Cory Lebovitz

Always check the eggs before you buy them.

I’ll be honest…until I got married I had no idea that people actually inspect eggs at the store before they buy them. Perhaps a few of you would echo my ignorance. It was after a quick trip to the store one day, early in our marriage, that my wife asked, “did you look at the eggs before you got them?” The answer was of course no.

The problem was that multiple eggs in the cartoon were already broken. The shell was cracked and we were unable to use those eggs. I’ve since learned to take 10 seconds to lift the carton and check the shell of the eggs before we buy the carton. The contents of those broken eggs were fine, but when the outer shell was damaged I was unable to handle or enjoy what was inside.

Why do I share this?

An intentional guest experience is a bit like the shell of the egg. It protects the content of what you do; making it easy for others to handle and enjoy.

You have probably been to a restaurant with a great menu, but the customer service made it hard to handle the idea of a return trip. Maybe you have walked in the doors of a church whose guest services experience made it difficult to enjoy the content of the service. An intentional guest experience process protects and compliments the core of what you do as an organization.

The best part (in my opinion) about crafting a guest experience for others is that there is more than one way to do it – you have freedom and flexibility. The key is to be intentional.

Here are questions to consider as you craft (or improve) your intentional guest experience:

1) What do we want people to see?
2) What do we want people to feel?
3) How much space do we want people to have?
4) How much interaction do we want people to have?
5) Do we want to ask anything of them?
6) What do they need to know?
7) When they leave what do we hope they will say?

Know the answers to these questions. Make sure everyone from the leader at the top to the people at the front lines know the answers. Under pressure or confusion these questions (and their intentional answers for your organization) provide clarity. Having intentional answers to these questions will allow you to protect your guest’s experience and ensure they are able to handle and enjoy the core of what your organization has to offer.