Thinking Like a Customer

Anytime you get to be on the other side of a situation, you gain an experience that is priceless. You get to see things from a different perspective.

Take for instance, baseball. I participated in baseball most of my young life. It is my favorite sport. It may be slow to some, and to me, sometimes. However, it still remains my favorite. When I was 16, the small town I lived in didn't have enough players to form a team. So, I took up something I had never done before...umpiring. I thought it would be a piece of cake. These are the "tiny" leagues. Not just little league. These were small town kids, who were probably not that talented, due to the fact they were so young.

It may be true that they were not that talented, but the seriousness of the game wasn't little. This town didn't have the extremely bad parents, etc., however, seriousness was evident. Little Johnny or Susie was just as important to Mom & Dad as a Major League Baseball player was to most fans. Call a close play wrong, and you generally "heard about it". Don't call the close strike, and the murmurs behind home plate were far from whispered about.

What is this all about? It is just a game, no World Series. Though the tension and attitudes worsened as you moved up the league level, it all taught me a valuable lesson, that I learned to look forward to (believe it or not).

Like that story, things look different on the other side of the line. As you come into your church building, you are quite familiar with the good and the bad part of things. You know the people, the schedule, and everything else. However, when you go somewhere else - as a visitor - you do not know all the things about that church (building or people).

Do you know that uncomfortable feeling to go into an unfamiliar place? Keep in mind any visitor that comes our way has that same feeling on any given morning. Our greeters are in place to play a part in welcoming our guests, but we all have that responsibility. When you have visited a place, be it a church or a retail store, how could someone have made it more comfortable for you?

Part of what makes people come back is their "customer service experience". How they are treated will make or break the chances to have them return. Make it enjoyable for people. Be hospitable. Be courteous. Be lively. Be smiley. Be Christ.

Think like a customer, then treat our guests the way you'd want to be treated.