After seven years working in higher ed, recruiting both undergrads and grads to attend our university and ensuring their success from admission to graduation, it's struck me that the life cycle of a prospective student is not unlike someone looking to join a church, someone coming to faith. And it pains me to say, but the Catholic Church is HORRIBLE at recruiting and retaining new members.
I'll give an example. A few months ago I called the number on the bulletin at our church to inquire about volunteering to teach CCD. The Director of Religious Education (to whom the number belonged, I assumed) was not available, so I left a message. I never got a call back. And that was that...figured I was not needed, so I moved on.
A few years before that I called to volunteer with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) at another parish. The women did call me back, but was less than friendly on the phone and went into a stream of complicated scenarios and dates that all but encouraged me to get involved. Again, I moved on to something else.
If you are a new Catholic, or someone not Catholic attending a Mass out of curiosity for the first time, it can be an intimidating thing. No one really greets you at the door. Everyone seems to know what they are doing--when to sit, when to kneel, what to say, when to bless yourself--and there's no 'instruction book' provided. After Mass, people peel out having fulfilled their Sunday obligation, so there's really no opportunity to connect with other worshippers.
People who become Catholic are remaining in the Church not because of the experience they are having, but often in spite of it. Now, I recognize we cannot bend over every which way to accommodate everyone's individual needs. Some people are there for the Truth, some for community and fellowship, some to get involved with ministry, some because of the beauty of the liturgy, some just come for reasons unknown and simply because they like it.
I don't see this as a 'product problem.' The Church has been around for over 2,000 years. They have something no one else can offer, and address life's fundamental problems in a way that is both reasonable and supernatural. They are not going anywhere. But as the old expression goes, "If you're not growing, your dying" applies on both a personal and corporal level, and as I see it there is a lot of room for (relatively simple) improvement.
As someone who recruits for a living, I have a few thoughts as it pertains to the Church and carrying out the Holy Father's call to bring the culture to Christ.
1) "Customer Service" can go a long way (and is not just for businesses)
We have prospective students come in our office all day long. Some know exactly what they are looking for, some are there to explore the idea of graduate school and want to talk it out. My coworker and I greet each one with a friendly smile and stop what we are doing to assist them. The worst thing we can do is make them feel like a nuisance. After all, they are the reason we have jobs in the first place. We are not disingenuous, do not make assumptions based on appearance, accent, or dress, and are consistent in treating everyone who walks through the doors with dignity and respect. You would be surprised how far that goes.
What is the customer service like at your church? Is the secretary friendly, welcoming? Does she return calls, greet people when they walk in the door? How about the community itself? Can it answer someone's question, "Why should I come here, and why should I stay?"
What is the customer service like at your church? Is the secretary friendly, welcoming? Does she return calls, greet people when they walk in the door? How about the community itself? Can it answer someone's question, "Why should I come here, and why should I stay?"
2) You only get one First Impression
It always amazes me how sometimes the littlest actions have the biggest return. At Orientation I encountered many students who came up to me and said, "You gave me a tour (and it was great). Now I'm here!" or "Thank you for not being a jerk and actually listening to me. I didn't get that when I visited X,Y,Z school" or "You bought me coffee when I drove out from Ohio to visit. I really appreciated that."
The decision to attend a certain school is not always a logical, numbers-based decision. A lot has to do with how students "feel" when they step on your campus. Is it welcoming? Can I see myself here? Am I excited about the prospect of being a part of this community? Do I want to learn more? Or, was I treated disrespectfully or rudely? Was it a stressful endeavor? My dad once blew off the prospect of moving to an entire town recently because of ungodly (to him) traffic he encountered by taking the local route instead of the bypass and admitted, "That was my first impression, and i just couldn't get past it. I didn't like it."
Imagine if someone was interested in the Faith and meeting a Catholic for the first time in their life. What would they see? Would they see someone full of joy, filled with the Holy Spirit, active in their community, generous, kind, sincere? Or would they see someone going through rote motions, dour faced, stingy, cold, or abusive?
You only get one first impression, and they can be hard to overcome. Make sure it is a good one.
3) You have 30 seconds
When I have a table set up at a grad fair or other recruiting event, I have a small window in which to "pitch." I don't do this aggressively or in an obnoxious manner, but I do smile and invite someone to come over and get some more information. I ask them questions to find some common ground, dig a little for what they might be looking for, and in most cases assure them that we offer exactly that if what we offer in terms of programming seems to fit what they are looking for. I then highlight some of our assets--affordable tuition, stellar reputation, accessible metropolitan area, accomplished faculty--all in a non-threatening, non-conconfrontational way. I invite them to contact me if they have any questions, take their information if they are willing to give it, and hand them my card. This isn't a sleazy sales pitch. It's trying to connect students with what they are looking for to what we offer.
