The Importance of Guest Surveys

I was working out at the gym this morning when I saw one of our Mosaic Guest Surveys come through my inbox on my phone. I always love reading the surveys we send out to second time guests. As I read this one, I found myself pumping my fist and saying “Yes!” out loud. At they gym. Fortunately, pretty much everyone was in their own world with ear buds in, so no one seemed to notice.

Here’s what I read on my phone at the gym:

1. What influenced your decision to attend Mosaic a second time? My wife and I have never truly found a community here in Minnesota (moved here 3 years ago), and it felt like we were pushed this direction by God to have Mosaic came into our lives at a time when we needed to let go of doubt and false labels.
2.  What was most memorable about your first or second visit to Mosaic? Many of the messages have lately been directly relevant to us lately.
3.  Would you feel comfortable inviting your friends to attend Mosaic with you? Why or why not? Sure, I appreciate a strong community and people looking for a home may find it with Mosaic. Actions speak louder than words, and perhaps people will ask what’s uplifted me recently.
4.  How could we improve your experience? I was actually talking with my wife about this last Saturday on the drive home and last night. I never really grew up thinking what could make things better for me, I grew up fairly poor and took heart in trying to service others through words and actions. Since moving to Minnesota however I haven’t spent much time outward. God has blessed us now and I feel like our blessings should be paid forward.

Here are 3 reasons why I think it’s a great idea to send out some sort of survey to your guests who come back a second time.

1.) Unfiltered Feedback. Sending out surveys is a good way to find out if your preaching specifically and your church in general is accomplishing the mission God has given you. It’s good to get feedback from people who regularly attend your church. But they already know you and hopefully love you! Getting survey results from guests is a great way to get unfiltered feedback. When guests are telling you that your messages are relevant to what they are going through, you know you are on the right track! If you aren’t getting that kind of feedback…well, maybe you need to change what you are preaching on.

2.) Encouragement for Your Team. When you get cool stories from your surveys, you can pass those along to encourage your team. They can be used to remind your team why they go through so much effort each Sunday to pull Sunday services off.

3.) Tool to Improve Your Team. Occasionally, guests will let us know that there is an area that needs addressing. It might be something that has become invisible to us because  we just don’t see things the same way as a first or second time guest.

If you are a church leader or even a business leader, I would encourage you to figure out how you can offer a simple, short guest survey to those that are new to your church or business. Hopefully you’ll find it’s worth it for you too!