Streamlining the Guest Services -> Kids Team Handoff
In my experience, there are two teams that will have the greatest impact on whether a first-time family chooses to return to our churches: the Guest Services Team – those who take care of the street to the seat; and the Kids Team – those who care for the most valuable assets in the family.
If parents don’t trust you to lead their kids, you’ve failed before you started. And while “trust” can look like a lot of things, it’s partially built by an efficient check-in process and a team that knows what they’re doing.
Related, if parents don’t trust that you have their best interest in mind – in other words, you’re removing all barriers that would serve as obstacles to their Sunday – then again, you’ve failed before you started.
So how do we tackle the handoff between these two crucial teams? Here are a few thoughts:
1. Define your “combustion points.”
This is a Disney-speak term that simply means those areas where frustration is most likely to occur. Your combustion points could be asking for information at First-Time Guest Tent, then asking for that exact same information three minutes later at the kids check-in. It could be a family who has to introduce themselves to two sets of volunteers within a three minute span. It could be a Guest Services volunteer who doesn’t really know anything about Kids, or a Kids volunteer who doesn’t really know anything about Guest Services.
2. Don’t Point. Take.
If a family shows up at your First-Time Guest Tent, the goal should be to stick with that family as long as possible. Don’t give them instructions to head into the lobby, take the fourth set of doors on the right, go a quarter-mile down the dark hallway, hang a left at the water fountain…
No, intentionally overstaff your tent so a volunteer can head out with a family and remain gone as long as needed. They should at least stay with the family until the Kids check in area, and – if your security procedures allow – they should stay with the family all the way through to the other side.
3. Make your process work both ways.
If you offer a First-Time Guest gift, then it’s easy enough to identify the new families who have already stopped by the tent. If they don’t have a gift, there are two ways forward:
- Throw it in reverse. Once the family has their kids checked in, a Kids volunteer should walk the family back to the First-Time Guest Tent for a gift. The assumption here is that you just got follow up information at your Kids’ check in, so that step can be skipped. Or better yet…
- Have a backup bag. If you deem a family a First-Time Guest without a First-Time Gift, simply have a stack of First-Time Guest bags at your Kids check-in to hand off to the family. It makes them easier to spot and assist.
4. Cross-train your volunteers.
For seamlessness to take root, it’ll be necessary for your Kids volunteers to have a semblance of knowledge of what happens at the tent. It’ll also be necessary for your Guest Services volunteers to know how ages are broken down, what groups are offered at what time, and which classrooms are on the verge of closing due to overcrowding.
Occasionally ask your Kids Director to address your Guest Services volunteers, and vice-versa. Having a common language will be helpful to your volunteers and your guests.
5. Speak to both generations.
I’ve told you before about Toiya (our Kids Director) and her admonition to get small. At the tent, Guest Services volunteers should take a knee to talk to the little guys. And at the Kids classrooms, Kids volunteers should make sure they’re speaking to the grownups. Its fascinating how easy it is to overlook the opportunities to do this.
6. Align your follow up.
And finally, have a conversation between teams on how follow up happens. If there’s one thing worse than a church that doesn’t follow up, it’s a church that bombards with follow up. Align your processes so that the adults in the family are getting one communication channel, and the kids in the family are getting a postcard or something similar.
photo credit: Maggie Stefanek
