December 7, 2008Comments are closed.attitude, marketing
From Donor Power blog;
What if Starbucks marketed like the church? A parable
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_dZTrjw9I]
This is obviously meant to be a humourous way for churches to look at their presentation, but it has huge lessons for rescuers as we’re often so impassioned by our ‘calling’ that we forget entirely that the people we’re dealing with aren’t just like us.
What if Starbucks marketed like a nonprofit? It would probably be similar to this: Speaking their own idiom, having trumpeting their own goals, blithely unaware how weird they look and sound — and annoyed with their customers who don’t “get it.”
Combative messages dissing people who don’t share the same knowledge or beliefs, an environment that supports ‘the regulars’ rather than making visitors feel welcome, a lack of helpful signage leaving people to wander about lost and the real cracker; demanding people to commit their personal information to you long before you’ve built a relationship or any kind of trust.
Marketing isn’t just a nice website and an advert in the newspaper; it’s about the way you treat the people that visit your organisation. Interactions that begin from the moment people drive into your carpark – how they’re greeted, if they’re treated like they’re an important part of what you do and how you deliver you messages to them, all matter.
People don’t visit you to be converted – they’re just looking for more information. Hold the sermon and the judgement and recognise the gem you have in front of you; a person considering a rescue!
Our impact is not measured by how successful, knowledgeable and impassioned we are, it’s about how we engage and inspire our communities. And we’ll only engage others if we reach out to them on their terms, in their language and in a way that doesn’t make them feel eerily uncomfortable.
Latte anyone?
