Staying in the Game

For the final inning of our "spring training", the topic is staying in the game. Previous innings have included first impressions, connection cards, and follow up with guests. To close out the game, it's time to look at what Nelson Searcy calls "The Three Rs of Retention".

When first time guests walked through your front door, your initial goal was to earn return visits from them. When they did return, your goal evolved. you wanted to introduce them to environments and situations that would encourage them to build relationships. As they moved from first-timers to second-timers and new regular attenders, your thinking began to shift from Return to Relationships.

Now that they have made some friends and become true regular attenders, your thinking must once again shift - this time from Relationships to Responsibility. Responsibility will be the catalyst that moves them from regular attendance to membership.

How to you achieve responsibility? Searcy suggests that there are three effective ways to encourage your attenders toward membership:

1. Through multiplying service opportunities
2. Through teaching
3. Through regular sign-ups

It doesn't matter how well the sermon is or how passionate your worship team is - if your newcomers do not find relationships and take on responsibility within the church, they will not stay for long.

• Return
• Relationships
• Responsibility

If you want to stay in the game, these three words have to be drilled into your head, worked out in your own church situation, and practiced on a weekly basis.

For complete details, be sure to check out Searcy's book "Fusion" and look at the accompanying website.

Follow Up

I don't play golf, and my last game of softball was years ago, but there is a principle in these games that both you and I are probably familiar with: follow-through. The physics is pretty simple - you are swinging a club or bat with force, and when you make contact with the ball, the force is applied to the ball. If you stopped your swing on contact, the ball wouldn't be going very far. But the inertia and momentum of your swing cause you to continue your swing, and the ball travels further as a result.

In terms of Guest Services, think of this as follow-up. You have worked hard to make a great first impression. Your guests have made contact with you by completing a connection card during worship. Momentum is moving - are you ready for follow up?

Nelson Searcy at The Journey Church of NYC sums up the follow-up process pretty well in a set of three words:

• Fast - don't underestimate the power of a quick follow-up
• Friendly - reach out to your guests in a warm, personal way
• Functional - meet your guests where they are and provide them with a relevant surprise

You've gotten them this far - don't stop now!

If you want to get a hit...

...you've got to make contact.

Having the best team on the field means little if you can't make contact with the ball.

In terms of Guest Services, you have been successful in welcoming a guest to your services. They have been enthusiastically greeted and made to feel at home. As the service begins, you have a wonderful opportunity to get something from your guests: their contact information.

If you want to have any chance of an ongoing relationship, you cannot let them leave without knowing how to connect with them.

What's the best way to get your guests' information? How can you find out what you need to know without coming across as intrusive and pushy?

Nelson Searcy, pastor of Journey Church in NYC and author of "Fusion", has used one method that continues to prove successful time and time again: the Communication Card.

Well-organized use of Communication (or Connection) Cards will allow you to gather the pertinent information on roughly eighty percent of your first-time guests. What a great return, but especially when you consider it is coming from getting personal information from unchurched people.

Want to know how to use a successful Communication Card system? Check out Searcy's website here or get a copy of Fusion.

Swing batter!

The clock is ticking...

Okay, maybe it's not as vivid as this picture would indicate, but the fact of the matter is guests coming to your church ARE on a time limit!

Nelson Searcy, in his book "Fusion", states that:

Seven minutes is all you get to make a positive first impression. In the first seven minutes of contact with your church, your first-time guests will know whether or not they are coming back. That's before a single worship song is sung and before a single work of the message is uttered.

It's not a logical decision.

They aren't weighing the pros and cons of your worship styles, theological viewpoints, or your dazzling speaking skills.

It's all about your first impression.

They are making their "return decision" based on your church's atmosphere and friendliness. Their subconscious is in overdrive, doing what Malcolm Gladwell calls "thin-slicing", or taking in dozens of observations and clues that will form the basis of their ultimate decision.

How can you as a church leader compete in this arena of the unknown and often unaware?

How about a little baseball analogy? Spring Training (for your church's guest services team) starts tomorrow!

The More Prepared a Church is to Receive Guests...

...the more guests it receives!

Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy if you want, but Nelson Searcy, writing in "Fusion", states that his work with churches of all sizes and types have proven this over and over. I have also found this true not only in churches I work with, but also my own church, Elevation.

If churches are faithful to prepare a warm welcome for the guests God has given (and those who will come), then He will be faithful to bless those churches.

So, how do you "prepare?"

Searcy thinks it all starts in pre-service preparation: a series of actions he calls "from the street to the seat." The pre-service is a church's first opportunity for interaction with everyone who sets foot on the property. The mission of the pre-service is to make every effort to take your guest's guard down, to make them feel welcome, and to put a smile on their face. He finds four initial areas of contact through which you can influence your guests during the pre-service:

• Greeted - welcomed with a smile
• Directed - Simply and politely shown and taken to where they need to go
• Treated - Shown respect, and happily surprised with full-service attention
• Seated - led to comfortable, appropriate seats

For a full discussion of these pre-service areas, pick up a copy of Searcy's book here. You can also look on his website here for more details.

Everything done in preparation for a church service works together to represent God's character to unchurched people. They may not know immediately why they like your church or why the feel comfortable, but it's because you've done your work to set them at ease before they knew they were coming.

Tomorrow: The Clock is Ticking...

Closing Your Church's Back Door...

...starts at your church's front door!

Andy Stanley once said "The Church is a family expecting guests." I believe that is true. This Sunday is Easter, one of the highest attended Sundays of the year. Is your "family" ready?

Have you prepared for the arrival of guests and all that is to follow?

Your staff and congregation need to know how to:

• Serve guests with grace and hospitality
• Internalize the importance of being welcoming to everyone
• Reflect God's character in the way you treat guests
• Encourage the continual return of guests

Nelson Searcy, pastor of Journey Church in New York City, and Mark Waltz, Connections Pastor at Granger Community Church in South Bend IN, have both authored books that will help church leaders understand the importance of creating Guest Services practices that will not only welcome guests to your church but help them become regular participants.

This week I will be looking at their books - Searcy's "Fusion" and Waltz's "First Impressions" - to help your church understand and apply key principles in welcoming guests and members.

Family's coming - let's get ready!