Connect Card Hack: Get The Info You Need
One of the best ways to keep track of and follow up with guests is to have them fill out a connection card. I've written about how to make the best connect card › I found a little hack that could take things to the next level for your church that I want to share with you.
What's this hack?
Churches use connect forms to ask for basic contact info from guests. Typical fields include name, email, phone number, and maybe a column for a prayer request, and occasionally a home address (though most churches are moving away from this). All this is pretty standard. However, there are two problems with asking for multiple forms of contact info:
- Not every guest feels comfortable with providing a church with multiple forms of contact info
- Every question you ask on a connection card is a hurdle that decreases the likelihood of it actually getting filled out
Thankfully, you can change that with a single 2-letter word... OR.
The Power of "or"
By saying "or", you give guests the option of providing the contact method of their choosing. I don't know about you, but I feel a little uneasy giving a complete stranger multiple ways to communicate with me.
It's not just me who's concerned about my privacy. According to Pew Research, 86% of US citizens have attempted to somehow remove or decrease their digital footprint online › This is why you're seeing companies like Apple and Google make major changes in the sharing of information on all of their devices. Privacy of personal information is no longer a trend, it's an expectation.
Moving past the privacy concerns, using "or" also cuts down on the amount of writing the guest will have to make. Imagine yourself in their shoes...
A family goes to your church for the first time. Everything is new, and they don't know the flow of things that happen. They probably got into the service late or just made it in the nick of time. If they have younger kids, they're most likely frazzled from either trying to find the Child Check-In area or attempting to keep fidgetty children quiet during the service. In the midst of all of this, you're asking them to fill out a card with multiple fields of information.
Less is more, and you can easily do that with the power of "OR".
Give it a shot!
Getting less information from a guest may sound counter-intuitive...but it's all about the long game. Until a guest becomes a regular attendee or member, we haven't earned the right to ask them for all their contact info. The trend of connect cards with minimal fields will continue. And for good reason!
Let's keep building the church ?