Balancing High Touch and High Tech
Matt Miller, our evangelism pastor at our Cypress Campus distributed some great reminders to our staff. He gives some best practices on interacting with guests and visitors to the church. Certainly, email and other tools are not high tech as my title may imply, but you get the point….
When Calling Prospects I have found that…
- if the prospect leaves a number its because they want to be called or they are saying its okay to call me
- its important to know something personal about the prospect before you call them….Imis!!! (do they have kids, where do they live, place of work, did they attend bible study, are they single/divorced/married, etc.)
- your best tool is to ask questions that will draw feedback and get a response from them (did you enjoy service? How did you kids like bible study? How did you hear about us? What part of the service did you enjoy the most? Have you and your husband tried a bible study? (have a bible study in mind to suggest to them before the call)
- if you follow up the call with an e-mail of thanks and/or with information about the next weeks service and a link to our website it finishes off the follow-up with a little class… and typically the prospect will respond to the e-mail
When Sending Notes I have found that…
- notes are the most effective tool in prospects returning to service and bible study!
- a hand written note from a staff member screams I care enough about you to write a note. Anyone can send a bulk email to visitors and its convenient to pick the phone up and say thanks and then hang up.
- a handwritten note to anyone 50 years and up they will hunt you down on Sunday just to say thank-you
- when someone has found me to say thanks for a note they almost always say “I can’t remember the last time someone sent me a handwritten note”
When Sending Emails I have found that…
- its key to compose the email in a way that does not scream “BULK MAIL OUT”
- its important to pull something personal from imis that gives the personal touch (their kids names, the class name they visited, the date they visited, etc)
- when I ask a question in the e-mail that seeks a response…. The prospect typically responds back with feedback (when you allow someone to give feedback they feel that their opinions mean something) Everyone likes it when their opinions are pursued and they are welcomed!
- E-mail is a great and preferred tool of the younger generation 40 years and below
About Equip Them
Equip Them focuses on technology as tools for evangelism and spiritual formation in the church and family. It is the personal blog of David Drinnon, pastor and Director of Information Technology and Websites at Second Baptist Church, Houston, TX. The opinions and views expressed on this site are his own and do not necessarily represent those of his church.
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