Where Most Church Campus Maps Go Wrong – And What People Really Need
Potential guests are checking out your church every week.
Some online, some through friends, some just by choosing to walk in the door one Sunday.
You want to be helpful, right? Of course you do.
I’ve had a couple of conversations with church leaders at different churches where this one seemingly helpful tool has come up:
The campus map.
It’s on the website, it’s plastered on the walls of the church…it’s seemingly the treasure map for finding Jesus.
Here’s the deal – I don’t care if your church has been around 150 years, gone through six different building campaigns, has secret tunnels and three elevators…your job is to make it easy to navigate.
But too often, I’ve heard church leaders making excuses for complex configurations and attempting to solve the navigation issue by throwing up an architectural drawing to help people find their way around. Nobody wants that.
So what do you do? Well, in some ways it’s easy.
Change your perspective.
What does every first-time guest need to know?
- Where to park
- Where to go in
- What’s next
So rather than show them every floor and door of your facility, show them the front door. Then station a highly-visible Welcome Team that guides them to their next step (worship, kids check-in, etc). You can also tell visitors on your website to specifically look for these folks for this reason!
Break it up into smaller steps rather than everything all at once.
What about your regular attenders? Well, they need great wayfinding signage just as much as the newbies. Take some time this week to step back and evaluate what’s unclear or missing. Then develop a plan to adapt.
Too much to tackle on your own? We offer Church Secret Guest Evaluations. If you’re interested in learning more, set up a time to talk.
Want more tips on strategy and improving the guest experience? Follow @tylerdharden on Instagram or Twitter.