Greg Atkinson

Last week, I noticed Will Mancini blog about some of the things we’ve been discussing on my blog the past week. I’ve got 2 new articles on what guests look for that I’m anxious for you to read, but they’ll appear first in Outreach magazine. In the meantime, I thought it would be helpful for you to read Will’s thoughts.

This goes back to why a church would want to hire a secret shopper. Will shares 7 checkpoints. I look for close to 100 different things when I do a secret shopper visit (resulting in a 16 page report). If you’re interested in bringing me in for a secret shopper visit, go HERE for more information. Read what Will had to say:

When a first time guest drives onto your campus, they will decide within 11 minutes whether or not they are coming back.

Yes, the decision is made before your guests experience  worship and the content of the sermon- the two elements that demand most, if not all, of our time and attention in preparation.

What would it look like if you extended the same level of intention to the 11 minutes prior to walking in the sanctuary or worship center? Maybe the better question is “What would it feel like for your guests?”

It’s hard to overstate the wow factor a church body creates by serve generously through a system of hospitality. For the last 10 years I have observed and analyzed over 200 churches while conducting a “secret worshipper” experience.  It is a service at Auxano we call the “Guest Perspective Evaluation.” One of my greatest thrills in ministry is tasting the variety of size, location, and spiritual heritage of these churches. But the most important observation is that any church can take small steps to make a dramatic difference in welcoming guests.

This post is the first time I have shared any of our tools or learnings. And the first place to start is to imagine seven checkpoints for your guest. Think of the checkpoints as “gates” or even “hurdles” that any first time guest must navigate to get from their comfy family room to your worship service. With every gate comes a simple question: Has the church removed the inherent difficulty of navigating the gate for the first time?

More specifically I look for every opportunity to make each gate  simple, easy and obvious to navigate. Any particular difficulties created by your location or facility should be viewed as hospitality opportunities. By providing a great solution to an obvious barrier, you enhance the wow-factor of the hospitality.

THE SEVEN CHECKPOINTS

#1 Before Departure: Are directions and service times immediately accessible to guests  from your church website, phone recording and yellow pages?

#2 Travel to Location: Do guests know where to turn into your church location?

#3 Parking Lot: Do guests know where to park?

#4 Building Entrance: Do guests know which door to enter?

#5 Children’s Ministry: Do guests know where to take their kids?

#6 Welcome Center: Do guest know where to go for more information?

#7 Worship: Do guests know which door to enter?

*** Do you have these 7 checkpoints covered at your church?

When is a good time to bring in someone like myself for a secret shopper visit? Anytime is really good, but summer has some key advantages. If you bring me in July or August, you have a chance to get solid feedback and make strategic changes before you crank things up in the Fall.

Most churches do some big Fall campaign or push and having me in this summer to help you do what you do better could be a huge win for you and your church. See what Ray Johnston, pastor of Bayside Church in Sacramento, CA had to say about my visit with them last month (Bayside is a church of 12,000 where Lincoln Brewster leads worship):

“Greg Atkinson is smart, detailed, thorough and saw things that we would never notice.  His feedback was invaluable and we are making several strategic changes as a result of his visit.  We will use him again.  I encourage to you do the same.  In a word – he’s the best.” – Ray Johnston, Senior Pastor, Bayside Church, Sacramento, CA

I’m confident that I will notice things you would never notice and positive that I can help YOUR church make several strategic changes. Like Ray, I want YOU to say, “We will use him again.” So, I encourage you to make the investment and bring me in to help your church make guests feel loved and welcomed.

To get more details, endorsements and prices (based on size of church), go HERE.

As you know, I consult with churches across the nation. I love doing this and since I’m not currently on staff full-time at a local church, I get to do this more frequently (and it provides for my family). My friend, Alan Danielson, recently blogged about hiring a consultant. He’s a great consultant, too and the small groups guru for the Church. I suggest you get to know him. He’s in my blogroll to the right. Check out what he said in a recent blog post:

In my line of work I’ve learned there are three primary reasons people don’t hire consultants:

1. They think they can’t afford a consultant.
2. They think they don’t need advice from someone who isn’t living in their shoes.
3. They don’t think they have time to mess with consulting and coaching.

Here’s why these three assumptions are wrong:

1. Consultants are often willing to negotiate rates.  Consultants would rather work for a discounted rate than not work.  If you don’t like the rates they offer, make a counter offer.  Maybe they’d be willing to use some of their airline miles or stay in your extra bedroom.  Maybe they’ll knock off a percentage in exchange for some word-of-mouth advertising.
2. Consultants bring a fresh perspective. Sometimes the best advice comes from people who aren’t walking in your shoes.  It’s easy to get so caught up in your own circumstances that you can’t see your blind spots.  Consultants can see those blind spots quickly and help you avoid them.
3. Consultants help you earn your pay. The leader is an organization’s greatest asset.   You invest in your team because they are a great asset.  You invest in marketing, product development and customer relations because all of these are assets.  Sadly, most leaders spend little or no money investing in themselves.  What a tragedy!!  Without great leadership your organization will go nowhere.  You can’t afford NOT to hire a consultant.  Hiring a consultant is like bringing a conference to you…a custom-made conference just for your context.  Consultants make you better and what you do and therefore make you worth your salary.

