Some of the best feedback I get from alumni of my Coaching Networks is how much it helps them to have the accountability and direction in their reading during their time in the network.

One of the books that we read recently in my Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network was a business book all about welcoming guests, and it had some great application to ministry – specifically to Assimilation (helping move newcomers from First Time Guest to Fully Committed Members of your church).

That book prompted a question from one participant – “What are the Top 3 methods for churches to receive guest feedback?”

What a great question!

Here’s what I’ve found to be the three best methods at The Journey:

1. Guest Surveys – Part of the Assimilation System that we use and I teach is to send a survey to every first and second time guest to get their feedback.This is a tremendous source of information on what guests are really experiencing at your church – especially the 2nd time guest surveys (after they’ve attending twice).
2. Membership Class or Newcomer’s Receptions – These two venues are perfect because the people who attend are interested enough in your church to want to find out more about taking the next step.In other words, these people have found something they like and thus, are more than willing to share  insights and feedback about their experience.
3. Personal Conversations – No matter how many great tools are invented and implemented, one of the most powerful sources of guest feedback remains the simple one on one conversations you have with people who are attending.I like to ask people thought-provoking and insightful questions, like: how they heard about us, what led them to come back a second time and what they like best about The Journey.You’ll be amazed at what you can pick up through a simple, five minute conversation…

No matter how you solicit feedback from your guests, I encourage you to do everything you can to see your church as the guests attending see your church.

Then do everything you can to honor God by being good stewards of those guests!

P.S. My new Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network begins on Thursday, August 25, and if you Apply Before July 22nd you can receive Over $840.00 in FREE Early Bird Bonuses.

To Read More and Apply Now, click the link below:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/telecoaching

One of the best parts of leading Coaching Networks is that I get to learn from what the other Pastors in the network are learning.

Recently I received a thought-provoking email from Mike Sorcinelli, a member of my Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network and Lead Pastor of New Day Church in Springfield, Massachusetts.

He had just finished reading one of the books assigned in the network, called Be Our Guest, which identifies the needs, wants, stereotypes and emotions of the customers of various organizations (incidentally, this book has some good insights if you’re upgrading your Assimilation System).

Mike gave me permission to share, so here’s part of the email he sent me….

What are the needs, wants, stereotypes and emotions of guests coming to our church?

Here’s the list I’ve been working on (I’m also having everyone on my team answer the same question):

• Needs: salvation, community
• Wants: easy to find, clean bathrooms, friendly welcoming people, practical message, inspiring worship, great kids ministries
• Stereotypes: church is boring, facilities are 20-30 years out of date, irrelevant to my life, suits and dresses
• Emotions: anxiety for first time guests, excitement for regular attenders

Mike Sorcinelli
Lead Pastor
www.newdaychurch.cc

That’s a great list, Mike!

Have you ever taken the time to carefully consider the mindset of the people you’re trying to reach?

What would you add to Mike’s list?

P.S. If you’re ready to take your church’s Assimilation System to the next level – to make sure that you’re a good steward of every single guest God sends your way – check out The Assimilation Intensive Workshop.

This comprehensive resource will teach you to help people move from First Time Guests to Fully Committed Members of your church.  Click Here to Download Immediately.

P.P.S. Are you ready to grow your leadership and your church like never before?

My new Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network begins on Thursday, August 25, and if you Apply Before NEXT Tuesday, May 31, you will Receive Over $1,475.00 in Additional Super Early Bird Bonuses.

Click Here to Read More and Apply Today!

Will you join me on Tuesday, April 5, from 2:00pm – 3:30pm Eastern time for The Fusion Webinar?

If you register before Tomorrow at 11:59pm Eastern, you’ll Save $10.00 with the Early Bird rate, PLUS you will receive over $160.00 in Free Bonuses.

This 90-minute webinar is on Assimilation – one of the eight systems where you can see results after even the smallest improvement, so it will add to the bottom line growth of your church. I’ll teach you the Assimilation principles that have helped over 3,000 churches keep more first time guests over the last few years.

The Fusion Webinar is all about helping you become the best possible steward of the guests that God sends your way!

Best of all, you (and your entire Assimilation team if possible) can join me for this training without ever leaving your office or home!  You just need a computer with internet access to participate. No phone call required!

To help you make it worth your while, I’m giving you over $160.00 in bonus resources just for signing up!

