How you treat people determines if they will return to your church for a second visit. And often, it will be a determining factor if they keep coming and become a part of your church family.
Remember this...people won't remember everything they heard in the sermon or what free gift you gave them for coming or how many people shook their hand when you asked them to greet someone near them.
But they will remember how you made them "feel." And that is tied to the customer service experience you give them. You must go beyond and above their expectations.
Let's look at 5 examples of great customer service.
Help Out During a Dilemma
A friend of mine went to Disney World with his wife and baby. While there, their baby got sick and started throwing up his formula. It was so bad that the baby threw up all over his own clothes. They were in a dilemma. They had forgot to bring an extra pair of clothes and now their baby was covered in throw up.
This happened right in front of a Disney store. Seeing that the family didn't have any fresh clothes to change their baby into, an employee went out to them with brand new clothes from the store. No charge...amazing customer service.
Go the Second Mile
When you deliver beyond the guests' expectations or add a personal touch to the service experience, it can leave a positive impression.
As you are helping a new family check-in, ask some questions like "what's your favorite candy? What do you like to do for fun? Who is your favorite super hero?" Make a mental note and then during the service, jump in your car and run to Target or Walmart. Buy one of the things they told you they like and have it ready to give to them at check-out.
Virgin Brands are great at using negative feedback to learn from costumers.
“A complaint is a chance to turn a customer into a lifelong friend,” says Richard Branson. “At Virgin, we think that if we address a complaint well, and even involve the customer in the solution, it brings customers closer to our brand.”
Here's an example. A customer in first class had a horrible meal on a flight. The letter he wrote to Branson was both funny and disturbing. The passenger described one item on the menu as a “miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter.”
The most significant part of the story isn’t the letter, though, it’s how Branson responded. Branson invited the passenger to help Virgin overhaul its menu. He also later asked the passenger to be on the board of the airline’s culinary council.
Answer the phone...quickly.
One company that does this well is the online shoe/clothing company called Zappos. Instead of having computers or answering services take their calls, they use a live person. And they usually answer within one minute at the most. They also have no time limit for calls. One of their customer service calls lasted for 11 hours.
It's frustrating when you call and can't get a live person, isn't it? You have to go through several steps with a computer generated voice until you can get a live person.
Is your ministry known for not returning calls? Not responding to emails? And in a timely manner? We live in an on demand culture. People who contact you by email or phone want to talk to a live person immediately or within less than a minute.
Train your team to return phone calls and answer emails from families as quickly as possible. Families who are left hanging will more than likely go to another church.
Find answers for people. Disney makes this list again. Their employees are trained to never say "I don't know." Instead, they will respond by saying something like "That's a great question. Let me find out for you."
Don't leave people hanging. If people are left hanging, they will feel unimportant, a bother and someone who is not worth helping. We've all had an experience like this and it makes us feel devalued. Our revenge...we don't go back ever again.
I've said it before and it is true. The "sermon" starts long before the pastor begins speaking. It starts in the parking lot. Every interaction guests have with your team either helps or hurts the chance of them returning.
Put these 5 principles into action and you will see people smiling as they feel valued and important.
Your turn. What are some guidelines you have in place to insure people are receiving great customer service? Share them in the comment section below.
