Tuesday, September 26, 2006

First Impressions Card

Every Monday my assistant and I send letters to our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th time guests. The letter to our first time guests includes a “First Impression Card.” The purpose of the card is to receive instant feedback. We ask our first time guest to respond to three areas: what they noticed first, what they liked best, and what they liked least.

Provided below are two responses I received this week.

This is what I noticed first:

Response #1: “Everyone was very friendly & welcomed us.”
Response #2: “The choir; the energy of the environment when I entered the building.”

This is what I like best:

Responder #1: “The music and sermon was awesome!!”
Responder #2: “The lady sitting beside me introduced herself and her husband and made me feel welcome; among lots of other nice things like seeing the children being baptized; the screens make the service more interactive.”

This is what I liked least:

Responder#1: “Just afraid a big church wouldn’t give the personal attention like a smaller one does.”
Responder #2: “I can’t say anything I liked the least; everything was a positive experience.”

That’s good stuff, isn’t it?

I am particularly proud of the CrossPointer who introduced herself and her husband to our guest. CrossPoint can never be too friendly. Keep welcoming those around you. Who knows, you may be introducing yourself to the next CrossPointer.

As for the thought of a big church not giving the “personal attention like a smaller one does” I think we can dispel that myth by growing smaller as we grow larger. That is why we encourage everyone to get involved in a small group. It is through the small groups we remain interconnected and involved with each other. Besides, I have never thought of CrossPoint as being a big church, have you?

By the way, we are currently averaging 10 to 12 first time guests every weekend at CrossPoint. That trend will only continue to increase as we reach out to our community.

First impressions are very important. Keep giving your best, CrossPoint!

1 comment:

JenB said...

For those of us who are involved in a small group (i.e. Sunday Morning Bible Studies, etc.), our vision is probably a bit clouded when it comes to the preception that people may have about CrossPoint being a "Big" church, because we are experiencing CrossPoint in a different way. "That church is too big for me!" I've received that comment several times when inviting friends to come to CP, but my response is "CrossPoint is the "smallest" Big Church you will go to! As we've discussed in LC before, the key to keeping the intimacy around CP, is to keep dividing classes as they grow bigger. By doing this, we grow big, remain small, and make room for Just One More all at the same time.