What the Church Can Learn from a Colonoscopy Experience…
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, July 10, 2007
- Viewed 37
- (1) comments so far
Tim Sanders, the author of “Love is the Killer App” has a great example of breaking down big experiences into segments. He uses some business analogies in his writing, but I think the same thing could be done reasonably for a church. Tim writes:
“The secret is thinking about your Customer’s [let’s insert ‘church goer’s] experience as the sum of several little experiences. Think of it from thought to memory. From the parking lot to the exit. A great example of how one company did this is found in the Sharp Colonoscopy Experience article published in in a publication by Pine & Gilmore. The execs at this hospital found one experience that was bad, getting a colonoscopy, and broke it down into segments. They improved in all the little things and eventually they created a colonoscopy experience so good that their clients were known to run out and tell their friends to go to Sharp “and get a colonoscopy”. If they can do it, you can too.”
Andy Stanley has said that evangelism starts in the parking lot. Each step of the way, newcomers are getting impressions about us and our church way before we ever get to share the gospel with them. That makes each ‘micro-experience’ extremely important. From parking, to greeting, to printed bulletins, to decor, to media, to music… you name it… it all gives an impression to people that God has given us favor to.
Would it not do us all good to put on the eyes of our first-timers and experience what they experience, step-by-step. Therein could lie some great areas that we could improve upon.
If it’s possible to get buzz and good word of mouth going about a colonoscopy; then doing it with our churches should be a piece of cake.
Here’s the study that Tim sites: Download sharpexperience.pdf (1187.4K)
Todd
PS—What do you think? What is the value in this for the church? (A note: if you’re one of the three people who were ticked off before you even read the post, please refrain.) 
OK... here's a post that I know some people will take wrong for a couple reasons. First of all, it was written by a business leader, so it will probably tick off all the people who think that the church shouldn't be run like a business. (And it shouldn't... it should be run like a church.) Secondly, it will infuriate some who think that the church only caters to peoples needs instead of giving them the gospel. (And I'm not proposing creating an experience for people to make them feel good about themselves and tell them nothing about their need for salvation.) Thirdly, (is that a word?), this is going to really upset people who think that you can't use the word 'colonoscopy' and 'church' in the same sentence without doing something sacreligious. So, if anyone's left, please read on...
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Keith on Mon, July 16, 2007
Well, since my doctor has suggested I’m of the age where a colonoscopy would be in order, maybe I should contact this Sharp place…
I get the point, though. I’ve spoken with a few people at our church about this very thing: Looking at the entire experience of coming to our church, starting with the parking lot, through the eyes of a visitor. I believe we have a number of things that could, and should be improved. Some of it is simply taking care of the resources we have—namely, our building & grounds. Some of it is signage—upgrading some, installing some where there is currently none. Some of it is lighting, paint, etc. in short, most of what we could do to enhance everyone’s experience isn’t of such magnitude that it would break the bank or create hostile feelings of—dare I say it?—CHANGE.
But, things have been this way since the ark landed, so perhaps we should just let it all be. Of course, we’ve not really had any visitors since the ark landed, either, but that must be due to something else.
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