5 Tips for a Quality Welcome Center
The old adage is still true: You never get a second chance to make a first impression. I’ve seen this in spades recently.
As part of my new role, I am visiting more churches than I ever have before. I am experiencing first-hand what it’s like to be a first-time attender.
I’m also discovering the insecurity and confusion that goes with that. It’s more than a little intimidating to step into a new church environment.
A while back my wife and I visited a church in another city. Having given ourselves plenty of time to find the place, we arrived early – so early the first service was still going on. When we walked into the foyer, we looked like the typical newbies, gawking and wandering around. There were several people in the area, some at ministry counters, others in the coffee area, still others just hanging out. Yet not a single person spoke to us. Not even a hello from the coffee attendant as we filled our cups.
If we had been visitors looking for a church home, that first impression might have had us moving on.
The ethos of welcome a visitor encounters in your church can be the game-changer as to whether they will return… or not.
The ethos of welcome a visitor encounters in your church can be the game-changer as to whether they will return...or not.
One of the primary tools for welcome in your church is the Welcome Center. It is one of the first things I look for when I enter a new church. Sadly, however, all too often, once I find it, it has been less than helpful.
In pondering that, I’ve come up with 5 tips that can help raise the quality of your welcome center.
1. Clarify its purpose.
Is your Welcome Center to function only as a connection point for first-time guests and new attenders, or will it pull double duty as an event sign-up, ministry promotion, and volunteer recruitment area?
If it’s the latter, you will find that the attention of the workers is divided and the literature that is offered is overwhelming. Visitors won’t fight their way through a crowd and won’t interrupt a conversation. They will quietly move off and look to find answers on their own…or worse …just leave.
I recommend narrowing the focus to welcoming and helping newcomers.
2. Make sure it’s visible and easily accessible.
Do all you can to put the Welcome Center in the direct line of sight of guests as they enter the main doors of your facility. Keep the area between the door and center free of other traffic blockers so guests don’t have to fight through a crowd to get the information they need.
Signage should hang from the ceiling so guests can see it above the crowd. If possible, hang it at the back of the welcome center so it’s visible when standing in front of it.
If your church has multiple entrances, make sure the greeters are on the lookout for visitors and prepared to point them to the Welcome Center. As well, offer clear wayfinding signage directing people there.
3. Be strategic about the material offered.
Use the counter space for well-produced, full-color literature devoted to making the visitor feel comfortable and informed. Ask yourself, “What would I want to know if I was a first-timer?”
As well, have other material from key sub-ministries available for them to take as an immediate next step. Visitors are usually looking for information on children’s activities, youth events, small groups, Bible studies, etc.
By narrowing the focus of the Welcome Center, you run the risk of ticking off those who want to use the space to promote their event or place their homemade sign-up lists. It’s best to have another ministry area for that. (And, by the way, be sure to monitor the quality and content of that counter as well!)
4. Mention the Welcome Center in your service’s verbal welcome.
One of the reasons some visitors don’t access the welcome center is that they don’t know it exists. As guests are being addressed in your worship service, point them to the welcome center as the place to go to gain more information or to learn how to get connected.
In addition, train your regular attenders to be agents of welcome. If they find out someone is new to the church, the next statement should be, “Let me walk you to our Welcome Center!”
5. Staff it well.
I’ve come to see that there are four big mistakes related to this issue.
The first is that there’s no one there. In my mind, there’s nothing sadder than a welcome center with no one there to…uh… welcome you. If you’re going to have it, you need to staff it.
Clearly, having people available to help guests before and after all services is an absolute non-negotiable. I’d also recommend having the welcome center staffed during all services as much as possible. If you only staff it until five minutes after the service begins, and a guest walks in at minute six, what happens then?
The second problem is that those volunteers who are there aren’t …well…welcoming. Train your volunteers to be proactive when a nervous guest approaches: “Hi, I’m Bob. Welcome to Fellowship. How can I help you?” Seek to make the guest feel at ease. And tell your volunteers to smile!
The third problem is that your volunteers don’t know the answers to common questions. Nothing is more frustrating to a guest than to go to an information table and get no information. And nothing is more defeating to a volunteer than to be tasked with knowledge but have none.
Provide your workers with a one-paragraph summary that includes all of the info they need to communicate, as well as a one-page summary of the top ten questions they might receive. Further, train them to know who to immediately go to for answers when they don’t know an answer.
The fourth problem is that your volunteers spend their time talking to one another or chatting with their friends. They need to know that the reason why they’re there is to focus on visitors.
Here’s one more idea. Ask a friend (either churched or, better yet, unchurched) to be a “secret shopper” of sorts. To come in as a guest and assess his/her experience.
Like it or not, your welcome center matters. First-time guests often decide if they will return within the first ten minutes. Some are more forgiving and will give you a second chance, but most won’t.
The unchurched look for reasons not to return. Even though they were probably invited by a friend, even friendship can’t override a blown first impression.
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