes it more serious and binding.

Perhaps it is a throwback to our understanding about the importance of a contractual agreement — even if that agreement is only with yourself.  We seem to take it more seriously once we write it down.

Some were having trouble making the commitment to take action.  They were making all of the excuses in their minds — “I’m already too busy,” “What if I try it and it doesn’t work?” “I wonder if my boss is going to ask me about it?” and more.

Yet, without a commitment — what is ever accomplished?  You must first make a commitment to action before you can make significant progress!

This process has been a real learning experience for me — and, it can be for you, as well!

1. Discipline yourself to make a decision.  What will you DO…starting NOW…to create distinction in your marketplace?
2. Next — write it down and commit yourself to that action.
3. Finally — GET STARTED!

You are on your way…….

> Read more from Scott McKain

Tags: Action, Church Guest Experience, Distinction, Guest Experiences, Scott McKain

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Making Your First Impression a Lasting Impression

by: VRcurator

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A common picture at many churches this weekend would look something like this: a couple of people – maybe even a literal couple – stand outside the church’s main entrance. Depending on the weather, they may actually be inside the doors. As people approach the door, they open it and give a brief “hello” or “good morning” or some other similar platitude. Across the lobby, at the doors to the sanctuary or auditorium or large gathering room used for worship, the scene is repeated. Only, this time, the doors are usually propped open and an usher is standing there with a stack of bulletins, giving them out as people enter.

After all, isn’t that the purpose of greeters and ushers? Don’t they have a job description that outlines what they do each weekend?

Danny Franks, Connections Pastor at Summit RDU, gives a brief and compelling argument that hospitality teams serve more than just a utilitarian purpose. While acknowledging the importance of system and process, he challenges us to look at the beauty of hospitality:

The beauty of guest services is that it serves as a signpost to the gospel. Our planning and strategizing and vision casting and volunteer recruiting may indeed reduce combustion points and increase efficiency, but that shouldn’t be the reason we do it. Guest services should ultimately point to the kindness of Jesus. Our hospitality should be a catalyst.

What about your church? Your hospitality teams, in whatever form and name you give them, are literally the first face of your church as guests engage your campus and worship environments. What kind of gospel-impression are they making?

image

THE QUICK SUMMARY – Be Your Customer’s Hero by Adam Toporek

On the front lines of customer service, every day presents new and unexpected challenges—and even the most dedicated employees can be caught unprepared. They need confidence. They need training. They need help.

Be Your Customer’s Hero answers the call. The book provides customer-facing professionals with short, simple, actionable advice designed to transform them into heroes in the eyes of the customers they serve. Quick chapters show readers how to:

• Achieve the mindset required for Hero-Class service™
• Understand the customer’s expectations—and exceed them
• Develop powerful communication skills
• Avoid the seven triggers guaranteed to set customers off
• Handle difficult and even irrational customers with ease
• Become an indispensable part of any frontline team

Armed with the tools and techniques in this book, readers will start each workday knowing they can conquer whatever problem comes their way. 

A SIMPLE SOLUTION

You see that guest pulling into your parking lot? What are his or her expectations? Who set them? How will you know if you met them, let alone exceeded them?

The first interaction or comment your guest encounters initiates two very valuable aspects of the rest of your guest’s experience:

1. It creates a first impression
2. It sets the expectation for what the guest is about to encounter.

Creating a First Impression

As a starting point, here are some points to a positive first impression:

1. Everything matters – the more important the impression is, the greater your focus should be on everything
2. Focus on the other – as in the other person’s needs, wants, and concerns
3. Be your best self – making the effort and discipline to present the best of who you are to the guest in front of you

Setting the Level of Expectation

You should examine carefully and think thoroughly about the initial impression and expectation-setting ritual you follow when a guest first approaches you. Think about it: when you go in a store or a restaurant, and if you are greeted at all, does it sound genuine and sincere – or just a bored, memorized greeting with no emotion behind it?

The initial, front-line team in your Guest Experience ministry is crucial to establishing a high expectation, and then exceeding it.

