Are you trying to reach and keep those young families you see all around town? Are you wondering as to why they don’t seem attracted to church anymore? Here is a thought.
Parents of young children were born and/or raised in the 1980s. Their time of growing up came at the same time as the maturing of the great retail giant we know as Wal-Mart. One of the early practices of Wal-Mart, that seemed to attract so many folks was their long-term approach toward the customer relationships. Here is my personal example.
My wife has a keen eye for great stores. In our many travels from state to state, we had purchased an item at a Wal-Mart that had a defect. She asked me if we could stop in the next town and return the item. I was a bit hesitant due to the fact we had purchased it at a completely different Wal-Mart store and were now trying return it for, what seemed to me, a cosmetic problem. Added to this, we did not have the original receipt. In my mind, here was no way any store would return this item. I was sure, we would appear to be taking advantage of them. Once inside, the friendly customer service folks exchanged the item, quickly and courteously with no questions asked.
I was shocked and I was sold. This new kid on the retail block treated us in a way most stores at the time did not. They valued us as customers more than the item that was being exchanged.
Let me rephrase that for us church workers. People are attracted to any organization that values the long-term relationship over the single transaction.
Let me rephrase it again. Parents of young children (and really everyone), do not want to be valued solely for their attendance, their financial contribution or any other short-term transaction. They value people who have a long-term concern for them, not people who treat them as a transaction.
Parents of young children are especially keen on this principle. Are your mannerisms, questions, interactions and church programs valuing this truth?
Next blogpost I will give you a list of ways to apply this. Can you think of some right now? Leave a comment.