The Highest Expectation Customer for your church
How brand positioning and customer targeting can be applied in a church
“What kind of unchurched are you reaching? The unchurched are not all alike! To say that your target is the “unchurched” is an incomplete description.”
― Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren
In the book Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren proposes the church to know its own target audience, exactly who your church is reaching, what are their demographics, psychographics (using empathy and personas in terms of Design Thinking) and their spiritual awareness. In relation to that, I read a great article on First Round Review in which Julie Supan, a marketing strategist, talks about the “Highest Expectation Customer” or HXC. In her own words, he is “the most discerning person within your target demographic. It’s someone who will acknowledge — and enjoy — your product or service for its greatest benefit.” If we were to apply both these theories to the church context, who is the highest expectation customer that your church is reaching?
Let’s use the 5 key positioning questions proposed by Julie Supan.
1. Who is the “customer” that needs/wants your church most?
The “customer” is probably someone similar to the average member who is already attending your church regularly. People attract the same kind of people to the church. Also, Rick Warren believes that the people who are most receptive to the gospel are people in transition (between season and stages of life) and people in tension (going through a period of trouble or hardship). In both groups of people, they will definitely find the gospel of Jesus expressed in your church service/event attractive to them in some way.
2. Why do the gospel and your church service(s) matter to them?
These people might have some questions pertaining to life, or they need counsel and answers to their current storms in life. The gospel may not be immediately attractive to them. Their immediate need, such as physical help or finances, may not be something that the gospel provides. Jesus often ministers to the people’s needs before he preaches the gospel. How does your church service minister to their needs?
The unchurched are usually first attracted to church services due to more tangible factors such as the programme of the service, the praise and worship songs, the special items or even free food. They do not think of their spiritual need yet. Your entire church experience, from the invitation card to the salvation gift, needs to be designed intentionally to attract this HXC. In future posts, I will talk about how to design a user journey for your church service.
3. How do they feel about your church service and the gospel?
When the unchurched HXC walks into your service, what are their expectations? Do they feel that your service is “lame” because of the other “worldly” activities that the secular world has to offer? Do they feel intrigued that a church can have such an exciting programme? There is definitely something that makes this person’s heart to tick. Find the special moment or the bait and they will be “hooked” to come regularly to your church service.
4. What is its true benefit to them?
Every person is on a journey to achieve a better self. A successful church experience is one that is able to express the gospel in a way that relates to the HXC, allowing him to accept Jesus, and then help him to embark on a journey to become a Christian. The HXC that benefits the most is one that is truly satisfied with every aspect of your church service ― from the physical tangible aspects to the spiritual aspect of how the gospel is preached. In future posts, I will talk about how to apply “Jobs to be done” (JTBD) in a church context.
5. Will your church service and the gospel exceed their expectations?
When Jesus is magnified, the beauty of the gospel itself will exceed most people’s expectations. The portrayal of a loving God who sacrificed his own Son will exceed the expectations of one who expects an angry God. What goes hand-in-hand is how your church service expresses the gospel in its programme and sermon. Does the experience, from the production value to the preacher, exceeds the HXC expectations?
Note that I am not saying that every church needs to have a high quality of production standards. The body of Christ is diverse and so are the believers. Different types of church services will attract different groups of believers. That’s why defining your target (the first question) is the most important.
There is definitely more to be said of who is the “customer” of the church. Further discussions are welcome!
