On Saturday morning I stopped in for a breakfast sandwich and the price on the menu was $2.19. When I got to the window, the price was higher. I asked why and the kid said: “We’ll get someone out there to fix the price.” I shrugged my shoulders and moved onto the next window. The lady at the next window handed me my sandwich and I asked her if there was a manager around. She admitted to being one, and I asked about the difference. She said “We’ll that’s because you got cheese on your sandwich” I told her “But I didn’t want cheese.” She laughed out loud and said “Oh well!”

My first thought was to tell her to try again, but I refrained, and pulled away. I opened up my sandwich, scraped off most of the cheese and ate my breakfast.


The whole experience made me wonder if most churches ever consider the customer service experience they provide to the people who pass through their doors.

Most of the companies we consume from have great customer service. 24-7 Tech support, operators standing by, 10 minute oil change, 29 minute guarantees… the list goes on… great companies offer great service. Few people willfully chooses to buy a product from a company that they know has poor customer service.

If the world has set a high bar for what people consider to be good customer service, why aren’t churches striving to exceed the standards set by the world, and wow people with how well they’re treated?

If you ask people to sign up to volunteer, find a place for them to volunteer… immediately.

If someone wants to join a small group, connect them to someone that week.

If you’re going to have a coffee shop in your church, make sure the coffee tastes good.

Lots of churches offer mediocre service, and think it honors God. If you don’t have the resources to contact potential volunteers quickly, don’t ask them to volunteer. If you can’t connect people to small group leaders within 7 days, don’t ask people to join groups until you can connect them quickly. If good tasting coffee isn’t in the budget, don’t have coffee.

God is a God of excellence. Shouldn’t everything we do be done with excellence? Sure we talk about the band being good, and the pastor being dynamic, but what about the person who responds to emails, or answers the phone? Why does it take 2 months to hear back from someone? If you don’t have the resources to answer the emails, don’t give out the address. Mediocre service is more disastrous than not offering something at all. Macy’s doesn’t sell tires, and no one gets upset about it.

People have a very high level of expectations for their customer service experience in life, and if we’re not willing to meet people where they’re at, we’re not going to get them where they need to be… a life focused on loving and serving others, not consuming.

After every interaction with your church, are people saying: “I’m lovin' it?” If not, it’s time to rethink how you do things.