I went to Home Depot the other day to pick up a repair kit to fix a runny toilet. On my way in this trailer caught my eye.
Now, I happen to be more of a Lowe’s guy but on this day, Home Depot was closer so I chose the big orange. I was impressed. They had this trailer sitting right out front with a sign that said, “Get Started! Everything you see for $137/month.”
The trailer was loaded with a beautiful riding mower, a weed-eater, a gas can, and a small chain saw. It was all there together in one nice, neat little package.
I have never even considered starting my own landscaping/mowing business but that display had me thinking. Maybe I could do this. Was that more powerful than just a sign telling me what they could do to help me get started? You bet.
I was thinking about this great marketing and it reminded me of my good friend Matt, who is one of the managers at Restoration Hardware. What a great store…full of great products. But Matt tells me it’s not odd at all to have someone walk into his store with the Restoration Catalog in their hand. They find a picture from the catalog, maybe a beautiful room furnished with sofas, lamps, rugs, shelving and lighting from RH. They just hold out the picture and say, “I want that!”
It’s all in the packaging. Good marketers know that most people do not connect the dots. Most people will not imagine all the possibilities and go through the effort of putting the package together themselves. That’s not their job. That’s your job if you are the store owner or manager. You must fill their minds with possibilities.
But what about the church? I believe that in these days, fewer and fewer people are going to continue to go to a church that is continually irrelevant and out of step. At one time in our culture, people would continue to attend a church that wasn’t meeting needs merely out of a sense of duty and politeness. Those days are gone.
I believe that churches must begin to do a much better job of packaging the services they have to offer in such a way that people can see the possibilities much more clearly. It seems to me that most churches offer what they offer…the sing, they pray, they preach, they teach. Whatever you get…or fail to get is all on your own.
How much furniture would Restoration Hardware sell at that price if they displayed their wares like Sam’s? On shelves that stretch up to the ceiling? What Home Depot and RH have learned is that good packaging sells. What’s true in retail, I believe, is true in the church.
Churches who have learned to stay relevant have already learned this lesson. They’ve put together messages and music to meet specific needs of the body they are ministering to. They’ve done a better job of thinking outside the walls of the church and meeting needs “out there.” They’ve put together teachers and curriculum designed to reach a much more specific group of needs. And they’ve been able to say, “Get Started!” to the hurting people coming to their churches for help.
Recent Comments