When a customer walks into your world for the first time, seize the opportunity to start the relationship off well by making sure you create a great first impression. You only get one shot at it, and the payoff is well worth the effort.

What I love about first impressions is that they are an opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the experience. When a customer comes to your location for the first time or interacts with you for the first time, you have an opportunity.

On the front lines, understanding the importance of first impressions is essential to knowing how to start off customer interactions on the right foot. Customers are making up their minds about you and your organization in the briefest of moments, and these early impressions have a direct impact on their subsequent expectations.

The characteristics of first impressions can be broken down into two basic categories: environmental and interactional. Environmental characteristics are the things the customer observes as she walks through the door. When a customer enters your door, she is analyzing everything – even when she doesn’t know she’s doing it.

Interactional characteristics are the details of your first exchanges with the customer. Did you seem genuinely helpful or like someone who was just going though the motion because it was your job? Everything about you – your posture, your tone of voice, and your actions – is being evaluated by the customer in those first moments.

Adam Toporek, Be Your Customer’s Hero

A NEXT STEP

The expectations that you set for guests are obviously very powerful – as are the expectations they have of your ability to fulfill their needs and desires.

Read through the following questions and take time to answer them for yourself:

• How do you currently understand the expectations that guests have of you? How could you do a better job of discovering what they really want?
• Take a look at one specific interaction that you have with a guest. Develop two ideas of additional steps you could take that would enhance the connection you have with the guest in that situation.
• Describe in as much detail as possible the first impression that you are delivering as a guest pulls into your parking lot. How could you enhance it to create an even more powerful impact upon the guest’s expectations?

Next, in a team meeting with the leaders of your hospitality teams, write the questions above on three separate pages of a chart tablet and display them. Go through each question with the leaders, noting their answers.

After you have completed all three, compare and discuss your individual answers with those of the team. Reconcile any differences, and outline the steps needed to make sure your first impression is consistent across all your hospitality teams – both in practice each weekend and in training new team members as they come on board.

Taken from SUMS Remix 42-2, published August 2016

This is part of a weekly series posting content from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix Book Summaries for church leaders. SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; and each solution is taken from a different book. 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 provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

> Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Tags: Adam Toporek, Church Guest Experience, First Impressions, Guest Experience

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Stop Confusing Your First Time Guests

by: Rick Warren

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One of the reasons people are hesitant to try attending a church for the first time is that they’re not sure what to expect. In fact, they probably expect it to be a little bit awkward and uncomfortable.

Over time, it’s important for your church to become known as a place where people will be able to understand what’s happening. That doesn’t mean changing the message, but it does mean clearly explaining what is going on during the worship service.

If you use words like “prelude” or “convocation” without explanation, you’ll send the message that the service is intended for insiders and those who already understand what’s happening.

Here are a few suggestions for how to make people more comfortable in a church worship service that might be brand new to them.

1. Use easy-to-understand terminology.

Instead of “Invocation,” call it an “Opening Prayer.” Or better yet, don’t call it anything. Just have the prayer. No one really needs to know that a “Prelude” will be happening. Just play the music.

If you have a traditional altar call, or even an invitation for people to go somewhere for prayer, be very clear and specific in how you invite people to respond.

I’ve always said at Saddleback that we have The Living Bible version of the order of service. We’re more interested in making it clear for the unchurched than impressing the folks who know what liturgical terms mean.

2. Provide explanatory notes.

When you go to an opera or play that’s difficult to understand, they provide you with program notes. Tell people why you do what you’re doing in the service. If you hand guests a printed bulletin, it should include a simple explanation of the welcome / commitment card, the offering, the response time, etc.

Something like,

Please fill out one of the welcome cards from the chair rack in front of you and drop it in one of the boxes located at the door where you exit after the service . . .

or,

The offering time is an opportunity for members and regular attenders to invest in the ministry and mission of the church. We don’t expect guests to give.

Those kinds of notes can go a long way to putting people at ease.

