How far would you go to see through the eyes of your guest?

It’s something that has been consuming me lately. I can't stop seeking new ways to adjust my perspective to see through the eyes of our guests. And, I’m challenged daily about how far I would go to understand the reality of their worldview. I'm even discovering new ways to see through the eyes of my 17 year old [and I think she's really whacked at times]. It really is an exercise in dying to yourself.

I’m inspired by the lengths that the Walt Disney Corporation takes to get this. Just a few highlights.

• Disney Imagineers have went as far as wearing kneepads and crawling around their parks to experience them from a child’s perspective.
• Every Disney employee is trained in the art of guestology; learning who the guests are and what they expect when they come to visit. It’s a standard part of every employee’s job. I found a great leadership article about this.
• Disney guest services teams set up incognito “listening posts” all around the parks to capture candid feedback about guest impressions.

Why aren't these standard practices for the church?
[this is one of the questions that keeps me up at night and gets my heart pounding]

Note: I spend some time tackling this issue in the Communications workshop we host through WiredChurches.com. You should come. Be part of the discussion. Next one is May 22. If you don't come then, you'll have to wait until November. That would be a bummer.

Comments

[Paul]

Kem,

Seeing through the eyes of your visitors is a huge concept for churches as a whole. My experience is that most churches are totally fine with telling people what they need rather than listening to their needs. Decisions are made on sermon series, events, and new ministry initiatives based on what the leadership thinks people need without doing much research.

From a communications standpoint, I am constantly seeing verbal announcements, bulletin announcements, newsletters and so on speaking from the perspective of what the church wants people to do rather than from the perspective of appealing to the individual's hopes, dreams, and needs. They take the tone of "X ministry needs voluteers" or "please support Y."

Now that you've made the case for seeing through the eyes of your visitors, I'd love to hear some ideas about how to do that. I don't think the incognito "listening posts" would go over well in most churches. ;-)

[Corey]

Kem,
Just got done reading a Walt Disney biography. Posted the cliff notes on the blog.

"It is a small world after all."

[Kem Meyer]

And, here it is...from our buddies at Fellowship Tech: http://blog.fellowshiptech.com/2006/04/is_this_your_ch.html

[HolyMama!]

hi,
i think there's an article on exactly this topic - what first impressions churches make. it links to my post called 'The Church With the T Rex.' You might check out that article - i wish i could remember exactly where it is, but it would be in the trackback section of that post.