Think about the biggest problem you are facing right now.  A consultant can help with that!  Think about the toughest leadership decision you’re facing right now.  A consultant can help with that!

Consultants can help you figure out:

• Why your organization isn’t growing
• Why you have a staff-revolving-door
• Why your customers are leaving
• Why people don’t seem to listen to you
• Why people don’t see how truly great your product is
• Why people are leaving your church for the one down the street
• Why you loved your job last year and hate it today
• Why ____________________ (fill in the blank)

Consultants are strategic leadership doctors!  So hire a consultant or coach and do it this week!  If you wait excuses will creep up and keep you from making a great leadership choice.  Whether it’s myself or someone else, figure out how and when to hire a consultant…you’ll be making a tragic leadership mistake if you don’t.

*** It’s Greg: This past Sunday I did a secret shopper for NorthStar – a great church in Atlanta. I’d love to secret shop your church. Get me in touch with your pastor.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the variety of guest posts lately. I’ve enjoyed them and they’ve really freed me up to write. My book has 40 chapters. I’ve written 37 of them and will hope to finish the book this week.

I’ve also been traveling. Last weekend I did a secret shopper in Kansas City and last week I spoke at the National Church Music Conference in Indianapolis. This weekend I’ll be doing another secret shopper in Sacramento, CA.

The church in KC was a medium size church of 300 people. The church in Sacramento is a church of over 10,000. Large or small – the secret shopper is a wise investment. You can always do what you do better and be more sensitive and effective to reaching lost people. If you’re interested, contact me – I’d love to help your church.

Tomorrow, I’ll be writing (today, too) and I’ll let you enjoy another guest post.

In July of 2008 I was speaking to a group of Church leaders in Santa Cruz, California. I held my phone (this was just before I got my iPhone) up in my hand and I said, “This is the future.”

It’s been a year and a half and mobile technology is the “now”, not the future. My friend, Bobby Gruenwald, Innovation Pastor at LifeChurch.tv, constantly encourages his staff to think global and mobile – global and mobile.

I’m currently working with churches and organizations on helping them to create, dream and plan strategies around mobile technology. Your people are constantly becoming one with their phone (for good or bad) and it’s a reality that we need to be intentional about speaking their language. Again, as I’ve said before: we are digital missionaries.

As you know, I work often as a Secret Shopper/Mystery Worshiper. The first thing I check is the church’s website. The second thing I do is pull up their website on my iPhone. I have recommended several times that church’s follow the lead of Seacoast Church and get a mobile version of their website. I applaud and praise Seacoast for blazing a trail in this area. My hat’s off to my friend Shawn Wood and his team. Well done! If you have your phone handy (and I know you do) – pull up Seacoast’s website on it.

My church (and many others) send out text messages to attenders and members that opt in. My church also encourages you to text in questions and decisions that you may make as a response to the message. Many churches are utilizing text and SMS during services as an interactive piece. As I’ve blogged about before, many churches are using the free service from YouVersion Live.

I’ll be talking more in the near future about other mobile strategies and tools. In the meantime, if you and your church would like to strategize and put together a comprehensive plan that includes Web 2.0 tools, mobile technology, social media and social networking – give me a shout. My only goal is to help and equip you to speak the language of the people you’re trying to reach (digital missionaries).

Since the year 2000 I’ve kept my eye on Granger Community Church – after being introduced to them at the Purpose Driven Conference. I’ve respected their pastor and talented staff for their willingness to do whatever it takes to reach people and do it with a sense of excellence and innovation. I subscribe to their WiredChurches.com newsletter and hope you do, too.

I’ve never blogged about one of their newsletters before, but this one got my attention. As a secret shopper/mystery worshiper, I can’t stress how important what Mark shares is. Read on…

Excerpt from becausepeoplematter.com | by Mark Waltz

Self-disclosure #1: Pretty much any building I enter – restaurant, airport, mall, church, museum, store, your house – I’m looking for a restroom. There aren’t too many homes with signage for bathrooms, but then again, I generally know the host, so I can ask.

When a new guest comes to your church, they’re likely to look for one of three things (maybe all three):

• restroom
• children’s center
• auditorium or worship center

Self-disclosure #2: When we opened our new auditorium at Granger Community a few years ago, we were strategic and careful about where signage was placed and just what it communicated. However, I recently toured our building with my guest services coaches and we made some disappointing discoveries. Some signage is too busy with font that’s too small to read without standing still. Some signage has been added in recent months and secondary bulkhead hides it. Other signage uses our
in-house language that may not be all that helpful to our guests.

