Me and my wife have been visiting churches. 2 weeks ago we visited an Assembly of God church. Wow do I have a new respect for their follow-up after our visit. Here it is...

1. We visited and like the church and filled out the new member form.
2. When I got home we had a voicemail thanking us for coming.
3. The next day we got an e-mail thanking us for our visit.
4. A few days later, we got a letter in the mail with more information.
5. On Saturday two people from the church CAME TO THE OUR HOUSE! and brought us cookies and more information.
6. And the next week we got a card in the mail wishing us well.

I've never seen anything like this in my life. It's unreal.

Please don't make this about God and religion, we know people have different views and those type of thread never go anywhere and are filled full of hate so this ain't about that.

I just figured ya'll would enjoy this follow up. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it. What surprised me was that this church has 1500 members and basically is just EXTREMELY organized. You don't see this a lot with churches but these guys were with it for sure.

Hi Ricky,

Cool thread. And I like Subtle's observation of the "value of a customer." Because like it or not, a church is a business that collects money (tax free) and why not maximize profits with a strategic follow up campaign.

It's actually brilliant. Are you going to join?

-- Rachel

I don't do megachurches so nope. 1600 members according to their website.

Probably. It's a little tougher in the South where we're at being an interracial couple. A lot of people, hicks, cowboys, etc here look down on that and make it very clear. But this church had mixed couples, black, white, etc and it was nice.

Ricky,

Fascinating effort by the Church. It would be interesting to find out if they track and measure results of different follow-up methods.

Recently I had an attention-getting experience with follow-up from a DM company called M.O.R.E. Inc out of Gossel, Kansas. Not sure how I got on their list, but this biz op firm sent me 19 promotions before finally giving up.

Fascinating was all of the different formats they used:

1. The initial piece was a 9 x 12 white envelope containing a sales letter
2. Next, a follow-up letter in a #10 envelope followed by a
3. Post card (with a photo of a landmark from Gossel, KS), then a
4. Priority Mail letter
5. Another 9 x 12 package
6. Second post card
7. Tyvek Priority Mail package
8. Sales letter in a # 10 envelope with teaser copy
9. 9 x 12 envelope with a clear front, showing a CD with my name on it
10. Third post card
11. Sales letter in a # 10 with different teaser copy
12. A cardboard box containing a bag of carmel corn and...a sales letter
13. Tinted mylar envelope with a sales letter
14. Another Priority Mail envelope with a sales letter
15. A second box with another bag of carmel corn and sales letter
16. Turquoise 9 x 12 envelope and sales letter
17. Sales letter in a # 10 envelope with new teaser copy
18. Sales letter in a 5 x 9 cardboard envelope
19. Sales letter in a 9 x 12 envelope with a bright orange sticker urging me to read the "Personal letter" inside.

The same sales letter, slightly modified, was included in all of the promotions, except for the post cards.

Assuming they test and measure the response from each subsequent follow-up mailing I deduce they continue to profit up until the 19th mailing...and then it is no longer profitable.

This sets the record for the most follow-up I've ever received from one company, and these promotions have made an interesting addition to my swipe file.

Nigel

That is excellent follow up. My church has a follow up model, but it's not quite that elaborate. A couple letters and a phone call, but no personal visit. And no cookies, either. 1500 isn't a megachurch by any means, but it's still really big. Most churches in the U.S. average only a couple hundred. I wonder if there's something about the size of it that makes follow up manageable - big enough so they have the volunteers to do the follow up, big enough budget to put the adminstrative follow up systems into place, but not so big that everything gets lost in the shuffle.

Megachurch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A megachurch is a church having around 2,000 or more attendants

"Missed it by that much (again)!" Agent 86, Maxwell Smart



I would call 1600 members a MEGAchurch.

That's why they "get it" when it comes to marketing.

My wife's church is in the number one slot above at 59% (7-99). They don't even have a website and their marketing effort is a "greeter" at the front door. They don't "get it."

There is NO surprise on this end. It isn't any different in the biz world. "Mom & Pops" don't get marketing, but Fortune 500 (plus) companies do.

"Surprise, surprise, surprise!" - Gomer Pyle, USMC

Dang Subtle, I had no idea. I lived in Hampton, Virginia before moving here and our church had 25 people in it so I'm used to the smaller environment. I had no clue that 1500 or so is a megachurch. I thought it was like 15K plus.

Subtle already clowned us on this belief...