The Whipped Cream Machine and Your Church Marketing
I love Pumpkin Spice Latte. The ones I really like are at Starbucks. Extra whipped cream is what I usually ask for. Yes, if I lived near a real coffee roaster then I would have better options. But for holiday drinks at my current location, Starbucks works for me.
This is great, except for the price. To regularly spend 5 bucks on one cup is a little excessive. So, I had to find an alternative to feed my addiction.
Thankfully I found a great option at a nearby convenience store. Normally I do not like convenience store cappuccino coffee out of the spray machines, but for this I make an exception.
The Pumpkin Spice Latte at this specific store [which will remain nameless] is very, very good. What makes it good is that they also have a whipped cream machine dispenser so you can easily add it to your drink. Adding the whipped cream to the Pumpkin Spice literally makes it taste like you are drinking a piece of pumpkin pie.
There is a problem however. The whipped cream machine almost never works. You use a knob to crank down what looks like a cake decorating tube full of whipped cream. A roller is supposed to slowly move down the tube dispensing whipped cream into your cup.
How do I know so much about the inside of the machine? Because I have seen it on numerous occasions when the store clerk has had to come over and try to fix it for me. Usually this attempt fails. Once he even told me to use my hand and push on the bag to get it to work.
Fail. If I am going to do that at least give me my drink for free and let me have this hour of your paycheck.
What does this have to do with your Church Marketing?
When I approach this store now, all I think about is whether or not the whipped cream machine is going to work.
Today when I went in the machine was turned around. All you could see is the metal back. If you did not know they had it, you would never know it was there.
Two things that churches seem to do a lot. 1st – excessively promote events that do not even come close to living up to the promotion. 2nd – have facilities or ministries that do not work well or are broken, but are promoted and in full use.
This is extremely frustrating for people who attend. Not only that, but when they think about your church or drive up to your building all they are thinking about is the problem instead of the solutions you offer.
What is the solution?
The answer to this pretty simple. If someone had no clue there was a whipped cream machine, they would not be frustrated. If there is a whipped cream machine that actually consistently works, they would not be frustrated.
Simple answer? Fix things that are broken and cause annoyance. Don’t just look at it through your eyes, but the eyes of your members and visitors. And, do not promote what you cannot follow through on in a way that lives up to the promotion.
Frustration comes when expectation does not meet reality. Make it your goal to minimize frustration and annoyance, and exceed expectations.
