Why it's critically important for churches to just respond

I often see churches spend so much time and effort reaching out that they sometimes forget to have a plan for when individuals actually respond!

We’ve all heard the saying, “When we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” Not following up erodes trust—quickly. And obviously, trust is critically important. Trust dramatically impacts an individual's gut feeling about your church. And in some cases, that feeling can last a lifetime.

Let Me tell you a story

I was once on a business trip to one of the world’s largest cities. My flight home was scheduled to leave Friday afternoon, but it was cancelled. So, I was stuck in the city over Saturday, the day that I go to church. I pulled up Google Maps, and just 1 mile away, I found a church that I wanted to attend. I thought great!

Since I don’t buy or sell things on Saturday, I wasn’t comfortable hiring a taxi or taking an Uber. So, I thought I’ll just walk. It’s only a mile away. However, as I peered out the window of my hotel room, there was literally an eight-lane highway completely going around our hotel like a figure 8. Getting across it on foot would have been impossible.

So, in a last ditch effort, I called the church, hoping against hope that a member would be willing to drive a mile and pick me up. After the church’s phone rang for a while, there was no answer. I left a message. Not only was the call not returned that morning, that evening, or the next day, it was never returned at all.

What if that call would have been from someone searching for a church to attend? It really devastates me to think about people needlessly falling through the cracks. So, what can we do to make sure that doesn’t happen?

A few common areas where i see this breakdown occur:

1. An individual has been tuning into your church’s weekly livestream for months. They finally have the courage to post a question, and they're nervous. Not only can they see their question, but THEIR FRIENDS can see their question. It may not seem like a big deal … BUT it is a big deal! What happens if their question isn’t responded to? How will they feel? Does that build trust? Do they feel special?
   
   
2. What happens if someone calls your church? Will the phone be answered? If it goes to voicemail, will they be called back and in a timely manner?
   
   
3. What happens when someone fills out a guest registry card at your church? I can personally say I’ve been to hundreds of churches from Maine to California, and I have never received a follow-up. Not once!
   
   
4. What happens when someone fills out a form on your website? Will they hear back from you?
   
   
5. If someone sees an event on your church's online calendar and they show up, what happens if it is cancelled?
   
   
6. If someone sends your church an email, how quickly will they receive a response?

Does your church struggle with any of these?

a few thoughts as you wrestle with thse scenarios

• First, realize that this is a struggle for every church.
  
  
• Second, realize that filling these gaps in communication is a journey.
  
  
• Third, technology can be really helpful here, but it starts with the right mindset and some simple concepts first.

a few ideas to get you on the right track:

1. Set an expectation where possible
   

   When someone contacts you, if they don’t get immediately connected with someone (which is normally the case), then set an expectation that you can meet (e.g., on your voicemail, you could say, “Thank you so much for calling. We are thrilled you did! We are looking forward to connecting with you, and we will do our absolute best to return your call within 24 hours.”).

   The same concept applies to emails you receive or when someone fills out a form on your website.

   Here’s an insight from my business background for comparison’s sake: We have a lot of experience working with very large organizations around these concepts. If this was a for-profit business that was selling a product, industry research shows that if a prospective customer doesn’t get a response within 5 minutes, the likelihood of them actually becoming a customer drops by 50%. WOW! I think we can agree that a church’s message is so much more important than selling a product. Just something to ponder.

2. Ownership
   Many of the churches we work with don’t have the luxury of a full-time receptionist or even a part-time one. That means some extra organization needs to go into making sure that individuals within your church have ownership and guidance when it comes to responding to requests like this.
   
   
3. Accountability
   

   In every line of work—business, nonprofit, church—everyone needs accountability. For there to be accountability, there has to be a clear and concise goal and the ability to measure if it’s being met or not.

   In addition, church leadership needs clear visibility into those reports. I’m a huge proponent of the old saying, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.”

In one of our previous blog posts, we discussed that a brand (in a church context) is a person’s gut feeling about your church. A powerful influence on an individual's gut feeling is if we deliver on our promises.

It’s better to not have a phone number at all than to completely ignore the calls you receive. By offering your phone number, it’s a promise that you will return calls. Because promises like these are often not visible, they fall through the cracks or get prioritized to the bottom of the pile.

In later posts, we’ll discuss additional ways your church can connect with your community. Make sure you don’t miss those future updates by subscribing! 

And if we can be of help, we would love to work directly with your church. Just contact us and let’s have a conversation.