Mystery shopping is a key tool used by the majority of businesses around the world. If you have not come across it before, you may be amazed as what it uncovers.
No matter what the organisation is or how well it is run, a chief executive can only be in one place at one time. He or she never really knows the true experience that their customer gains of that business. The way around this is to employ individuals who act as genuine customers but who then feed back directly to the senior management their views on that visit. This type of feedback happens in banks, shops, restaurants, gas stations and almost anywhere you can think of. Except the church. It is seldom used in churches but that is set to change.
Do you really know how visitors to your church or youth group see your service? Were they greeted warmly? Were they made to feel comfortable with coffee, warm smiles and directions to the rest rooms? Or were they left to their own devices, not told which books to use, heard lots of jargon that made them feel excluded, or pressurised into giving?
The Christian Culture Center is working to help churches look at themselves in the culture of today. See your visitors as they see you.
The Christian Culture Centre can send anonymous visitors to your congregation. They will experience a service or an event and feedback to you honest observations about how they were treated by everyone they met. The majority of the information is purely factual and without personal opinion but suggestions to consider regarding how to make your church more accessible to visitors will also be included in the final report. It is up to you how widely you share the information and the actions that you take.
To book a visit or to find out more, send us an email. If you go ahead we will agree a date, agree the specific areas you want us to take note of and send two people to the event to ensure more than one experience is used in the results. A written report will be emailed to you within 48 hours of the visit, allowing you time to digest and discuss with your leadership team before passing on to your church the following week (if you wish to do that).
Please note:
* The mystery shopping programme is available as follows:
In England, UK at most times by arrangement at a cost of 40 pence per mile plus £100 to the Culture Center.
In Houston, Texas at most times by arrangement for a fixed donation of $250
In all other parts of the world by arrangement.
But be careful. Only embark on this if you are prepared to hear the truth. And with that truth comes responsibility for action.