Understanding Your Guests

The posts this week in the 40 Day Guest Services Journey have all been about process. Yesterday I gave the bottom line principle needed to design guest services processes: think like a guest.

Can you think like a guest?

Probably not.

If you've been a part of your church for even just 6 weeks, you no longer have the ability to see and experience things as a guest does. Really - it only takes about that long to acclimate yourself to the setting you find yourself in every weekend at your church.

So how do you think like a guest? I thought you would never ask.

In order to understand what your guests are thinking, you have to ask them. There are many tools available to help you build the viewpoint, thoughts, and feelings of your guests into your experiences. Have you ever thought about using some of the following tools?

• In-House "Quizzes" - an on-site, three-to-seven question mini-survey tends to yield a very high participation rate. The rate is typically much higher than a survey sent home with your guests and much higher than a full-length survey.
• In-Depth Surveys - detailed, in-depth surveys can provide a wealth of information that your team will find useful. Just be sure you ask the right questions!
• Mystery Worshippers - trained "professionals" will anonymously come to your church and evaluate a whole range of items (agreed upon in advance). A critical review from a complete outside can be very helpful information - but make sure your team is open and will receive the evaluation.

Each of the three areas has a lot of depth to them - so dive in whenever you're ready! If you want to know more about any of these, just give me a shout.

The important point remains: if you want to know something, you've got to ask. Pick the right method(s),ask the right questions, and listen with an open mind and heart.

The answers may surprise you.