Seven Keys For Creating A WOW! Experience
When people walk into your church, business, or organization, you want them to be wowed by what they experience. If they are wowed, they will come back and bring others with them. Here are seven keys to create a wow experience.
Key #1: Hire the right people
It is the employees you hire who will make or break your church, business, or organization. They are the ones who carry out your vision and live out your values. Your success is dependent on them. As the leader, it is so important to hire the right people. The people who sit around the table with you will determine your success. Each area of your church, business, or organization will be as good as the person leading the department and the team of people they have assembled. Make sure that you hire people who share your passion and who have potential to fulfill the vision. Never hire someone to fill a position. Always hire people who are able to carry out the mission. Make sure you have chemistry with the new hires, that they have character, they keep their composure, and have the competence to take the area you hired them to lead or serve in to a new level.
Key #2: Train employees the right way
Once you have hired the right people, train them the right way. It is possible to hire great people who could take your organization to a higher level, but who never get adequate training to understand the processes and procedures of your church, business, or organization. One of the greatest mistakes we make with new employees is putting them into areas of responsibility without proper training. This guarantees frustration for everyone. Not only will the new employees be frustrated, but the other employees will as well. Make sure you take your time to explain and be an example to your new employees of how things are done. Take your time with them and show great patience. Learning a new job is stressful. Do not add to their stress by being impatient. Intentionally, pair your new employees with someone who is patient, skilled in training, and who will take time with them. Create an environment where employees have permission to ask questions and not get it right without fear of getting fussed at. If you hire the right employees and train employees the right way, you will see your church, business, or organization flourish.
Key #3: Treat employees the right way
No one likes to be treated rudely. No one wants to be put down or talked down to. We all like to be treated with value and respect...including your employees. Your employees are real people with real lives outside your church, business, or organization. They have real problems and real feelings. They need to know you truly care about them as people, They need to know you value their feelings, thoughts, and ideas. By valuing and respecting your employees, their respect for you will increase, which will make them willing to listen to and learn from you. Ultimately, they become better employees. And better employees create better churches, businesses, and organizations. Make sure you speak kindly to them daily, say hello to them in the morning, and smile in their presence. Don't just ignore them or show them attention only when you want something from them or have to correct them. Being friendly will foster a great working environment and future success!
Key #4: Offer great programs or products
Quality attracts!. If your church, business, or organizations has great programs or products, you will not be able to keep people away. Your church must offer great programs for children, youth, and adults. It must have a great service with good music, video, teaching, etc... Your business must have a great product. Your organization must offer great programs and services. If you offer great programs or products, your members, guests, or customers will be wowed by what you offer. However, even though you offer a great program or product, you must wow them with great customer service.
Key #5: Offer great customer service
When people show up to your church, business, or organization, you want to wow them with great customer service. Great customer service will make them feel noticed, welcomed, and valued. They will feel like you care for them and want to help them. In a spirit of patience, their needs will be met, their questions answered, and their concerns listened to. This is where great training comes into place.
Your employees must be trained in the area of customer service. Don't assume they will automatically treat members, guests, and customers the way you want them treated. Don't assume your department heads are training them. There must be a strategic plan put in place and practiced from the top down for great customers service to happen. Every employee must be trained in customer service practices...from the CEO to the custodian where each are expected to follow the customer service plan and practices. Catch your employees showing great customer service. Tell them thank you. Reward them. Make sure you hire people who have the potential to not only do to the job you hired them to do, but to also be friendly to other employees and members, guests, and customers. Negative and unfriendly employees will hurt your church, business, or organization no matter how great the programs or product is.
Ultimately, your employees will treat others the way you train and treat them. Jesus said, "Treat people the way you want to be treated."
If employees are expected to treat others with friendliness, courteousness, and kindness, the CEO, President, or supervisor must treat them that way as well. By developing great customer service combined with a great product and programs, you will attract more and more people. The people you attract and keep will become your greatest source of advertisement in your community. There is no better and inexpensive form of advertisement than satisfied members, guests, and customers telling all their friends about you. And in the world of social media, word travels fast!
Key #6: Evaluate continually
Now that you have implemented the first five keys for creating a wow experience, you must consistently evaluate how the vision, values, and goals are being fulfilled. Get together weekly with your leadership team for an evaluation meeting. Take a close look at what is going well, what needs to be improved, and what needs to be changed. Evaluate everything from how clean the restrooms are to how many people are attending your programs and buying your product. One of the best ways to make improvements is to listen and learn from customer complaints. Don't underestimate the value of complaints. Complaints are huge windows into what is going well and what needs to be changed or improved. In addition, your mid and entry level employees will provide great insight and ideas to move your church, business, or organization forward.
Key #7: Let some people go
As important as it is to hire the right people and put them into the right places, sometimes you discover you have made a bad hire. The person you thought was just the right fit, has turned out to be the wrong hire. Maybe the person does not possess the skills you thought he had or his attitude is negatively effecting the environment and wow experience you have worked so hard to create. Whatever the reason, you cannot let this one person hurt your entire organization. Document in detail why the person is not a fit. Let this person know it is nothing against him, but that he is not who you are looking for in that position. Remember, for your organization to grow, some people must go. One person is never more important than the organization.