3. Eliminate most announcements, and get creative with the few you make.

The best way to recruit people to volunteer, or attend an event, or support a cause, isn’t through an announcement from the stage. It’s best handled through relationships or personalized communication – email, social media, texts, etc.

The few announcements that are made should pertain to the whole body present, not a specific group within the church. And they can be delivered in creative ways. We often have two people on video, making announcements in a lively, news-like fashion.

4. Train members to be greeters and helpers.

Greeting people outside, in the parking lot, is a great start. But it’s also very important to have people insidethe auditorium and classrooms to make people feel welcome once they walk in.

While some people may be part of your official greeting team, you can train all of your regular attenders to be mindful of those who seem new or unfamiliar with their surroundings. Talk about this in your membership class so that everyone who joins understands that they’re informally part of the greeting team.

It really boils down to being sensitive to the apprehension people might feel walking onto a church campus with which they’re unfamiliar, meeting people they don’t know, and participating in a service that might be a brand-new experience for them.

> Read more from Rick.

Want to learn how to create an EXCEPTIONAL Guest Experience at your church? Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp in Cincinnati, OH on August 7-8.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Rick Warren, guests

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The Alignment Factor. Creating a Great Guest Culture

by: Shep Hyken

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Editors 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” where you see the word “customer” – and you will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of some great minds.

One of the most important ways to improve customer service is to make sure that everyone in an organization is in alignment with the customer service and/or experience vision. While the concept is just one word, there are several steps to achieving alignment.

The first step is to define that vision in simple and memorable terms. So, if you’ve been following my work, go back a few weeks to the concept of creating your customer service mantra, which is my fancy word to describe a customer service vision statement. Before you can get everyone into alignment, you must give them something to align with. I like a vision statement or mantra that is short and to the point. So, if you don’t already have a vision for everyone to align to, you’re going to need one.

Assuming you have the customer service vision statement – or mantra, as I like to call it – the next step is to prove how everyone in the organization impacts that vision. And, I mean everyone!  Start with your basic customer journey map that shows all of the typical interactions – or touchpoints – that the customer has when doing business with you. And you may need more than one map.  A customer’s sales journey is different than a service or support journey. The interactions a customer has on your company’s website will be different than over the phone or in person.

There is a second part of the journey map exercise, to show underneath each touchpoint how different departments and roles within those departments impact those touchpoints. If done correctly, you will eventually be able to show how each and every department – in other words, everyone – impacts the customer’s experience.

I know I’m sounding redundant, but if you haven’t already done the crucial steps of creating a vision and journey map – and I’m surprised at the number of organizations who haven’t yet done so – you have extra work to do before you can think about getting your employees into alignment.

And, now it’s time to get everyone into alignment. By getting everyone to know and understand your customer service vision, and showing on a journey map how everyone, even as individuals, impact the customer’s experience, you can begin to train everyone to your vision. This is simple in concept, but not always easy to do. You must have an effective communication strategy. It can start with an announcement. It must be articulated as not just a vision, but also an expectation that everyone must keep in mind, regardless of their role and responsibility in the organization.

And just announcing and communicating it is not enough. Each and every employee must be properly trained. It must constantly be reinforced. It must be obvious and almost overt. For employees to be in alignment, they must know it, understand it, and be able to execute it.

Customer service isn’t just for the customer service department or the front line. It’s everyone’s job. So, if there is one thing that will make a difference in your customer service, it is to get everyone in the organization in alignment with your customer service mantra.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

Want to learn how to create an EXCEPTIONAL Guest Experience at your church? Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp, coming to Orlando, FL on April 3-4.

Tags: Alignment, Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, Shep Hyken

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Excellent & Efficient: What the Church Can Learn from Chick-Fil-A

by: James Emery White

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My oldest son and his wife recently gave birth to our fourth grandchild. On our way to the hospital, while his wife was still in labor, our son asked us to pick up some breakfast. The only place by the hospital was a McDonald’s.

We went through the drive-thru and couldn’t help but notice the trash in the parking lot and the beat-up feel to the entire locale. When we reached the menu/order station, we were greeted with a monotone, bored voice, “Can I take your order.”

