Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Guest Services

I love this post from Shawn Lovejoy. It's something we all need to be reminded of on a regular basis.

What I learned @Disney World a/b Guest Services (Pt. 1)

Disney World and the church are in the same business: The people business. The church just has a higher goal for people than Disney does. Disney's goal is to deliver fun and entertainment to people. The church's goal is to deliver the message of hope, joy, and eternal life to people. So would you think Guest Services would be more important at church or at Disney? Sadly to say, however, Disney does it better most of the time. We could make some observations from them about how we can deliver our message more effectively to people by HOW we relate to guests on our church campuses each week. Here are a few observations I made about Disney and Guests Services experiences, and their implications for the church.

* Everyone is in Guest Services. They don't have a customer service area or a customer service team at Disney World. EVERYONE is in Guest Services. I mean EVERYONE! As the church, we need to realize every week that guest Services should never be limited to one ministry area. Every follower of Jesus should view themselves as a member of Guest Services! We are all there to serve guests each week! Question: If I really understood this, would this change at all where I park, what time I get there, where I sit, or or how quickly I leave each Sunday?

* The guest is always the most important thing No matter what they were doing, over and over again, Disney World "cast members" (not employees) would stop in their tracks to answer ANY question we had. Always. Never seemed rushed. Never seemed like we were interrupting what they were doing. Never. Every one of them seemed to be convinced that the guest was the most important things at every moment. As guest services volunteers in the church, we need to remember that people ARE our business! Not a program. Not a task. Not a service. People are the church. The church IS people! This means music, programming, curriculum, and meetings are not the most important thing. Loving God is best expressed by loving people! Questions: If I really understood this, how would it affect how I interact with people each week at church? How often do I have a conversation with guests at my church? Or do I only talk to non-guests?

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