Five Steps To An Unforgettable Guest Experience

We are sharing a guest post from ministry builder Dale Hudson. With over 35 years of ministry experience, he is one of the most dynamic thought leaders in children’s ministries. He is the author of several books and has been featured in Time Magazine and Christianity Today. Dale is a highly sought-after speaker and executive coach committed to equipping churches to engage children and families. He is the founder of Building Children’s Ministry, which assists churches in developing and growing relevant and effective children’s and family ministries.

In this post, Dale outlines how to get the most out of a first impression and make it count. He shares five critical steps to delivering a memorable guest experience that will have new families quickly returning, exceed their expectations, and offer a “wow” factor they can’t forget.

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If you want to see your guests return, you must give them a great first experience.

Let me tell you how important this is. If a guest has a bad first experience, they will not return.  Phone calls won’t work. Text messages won’t work. Emails won’t work. They are not coming back.

You only have one opportunity to make a great first impression, so you must make it count.

So, where do we start? Let me share five critical steps to giving guests a great experience.  We’ll use the letters in the word GUEST to share these.

1. G – Go the second mile. 

If you want to see guests return, then you have to go the second mile.  You have to exceed their expectations and give them an experience that will have them saying “wow” on the way home.

There is an organization that goes the second mile for their guests.  The organization is Disney World.

Let me share an example. I have a friend that went to Disney World with his toddler.  His toddler got sick and vomited.  It got all over the little guy’s clothes. To make matters even worse, he forgot to bring an extra change of clothes in case something like this happened.

When it happened, he was standing outside one of the stores in the park.  A Disney employee who saw what happened, came out of the store with a new set of clothes for his child. No charge for the clothes.  No wonder he has become a regular attendee of the park.

The second mile is where you will find guests who return.

Do this: sit down with your team and talk about some ways you can go the second mile. Put those into practice, and you will see guests return.

G – go the second mile.

2. U – Understand the needs of your guests.

• What are the needs of your guests?
• They need to know where to park.
• They need to know where to enter your building.
• They need to know where to go once they are inside your building.
• They need to be welcomed warmly.
• They need to be greeted and shown where to check-in.
• They need to know where to take their children.
• They need to know there are other people like them at your church.

Sit down with your team and add to this list.  Strategize how you can meet those needs.  Meet those needs, and you will see guests return.

G – go the second mile.

U – understand the needs of your guests.

3. E – Explain your processes.

• Don’t leave them guessing.
• How do they check-in?
• How do they pick up their children?
• What happens in the children’s rooms during service?

Explain your safety and security processes. This is a big, big deal.  Parents live in a world that has child abusers, school shootings, kidnappings, etc. They want to know their children will be safe in your care.

Guests can feel overwhelmed on their first visit. Briefly explaining your processes in simple terms can help alleviate some of the stress guests may be feeling.

G – go the second mile.

U – understand the needs of your guests.

E – explain your processes.

4. S – Speak with kindness.

Guests may not remember everything about their first visit.  But they will remember how you made them feel.

• Treat them in a way that makes them feel valued.
• Listen carefully to their questions and answer them.
• Never come across as condescending.
• Never make them feel like they are “bothering” you.
• They should leave thinking, “those church people are nice people.”

Think about a time when you were mistreated or felt devalued.  It left a bad taste in your mouth, didn’t it?

Treat people with kindness and you will stand out.  They will return.

G – go the second mile.

U – understand the needs of your guests.

E – explain your processes.

S – speak with kindness.

5. T – Take them instead of pointing them.

We forget what it is like to walk into a church and not know where to go. When you finish checking in a guest, it is critical that you walk them to where their room is.

Have you ever had someone give you directions in a new place?

“Yeah…go up the steps. Take a left at the water fountain and then take a right at the end of the hallway.  From there go down five classrooms and you will see the bathrooms.  Go past the bathrooms and take a right at the right hallway and you will be at the room.”

What???  How do you expect a new person to find a room with only verbal instructions?

Always walk guests to their room. Don’t just point. It will make a big difference in their experience. Plus, walking them to their room gives you a few minutes to make conversation and make them feel even more welcomed.

G – go the second mile.

U – understand the needs of your guests.

E – explain your processes.

S – speak with kindness.

T – take them instead of pointing them.

Get all five of these working and you will make a great first impression with guests. Get all five of these working in sync, and you will see guests return.

Have you read my new book, “Be Our Church Guest: Pursuing Excellence in Church Guest Services?”  It offers many great insights on how to see guests return.  Click here to get your copy.

Photo by Claudia Raya on Unsplash