The thesis of this series has been that Website Integration and Workflow Automation can do for Engagement (Outreach, Assimilation, and Connection) what Online Giving has done for Stewardship.  That is, provide a technology solution for accomplishing a major ministry objective in a way that is not dependent on large group gatherings.  The current pandemic has forced us to use more virtual tools than ever.  Let's not waste what we've learned.

In Moving Assimilation From Virtual To Reality, we traced a couple's journey through a completely online process of identifying with a ministry designed to help people in distressed marriages.  We got them to the point of coming to a meeting the first time. 

They show up, a bit timid at first, but the friend who called them meets them, shows them around (unless meeting online) and introduces them to a few others.

In our business, we intentionally blur the line between sales and on-boarding.  For instance while doing a 30 day free trial (sales process), we will upload data, set up a text-to-church phone number, and make webinar training available (all on-boarding elements).  This gives prospective clients the opportunity to better experience our software enabling them to make a more confident choice. 

But once, they subscribe / commit to Churchteams, we are even more intentional about helping them on-board.  We'll upload the rest of their data including attendance and giving history.  We'll do custom one-on-one sessions to customize the software to the church's culture and structure.  We'll get online giving set up.  We'll encourage them to call or email for support.  And much more.  We do all this because we know that the first three to six months of using our software are critical for effectively realizing its potential.

A few weeks ago I introduced the idea of virtual outreach.  More specifically how to use inbound marketing tools to engage your community.  The goal, just like in business, is to get both contact and interest information.  The next step is to build a campaign to use this information to address the person's interest and move them toward Christ and the church - assimilation.  This is sales in business.

In our business, the sales process begins when someone signs up to learn more and stay in touch with us, does a live or automated webinar, and/or signs up for a 30 day free trial.  Each of these represent a different level of interest and response.  This weekly blog post goes to everyone as a way to stay in touch with us and learn about Church Management Innovation.  Both the webinars and the 30 day trials have automated follow up processes in place to make sure no one falls through the cracks.  These include emails, texts, videos, and personal phone calls.    

If you're reading this, you've been there.  In the middle of putting together a stellar email.  The layout was mostly done.  The content was clean and crisp.  Then you get a phone call. Without thinking you look up information in the database or look at a Churchteams registration on your website.  As soon as your done you try to go back to the email and it's gone.

In my last blog I presented the BHAG of redefining engagement. Not just looking at it through a different lens, but seeing it through the power of technology - a Virtual Reality headset.  Online giving has done it for Stewardship.  Web integration & workflow automation can do the same for engagement.

I break engagement into three parts: Outreach, Follow-up and Connection.  I compare them to the business processes of Marketing, Sales and On-boarding.  Today we're talking about Outreach, the Marketing side of engagement.

Several months ago, the XP of a large church in Florida mentioned to me that they no longer think of first time worship attenders as first time guests. They had discovered, even before the Coronavirus Pandemic, that all their first time attenders had watched the service online at least once before attending.  That conversation grabbed my imagination and has been a frequent conversation topic since.  How can we use today's technology to move church engagement from virtual to reality?

Another Covid 19 Pandemic audible.  Last week an Executive Pastor friend, David Jordan, called to talk through including a medical form in the check-in process.  They had decided to continue to meet live even with much lower numbers - around 20% of old normal.  Like most XP's, he's a planner anticipating when they start back with children's ministry and check-in.

Churchteams was built around the idea of growing a church using groups as the common building material for every ministry. This means that everything that involves more than one person is managed as a group. 

Every worship service, small group, class, committee, ministry team, leadership team, service team, mission team, event, and even assimilation step is managed as a group. 

This is one of the design constructs that makes our software unique, powerful and user-friendly.  Once understood, ministry rocks of all sizes are formed together to become a solidly built organization.

One of our advantages in the church management market is our agile culture.  There is just one degree of separation between clients and our development team.  As soon as a need or even a suggestion is vetted by a support team member, it is shared with development. 

Development keeps a running evaluation of these suggestions.  Some are as simple as a software edit and are immediately addressed.  They don't even make it to the list.  Others need affirmation, thought and evaluation.  As they come up again and are mulled over, they make their way to the investment of a few hours or days.  Others are much more involved and may take months or years to rise to the level of investment of weeks or even months of coding.  This set of releases fit into the first two categories.