Why You Should Apply Your Visitor Strategy to Vendors and Contractors
Your impact will skyrocket when you tap this ONE untapped missionfield. | by Phil Cooke
When it comes to new visitors, most church staff members are warm and welcoming. They have a strategic plan to make visitors feel at home, are followed up, and get plugged into the local church community. However, when it comes to outside vendors, contractors, freelancers, or consultants, church employees are often skeptical, uninterested, and sometimes outright hostile.
Why the difference?
Churches are what could be called “self-contained organisms.” They don’t need much outside input or resources to operate, and as a result, tend to be inward focused instead of outward focused. As a result, typical church staff rarely encounter outside contractors because that’s usually handled by an executive pastor or facilities manager.
That’s why I’ve met so many outside church contractors, A/V consultants, engineers, designers, freelancers, and others with very negative feelings about their experience. It’s not so much about job performance, because every contractor or freelancer is used to meeting high standards. It’s more about the typical church employee’s inexperience dealing with outsiders and, far too often, employee insecurity about outsiders being there at all.
But outside consultants, contractors, and other vendors can be a powerful witness for the church. They often have many of their own employees who could be potential church members, or in the case of freelancers and consultants, they often have highly regarded reputations and influence that could greatly benefit the church.
Here’s a suggestion: Have your church apply your visitor strategy to vendors and contractors. In other words, use the same techniques to engage outside working contractors and vendors that you use for making church visitors welcome. Instead of cultivating an “outsider” mentality which too often results in feelings of competition, insecurity, suspicion, and skepticism, let’s create a welcoming and honoring atmosphere where they could do amazing work.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a construction team, a freelance designer, a communications consultant, a marketing firm, an audio or video installer, or someone else.
