People who aren’t regular church attenders, or who are unchurched, are more likely to decide to visit a church for Christmas services than any other time. As a result, most churches welcome their highest number of first-time guests for Christmas Eve services – which begs the question, how can you make the most of this opportunity?
One of our recent posts addresses how to make the experience one that welcomes, inspires, and engages new guests. Another post is about casting vision and preparing your volunteers to provide exceptional hospitality. Our focus here is what happens after the visit – how to follow up in a way that lets guests know you noticed them, you welcome them, and you’d love to be their church home.
Effective follow-up requires intentionality and planning. You can only follow up with guests who provide contact information, so you’ll have to decide how to ask for their information in a way that inspires people to give it to you. If you don’t do this already, I encourage you to offer a specific welcome to guests during worship, and ask them to fill out a connect card, sign in online, fill in the attendance pad, stop by your welcome desk, or whatever method you use. You might offer a small gift as an incentive, and perhaps promise not to overwhelm them with information.
Once you have contact information, first and foremost, your follow-up should be prompt, within 24 hours if possible. This can be either via email or text. I highly recommend texting vs. email. Email messages from organizations typically have a less than 25% open rate. That means 75% of people aren’t reading your message. Text messages, on average, have a 98% open rate within 3 minutes. That’s astounding!
There are a whole range of texting services that you can use. You can use a free Google number, so you don’t have to use your personal mobile phone. Gloo offers a free texting service, which might be a great option if you’re trying texting for the first time or don’t have a budget for it. Text-In-Church is also a service worth considering.
Second, your follow-up should be personal. Use the guest’s name and provide yours. Make sure the message comes from someone who can follow up directly if a guest responds to the initial text. About 50% of the first-time guests we message via text reply back to us. Use informal, conversational language. If the guest only provides their email address, then you’ll email instead of texting, and you can increase the likelihood that they’ll open the email by using their name in the subject line.
Finally, your follow-up needs to be pleasant. You want it to be a light touch, brief, and relevant. You can make it a light touch by keeping it casual. Rather than pressuring or guilting them to come back, offer an invitation to return for something meaningful or relevant to their lives, such as an upcoming sermon series everyone can relate to – regulars and non-churched people alike. Perhaps the most important part of making your follow-up pleasant is keeping it brief.
Our post-Christmas follow-up text typically says something like this:
Merry Christmas, John! We’re so glad you worshiped with us! Click here (with a link) to watch a short video about our upcoming sermon series on relationships. We’d love to have you join us again.
Let me know if you have any questions. Mary
We also deliver a coffee mug to our first-time guests after Christmas, usually sometime between December 27-January 2. This timeframe is a little later than our norm, but we don’t want to intrude on our guests’ holiday. The visit is only 30 seconds, and our volunteers don’t enter the home; they simply say, “Hi. My name is Susan. I’m from Resurrection, and we just wanted to give you this mug as a way of saying thank you for worshiping with us. Do you have any questions I can answer? Thanks again, and we hope to see you again soon.” Inside the mug we usually place a Christmas treat and a postcard highlighting our upcoming sermon series.
Whatever method you use to follow up with Christmas guests, just make sure you follow through. Nothing tells a guest more clearly that their visit wasn’t important to you, or you didn’t even notice them, than not following up at all. In contrast, prompt, personal and pleasant follow-up communicates a welcoming, open community where guests might want to belong. And, that is one thing every human heart needs.
Yvonne Gentile is our Guest Experience & ShareChurch Lead Director, a former retail industry executive, and co-author of four books. She and her husband Frank have been part of Resurrection since 1996. Together they enjoy movies, road trips, and spending time with family.