Ideas for Christmas Gifts

There are less than 25 days till Christmas, maybe you’ve purchased a gift or two…maybe you’re one of the few that is done with purchasing your gifts. If you are still searching for gifts to give here are a few ideas:

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~Oren Arnold

Whether you are looking for a gift or not, these are good ideas to give people throughout the season. Give them freely. Give them often. Give them over and over. Give them to strangers. Give them to enemies. Give them to friends. Give them to family. Give them to bosses. Give them to co-workers. Give them to your employees. Give them, give them, give them!  No matter what you do, just give them!
Enjoy the season of gift giving!

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.

Basis of Our Efforts

What would it take to cause us to grow or attract people? I'd really like to know, if you have any ideas.

Too often the answer to that question is broad...very broad. Also, we may look at Church A and see what they are doing and their success, and want to try what they are doing. This is the model approach instead of the principle approach. This isn't the best option because you cannot replicate everything about what they're doing. As Scott McKain says, are "my efforts...based upon what my competitor is doing, not what my customers desire"?

He writes from a business perspective, however, points like this make it easy to transfer the situation over to a church setting. Understand, since it is from a business perspective, the "competitor" is other churches and the "customers" are those we are trying to reach.

We must be willing to stand out, in a good way. Stand out to show that church doesn't have to always appear the same. Or our demeanor doesn't have to appear "churchy" but real. Or our "customer service experience" can be very personable and down-to-earth.

As times change, so will the appearance of everything we do. We use computers with colored backgrounds for our bulletin instead of a typewriter. We use songs that make us "feel" different than songs of yesteryear. We use multimedia to help people learn, instead of nothing or slides. We are to be free to demonstrate our personal choice of praising God instead of scowled at for doing something different. As our young people shift into adults, they will create a change, across the board, that is unlike anything ever seen before. All of these things are still "scriptural", though different.

So, how do we attract people? We make it comfortable for our "customers". We do things that will make them want to come back. That is a very broad statement, but we must find a way to all be involved in making that come about, here. Think about what makes you return to certain places...those are concepts/principles we must apply. Those same "reasons for return" will cause people to come back to see us, too. Think about it...it's really elementary!

What will be base our efforts on...competitors or customers? Our direction will be reflected from your answer.