It wasn’t even a question. Just a statement.

When we pulled around to the first window to pay, the woman never made eye contact with us; she just took our card and handed it back with the receipt.

I said, “Thank you.”

She never even replied. She just closed the window.

We pulled to the next window, got our order, and at least this time we were met with a brief, “Thank you.”

Later that same week, we went to Chick-fil-A. We always like going there because they have good food, it’s clean and bathed in a Christian ethos with impeccable customer service.

The difference between Chick-fil-A and our McDonald’s experience could not have been starker. The drive-thru line was served by energetic and pleasant young people with mobile devices able to take our order and payment to speed up the process. We were greeted with eye contact, smiles, “How can I serve you?” and, if you know Chick-fil-A well, lots of “My pleasure!” in response to any and all requests. I was told to have a great day. I was asked if there was anything else I needed. I was told how much I was appreciated.

I remember turning to my wife, even though we’ve been to Chick-fil-A a thousand times, to say: “It just doesn’t take that much to have good customer service. Why don’t other places do it like Chick-fil-A? It’s just not that hard to be nice and courteous and friendly.”

Chick-fil-A costs more than McDonald’s. The lines are sometimes longer (because it’s popular). They only serve chicken.

But I don’t care.

One “My pleasure!” is worth a thousand burgers.

What does this have to do with the church?

A member of our staff was serving this past weekend at one of our newer campuses and sent me an email following the experience. She was teaching a class there through the Meck Institute titled “Find Your Fit.” She met a woman who, through the class, decided she wanted to join our Guest Services Team.

Why?

Here’s the rest of her email:

“She said that’s what drew her to Meck because they made her feel so at home. Her kids noticed it too. A friend of hers asked her middle school daughter, I believe it was, why she likes going to Meck so much.

“She said, ‘Everyone is so nice and so welcoming. Let me put it this way. It’s the difference between the customer service at McDonald’s and Chick-Fil-A.’ I thought that was such a sweet (and creative) compliment to our Guest Services Team.”

I did too.

> Read more from James Emery White.

Tags: Chick-fil-A, Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, James Emery White

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Does Your Church Expect Guests, or Just Accommodate Visitors?

by: VRcurator

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Taken from SUMS Remix 20-1, published August 2015

This is part of a weekly series posting content from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix Book Summaries for church leaders. SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; and each solution is taken from a different book. 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 provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

> > Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

Want to learn how to create an EXCEPTIONAL Guest Experience at your church? Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp in Cincinnati, OH on August 7-8.

Tags: Be Our Guest, Church Guest Experience, Disney Institute, Guest Experience

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Getting Ready for Fall: 7 Steps to Success

by: Danny Franks

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Yes, it’s currently blazing hot in most parts of the country. But fall will be here before we know it, and with cooler weather comes an attendance surge for most churches. Families are returning from vacation, people are getting back into routines, and church parking lots and pews are fuller than they were during summer. At our church, we typically see a 30-35% attendance bump from the end of July to mid-August (there was one year that it hit 52%!).

So how can you take advantage of the next few weeks in order to be prepared for the influx of guests? Here are seven ways:

Refresh your volunteer training. 

Go back to the basics with your current vols. Remind them why your team exists. Whether you’re meeting with them in person or sending out text / email updates, spend a few minutes over the next few weekends helping them get their heads back in the game. [Related post: Need an Inexpensive Option for Team Training?]

Invite new people to serve. 

New guests mean new opportunities for your members to step up their game. Invite all of your current vols to shoulder-tap their friends. If your attendance numbers bump by 1/3 like ours, make it a personal goal to bump your volunteer numbers by the same. [Related post: 20 Ways to Get More Volunteers]

Review your systems. 

Sure, you remember last Easter or fall when a lot of people showed up and you had to seat them in the lobby or park them at the business down the street. But now, how will you prepare based on what you know? Now is the time to pull out the playbook and talk to your team about what will happen when (not if) additional space is required (and please, let’s not call it overflow. That’s what toilets do.) [Related post:10 Ways to Make Your Seating Team More Effective]

Practice your language.

