Now It's Home!

Written by Nakules Veran Tuesday, 15 November 2011 12:03

Every Sunday, there’s a visitor walking into a church. Hopefully it’s yours.

Each church treats its visitors differently and for varied reasons. What is important however is trying to identify visitors and ensuring follow-up occurs. And in some instances, contact actually materializes within that 48 hour window. In most other cases it’s hopeful.

The visitors tend to believe that it’s “Open House” and want to see if the “accommodation” is suitable for their needs.  And like any other prospective “buyer”, they are going to evaluate based on their “prerequisites” and try to absorb as much of what happens on that Sunday.

Studies have shown that it warrants at least four visits before a visitor calls the church “Home”. The challenge is that after the first visit, the usual “is this your first time here?” does not apply and you are not able to identify the visitor. And if you’re a larger church, then the task has just become more daunting as visitors often prefer anonymity.

Under these circumstances, how would you guide a prospective “buyer” and ensure that he/she comes back for another visit?

Do you have a visitor interaction plan?