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If you are believing for church growth, visitors represent the most available source of new members. Visitors, who have already made the decision to attend a service, may decide to return if they receive a simple courtesy phone call from your church within a few days after they attend.

The following telephone scripts have been used to successfully turn visitors into regular church attendees.

Scenario #1 Church caller speaks to Visitor
The purpose of this script is to provide some structure and direction to your first telephone encounter with new visitors. It is not necessarily to be used verbatim when speaking with the visitor.

Remember: Be yourself when calling (not a prefabricated “canned” messenger). Also, be prepared to answer any questions or concerns that the visitors may have with regards to the church in general or the service that they attended. Most importantly, make sure you have your Holy Spirit tank is full - it really makes a difference. And have fun, it will make the experience more pleasant for the visitor and yourself.

Script:
CALLER: “Hello, this is (Your Name) calling from (Your Church). Is (Visitor’s name) available?”

Response: “This is _____ speaking.”

CALLER: “How are you this afternoon/evening?”

(Wait for response.)

CALLER: “Great. Am I interrupting anything?”

Response: “No.”

CALLER: “I am calling this afternoon/evening because I came across the visitor card you filled out. I want to take a moment to thank you for making the effort to come and visit us this past weekend. I also want to see what you thought about the service you attended, as well as answer any questions that you may have about our church.”

Response: (The answer will be different in every case. If they have any questions, try to answer them as best you can. If you do not know the answer, please do not make it up. No information is better than wrong information. Simply let them know that you will find out and get back to them. Here is where you will want to find out some of the following information: What service did they attend? How did they come to learn about our ministry? Did they enjoy themselves? Sometimes these questions will be answered within the conversation. Our main goal is not to extract information; our main goal is to welcome and thank the visitor. Lets make sure we make the visitor feel that way.)

CALLER: “I also want to let you know that we have an informational packet being mailed to you. It contains some information on different church outreaches that will most likely spark some questions. I’d like to leave you my name and number, so you can get back to me if any questions do come up. (Leave name and number) The information packet also contains a coupon for a free tape that is redeemable at your next visit. It has been a pleasure talking with you. Once again, thank you for coming and joining us, and remember to feel free to give me a call if any questions arise. Thanks again and have a blessed day. Good bye.”

(Record all the information you obtained and any general comments about the phone call before you go on to the next call. This will keep your phone calls and your written comments from getting muddled up.)

Now, wasn’t that easy and FUN?

There are some different outcomes to the above encounter that you may want to consider. First, your call may have interrupted a legitimate event. However, the visitor is interested in hearing from you at a later time. Ask when a more appropriate time to call would be, then simply return the call during that time. There may be cases in which the visitor does not wish to speak with you. Simply thank them and terminate the call. There are also instances where you will make contact with the visitor’s relative or roommate. Scenario # 3 addresses this issue.

Scenario #2 Church caller speaks to answering machine
The purpose of this script is to outline the important things you need to cover when making contact with an automated message machine. Much like the person-to-person encounter described above, this message has the same goals of thanking the visitor for joining us, as well as showing true concern for any of the questions that they might have.

Script:
“Leave a message...”

CALLER: “Hello, this is (Your Name) calling from (Your Church). This message is for (Visitor’s name). I came across your visitor card, and I thought I would give you a call to thank you for making the effort to join us this past weekend. I also would like to see if you have any questions about our church that I can answer. Seeing that you are not available, I’ll go ahead and leave you my name and number. (Name and number) Thanks again, and have a blessed day.”

Scenario #3 Church caller speaks to relative/roommate
The purpose of this script is to guide you through a phone conversation with the visitor’s relative or roommate. Our overall goals remain the same in this context.

Script:
CALLER: “Hello, this is (Your Name) calling from (Your Church). Is (Visitor’s name) available?”

Response: “No, he/she is not available.”

CALLER: “May I leave a message with you for him/her?”

Response: “Yes, you may.”

CALLER: “As I mentioned, this is (Your Name) calling from (Your Church). I came across his/her visitor card, and I just thought I would give him a call to thank him/her for joining us this past weekend and to see if there were any questions he/she had about the church.”

Response: (The relative/roommate may have accompanied the visitor to church and have something to say. If they do:
(1) be aware that they too are one of your visitors
(2) ask them their name along with what they thought of the service they attended
(3) see if they have any questions, and finally
(4) inform them about the information packet that is being sent out to them.

If they did not accompany the visitor, simply leave Your name and number, thank them for their time, and terminate the call.

As with any human contact, there may be unforeseen situations that come up. This is not something that should cause any apprehension. We have the Holy Spirit, and his peace, guidance, and favor are with us in whatever we do. I have attached some helpful hints that callers may follow when calling visitors.

Guidelines:
* Encourage, speaking the Word with love and faith.
* LISTEN - it is the most powerful communication tool!
* Communicate from your heart; be yourself.
* If the visitor asks a question that you are unsure of, don’t just make something up, or answer off the top of your head. Tell them you will find out the answer and get back to them.
* Do not counsel. This could lead to serious problems.
* Be aware of “church-bashing.” Do not take part in negative conversation. This is not one of our goals and, furthermore, would prove to be counterproductive.
* Be sure to spend time in the Holy Spirit before making your calls. Expect to be a blessing and to be blessed.
* Document all calls before beginning a new one.
* Do not read the scripts. They are only structural outlines of what we foresee happening.
* Be led by the Holy Ghost.

Copyright © CFAITH All rights reserved.

Author Biography

Danny Gutierrez
Web site: Danny Gutiererrez
 
The Gutierrez family has served together in Peru since 2011. Danny and Stephanie serve on the pastoral staff and executive team of Camino de Vida, a growing church with 5 campuses located in the capital city of Lima.
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