How will you greet your guests when they arrive? Sure, you may cover this with your volunteers…but what about the people on stage? How will your worship leader encourage people to scoot in once worship has already started? How will your lead pastor greet the throngs, acknowledge the bump, and invite them back? How will your announcement guy give practical next steps? [Related post: Six Times to Talk to Your Guests]

Check your supplies. 

Do you have enough first time guest gifts? Worship guides? Information cards? Communion cups? Now is the time to order them. [Related post: First Time Guest Bags: An Intro]

Clean it up.

Don’t neglect your facility or your parking lot. Take a minute to walk around this week and spot what needs to be fixed or freshened up: remove those VBS posters. Weed that flower bed. Windex that lobby door. [Related post: Pick Up Your Junk]

Pray. 

This isn’t the last resort, but the first. If we believe for a moment that the guest experience rises and falls on a clean facility and well-trained volunteers, we deceive ourselves. No, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to compel people to come, to open their eyes to the gospel, and to woo them into a relationship with Jesus. [Related post: Is Your Guest Service Team in a State of Desperation?]

> Read more from Danny.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Danny Franks, Guest Experiences

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Welcoming the Unchurched to Church

by: James Emery White

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I recently read an article from a professional “mystery worshiper” who works with churches to help evaluate and improve their friendliness and guest relations.

It was a good and helpful article. I found myself nodding in agreement with almost all of it.

Almost.

Not every guest who ventures to visit your church is created equal. On the broadest level, there are churched guests and unchurched guests. By churched, I mean they have a church background, are relatively comfortable and familiar with church world, and are there as a consumer. The unchurched do not have a church background, are not comfortable or familiar with church world, and are there (at best) as an explorer.

What difference does this make?

Quite a bit.

Consider one of the most commonly suggested steps to making a first-time guest feel welcome: designated parking. I’ve seen this done in many ways, such as signs that direct first-time guests to turn on their headlights (and based on that, they are guided toward special parking), or signage that simply directs first-time guests toward a designated parking area.

The parking is clearly marked for “Guests” or “VIPs”. Beyond being close to the church, those parking there are often met by volunteers who greet them, offer first-time guest materials, and even escort them into the church and through any children’s ministry registration needs they might have.

It sounds impressive.

In practice it looks impressive.

But who wants this kind of treatment?

Only the churched.

Churched people want to be welcomed, recognized, get questions answered, meet staff and, yes, park in designated guest parking.

The typical first-time unchurched guest wants anything BUT recognition. They don’t want to be singled out. They don’t want to be targeted. We used to joke that they didn’t want to “say anything, sing anything, sign anything, give anything or do anything.” We find that many first-time guests do not even want to take advantage of putting their child in children’s ministry.

At least, not at first.

It’s the same with special tabs on websites for “planning your visit”, which can include preregistering your child for children’s ministry, being escorted around by a volunteer, and more.

Again, that’s good.

But for churched people.

(I couldn’t help but smile at one church’s “planning a visit” page that also housed their online giving portal. Forget “churched” or “unchurched” – I’m not sure they understood the idea of “guest.”)

So design your guest experience any way you want. Just remember to put yourself in your guest’s shoes.

And know which guest that is.

> Read more from James.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Guest Experience, James Emery White, unchurched

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The Basic Checklist to Meet Today’s Guest Expectations

by: Annette Franz

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– a note from the Vision Room Curator: During August we are focusing on Guest Experience in churches, but some of the most powerful learning for churches can occur by reading about customer service – all you have to do is substitute the word “Guest” every time you see “customer.” The following content was graciously supplied by Annette Franz, a customer experience expert. Enjoy!

Is your customer experience legendary?Do companies even know what it means to deliver “legendary customer service?”

I’ve been dealing with a provider for the last three and a half months that claims to deliver “legendary customer service.” They tout this on their website, in their emails, and even on their voicemails. The problem is, their service is not legendary – at least not in the (positive) way I’m sure they want it to be.

