Pam Parish

I have to give credit where credit is due, the photo above is a Van Gogh painting entitled “Shoes” — isn’t it cool? Now on to my topic….

I’ve been reading David Zimmerman’s A Visitor’s Perspective series and I totally agree. One of the biggest ways that we fail, both as individuals and churches, is by forgetting to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, namely first-time visitors to our church. With David’s posts fresh in my mind, I received my email issue of Customer Think and quickly noticed an article about engaging customers emotionally. It stuck out to me because it lines up exactly with what David has been talking about in regards to the first-time visitor’s experience.

In the article, Colin Shaw of Beyond Philosophy, points out that many organizations think their job is to process customers, stating that 67% of organizations are transactional and view their customers as something to be processed. By looking only at the physical or rational aspects of the customer experience, they fail to appreciate that 50% of a customer experience is about how a customer feels. If one-half of a customer’s experience in a transactional setting, i.e. grocery store, bank, retail outlet, is based solely on emotion – how much higher is that percentage within the church where the whole experience is based around emotion and spiritual experience? Going to church for the first time or visiting a new church is an intensely emotional and spiritual experience. What strikes me when I consider this is how often we get busy and hurried and fail to consider our visitor’s feelings as we focus on getting our “process” right… I know I’ve been guilty.

I especially liked Colin’s recommendation to map the customer’s journey so that you can allow for an emotionally engaging customer experience. He uses an example of how, using this technique, they redesigned a bank branch loan experience by mapping the “as is” experience of customers. Using this strategy, various first-time visitor “as is” experiences can be mapped out and considered. The following list is not meant to be exhaustive, but to simply provoke thought - I’m sure there are many other experiences that can be added to this list.

The Last Line.
These guests are coming to church because their life has reached rock bottom and they, literally, have nowhere to turn. They will experience church with a sense of desperation, looking fervently for the answers from the only place left to turn. What can we do to impact their experience and lead them gently past their fears and to the only answer, Jesus?

The Anxious.
These guests are there because they’ve been invited, seen your newspaper ad, billboard or heard the radio spot. They’ve been interested in church for a while, but haven’t found the time. Today, finally, they’ve gotten themselves out of the house and to church. They will experience church with a since of expectation, either from what their friends have told them or what your advertising has told them about the church. You can bet they’re anxious about this whole church thing and, really, they just want to get in, get seated and check it out. What can we do to ease their anxiety, help them quickly and easily to their seat and impact their experience so that they will not only open their hearts to the message, but possibly become a vital part of the church?

The Reluctant
These guests are there because someone made them come - a parent, a spouse, a rehab program, etc. They’ve either never had an interest in church or had a negative experience that turned them off of church for good as far as they were concerned. Regardless, they’re there now. They will experience church through a negative lens, looking for the worst and expecting every stereotypical thing to happen… the preacher’s gonna beg for money, I’m going to have to stand in front of everyone… you get the point. What can we do to ease their discomfort and create a positive experience that will open their hearts to see the good in Jesus and His church?

I know I get caught up in the trap many, many times of not stopping to consider what our first-time guests are experiencing in their lives before they come through our doors. How differently would we think of our processes when we consider it through the lens of the other person’s emotions? I know I have some re-thinking to do.

Using a Different Lens,