Mark Waltz | ...Because People Matter

Countdown 2 INNOVATE Video Podcast: #9

A few weeks ago Kem Meyer and Tim Stevens crashed into my office with a camera, asking me questions about one of my breakouts at INNOVATE 2009. There are other breakout choices, so you should go ahead and sign-up anyway. Besides, Mark Beeson, Tim Stevens and more are on the speaker line-up! Learn more and register here.

C2I Video Podcast | Episode 9 from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Guest Services Best Practice #38: Ask for Feedback

It's amazing how well we can think we're doing when our only evaluation is our own. It's also easy to hear feedback from our "churched" crowd and think we're delivering great guest service as well. But, remember churched people have very different expectations than your newest guest who is not a regular church-goer. Getting feedback from our newest guests risks that we'll have to work through:

• misperceptions about our values
• language barriers because guests don't know "insider" church/bible talk
• expectations that we haven't thought about

However, being intentional about getting feedback from your guests will...

• help you communicate real value to people right where they are
• cause you to focus on base-level service like the environment that's created at your church and how guests are followed up on
• allow you to be consistent in your training with your team members

There are a number of ways to get this feedback - and by feedback, I mean, about your parking lot, your campus/property, your building, restrooms, kids' space, warmth/friendliness, cafe/hospitality, your service, your print pieces. Here are just a few:

• ask for feedback on your comment/prayer card in your weekend program or bulletin
• send a letter asking for a brief survey to be completed
• bring in your own or hire "secret shoppers" who score everything
• form a focus group of people who are no more than 6 months new to your church

Get feedback. Then act on it to improve the way you communicate that people matter to God... and to you.

Guest Services Best Practice #39: Make Everyone a Host

Okay, maybe not everyone. But everyone on your guest services teams. At Granger we still have a number of different labels to distinguish one role from another. For instance we have ushers, campus guides, and traffic teams (to name a few). However, if people are too narrowly tied to their roles, then after ushers ush and guides guide and traffic teams direct - they are done. They will have completed their task. Which is great! It's what they were asked to do!

But consider what if everyone on your team behaved like a host? Hosts don't merely find seats, guide guests or park cars. Hosts ensure that every guest has a high-value experience. That doesn't stop with a role description or a window of time. Hosts are:

• alert, looking for opportunities to help guests.
• team players, stepping beyond their label to serve someone else.
• on, not confined by a window of time, but serving 'til all guests have been served.

What would it look like if your team played "host"?

Guest Services Best Practice #40

You're always "on." Period.

Here's the deal. You're on staff at your church. Or you're a faithful volunteer. Either way, you're visible. You may not realize it, but because you serve with any degree of regularity, people at your church know who you are. And they expect you to be real. Consistent. Authentic.

It doesn't matter if you're wearing your "I'm on this weekend" name badge. People still expect you to be kind. They expect you'll still speak, that you'll interact, that you'll care. If those virtues only show up when you wear the "guest services" label, you're nothing more than a "hired hand"...not really concerned about the "sheep." (See what Jesus had to say about that in John 10.)

You're always "on."

Even to your newest, first-time guest. They've never seen you before. They don't know you're a greeter, an usher or a staffer because you're not wearing your label. You're not "on." But, get this, your guest doesn't know that. Others seem to know who you are. You're not only at the church, you ARE the church to this guest. Label or not.

That's the good and the bad news. You get to be real. Consistently loving. Honestly engaged. You don't get to "just come into church with your family." The people you pass and sit next to in the service expect you to be you.

Question is, who are you?

You're "on."

Guest Services Best Practice #41

Simple. Short. Almost a tweet.

#41

Cleanliness matters.

Cut the grass. Clean the parking lot. Shampoo the carpet. Shine the glass. Paint the walls. Stock the tissue. Pick up the trash. Straighten the chairs. 

Whether you see it, need it, or care about it isn't the point. Your guests see it. And it communicates either value... or a lack of it.

Guest Services Best Practice #42

Perhaps you have a question about a best practice from your own experience - positive or negative, church or business. Go ahead and ask it here in the comment section (following the post); I'll address it in an upcoming post.

#42

Never assume. This happens all the time. You step up to a sales clerk in a store, they may assume you want help with the product line they represent. Nope, all you want is direction to the restroom. And it happens in churches, too. A guest may stop an usher, announcing they're new to your church. The temptation from the well-intended team member may be to download everything they think a new person may want to know.

• We have 19 services this weekend. Contempory, jazz, gospel, and hip-hop.
  
