I hate calling customer service! There is nothing worse than getting someone on the phone that I half suspect has never even used the device I am trying to troubleshoot. My aggravation stems from the agent’s lack of empathy for my situation, and their obstinate recitations of scripted verbiage intended to calm and reassure me, but which only fuel my belief that they are powerless to help me.
Is this how new members or visitors perceive your church?
Lessons from Customer Service
In the customer service industry any communication or tool that the customer interacts with is called a customer-facing function or service. Understanding your church’s ability to effectively communicate your message requires a broader understanding of what “functions” face the people who interact with your church.
I have worked in retail and call center customer service jobs since 2001. I do my best to relate to customers with empathy and build rapport with them. Oftentimes people find themselves in a situation caused by their own actions, not understanding the consequences that would occur. Unless the customer is out to shoot the messenger I can usually turn an irate customer into someone who at least appreciates me for being honest and understanding them. They may still be unhappy with my employer, but they are now willing to trust me when I tell them the truth.
The parallels between customer service representatives and Christ’s ambassadors are very similar. As long as we treat other people like human beings they will be attracted to Christ’s message. While the main “customer-facing function” in a church is one-to-one interaction in real life settings, it is important that other tools like Facebook and church websites reflect genuine love and empathy also.
The Computer Cannot Smile
If your church is using social media, are there people who read the wall posts and interact with visitors who comment there? Does your church have voicemail to catch calls after hours, or if the power goes out in a hurricane? […read more about voice-mail as a tool for your church’s emergency response plan] When people apply for jobs at your church, do you call each applicant and thank them for doing so even after you have filled the position?
As someone who works closely with customers on a daily basis, and follows the trends in social media on the Internet I am noticing a disturbing trend when it comes to customer-facing systems: they are becoming even more impersonal.
A personal example: I have put in many job applications in recent years, and one development that I have seen since the early 2000s is more of it going online. Churches don’t do this necessarily, but we should be aware of the human tendency to make things easier, and we should ask: “Easier for who?” Almost gone are the days when you see a person in the interview process. The long hours of completing online forms and tests to find a job can take a lot out of you, and you are not even guaranteed an email telling you that they position has been filled. No, the trend is moving towards silence when it comes to an employer rejecting your application. We need to be mindful of how customer-facing functions affect the emotions of the customer, especially negatively.
How Christ’s Church Should be Different
As Christians we need to make certain that as we try to keep up with changing technology we do not forget the human beings we must also build relationships with. Facebook and Twitter are great tools, but they must be part of the larger goal of loving people and attracting them to Christ’s love.
People want real human interaction, and respond better when you are empathetic to their needs. Automation and faceless, oftentimes response-less, customer-facing systems are demoralizing. When someone shows that they care, even a little, that is currency. When Christians are authentic we build trust.
Whether through our face-to-face daily living or technology-based communications we need to make sure we convey Christ’s love. To do this we must ask ourselves how “outsiders” perceive us in the ways we interact with them, especially when we adopt technologies to enhance ministry opportunity.