When it comes to faith, people are looking for different things--fellowship, belonging, spiritual fulfillment, forgiveness, Truth, even God Himself. It helps to talk with people and get an idea of where they are coming from and what they are looking for. Then invite them to "come and see' with you if what they are looking for matches with what is being offered. In most cases, it does. The Catholic Church is a big, diverse institution. Not everyone will be attracted to it, but for those who are we need to make the process and prospect as inviting and attractive as possible without being disingenuous. 1 Peter 3:15 says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have," adding "But do this with gentleness and respect." Good advice!
4) Smile
Just freaking smile. You would be surprised how far the simple action of turning up the corners of your mouth and exhibiting a modicum of joy can have on someone's day. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." How true. Every now and then a student will come up to me frazzled about getting into a class, or upset about a problem with their application. So I try to smile a lot, and it tends to put them a little more at ease. People are not stupid. They pick up on how you treat them. If they feel like a nuisance, or that you are miserable excuse for a human being that is a bear to deal with, that's their impression of you and, subsequently by extension, the university. So, my co worker and I do our best to put on our best face, because that is often the first encounter a prospective student will have, and we want it to be a good one.
When encounter you, who may be the only Christian they know, do they see joy? Peace? Love? (fruits of the Spirit). For "Joy is a net of love by which you catch souls." (Mother Teresa)
5) The Funnel
Everyone in Admissions knows "The Funnel". It's the lifecycle of a student that generally starts at the top with a Prospect. Prospects eventually become Inquiries (interested), who will then become Applicants (taking the step to apply), who hopefully becomes Admitted (accepted to program), and finally an Enrolled student (taking classes, paid and registered). We send out different information for prospects then we do for admitted or enrolled students, and one is not always appropriate for the other.
Spiritual Seekers have their own funnel. It may start with a general dis-ease with the material world or their experience of dissatisfaction with temporal pleasures. They may have heard about "Jesus" or "God" but know nothing about Him. Maybe they have a personal encounter with a Christian or God Himself. As they explore, read, encounter, become interested, they are hungry to learn more, they get closer. Perhaps they start RCIA as a Inquirer. If they continue to heed God's calls, receive the sacraments, and enter the community as a believer, they are "admitted' and "enrolled." So, the process can be similar. It's good to recognize that people are in different stages in their journey and needing different things at different times to "spiritually matriculate". As Paul says in 1 Cor 3:2, "I gave you milk, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it.
6) Get Out There
In addition to the day to day operations of enrollment management (running reports, withdrawals, defers, etc), we hit the road to get our name out there. Some fairs we go to seem like a waste due to poor attendance. But, as the saying goes, if you're not out there nobody knows about you. So, if nothing else for branding purposes, so people see our name wherever there is interest in graduate education. You never know, too. I was chatting with one student during a virtual international fair who was in Venezuela about our Geosci program. Don't you know a few months later he shows up at our door, "Do you remember me? I want to apply." He eventually was accepted, matriculated, and received an assistantship. Never would have heard about us if it wasn't for that one encounter. So, who knows.
So too with the faith. That famous saying attributed to St. Francis of Assisi "Preach the Gospel always....use words if necessary?" Yeah, little known fact--he didn't actually say that. Of course we need to witness with our actions, but that also includes our tongue! Paul states emphatically in Romans 10:10 that "it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Don't be shy about telling people--with your mouth--about Jesus if you truly want them to know about him. St. John Paul II said in Redemptoris Missio, "I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church's energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad genres. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples."
Get out there.
7) Invest
We have a proactive Provost who believes in graduate education and wants us to grow. She's backs that up with the investment in what we need to make that happen. You can sometimes only do so much with less. If your priorities are to grow a business, you need to invest in that business. You cat just throw money at something. You need to do it smart and you need to do it strategically. But you need to do it.
Many parishes operate of a shoestring budget. But Catholics are also one of the least generous among Christian groups when it comes to tithing, offering less than 1% typically of their earnings to the Church. Imagine what parishes could do if even that was doubled to expand efforts to grow and be intentional about bringing more people into the fold? It's not all about money. But you need money to operate. Put your money where your mouth is.
8) Follow through
At work, I have a policy to return all calls and emails within 24 hrs. This is a personal matter of respect for the person writing, that they are being heard and attended to, but it's also just good customer service. People generally appreciate it, because if we don't get back to them, they will just move on to another school that will a lot of times. If I say I am going to look into something for someone, I do it.
