WINNING AND KEEPING MEMBERS THE EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE WAY

Do You Know What’s In 1 Cor.8:2? “And if any man thinks that he knows any thing, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know”

People stay where they are treated well - and leave where they aren't. Who Are Your Customers? In the church, customers can be defined as members, volunteers, employees and the community it serves. Members fund the church, volunteers provide the labor and employees facilitate the process. People stay where they are treated well - and leave where they aren't.

There is How to Behave in Church But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. – 1 Tim.3:15

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Customer Service is all about providing delightful experience for your customers. Something pleasant to remember in their contact with you and your organization.

Garson's Ten Commandments of Customer Service The customer is most important to your business The customer does not depend on you The customer is not an interruption He/She does you a favour by doing business with your company He/She is a part of your business

Garson's Ten Commandments of Customer Service contd.’ He/She is not a cold statistic He/She is not someone to argue or match wits with Your job is to satisfy him/her He/She deserves the most attentive, courteous and professional treatment. The customer is the lifeblood of the your organization

The key to service excellence is understanding of customers’ expectations and needs

Reasons Businesses Lose Customers 1% die 3% move away 5% form other friendships 9% switch for competition 14% due to product dissatisfaction 68% due to perceived attitude of indifference & poor service

Four Things to Know About Today’s Customer Today’s customer is more commercially oriented. He is constantly scanning the environment for better options and services He may have access to more information than you the product/service provider He has very high expectations from the service provider

Church Quality Assurance Quality is defined as “The characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs; it is the state of a product or service being free of deficiencies”. “Excellence is not about impressing other people, it is about doing it right because it is the right thing to do. It is not seen as clearly in the big things as it is in the little things. It’s about learning from our mistakes and implementing improvements based on what we learn.”- Phil Baker Quality is about how things are done, learning from mistakes and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Six Characteristics of Quality 1. Customer Focus- Churches should take the time to learn about their customer groups and develop systems and programs to support those customer needs. This can be done by soliciting feedback with a survey and developing plans to address customer requirements. For example, if your church has a lot of young families, it is important to create programs to support children and youth. 2. Leadership- Leadership is about influencing others. For a ministry, it is rallying people around a shared mission.

3. Resource Management- God blesses churches with valuable resources – people, time and money. Being good stewards and managing those resources efficiently is one of the biggest responsibilities of church leaders. This involves constantly looking for ways to do things cheaper, quicker and more effectively. 4. Training And Development- Employees and volunteers are the engine of the church, therefore, it is important to nurture and develop that core group to help them advance in their roles. This includes training and focused role development for increased responsibility.

5. Process Improvement- according to Donald Berwick, “every systems is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets.” This implies that improvement does not happen without intentionally looking at internal processes and finding ways to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. 6. Data Management- Decisions should be guided by the Spirit of the LORD, and birthed out of a commitment to using all available data.

So, What Makes People Like You? Kindness Good humour Appreciation of their interests & feelings Understanding & respecting them Fairness in treating them Complete lack of snobbishness toward those of lesser authority.

A Church Worker Must Be Emotionally Intelligent

Emotional Intelligence (EI) Defined EI is the ability to accurately identify and understand one’s own emotional reactions and those of others, and to regulate one’s emotions and use them to make good decisions and act effectively. Simply put, Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions.

Questions: When guests leave your church, do they feel valued? When someone needs help, do they feel like they’re a burden on you if they ask? Have you ever gotten so engrossed in your specific ministry that you were bothered when asked for a little help? Is your church more “product” focused than “people” focused?

Ponder! The way you carefully and skillfully and patiently lead guests has lasting impacts on the health of your local church. The way we treat others reveals our theology. We serve a God who is infinitely patient and gracious with us. To love others any less is cheapening grace. “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth.” – Exodus 34:6