“Nice” Can’t Overcome Sloppy
Our volunteers are really nice. That may be true. But the friendliness of a volunteer team will only carry your guests’ experience so far. I’ve had plenty of friendly waiters when the kitchen was extremely...
Category: Guest Services
Want to Learn Names? Look in the Mirror.
Most of us will freely confess that we’re bad at names. We can try all of the old tricks, and still find ourselves grasping for Bob or Bill or maybe it was Enrico? 45 seconds...
As Long As You Fix the Problem, It’s Probably Not a Problem.
Not long ago my youngest son and I were on a trip out of town. We went to dinner at a local restaurant, ballyhooed by a friend as “one of the best burgers in the...
“You’re Not the Audience.”
In leadership, it’s difficult to avoid the “please like me” trap. We want to keep the peace, to make everyone happy, to stay in our lane and keep from rocking the boat. But leaders have...
Guest Services Collective: A How-To Guide
Long-time readers of the blog know that since 2013, we’ve offered something called the High-Capacity Volunteer Cohort: an eight-month roundtable discussion with some of our best and brightest Guest Services volunteers from all of our...
6 Ideas for Remote Parking Lots
When your attendance outpaces your facility, everything seems stretched all at once: seating capacity, kids space, lobby pedestrian flow, restroom lines, you name it. But one of the biggies for guest services is your parking...
Guest Services at the Garbage Dump
Not long ago I rebuilt my back deck. And by I rebuilt my back deck I mean my father-in-law and much more tool-savvy son rebuilt our back deck and I yelled helpful phrases like RUN...
6 Parking Areas Your Church Should Consider
We know that the sermon starts in the parking lot. In other words, the weekend worship experience begins as soon as your guest drives onto the perimeter of your property, not when they’re safely ensconced...
What’s Your Baseline of Care?
Everyone has one. Whether you’re a paid staff member or an unpaid volunteer, whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newbie, whether you know your job description backwards and forwards or you’re just trying to...
Triage Your Team: How to Make the Most of a Low Weekend
Every leader has been there: the Saturday night phone call. The Sunday morning text message. The inexplicable half-dozen who obviously collaborated and decided they were picking this weekend to be no-shows. At some point, we’re...