You’ll learn:

• Principles to help you create an inviting environment for first-time guests
• How to ”wow” first-time guests into wanting to come back
• The Journey Church’s ”Assimilation System,” used to follow up with the 30+ first-time guests who attend the service each week
• How to turn first-time guests into second-time guests
• How to turn second-time guests into regular attenders and then fully-engaged members
• How to drastically increase the number of guests who give you their contact information
• How to use a Connection Card (Including what to put on it – and what not to put on it)
• How to get people to turn in a Connection Card
• Plus much more!

P.S. To learn more and to Register Now for The Fusion Webinar and Save, CLICK HERE.

Today I’m wrapping up a series of posts about the importance of the first few minutes of a newcomer’s experience at your church (click here for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3).

We’ve been looking at the fact that a First-Time Guest knows whether or not they’ll return to your church in the first seven minutes of their initial experience at your church.

And today we’re going to look at the final element in the “Pre-Service” period – how guests are SEATED.

The first time my wife and I went to a Broadway show, we saw the value of a good usher in action.

From the moment we entered the theater, we were literally ushered to our seats.

If you’ve ever experienced Broadway, you know the drill: The usher who scans your ticket points you toward the correct entrance, where another usher points you toward the correct aisle, where yet another usher walks you to your row and motions to your seats.

We knew that as long as we had our ticket out for the ushers to see, they would do all the work. We were along for the ride.

On the other hand, we’ve been to sporting events and concert venues where we missed the first 15 minutes because we were still trying to find the correct wing, level, section and row for our seats. We were on our own, juggling concession purchases and upset that we were missing something we had paid to see. There was certainly no usher to make sure we had a smooth experience.

Here’s the difference in thinking: Broadway shows run every night. They want to ensure you’ve had an experience that will keep you coming back for more.

They want you to tell your friends. Event venue proprietors aren’t nearly as concerned with earning your repeat business. They know that their draw is only as strong as that night’s particular entertainment. You’ll be back when there’s an act you want to see, in spite of customer service conditions.

When it comes to providing service to our first-time guests, we need to be continually aware that our goal is to make them as comfortable and happy as possible.

We want them to come back every week. We want them to bring their friends. We’d do well to adopt the mindset of Broadway’s bright lights rather than that of self-service stadiums.

So… What can you do about the way people are SEATED at your church as you prepare for Easter in exactly one month?

Make sure your ushers know to find first-time guests (or people who look uncomfortable) good seats, close to the front

The thinking behind Greeted, Directed, Treated and Seated may be a paradigm shift for you.

Until this point, your plan for first-time guests may have been simply to get them through the door and make your impression with the service itself.

While that sounds good in theory, research has shown time and time again that you don’t have that luxury. Those newcomers will likely make a decision about their return visit before they make it to their seats, based on the subconscious and conscious tools of evaluation God has blessed them with.

You can acknowledge your guests as the gifts that they are by having a pre-service system in place that will far exceed their expectations and create that elusive positive first impression.

You’ll excite them to want to visit your church again and again so that they can ultimately learn about the excellence, graciousness, hospitality and generosity of the One after whom you are modeling the system of their assimilation.

P.S. Are you ready to learn a proven, step-by-step system for helping First-Time Guests become Fully-Committed Members of your church?

Join me for The Fusion Webinar on Tuesday, April 5th at 2pm Eastern!

Reserve your spot today and Save $20.00 at the Super Early Bird rate – PLUS, receive Over $160.00 in FREE Bonuses!

Click here to Register Now.

Today I’m continuing a series of posts about the importance of the first few minutes of a newcomer’s experience at your church (click here for Part 1 and Part 2).

In fact, a First-Time Guest knows whether or not they’ll return to your church in the first seven minutes of their initial experience at your church.

That’s before they hear the music, before the message has begun – which means you should be very concerned about what happens to your guests “pre-service.”

During this “Pre-Service” time period, four helpful focus areas are how a person is Greeted, Directed, Treated and Seated, and today we’re going to look at how they’re TREATED.

First-time guests want to feel respected and welcomed.

They want to know that you’re serious about making sure they have a good experience. The way you, your team and your regular attenders treat guests and their families will tell them what they need to know.

If possible, providing food is one of the best ways to show your guests you care, and it’s a sure way to put them at ease.

The late food writer James Beard once said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” It also acts as a welcome, comforting treat in any situation.

When done well, food can really “wow” your guests, but when done poorly, it turns them off.

A few words of advice: Don’t skimp on food. This is not the area to try and save a nickel. Don’t cut things in half to make them stretch. Don’t glare at the person who takes three donuts.

