Do They Know Where You Are?

It’s one of my favorite tricks. 

On a recent Sunday I wasn’t preaching.   After doing some Ministry By Wandering Around (MBWA) at our Loring Mill campus, I went down to visit our Pocalla campus.  After doing some MBWA there, I headed back to Loring Mill and stopped for a Diet Coke at store near Pocalla.   As the cashier rang up my purchase, I asked, “Could you tell me where Pocalla Church is?” 

She said, “I think if you go up to the Piggly Wiggly, and turn left, and then go down the one-way street, it’s there.”  I thanked her, and walked out with invaluable market research.  She had just given me directions to the BBQ hut.  She didn’t know where our campus was located; in fact, she sent me in the exact opposite direction.

If people don’t know where you are, they can’t come to you.

Most churches and many businesses are over-confident that people know their location.  Churches especially over-estimate their brand recognition and community profile.

I was doing a revival for a church in Kentucky.  This church was the largest in town by a fair margin, and was located one block off the main drag.  I went to three stores to ask directions.  Twice the cashiers told me they had never heard of the church – including one store three blocks from the church.  The third cashier told me she had heard of the church, but had no idea where it was.

When I shared this story with the church, there was shock.  They couldn’t believe people didn’t know them.  One older lady approached me after the service and wanted to know if I had gotten the name of the church right when I asked for directions!

How do you help people know where you are?

1.      Include your address on everything you do.  Think this is simple?  I saw a Facebook ad for a large ministry that failed to identify the location of an event. 

2.      If you are off the beaten path, include a simple map on publications.  You may think in the age of Google Maps you don’t need to, but people still need a picture of where you are.

3.      Make sure your social media provides your address and directions.

4.      Regularly post a map of your location on Instagram.

5.      Regularly take homemade cookies to cashiers at stores near your church or business.  Be sure they know who brought them and where you are.

6.      Make sure you have visible directional signs on main thoroughfares.

7.      Make sure your sign is simple and visible from the road.  One of my pet peeves:  Church signs that are parallel with the street.  Great for pedestrians; horrible for cars.  Invest in signage that is positioned at a 90 degree angle to the street with your identity on both sides. 

8.      In an era of information overload, this is a battle that never ends.  You have to constantly keep your profile up in the community.

Try the Cashier test.  Let me know what it tells you about community awareness of your church!

What Story Do You Want to Them to Tell?

We bought a new care recently.  Actually, a new used car. 

When it came down to price, I presented the salesman with my research and my price.  He did the walk to the sales manager and came back with a figure.  I came up about as far as I could.  Still $250 apart.  He goes back to the sales manager.  Comes back and tells me with their price unchanged and the sales manager saying this is the best we can do.

I ask to see the sales manager.  He comes over.  I figure by this time, he should realize I have done my research, am a serious buyer and want to continue to negotiate.  We shake hands, have a few words about basketball, and then he tells me that is his best price.  I counter with my numbers and he doesn’t negotiate.  I ask to meet half way.  He doesn’t budge.  Then I say to him, “What story do you want us to tell about our experience.  I tell him we can tell a story of how they gave us a great car and really worked with us, or we can tell a story of how we got the car but had a negative buying experience.” I ask again, “What story do you want us to tell?” 

He says, “I hope you will tell the story of how you got a haggle free price.”  He goes on to elaborate about how they don’t haggle over prices.  Something in my mind is puzzled, because we have been haggling for the past 15 minutes.  He actually says, “If you were at CarMax, they wouldn’t haggle with you at all.”  My comeback before I can stop myself: “I’m not at Car Max.  I’m here.”

The sales manager starts to get combative.  I make no response.  My wise wife expresses her feelings, “We are trying to work with you, but we do not feel you are working with us.  Is that worth $250 to you?” 

The sales manager unhappily comes down a $100 and we take the deal.  His last words, “For $100, I’ll buy your endorsement.”

Love the car, hated the car buying experience. 

What does this have to do with your organization? 

How many people today profess to love God and hate the church?

Focus on this:  What story do you want people to tell when they leave your church?  The sales manager never got in tune with the story I wanted to tell: I got a bargain.  He was so tuned into to his own narrative (the haggle free price) he missed what the customer really wanted.

What story do you want people to tell? "Everyone was so friendly!"  "Nobody spoke to me."  "The preacher felt like he was talking to me, not yelling at me."  "I felt like was five years old again, in my Grandma's church."  What story do you want people to tell?

When people walk away from your church, you want them to feel like they matter to God and that church is a place of grace.  Everything we do should be geared toward people experiencing what we say we believe.  The environment we create by our behavior shows that we love as Jesus loves us.

Isn’t that what every one really wants?  Isn’t that the real story – the Good News?