I’m meeting with this provider again this week, and in preparation, I thought I’d take a look at what it means to deliver legendary service. Perhaps I just don’t understand what they’re striving to deliver.

I’ll start with defining “legendary.”

Google defines legendary as:

1. based on legends
2. remarkable enough to be famous; very well known

Again, my guess is they want to be “very well known” for their levels of service, but known for it in a good way.

Since legendary is based on legends, I should understand that term, too. Wikipedia defines legend as:

…a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive participants, includes no happenings that are outside the realm of “possibility” but which may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep it fresh and vital, and realistic. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted.

Synonyms are “myth” and “fairy tale.”

I’m still waiting for the miracles. And that “never being entirely believed” part is what I’m wondering about. Perhaps their legendary service is just a fairy tale.

I went on a Google hunt to see how people/companies define “legendary customer service” or “legendary customer experience.” I found that not many brands tout this; I supposed it’s a pretty extreme thing to say or to claim. And those that did, well, they were really describing what I call “the basics.”

Perhaps claiming that you’ve got legendary service is a bit pointless.

Sam Walton said: The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary. Do you feel like you get legendary customer service when you go to WalMart? Is it legendary in a good way or a bad way?

The companies that deliver that extraordinary level of service don’t have to tell customers in their voicemails and emails, quite honestly; they just do it! We know they do it. Think: Zappos, USAA, The Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Nordstrom, et al.

Want to talk about customer experience legends? Google “Nordstrom returns tires.”

Some of the brands that mentioned legendary service defined it as making sure they met and exceeded the expectations of their customers. (Without a doubt, key to that is understanding what customers’ expectations are. Exceeding expectations cannot occur without understanding expectations first.) But is that legendary, or is that, too, “just the basics?” Saying you’re going to meet and exceed expectations is quite generic. As a customer, what does that mean to me? And how do you, as a company, know that you’ve exceeded my expectations.

At the very least, I would hope that all businesses strive to meet their customers’ expectations. Remember, Performance – Expectations = Satisfaction. Your performance must be greater than those expectations in order to be positively reflected in that equation!

So if you’re going to tout legendary service, well then, by George, you better have something special!

Legendary service means going the extra mile, but you can’t go the extra mile until you get the last mile right. Delivering on the last mile is all about giving your customers what they expected. The extra mile is that piece that really adds the component of delight.

What most organizations think is legendary is really (barely) the basics; they’re just striving to get to/through the last mile. The extra mile, or that legendary service, is a pipe dream for them.

Let’s look at the basics first; they include things like…

• Treating customers with respect
• Acting with integrity
• Being polite – definitely not rude!
• Trusting your customers – don’t call them liars!
• Being responsive – set an SLA for response time that shows you care! And stick to it!
• Doing what’s right for the customer – you and your organization know what that means; and if you don’t, ask your customers
• Doing right by the customer – again, you and your organization know what that means; if not, then ask
• Showing empathy and understanding for the customer’s situation
  • Walk in the customer’s shoes; don’t make him walk in yours (e.g., “Oh, that’s easy for me; I can do that. Why can’t you?”
• Putting the customer’s best interests before your own
• Caring about your customers (we can tell when you don’t)
• Being willing to help your customers
• Adopting an attitude of “yes”
• Doing what you say you’ll do
• Understanding your customers – the person, the situation, their expectations, and more!
• Making it effortless for customers to do business with you
• Meeting my expectations

Honestly, this is just meeting today’s customer expectations.

And yet, the provider I’m meeting with fails on all of these. All of them.

If those are the basics, then figure out how you can go above and beyond. Every service situation differs. Know your customers. Figure it out. Find out how you can go above and beyond in a way that is meaningful and relevant to the customer in front of you.

