People People are the Best Welcome People

by: Mark Waltz

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This isn’t rocket science. It’s not brain surgery. It’s not even pastorally profound. It’s pretty common sense stuff. I want people on our guest services teams who are:

• People-people: People who love people

There was a time in our church when greeters just needed to be able to brush their teeth and smile. Those days are long gone. They must bathe, too.

Oh, yes, and they must like people. No, they must love people.

Our guests and the guests in your church (or business) will intuitively know when our teams don’t care. You know it when you experience it.

You’ve experienced the super market clerk who gives you no eye contact, doesn’t speak to you until she tells you the total amount of cast you owe, and scowls to her associate in the next lane about how long she’s been at work. You’ve bumped into the church greeter who brushed his teeth, but hadn’t smiled since 1952. And today he can’t remember why. We know when people really love, really care.

If your teams aren’t people-people, your guests will know. They’ll know when your team…

• frowns
• complains about what’s wrong
• can’t leave soon enough
• rigidly performs the tasks of their role without connecting relationally
• shows signs of fatigue
• is indifferent or even rude.

But, when you team is made up of people-people, your guests will engage. They will know they matter. And when they know they matter to us, they’ll be more open to hearing and accepting that they matter to God.

And isn’t that the point?

> Read more from Mark.

“People” should be the default when it comes to your church’s Guest Experience.Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp in Cincinnati, OH on August 7-8.

Tags: Greeters, Hospitality Team, Mark Waltz, Welcome People

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Every Weekend Matters: 6 Strategies for Holiday Hospitality

by: Danny Franks

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We’re barely ankle deep into the summer season around these parts. The mountains and beaches are calling, and people are responding. (Side note: mountain people? I love you. Let’s hang out more. Beach people? I pray for you. And for your sunburned, dehydrated, squinty, sweaty, sand-covered bodies. Maybe we can be better friends at heaven where there’s no more beach.)

But I digress. If you’re in charge of the hospitality or guest services team at your church, chances are good that you are already feeling the pinch of summer. Whether your volunteers have fled to high ground or sandy shores or Disney or Great Wolf Lodge, you’re worried that there won’t be adequate coverage to make it to September. The only problem is that while your volunteers may take some down time, your guests won’t. Their version of down time will likely be checking out your church for the first time.

So how do you balance the drought of vols with the influx of guests? Here are six strategies to cope:

1. Refuse to relax your standards. The easiest thing to do is to clock out of excellence for the summer. Drop a team here. Do without a volunteer there. However, that leaves your guests with a less-than-ideal experience. While your overall team numbers might be down, your campus coverage shouldn’t be. As you start the summer season, continue to think from the perspective of your guests and fight for their comfort. Related posts: Four Ways to Stay Alert. Why Outside Greeters Are More Important Than Inside Greeters.

2. Get on your vols’ schedule. True, there are some people who decide to head out for a weekend getaway at the very last minute. But for the majority of people on your team, they’ve had vacation on their schedules for months. That makes it easy for them to get their vacation on your schedule, as well. Shoot a quick email to your team and ask them to let you know the weekends they’ll be out of town. That quick memory jog will keep you from a lot of surprises later this summer.

3. Go after your one-offs. Summer is a great time to ask people to serve who normally don’t. Ask people to fill in for a couple of weekends with no pressure to do anything else. Give them an easy win – mixed with low commitment – and watch the gaps get filled in. (And who knows? You might just end up with a new vol who didn’t know how much they loved serving others.)

4. Make it a team effort. Go after your Sunday School classes and small groups and encourage them to take one Sunday out of class to serve as a team. This can be a healthy break in their normal routine and help them have an others-focus.

5. Help them beat the heat. For those who are serving, keep in mind the uncomfortable conditions they’ll endure. Send reminders to your outdoor people to bring caps and sunglasses. Provide water, Gatorade, and sunscreen. Surprise them at summer’s end with a visit from the ice cream truck. Rotate them often so they’re not in the elements too long.

6. Send them off with a smile. Do not. I repeat: do not make your vols feel guilty for taking a break. In fact, you should make sure that everyone has at least a couple of weekends off during the summer, even if they’re not traveling anywhere. We don’t do our teams any favors when we lord over them like taskmasters. Rather, push them to enjoy some Sabbath time. That’ll pay off in long-term loyalty.

> Read more from Danny.

Tags: Danny Franks, Hospitality Team, Volunteers, guest services team, summer pinch

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4 Habits Behind a Successful Guest Experience

by: Bob Adams

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The most important 2 feet can be found on the front lines of your church’s Guest Services or Hospitality teams:

1. They belong to the team members who are the “first face” of your church – parking lot crews, greeters, ushers – anyone who is making the first impression with your Guests.
2. They also represent the space and distance where the words you use and the actions you take make the most powerful impact with your Guest.

The interactions that take place in that space (two feet) by your team member (two feet) are rich with expectations – and can also be filled with missed opportunities. In that space your front-line team members have become the face and voice of your organization. Creating an Exceptional Guest Experience comes down to having great people on your front line teams and training them well. Many churches struggle with Guest services. Often the primary barrier is translating the organization’s vision into action at the front line. An article in HBR.org outlined four activities that your church can learn from when it comes to your front line teams. 

1. Listen to team members. Want your team to take great care of your Guest? Start by taking great care of them.
2. Hire for attitude, not aptitude — and then reinforce attitude. To get friendly service, enlist friendly people. Having selected people with the right attitudes, leaders need to ensure they reinforce the behaviors they want to see.
3. Give people purpose, not rules. Rules have their place, but they go only so far. When people are given clear expectations and trusted to do their jobs, they feel valued and empowered. They choose to go that extra mile through passion, not compliance.
4. Tap into the creativity of your front line. Giving frontline team members responsibility and autonomy inspires them to do whatever they can to improve the Guest experience. When they see a problem, they fix it without waiting to be asked.

Engaging with Guests is primarily through personal contact, and that starts on the front lines with your team. The care and energy your teams use to connect with Guests reflect the care and energy you as a leader use to connect with your team.

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.

How your front line teams represent your church – what they do (or don’t do), what they say (or don’t say) – that’s the powerful human “first impression” your Guest is experiencing – and will remember.

Tags: Assimilation, Bob Adams, Church Guest Experience, Church Guest Services, Guest Experience, Guest Services, Hospitality Team, Judgement on the Front Line, sums

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