So, when hanging signage, ask:

• What are guests really looking for? Is a sign with an arrow to the recycle bin really all that helpful or necessary?
• If this sign were hanging in an airport would guests see it as they rush to catch a plane? If not, make the sign bigger (if your church is smaller, think smaller airport…but think about people reading signage as they move).
• Will people understand what “churchutopia” means? Or would it be better to simply say,
  “Kids’ Center”?

Hang a sign. And hang it effectively.

Learn more from Mark about creating WOW First Impressions and Lasting Impressions at Granger Thursday-Friday, November 12-13. Bring your team for $119/person.

This past weekend I did a secret shopper visit at an amazing church in Orangeburg, SC. I arrived in town Saturday evening and headed straight to the church as it was nice out and I thought it might rain on Sunday. I wanted to see the grounds and parking lot, building exterior, etc.

As I was looking around, I came across a door in the back of the church that was left open. I didn’t know if someone was inside or if it had been overlooked and left open/unlocked, but I opened it and went inside…

NOTE: It never occurred to me that there might be an alarm.

I went inside the church and began looking around, making notes and taking pictures. I went straight to the restrooms and since I wouldn’t get to see the Women’s Restrooms on Sunday, I decided to go inside them, take pictures and make notes. I must add: they have a very nice women’s restroom. Below is their sitting room when you walk inside the women’s restroom:

I noted that the women’s restroom had 11 regular stalls and 2 large/handicap stalls (as seen in the top picture). Their sink area appeared neat and clean, etc. Regular stuff. I left there and went across the hall to the men’s restroom. I made notes in there and took pictures.

I walked out to be greeted by 3 police officers with tazors drawn. I’m not kidding. They asked who I was and you should have been a fly on the wall as I tried to explain to them what a church secret shopper was. They told me to turn around and padded me down. They took my ID and called it in.

Please understand and believe me – I planned on calling the senior pastor after I finished looking at the restrooms to let him know about the unlocked door.

So the interrogation went on. IF I was not able to get the pastor on the phone (which – thank God I was) they were going to take me downtown and arrest me. I didn’t “break and enter” as one officer said. I simply saw a door cracked open and walked inside it.

Lesson learned – I won’t be doing that again. So there! That’s my new unforgettable secret shopper story and my welcome to South Carolina.

I had a great Secret Shopper visit yesterday with a local church plant in the DFW area. I look forward to sharing my notes with their senior pastor. I was reminded of how even young church plants can quickly lose their new eyes and start to miss things that are obvious to a newcomer like me.

I came across some good words on Mike Holmes’ blog that I’d like to share with you. He mentioned that a secret shopper or mystery worshipper can do a few things:

1. Assess areas of strength and weakness.
2. See what visitors see.
3. Receive objective appraisal.

He also shares the story of his experiment as a secret shopper, which is convicting and inspiring. He goes on to share signs you need a secret shopper or mystery worshipper:

1. Visitors who don’t return
2. Decreased attendance
3. Lack of influence in the surrounding community

I would add an eye for excellence and an attempt to be better at your “main thing” (Sunday) – as Nancy Beach shares in her book “An Hour on Sunday“. It’s always healthy to look at your Sunday morning experience through the eyes of a newcomer and especially the eyes of a lost person. You may get only one chance to make a positive impression on them.

Mike also cites an article in the Wall Street Journal on secret shoppers and I think it’s worth a read. As the article states: “Department stores hire mystery shoppers. Restaurant chains bring in undercover diners to rate their food and service.” Isn’t what we do on Sundays as Church leaders more important than department stores and restaurants? Seriously, isn’t it???

September is slammed full – right now I’m booking Secret Shopper visits for October and November. I’d love for you to start a conversation with me about visiting your church. I promise: it’s worth the investment. Go HERE for more information and to read endorsements of my ministry.

I mentioned last week that I’m beginning a new project with ARC. This is something I’m pretty excited about and hopefully will lead to me meeting you and your team.

ARC now offers a very informative, encouraging and fruitful experience for your church: the Secret Shopper (mystery worshipper). Beginning August 2009, ARC will be lining up visits to churches across the country by one of the ARC’s staff – me.

Here’s the info that we’re sending ARC churches:

The Secret Shopper has produced worship services for a mega-church for the last 6 years and has served on a Worship & Arts staff for the last 15 years. The Secret Shopper also produced several large conferences including Leadership Network’s Innovation3 Conference, Catalyst OneDay and the Rebecca St. James’s SHE Conference.

This service to your church will include an eye on everything from your church’s parking lot, lobby, nursery, facilities, signage, restrooms, overall feel and a main focus on the worship experience including music, technology/media and preaching.

For a small, one-time investment of $750 (plus travel expenses) for a church of 300 or less OR $1000 (plus travel) for churches of 300 or more, your church can have a trained professional with a heart for ARC DNA churches come into your church and critique, encourage and challenge your team. Feedback will be given in a meeting after the last morning worship service.

I’m blogging about this here because this is a service that I’d like to do for any and all churches interested, not just ARC churches. For more information and to book me as a Secret Shopper for your church, email me at greg@gregatkinson.com.