Churchteams pricing is done differently than most Church Management Systems. We think it is the most customer-centric which aligns with our #1 value - great service.  It is based simply on the number of people in the database.  It doesn't matter if a person is an adult or child, active or inactive, or a member or not.  Nor does it matter if you use one feature or all of them.  However, here are 7 subtleties in this approach you should be aware of.

When first created, software was a product that either came with your computer or you purchased and downloaded.  The Internet changed this.  The "cloud" is now the host for all your programs and files.  Your computer, tablet and phone just need to be able to access these "web-based" applications.   In other words your software became a service, not a product.  But, we've been slow to grasp the significance of this change.

You've probably heard of a Gratitude Journal.  It was referenced in the repost/retweet of a blog from Lifeway I sent out yesterday.  I'm looking forward to thinking more about the benefits of gratitude this week.  But for this Thanksgiving week post, I want to do a short journal of things I'm grateful for.  In no particular order, starting with the biggies:

In the last post I shared four factors that I've considered in how to set a price for church management software.  In this post I want to talk about upon what do you base your price.  There are likely other approaches to pricing, but here are the common ones out there and my perspective on them.

If you have ever shopped for Church management software, you know that pricing varies widely.  Maybe you've even wondered why that is.  I've done a lot of thinking about pricing ChMS through the years.  Here are some of the different factors I've considered.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak at our weekly men's gathering.  About 150 to 200 of us have been working on spiritual disciplines that last six weeks, my topic was reflection.  Here are a few things from 1 Timothy 4:6-16 that I think are relevant for any leader.

Tomorrow I'm heading to the Church Leader Insights training on Assimilation.  I thought it might be interesting to write something ahead of time about my thoughts about the topic and then follow it up with thoughts on what I learned about assimilation from this excellent training by Nelson Searcy.

We've been thinking a lot about pricing lately.  One of my favorite business blogs has been doing a series based on the book "Confessions of The Pricing Man:  How Price Affects Everything".  The author, Hermann Simon, talks about three basic strategies for pricing: Low, Premium, and Luxury.  Each one has it's own strengths and challenges.  We've struggled with this issue for a lot of years and have only adjusted our pricing twice.  At a high level, this presses me to think about a really basic question.  Is Church Management Software Worth the Money?  Which begs the question, how much money?  First, some thoughts about the value software brings to churches.  Then, I'll relate this value to the 3 strategies.

 You just invested time and money in a Church software application.  You enjoyed the conversation with the sales person and got a lot out of their implementation process.  However, the congregation has been slow or limited in using it.  

Agility is the ability to improve speed and grace.  It is the way an athlete moves on the field that gives him or her a competitive advantage.  It is the way a lawyer exudes confidence with clarity and timing before the judge and jury.  It is the way a software company innovates quickly, efficiently and beautifully to serve their clients.  Agility is also the way some churches are able to constantly improve how they attract, equip and release people.

Last week I visited with the Executive Pastor and IT director of a church about an hour from me.  Over a decade ago they built a really useful software application to manage their church.  It is especially good at automating follow-up of guests.  We talked back then about Churchteams and I was impressed with what they built.  Obviously, they didn't need us.