Food is your chance to show unchurched people that you care enough to offer them something for free that will meet a need.

Quality, not extravagance, is the key.

So, what can you do this week to “treat” your First-Time Guests?

P.S. To maximize your church’s Assimilation System and drastically improve the number of First-Time Guests who return and ultimately become Fully-Committed Members of your church – check out The Assimilation Intensive.

Last week I started a new series of posts about the importance of the first few minutes of a newcomer’s experience at your church (click here for Part 1).

In fact, a First-Time Guest knows whether or not they’ll return to your church in the first seven minutes of their initial experience at your church.

That’s why the Pre-Service time period is so vital to your Assimilation process.

The four areas you can control during this “Pre-Service” time period are how a person is Greeted, Directed, Treated and Seated, and last week I shared the importance of how someone is Greeted.

The second step in successful pre-service (Directed) is to make sure your guests are quickly and politely shown where they need to go, either by a sign or a volunteer—preferably by both.

We all know the cultural importance of location, location, location!

Well, at church, the equally important phrase to remember is “signs, signs, signs!”

Signs are the single best way to ensure that your guests can find what they need.

Here’s one thing I can almost certainly say about your church… You could use more signage!

Two areas in particular that demand clear signs are the restrooms and the children’s facilities.

If your front door is not easily discernable from the parking lot, make sure you have a sign in place for it too.

Our tendency is to think that our own building is easy to navigate.

For you, that’s true – But for your guests who have never set foot through your door and whose anxiety levels are already high, it’s not.

They have taken a big step by simply showing up.

Make sure you throw them the safety net of letting them know exactly where to go.

Good directions and an abundance of signage can lower your guests’ anxiety and lead them through the open door to hear the good news!

P.S. To maximize your church’s Assimilation System and drastically improve the number of First-Time Guests who return and ultimately become Fully-Committed Members of your church – check out The Assimilation Intensive.

With Easter fast approaching (Sunday, April 24), I want to devote some time on the blog in the coming days to help you upgrade your assimilation system.

In other words, I want to help you keep more of your first-time Easter guests this year.

In the first seven minutes of contact with your church, your first-time guests will know whether or not they are coming back.

Think about that: Before a single worship song is sung and before even one word of the message is uttered, their mind is made up!

Now obviously, these newcomers aren’t making a logical decision based on the character of the church or the clarity of your doctrine.

Instead, they are taking in clues about your church’s atmosphere and the people’s friendliness on a much more rudimentary level. Their subconscious minds are working overtime to evaluate their compatibility with this new environment.

So the question for you becomes, What’s actually being judged?

And how much control can you have over making their experience ring positive?

Pre-Service: From The Street To The Seat

The pre-service period is your first opportunity to interact with guests.

You should use it to bring their guard down and even put a smile on their face before the service begins.

How?

By controlling the way they are Greeted, Directed, Treated and Seated.

Today I’m beginning a series of posts where I’ll address each of these four areas of Pre-Service and help you upgrade your first time guest experience, starting with:

1. Greeted

Memorize the next sentence and embed it into your thinking: Everything speaks to first-time guests.

From the moment guests set foot on your property, they tune in to receive the message your church is sending.

And your church is always sending a message, whether you realize it or not. The condition of your building, your sign, your grass and your parking lot all speak to guests… So make sure they are giving a welcoming impression.

You have an obligation to strive for excellence.

Examine your church through your guest’s eyes… What are you communicating?

The most critical part of the “greeted” area of initial contact is who your guests meet when they make it to the front door—your greeters.

A friendly face offering a warm welcome speaks volumes!

Greeters should practically radiate the underlying message you want to send to your guests: “We are nice people, and we are glad you are here!”

So…. What can you do about the way people are GREETED at your church this week?

* Conduct a “smile practice” before you chose your greeters for the main door.

Have all of your volunteers give you their biggest, most genuine smile, and then position those with the most welcoming energy as your first-line greeters.

Check in next week as I continue this series of posts.

P.S. If you’re truly ready to keep new people from slipping through the cracks at your church, check out The Assimilation Intensive.

With over 8 hours of audio training and dozens of sample files and documents, this is the most comprehensive resource available to help you turn First-Time Guests into Fully-Committed Members of Your Church.  Click here to Download Now and Save $100.00!

After my bestselling book Fusion came out and thousands of churches have been helped with  The Assimilation Seminar and Intensive over the last few years, in some circles I’ve become known as a bit of an “assimilation guru.”

Now, I don’t know about the “guru” thing, but I do love the Assimilation process!