• This is our statement of beliefs. The 47 pages may be a bit much to read right now, so let me point out the biggies.
• Oh, look you have kids. Our children's center was built just 4 years ago and covers 110,000 square feet. Here's a news article that our local paper ran on opening weekend.
  

You get the point. Again, maybe all the guest wanted was direction to the service... or the restroom.

When a guest asks a question, use questions in return to fully understand what's being asked. Assume nothing.

There's an old saying, that says when you assume, you make an ... never mind.

Guest Services Best Practice #43

It's true. I am attending the Leadership Summit this week. And it's true - I've not written about here 'til now. There may be more later from me as I process some challenging messages/talks from Thursday and Friday, but in the meantime if you're looking for real-time notes from the sessions, keep up with a couple of my friends, Rob Wegner and Tony Morgan.

Meanwhile - back to Guest Services Best Practices...

#43

Empower your guest services volunteer leaders to ... lead. That's what you asked them to do. This week we'll have no fewer than 50 volunteers serving at Granger as we host Willow's Leadership Summit 2009. Mary Bartkowiak is our lead volunteer for those servants. She shares the vision that's core to the fabric of our DNA. She understands SHAPE-based ministry (that is - people are uniquely gifted to serve in unique roles). She leads and people follow. So, we've empowered her with authority and entrusted our teams to her care.

When you ask a leader to lead...

• make their role clear. Everyone wants to know what a "win" looks like. What do you really expect?
• give parameters that clarify you're on the same page. It's good to state baseline expectations and outcomes.
• resource them with space to ask questions, tools to get the job done, and access to people to build team.
• check in with them - not to parent, but to support, cheerlead and partner. Redirect where necessary, but do so with care.
• pray for them. It'll also remind you Who is ultimately leading.
• get out of their way. Let them do what you've asked them to do. 

All of this assumes that trust, shared vision, mutual respect and healthy relationship exist between you and the volunteer leader you've asked to lead. All this can be applied to any volunteer leader on any team, in or out of the local church.

But, you empower the right leaders to serve alongside of you, leading guest services team members, and your guests will be the benefactors. Let 'em lead!

Guest Services Best Practice #44

Will there be 47 Guest Services Best Practices on this site? We'll see, won't we. For now here's the next in a list of four so far.

#44

Keep your "information specialists" informed. Those staff and volunteers who serve in your reception area and guest services center have one primary win: assist your guests by answering questions and providing desired information. If they aren't "in the know", they lose, your guests lose - you lose. It's a no-win situation.

Keep people well-informed will require intentional systems for communication, promotion and feedback. Your guests don't really care if the youth department didn't get the info to the front line. They don't care if... they just want answers. They'd like the information.

It communicates care and value when systems - technology and people - deliver answers that allow people to plan... and take next steps.

Guest Services Best Practice #45

Another straight-forward suggestion at raising your guest service bar.

#45

Understand that people are fearful. New guests fear the unknown. Will I have to speak? Will they ask for my money? Will they expect to sing? How will I know when to sit, stand, kneel, cross myself, speak or cry? What if I fall asleep and snore? People show up in our church with several of many fears.

If we really get that they're afraid, we'll likely treat them differently. Thoughtfully.

Go ahead. Think about it.

How would you speak to, approach someone who is actuallly fearful about walking into your church?

Guest Services Best Practice #46

Keepin' it short and simple:

#46

You won't remember everyone's name. But you should try. Get over the false expectation that you're going to always remember names. Be honest. You forgot. Or you have no idea if you've met before. Just admit it: I don't remember. If yours is a familiar face around your church lots of people will remember and call you by name. Enter the guilt train. You don't remember theirs. People are forgiving. Admit it. And as you do practice something that helps you remember their name. Repeat it. Say it again at the end of the conversation. Play name association with someone they remind you of. Write it down as soon as you walk away. Ask for a spelling (Kathy - with a "k" or a "c"; don't use this if his name is "Bob").

Names matter. They communicate value. But you're not God. Or a computer. Get over yourself.

Guest Services Best Practice #47

I'll keep these short and to the point. Just a little longer than 140 characters so they're not twitterable, but not so long you have to scroll three pages. We'll start with this:

#47

Read body language of your guests. Not everyone wants to have their hand shaken. Do you see hands in pockets? Parents holding tightly to their kids hands? Don't offer a handshake. Churched people want handshakes (unless there's a swine flu scare); people new to your church may only want a courteous "hello."