“You must first meet and then exceed the expectations of your customers if you are going to build a reputation for quality service” –Disney Institute
Have you ever asked yourself, or even better—parents what their expectations are for children’s ministry? We often hear of people saying to exceed expectations, but how can you exceed them if you don’t even know what the standard is?
Take some time over the next several weeks and take some notes. Ask parents of children and teenagers what they want from you as the church. Ask them what they expect. Once you get a good feel of their expectations—meet them! Pull your team in, recruit new volunteers, buy resources, do whatever you have to do to meet those expectations. If you’re finding that most parent’s expectations are counter to your church’s culture, bring it up to your lead/executive pastor and inform him/her what the majority of families are wanting. If it’s way out there—and normally it’s not—sit down with these families one-on-one to explain what it is your church does and why.
Having done this before, I’ve found that most parent’s expectations are VERY reasonable and should be done in any children’s or youth ministry. It’s all about execution. After you’ve established met expectations, then and only then can you move on to exceeding expectations.
You can’t exceed what you don’t meet.
Thoughts?
-PJ