It takes a lot to deliver a legendary level of service. Here’s what I think legendary customer service includes:

• All of the items/basics listed above, plus…
• Identifying/understanding my expectations – and exceeding them
• Doing the unexpected, and
• Adding elements of delight that I would appreciate (Need examples? Check out this book!)
• Being proactive – why should the customer wait for you? and wait, and wait, and…
• Personalizing it – make it for me and about me, no one else
• Being remarkable – at all you do, in every interaction
• Being consistent – from interaction to interaction, from employee to employee

What would you add to this list?

Just because you say you deliver legendary service doesn’t make it real. Just because you tell customers that’s what you deliver doesn’t make it real. As a matter of fact, once you say it, you better darn well deliver on it. And remember, actions speak louder than words.

Perhaps this particular provider that I’m dealing with does deliver on it for other customers, but I’d like to reiterate this: legendary service is not selective; legendary service is consistent. You need to uphold the same high standards for every interaction, by every employee. And if you have an employee that can’t deliver, perhaps he’s not a good fit and needs to go!

That’s a great segue into what this means for the inner workings of your organization. In a nutshell, there must be:

• a culture of service
• a customer-centric, customer-focused culture
  • customers, not metrics or profits, are at the heart of all you do
• leadership to drive, facilitate, and support that culture
• the right employees to not only fit with this culture but also to deliver on its expectations
• a set of core values or guiding principles that employees can call upon should they ever question what to do

Is your company’s culture and customer experience the stuff that legends are made of?

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. -Maya Angelou

> Read more from Annette.

Want to learn how to create an EXCEPTIONAL Guest Experience at your church? Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp, coming to Orlando, FL on April 3-4.

Tags: Annette Franz, Basics, Church Guest Experience, Guest Expectations, Guest Experience

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3 Questions to Improve Your First Impressions

by: Dan Reiland

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Your first time guests often decide if they will return within the first ten minutes. Some are more forgiving and will give you a second chance, but most won’t.

The unchurched look for reasons not to return. Even though they were probably invited by a friend, even friendship can’t override a blown first impression.

It’s like your first visit to a restaurant. Your first ten minutes usually determines if you will return. Even if your experience “gets better” through the meal, your initial perspective is so skewed that it’s difficult to see past those first impressions. The way the hostess greeted you, the way you were escorted to a table, and the way you were treated for the first few minutes largely determines the remainder of the experience.

The same is true in your church. Your first impressions absolutely determine if the first time guest returns for a second time.

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Colossians 4:5-6

Here are three simple questions to help you improve your first impressions.

1) How do you Greet people?

We’ve all been in a restaurant where it seemed like we were intruding on the hostess’s reception area. It’s a terrible experience. We wait and wonder. We check in and are told, “As you can see we are very busy, we’ll get to you when we can.”

In stark contrast, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in San Diego always has a wait. They learn your name, bring out free chips and salsa, and if you wait too long, bring you a free iced tea!

How are people greeted in your church? What do your guests experience in the parking lot – smiles or impatient waving and pointing? Do your greeters make people feel like a million bucks or an inconvenience?

2) How do you Seat people?

That twenty second walk means everything. I’ve visited restaurants where the hostess walked slowly, made pleasant conversation, and asked if I was happy with the table. I’m already smiling. I’ve also experienced hostesses who seemed to sprint off, look back impatiently because I stopped to say hi to someone, dropped the menus off at the table and leave.

Whenever I see an usher pointing rather than walking a guest to a place to sit, I cringe. If the visitor knew where to go, they wouldn’t need an usher. Especially when a guest is late, they know they are late, so make them feel even more welcomed! Worship has already started, it’s dark, they can’t see well, and people are standing. That’s intimidating. You can put them at ease. You can make the difference that inspires them to come back! It’s the little things that matter.

3) How do you Treat people?

Whether it’s the leaders in the nursery, the person serving coffee, or the prompts from the worship leader, your guests should know if you care about them.

Treat each guest like they were a king or queen!

Go the second mile. If you don’t know the answer to a question, find the answer. Do all you can to make their experience warm, personal and engaging.

Serve with joy.

Be real, be yourself, and help each person feel right at home.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12

> Read more from Dan.

Tags: Church Guest Experience, Church Guests, Dan Reiland, First Impressions

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