Pt. 2 When Assimilation Goes Bad
Hospitality is creating an environment for people to want to be assimilated. Ever been to a restaurant that had great food but crappy service? Did you go back? Here are key elements to creating a hospitable environment that should make it into your assimilation plan.
1. A visitor friendly website. Most people will visit your website before they visit the church. Is it easy to find directions? Can they easily determine what child care is like? Do they get a sense of what their experience will be like? Consider a Tab on the main page called, “I’m new.” Include videos and pictures of the environments they will experience. Include downloadable maps of where to go once they arrive and downloadable versions of information you would give them such as welcome brochures. Consider a translation guide of words they might hear.
2. Visitor friendly marketing. Your marketing will create an impression of the culture of the church before they ever attend.
3. Visitor friendly signs. Make it easy for people to find your location. You cannot have too many signs. On the inside of the facility ensure that signs are easy to read and see when you enter. Everyone wants to know: Where are the bathrooms? and Where Do I take my kids?
4. Visitor friendly parking. Is it easy to park in your facility?
5. Greeters: Do your greeters know what to say? Have they been trained to welcome people and personally walk them to where they need to go? Are they trained to greet newcomers they meet on the way out as well as on the way in?
6. Coffee and Food: Food can go a long way to making someone feel comfortable. It gives them something to hide behind and provides an outlet for nervous energy. And by all means don’t serve cheap coffee with stale donated bagels. Is your cafe easily accessible or do visitors have to wait in line with hungry kids and teens to get a cup of coffee? Do you have a team that serves the visitors or is it self-serve?
7. Explain Churchy Elements: Seeker sensitive does not mean water it down. It means make it understandable. Nascar does this better than anyone. When a car breaks down, they use lots of insider language. But then they flash to the garage and show you on a demo car exactly what piece they were talking about and how that malfunction caused a breakdown. Watch a few races and you’ll know the difference between loose and tight.
8. Keep it clean: I’m not talking about swearing. I’m talking about your facility. Everthing communicates. You may not even notice the dirty parking lot, the ugly portable carts in the corner or the smelly bathroom. I guarantee your guest does.
Nelson Searcy says that you have 7 minutes to make a good first impression. That means people will judge the church based on your hospitality not your worship or sermon. What can you do to create a more welcoming church culture?
Need help keeping track of all the tasks in your plan? Check out Converge. Recommended reading: Fusion by Nelson Searcy.
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