I had one of the best customer service experiences of my life this morning. No sarcasm. True story.
And it was at the bank.
I know ... the bank.
But I'm not kidding. We were on the road, but needed to get some cash out to stock our cash envelopes. So we weren't at our usual Chase Bank branch. We were a little early in our plans for the day, so we decided to just jump in. Even on a busy day, I find it never takes too long at Chase.
I grab a withdrawal slip, fill it out, and get in line behind another lady. Immediately one of the three tellers (who was busy) greeted me and asked if I was having a nice day. It didn't at all take away from her current work, and seemed very genuine.
While I was waiting in line one of the tellers called out to a customer who had just walked in the door she recognized as a regular at the branch.
The lady ahead of me moved forward to be served, and the receptionist stepped over to ask what I was there for ... I replied that I was there for a withdrawal, and she checked to make sure that I had everything filled out alright. I did, so she moved on to help the person behind me.
Seeing a line forming, one of the bank managers stepped out from his desk to greet customers as well, including me.
I stepped up to my teller, and he immediately asked how I was doing today, before taking my information. It was just small talk conversation, not particularly meaningful, but I truly felt like an important customer. The teller broke down my withdrawal exactly as I asked, and I was out of there with a smile on my face.
The whole time though, I'm thinking, "Who's training these people?"
All the folks working at this bank branch had a spirit of hospitality about them. It felt completely genuine. I know it's their job to be hospitable, but how many places have you been to, where you're supposed to get good customer service, you actually get it? Not many in my experience.
As a first time visitor to this bank, I know that if I was close by, it would be our bank.
Are our churches offering hospitality that makes folks want to come right back? When you walk into a church building for a first time are you greeted by everybody? That would be a #dreamumc.
Much like this bank branch, at the church it is everyone's responsibility to offer hospitality, it's not a job for someone. Greet somebody new on Sunday morning. You might make their day, and show them a little bit more Jesus.
Where was the best hospitality experience you've had? The worst?
The best hospitality experience I had was checking into a hotel where a valet brought me a glass of champagne to enjoy while the clerk was processing the check-in.
ReplyDeleteI've seen good stuff in terms of church hospitality practices, and I've seen awful stuff.
Recently I compiled some examples of embarrassing hospitality experiences.
http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2012/20-crazy-church-greeter-comments/
I also have a few case studies here:
http://www.welcomechurchvisitors.com/category/case-study/
I'll be putting more up eventually.
I think Hospitality Ministry can and should focus on removing those accidental barriers we create that help people decide not to return.
In all things, find ways to always honor our guests.
Totally agree! And I love the term "guests". At a new church conference I went to last week, they made a big distinction between the 'visitor' and the 'guest'. Visitors are people that you don't want there and come in and mess up all your stuff ... Guests are people that we prepare for and pray to come in. It's a totally different mindset. That bank branch treated me like an honored and important guest.
DeleteI do think guests is a better word.
ReplyDeleteIt helps create a sense of honor among the volunteers.
However, in practice and in writing for my website, I continue to use "visitors" simply because that's the more common term.
I do make it a practice to encourage churches to consider their visitors as guests.