I still think back to that lack of a return phone call when I inquired about volunteering to teach CCD. It said to me that I wasn't needed, wasn't really that important, whether that was intended or not. I moved on. I don't think this is an uncommon occurrence either. Now, I'm sure church secretary ladies are overwhelmed and overworked, but come on. It doesn't take much to return a call, and goes a long way. You can literally lose a future Christian member over such a thing. Just return the call.
9) Make It Easy
We focus on "pain points" in our admission process at work--what are those areas that make it frustrating/unenjoyable/discouraging for applicants or prospects. If someone gets hung up consistently on a part of the application, can we eliminate that part? Is it essential, or is it because it's just "always been there?" You need to be forward thinking and put yourself in the student's shoes for a minute when dealing with processes and procedures. We want students to have a pain-free process and not get bogged down in stupid crap that doesn't matter.
One thing I recognize as a necessary evil (if you want to call it that) in the 'becoming Catholic' process. You meet someone searching for Truth. You instruct them the Gospel, like Philip in the book of Acts to the Enuch. "I want to give my life to Christ," they say. "Awesome! Let's get you to talk to someone at the nearest church."
"So, you want to join the Church?" she says, "Well, you've missed the cutoff for RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), so you'll have to wait til next September."
"But I want to be baptized! I want to be saved!"
"I understand. You have to take baptism classes in order to be baptized. They run on Tuesday nights from blah blah blah til blah blah blah with Deacon blah blah blah..."
"I see."
This is where our Protestant and Non-denominational brothers and sisters are stepping in. Someone wants to give their life to Christ? Come on up. What an honor. Let's get you discipled and baptized right away. They take them under their wing and support them. Get them involved in fellowship and mentoring. They call them. Check in on them.
As Catholics, we are FAILING at this. The Gospel is an IMPETUS. There should be nothing more important that bringing people to Christ. Now I recognize the place of sacramental instruction and classes, etc. But we are losing opportunities by introducing these many "pain points." Is there a better way? I'm sure there is. But we haven't figured it out yet.
10) Word-of-mouth
I went to a conference for Graduate Admissions Professionals in San Diego a couple years ago. The first session I went to I still remember. A guy from the University of Texas was talking about how Word of Mouth marketing is their best recruiting tool. It costs virtually nothing and nothing can match the kind of ROI it offers. He told a story of hearing about a group of people who broke down on a greyhound bus near campus. He had Domino's deliver 10 pizzas with a note "Hope these will make the time pass quicker. From, your friends at the Graduate Office at UT". The passengers loved it. They tweeted it out and it spread quickly. Local paper picked up story or something. Great PR, and word of mouth spread big time.
Ever shop on Amazon? Of course you do. And of course you read the reviews. They carry a lot of weight! Everyone reads them! If something got 4,376 5 star reviews, are you more or less inclined to buy the product? People relying on other, real-life people who had a good experience with such and such product is a great marketing tool. Angie's List, Home Advisor, etc are others where trusted referrals carry a lot of weight. Real people, real testimonies. I contacted a dozen top students last year during our website revamp to see if they would be willing to offer a testimony to their programs with pictures of themselves. All had a good experience in their grad program and were willing to talk about it. Stories like this go a long way.
You can bring the light of Christ to others through this kind of word-of-mouth. It's how the early Church spread, and continues to spread in areas of the world in which written communication is sometimes outlawed or not commonplace. People hear about a Christian community, "See how these Christians love one another!" and want to know more.
These ten observations are just a few I've been thinking about. What I see as a danger is the complacency. Churches that sit back on their haunches and expect people to come to them because "that's how we've always done it" or "why should we go out there? They should come to us" are aging and withering on the vine. You can't just expect to grow without doing anything. The question is, do you even want to grow? Or would you rather people seeking Truth and joy, peace, and grace, go somewhere else? The culture will take them if you don't want them.
The thing is, God DOES want them. He THIRSTS on the cross for souls. Wants us to find joy and peace, invites us to "come and see," lays down his life so that we might have life; dies so that we might not taste death; teaches and feeds the multitudes, does not send them away hungry; draws from the well and offers Living Water; promises justice for the oppressed, eternal life for those who believe in him.
I love my job. I love working with students and helping them find the right fit for graduate school. I love thinking strategically about processes and data management and how to do things better. I am part of a great team, work collaboratively with great faculty and administrators, and I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids to the university where I work.
But none of it holds a candle to how I feel about living a life walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ. I don't preach or proclaim because I'm trying trick anyone or sell a lemon or join a cult. I want people to come and see for themselves that maybe, just maybe, this may be what you have been looking for all your life. If it's not, I may not be your man. But if it is...please call me. I promise I'll return the call.
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