I was making plans and trying to make reservations for a conference I'm going to in October. I knew they offered conference rates, but when I looked online the rates appeared to be cheaper so of course I called. The desk person told me to book it online and that's when my trouble started. I couldn't get it to book more than one room (or so it seemed) and when I tried calling their reservation and help number, I ultimately kept ending up at a place to leave a voicemail (as you can guess, I'm not looking to stay at the Ritz). I kept going back and forth on the website which kept telling me "easy online reservations" and trying to call the "helpful reservation specialists" that I couldn't reach.
In the end I gave up and figured I'd try another time or, more likely, another place. About an hour later, I noticed I got a few emails from this place, emails confirming my reservations - for three different rooms! Apparently I was successful, no thanks to them.
Here's my question: When you look at your church, are you accessible to people? Can people find the answer to their questions? Are there obvious differences between your website and what a real live "front desk" person from your church might say? Do people leave an encounter feeling dumb and uncertain or like they found some answers to their questions? Do you need to be an "insider" to actually know what's going on or can you get plugged in without needing some "missing" information? It's all about the experience, so what kind of experience are the people visiting your church and church's website having?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
can i still come to catalyst this year? please?
I vote Davey gets to go to Catalyst! Anyway... Good thoughts. I think it is really hard to step back and take an outside look at things when we know the systems and website like the back of our hands. I think this also applies to the guest services area... bathroom signage... distracting kids in church... etc etc. Wow the more I think the longer the list gets. I guess this is why sometimes folks bring in an outsider for "consultation"... I think all they are doing is giving an outsiders perspective.
Good point. It's always good to step back and examine how your interacting and outreaching to others.
I vote Davey goes.
Post a Comment