What we
are doing here is called “Event Evangelism”.
Billy Graham has shown the world how
effective “Event Evangelism” can be. More
people are won to Christ through Event
Evangelism than through any other known
method. But many pastors have become
disenchanted with this approach, not because
souls are not saved, but because in their
experience, not enough of those saved became
members of their church after the
meetings are over.
Is the
problem with the fact that Event Evangelism
was used, or is the problem something else?
In my experience, the cause of the
disenchantment of some pastors is the result
of simply not knowing and following an
effective follow up strategy. There is no
reason to reinvent the wheel here. Business
and industry solved this problem years ago,
and we have only to look at what they have
learned to find our own answers.
When
the representatives of these giant
corporations make a presentation, do they
just go home and wait for their prospects to
call them, or worse, do they expect the
prospect to show up at company headquarters
for more information? Not on your life! Yet,
is not this what we do at some of our
churches? We tell them about Jesus, and
somehow expect them to beat a path to our
church doors. We forget that to most new
converts, the “church” is a strange place,
and often perceived as hostile to
themselves. Well, that business prospect is
going to get a phone call AND a letter the
very next day! Then the following day, that
prospect is very likely to get another phone
call from the representative, apologizing
for forgetting to tell him something of
importance, and again asking leading
questions and again trying to close the
sale. If this doesn’t work, the prospect is
likely to receive a package through UPS or
FedEx containing a small gift and more
literature about the company and its
products. If all of that does not produce
results, about a week – yes – one (1) week
after the first contact, the representative
goes to see the prospect again. Why one
week? From experience, our leading
corporations have learned that the
likelihood of closing the sale diminishes
from hot to cold over the course of one
week! One week. In one week a prospect can
go from being 99% ready, to zero! They know
that if they are going to win this prospect,
they need to do it
within one week.
Can we
build as good a strategy as the commercial
world? Yes, we can, but will we? It may
require us to think outside of the box, or
we may find ourselves doing the same ole,
same ole, with the same ole results.
Here
are a few suggestions, and I guarantee you
that these are methods that have proven to
work in our churches:
• The Letter
Every
morning following your services the day
before, send out a personalized letter to
every person who made a decision. That may
be 50 people, or 100 people, or more. How
are you going to send out letters to 50 to
100 people who made decisions last night,
and get all of these letters out in one day?
It’s called “Mail Merge”. If your church is
not already
using this powerful and labor-saving
approach, it may be time to start. Actually,
it is a relatively simple procedure in
Microsoft Word. First, you type in a mail
merge list of the names and addresses.
Second, you type the letter – one time. Use
the Help section of Microsoft Word to get
complete instructions. Or, you may be
able to find someone in your church who can
teach this to your staff. One secretary,
using this method, can get all 50 to 100
letters out in less than two and a half
hours.
• The First Phone Call
This
is SO important, and the timing is even more
important. Arrange for volunteers to man as
many telephones in your building as
possible, and hand a list of names to each
caller. Needless to say, the callers need to
be trained before the week of the meetings.
It is suggested that you or your staff
prepare an outline or guide for each caller
to go by. Have your callers record on paper
a summary of each call, and to write down
any questions and commitments. Meet with
your calling team at the end of each days
calling session for review.
• The Second Phone Call
Get
your volunteer calling team on board and
trained long before the meetings start. This
is the “I forgot to tell you something?”
call. Tell them something important about
what your church can do for them, and see if
you can interest them in visiting your
church again. But please note that studies
have shown that a prospect for attending a
new church is 15 times more likely to visit
if you actually go pick them up, take them,
take them out to lunch afterward, and then
take them back home.
• The Package to be Mailed
Most
churches already have a package for visitors
and prospects. You can use this, but be sure
to enclose a personal letter. You can make
this important package even more effective
by enclosing any advertising specialty items
like imprinted pens, coffee cups or
calendars that have your church name on
them.
• The Visit
We all
know the value of personal visits to the
homes of prospects. If your prospect is
still just a prospect, and has neither
accepted Christ nor returned to your church,
it’s time to visit. |
