Why do people church shop? What are they looking for?

On any given Sunday there may be new faces attending your worship service.  Why are they visiting? Are they visiting family? Seasonal visitors…snowbirds? Church shopping? Moved into the area and are looking for a new church home? Returning to the faith?Never been in a church before and giving it a try? A light in the woods?

We need to remember that this is a stressful situation for them.  Some of their questions will be…What will it be like?  Where do I go?  Are there people at this church that are like me?  Where do I park?  Where do I take my kids? How will I be treated?

 The typical visitor has lots of questions and the job of the church and their assimilation team is to answer those questions, take the stress out of the situation, provide a friendly welcome, and connect them to the church.

Most churches structure assimilation around the church rather than the visitor!

That’s kind of backwards, isn’t it?  Think of a place like Disney.  Do you think they built the theme park first and then figured out how to entertain the visitor? No! The entire park is built around the needs, desires, and comfort of the visitor.

Church Shopping.  What’s the Typical Process?

 Research shows there are generally 6 stages within the church decision process. Let’s follow John Smith through the 6 stages:

 Stage 1: Pre-Awareness

-       John has zero awareness of the church…he doesn’t even know it exists.

Stage 2: Awareness

-       There are two stages here…first John starts to hear about the church for the first time.  This might come from church signage as he drives down the road or it might be a friend that mentions they attend a particular church.

-       The second stage is where John Smith moves from initial awareness to asking questions…What’s the name?  Where is this church located?  Why do people go to this particular church?

Stage 3: Familiarity

-       Now that John is aware, he starts to actually listen to what people are saying, he starts to hear the content of the message, and he starts to recall and have interest in the content of the message.

Stage 4: Consideration and Research

-       In this stage, John has enough information to start evaluating if this church is something he wants to try…he considers…he evaluates…he visits the church website…he watches the service on-line…he talks to his spouse…and talks to friends.

Stage 5: Decision:

-       Yes! Let’s give this church a try! What are the next steps?

Stage 6: Advocacy:

-       John Smith is in…he and his family are involved…he starts to invite others.

Now think of your church’s assimilation process.  What does your church do to address the needs of the visitor in each of the six stages?

If you want to learn more about how to improve your assimilation process, please contact Due North Consulting at DueNorthConsulting.net. Ask about our innovative pricing plan…you’ll be surprised!