This morning, I spent some time sitting in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant–for yet another breakfast meeting. Since the lobby did not open until 9:30, my friend and I sat and talked in the car. We watched as an employee of the restaurant meandered by, very halfheartedly sweeping the parking lot. I made the comment that it scares me to speculate on whether the job he was doing sweeping the parking lot was representative of the job he did cooking our food.
From there, our conversation drifted on to work performance and customer service. I enjoy reading business books and applying those principles to missions. One of the most fascinating stories of our time is the story of Chick-fil-A–and their phenomenal customer service. The gentleman I was meeting with mentioned that various times he has eaten there, Chick-fil-A employees have gone out of their way to serve him. That type of culture is what Heralds of Hope is striving toward as we serve you, our constituents. We would love to hear from you. We know our supporters are passionate about spreading the gospel. How can we serve you more effectively? Please email me at [email protected].
Beyond serving you as supporters, my mind drifted to the application of phenomenal customer service to the vision statement of Heralds of Hope: We will use media to make disciples of Jesus Christ, to accomplish the great commission in our lifetime. The Chick-fil-A employees take free food out to people caught in traffic jams near their establishments for the purposes of opening your mind to their wares.
I wonder what it would do for our missions, our churches, and the individuals that comprise these organizations, if we saw the unsaved as customers? What if we saw that needy, grouchy neighbor as a customer? Isn’t that why Christ taught us the principle of “going the second mile?” We want them to want what we have to “sell”: Discipleship to Jesus Christ. As a salesman for Christ, how’s your customer service?
-Jeremy Sensenig