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6 Steps to Creating An Effective Guest Follow-up System

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In today’s world we are inundated by sales pitches that over promise and over simplify products that we may or may not need.

In response to this, we as ministry leaders, become skeptical of anything that even remotely smells of a sales pitch. Because of our skepticism, we have fallen into the temptation of making things harder than they need to be.

Guest follow-up has been a casualty of this battle for far too long in churches and ministries across the country. Making a guest feel welcome and cared for has become programmatic, cold, overly complicated and, in all reality, a failure.

However, there is hope! What new research and studies are finding is that guest follow-up can, in fact, be as easy as it may seem. Pardon the temporary sales pitch language, but guest follow-up can be as easy as following these six simple steps!

1) Vision

Do not be afraid to cast vision for what you would like from your guests. Often ministers can shy away from this and play a cat-and-mouse kind of introduction. Just be yourself, talk about your ministry, thank them for being there, and let them know what you want!

2) Gather

Again, going back to our sales lingo, don’t be afraid to ask for the sale!

AKA, ask them for their information, make sure they know why and what you plan to do with it. There are many different ways to gather information, don’t be afraid to get creative and try out different methods!

3) Build

A good game plan will always make follow-up a breeze. By building an effective follow-up plan you will be able to maintain connections between your guests and your ministry. This can be easier said than done. Again, there are many different ways of building a follow-up system, but making sure that it is effective is the key. There are also some good programs and products that can help with this. Do some homework and find one that works for you and your ministry.

4) Connect

What, I have to connect with guests?

Yes, and this may come as a surprise to some, but having a meaningful connection blueprint can make follow-up easy and endearing to those who choose to visit your ministry. For some ministers this can be very daunting, but it does not have to be that way.

Choosing the right blueprint can turn a burden into a blessing.

5) Leverage

Doctors say having a balanced meal is healthy for your body. Having a balanced guest follow-up system can be healthy for the body of Christ as well. Churches across America fall into the temptation of only leaning on one aspect of follow-up and expecting the results that they want. Gathering info and tossing out a mug to someone as they walk by, might work for some contexts, but will it be enough for your church? Ensuring that you have a balanced plan and leveraging your follow-up holistically will help to make you a healthy ministry

6) Review

Taking time to have honest evaluations of your follow-up system will help you to make sure you are achieving what you want and what God has called you to do! When a farmer makes hay, he is always checking in front to see where he is going and behind to make sure he is getting the hay to fall and be raked to where he wants it to be. As a ministry, we must be looking ahead to see where we should be going, but not fail in looking back to make sure we are getting what we thought we were. Take time to review. Be honest, it may hurt, but taking the necessary time to look back will be beneficial in the future.

With these steps you can ensure that your guest follow-up will go from so-so to so fantastic! Don’t be afraid to check out systems and products that can help out with this. Check with other ministers, see what they are using, and see what works for them. Shop around and get a feel for what is out there because when it is all said and done, we are all trying to make an impact for the Kingdom. Guest follow-up is only the beginning!

Need a template to follow? Text BLUEPRINT to 816-482-3337 to download our FREE Guest Follow-up Templates. You’ll have access to 14 copy & paste follow-up templates already used by thousands of churches.

Tyler Smith
Tyler Smithhttp://www.textinchurch.com/
Tyler Smith is the co-founder of Text In Church, the leader in church communication tools. Text In Church creates communication tools for the modern day ministry, allowing churches to easily & effectively communicate with their members and 1st time guests. He and his wife, Kelly, are raising 2 wonderful children in Kansas City. Go Royals!

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