I love knowing that the church I pastor is prepared and optimized to be a good steward of the new people God chooses to send our way.

I love seeing a first time guest (or a first time guest family) come through the doors on a Sunday morning and knowing that we’ve got a proven, step-by-step plan to help them grow.

And while I’ve never met a pastor who said they didn’t want to help new people get connected to their church and grow spiritually, I have known many who weren’t willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

One of the essential elements of a well-functioning Assimilation System is using a Connection Card.

This is a card that is placed in every bulletin every Sunday, that provides a way for you to collect information from new people and encourage everyone to take next steps in their spiritual life.  You can find more info about what a Connection Card is in previous posts (click here to download a sample).

What you say matters

I’ve found that how you present the connection card each week is equally important – it doesn’t matter how good your Connection Card looks if no one is filling it out and handing it in!

So over the years at The Journey, we’ve developed a script – a proven way of introducing the card each week during the service that’s been honed, tweaked, tested, and refined (and still is) to maximize its effectiveness.

Just be very clear: The welcome/hosting time on Sunday morning is not the time for you to get up there and “wing it” or ramble through without thinking about what you’re asking people to do.

In fact, if you do nothing more than implement a well-prepared, consistent script, you can see a tremendous increase in the number of cards completed each week (and subsequently, the number of people you can follow up with).

Here’s what one of my Coaching Network Participants shared with me recently:

Hi Nelson -

Just thought I’d let you know that we went from a less than 10% Connection Card completion rate to now regularly averaging 52% completion rate.

We’re shooting for a goal of 85%, but we feel our current rate isn’t that horrible compared to where we were.

Fritz Below
Lead Pastor
Calvary Ridge Church
North Ridgeville, Ohio

If you value the people God sends your way (and I know you do), I encourage you to thoroughly think through how your church collects information from the people who attend, and put in place a system that you can measure, evaluate, and improve each and every week!

P.S. To get a copy of the actual hosting script we use at The Journey, plus more than 6 hours of audio training on Assimilation, plus more than 50 documents and files, check out The Assimilation Intensive.

Tuesday, January 25th 2:00pm – 3:00pm Eastern 1:00pm – 3:00pm Central 12:00pm – 1:00pm Mountain 11:00am – 12:00pm Pacific Space is Limited Register Now!

Can you join me next Tuesday for a Free Webinar about keeping more of the new people that God sends to your church?

As you may know, Assimilation is one of my most passionate topics to teach about…

Here’s why:

This Sunday (just a few days from now), God will prompt hundreds of thousands of people in the US and millions around the world, to visit a church for the first time. The Sunday after that, He will do it again.

God is consistently blessing His Church with regular guests… the question is: what are we doing with them?

With this free online training, I want to help you do all you can to accept and honor His blessing and to keep people from slipping through the cracks at your church!

Join me on Tuesday for this FREE, one-hour webinar where you will learn:

• The #1 reason you’re unable to follow up with first-time guests and what you can do about it next Sunday!
• How you can WOW first-time guests into coming back a second-time.
• The mistake every church makes and how you can avoid it.
• Plus Much More!

Limited Space Available
Click Here to Register Now for FREE!

Will you join me next Tuesday, January 11, from 2:00pm – 4:00pm Eastern time for The Fusion Webinar?

This two-hour webinar is on Assimilation – one of the eight systems where you can see results after even the smallest improvement, so it will add to the bottom line growth of your church. I’ll teach you the Assimilation principles that have helped over 3,000 churches keep more first time guests over the last few years.

The Fusion Webinar is all about helping you become the best possible steward of the guests that God sends your way!

Best of all, you (and your entire Assimilation team if possible) can join me for this training without ever leaving your office or home!  You just need a phone and a computer with internet access to participate.

To help you make it worth your while, I’m giving you over $125.00 in bonus resources just for signing up!

You’ll learn:

• Principles to help you create an inviting environment for first-time guests
• How to ”wow” first-time guests into wanting to come back
• The Journey Church’s ”Assimilation System,” used to follow up with the 30+ first-time guests who attend the service each week
• How to turn first-time guests into second-time guests
• How to turn second-time guests into regular attenders and then fully-engaged members
• How to drastically increase the number of guests who give you their contact information
• How to use a Connection Card (Including what to put on it – and what not to put on it)
• How to get people to turn in a Connection Card
• Plus much more!

P.S. To learn more or to register now for The LIVE Fusion Webinar on January 11th, CLICK HERE.