Member Relationship Management
In his book Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Response to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, Albert O. Hirschman states that individuals have three ways of expressing their dissatisfaction with an organization or situation. They can leave, voice their objections, or become disloyal to the situation.[1] The concepts he presents are simple, and well known within the business world. In business, we monitor the relationships with our customers very carefully. Their voices are listened for and heard. I often wonder why we fail to see this within a ministry context. People within the pews of a church are often treated like consumers, yet we fail to recognize when they behave like consumers. In America, we often make church (buying decisions) based on our satisfaction with the church and we are quick to leave a failing organization. When a church or Christian organization is declining, people often leave, voice their objections or complain.
My wife worked with a large organization and spent much time in customer relationship management. The company adjusted their product based on the voice of the customer…and the customers were heard through reporting on the number of customers disconnecting service and leaving, calling in and complaining, or getting on social media sites and making disloyal comments. More customers would leave in areas where there were more options – i.e. comparable competition. In those areas where customers had fewer options for the same services, they were more likely to call and complain or to be heard through social media versus exiting.
Recently, I sat in a church conference of a medium sized church that I consider to be in a failing state. The staff doesn’t connect with the community or congregation. They want to be the next mega church and trendsetter, yet the congregation is largely over age 55 and they are located in an older community. The church is not growing, nor has grown in many years and they are struggling financially. At the conference, people didn’t feel free to express their opinion. The few that did speak up were quickly put down. The trends reveal that people are exiting the church (leaving), not giving financially (voice using their money), or are gossiping and complaining amongst themselves (disloyal) contributing to a toxic environment. This same church has been able to hold on despite their issues, in part, due to the fact that many large families attend the church. If people leave, then they are also leaving their family and tradition. Hence, the principle seen here is that there is less ability for exit, so the voice is used more profoundly. Now, this church is also part of a large denomination. There are those that are loyal to the denomination, therefore there is some brand loyalty contributing also to their decision to exit or not. Overall, the church is not healthy. Yet, to read the statistics that are published each year the story tells something different. I’m not sure why so many churches strive to cover up their issues or fail to recognize these types of problems. In the business world, the customer state and satisfaction levels are constantly monitored…the idea is to build relationships with the customer. Given that we are to build relationships in churches, why is it that we brush our problems under the rug as if they will go away? Very few churches monitor the members that are exiting or complaining…yet they will eagerly share the number of new members or baptisms.
If organizations spend time to carefully monitor their customers, they will see exit, voice, and loyalty at play. For church denominations, a study across their individual churches will reveal quite a bit about their level of health overall. Churches need to adopt some of the same practices and business reporting that will help them to accurately capture the heartbeat of their organization. The reality is that people are speaking, and speaking loudly…yet we don’t want to listen. Unfortunately, too many churches avoid hearing the truth and delay acting to correct issues until they are too late. Instead, they could be proactively ensuring that their ministry is effective by actually monitoring the signs and symptoms through which their people are talking.
[1] Albert Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970)
About the Author
Richard Volzke
13 responses to “Member Relationship Management”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Richard …
I appreciate your very thoughtful analysis and reflection. I do agree that there is an important message that is being communicated and that we have an important task to recognize unhealth. Reggie McNeal has written about the measurement system that is utilized for many churches and denominations — ABC — Attendance, buildings and cash. Your post touched on each of these. The challenge I feel is that while we must recognize the aspects of exit, voice and loyalty do we do so seeing parishioners as consumers or our brothers and sisters? If we take the model presented by Hirschman what would happen if we flip it around? Is it both a positive and a negative? Can health be present in a congregation that loses numbers? Is part of the Church’s “problem” that we have taken voice away from those that attend? What does loyalty look like for those that remain? Why do they stay? So many questions stirred by your post! 🙂
Carol,
My wish is that most church leaders would see all parishioners as brothers and sisters in Christ, but I must admit that it is not always the case. The truth is that many American churches view individuals as resources that can be used. Materialism has so infected the modern church that we are often more worried about the building and amenities than people. This being said, there are really great churches and church leaders…but treating parishioners well is not the dogma that the American church (as a whole) has propagated. I am seeing new trends emerging that give hope that we will turn toward better things, but it may take a while for “church wounds” to heal across society. Now answer your question…yes, I believe that a loss of members can be a positive thing for a church. We belong to a church that dropped almost 50% due to an issue with a prior pastor. He left with his supporters. Yet, the Lord knew that weeding needed to be done so the church could grow. The church has seen tremendous growth both in members and health.
Richard
Hi Richard, Thank you for your insights. I do agree with you that it is important church leaders listen to their members’ complaints. We have similar problem in my church leadership too. The other challenge I see in my context is that churches are too self-focused. They do all kinds of activities to satisfy their member spiritual thirst but lack for their neighbor. If they every engage in any social justice, it is always for the sake of winning souls. How is your church doing interims listening to their neighbors’ needs?
Telile,
Thanks for the reply and question. The church that I have just left doesn’t listen well to the people, nor the community around them. When someone expresses dissatisfaction with anything, the leaders quickly take offense and quiet him or her. The demographics surrounding the church are mainly retired, older individuals. Instead of developing ministries to reach them, leadership has decided to mainly focus on growth through enticing younger generations with kids and teens. In doing so, they have alienated older generations. At the point of financial crisis, they decided to try to make up to them. But, I see they have a long way to go, and I do not believe the current pastoral team truly realizes the amount of hurt that they have caused. It saddens me as these people are so very special, and there are so many needs with elderly individuals right within walking distance of the church. I also agree with you that many engage in social justice to solely win souls…there is always an expected return on their investment. Rather, we need to be working for the good of mankind and demonstrating Christ to the world with no strings attached. Church membership numbers should not be our primary metric. On the other hand, it should be monitored as one of many measures to ensure we are adequately discipling and caring for those within our doors. I don’t know why, but it seems organizations are either good at caring for their own and ignoring those on the outside, or vice versa. An, unfortunately some aren’t good at either. We need to look both internally and externally and ensure we are demonstrating Christ in all areas.
Richard,
Love your post. There is so much truth in what you say here. So often, we would rather plug our ears than listen to truth. I so agree with your points about this.
Recently, I was cleaning my ears with a Q-tip. I went a little too deep and suddenly my hearing in one of my ears was severely blocked. Ironically, I had done the same thing to my other ear a month earlier. So now I had two stopped up ears. That same morning I had an important appointment with a teacher who I was training to teach a brand new English class. But I could hardly hear what he had to say. I was so frustrated. Thankfully, my doctor’s office was a two-minute drive from the Starbucks where I had my meeting. Fortunately, one of the doctors had an opening to see me. After looking in my ears, the doctor decided that I had a very serious wax buildup in both ears. So she ordered that they be flushed out. The process was not without pain, particularly on one of the ears, which took several extra squirts to get at the large wax deposit. But eventually the “plug” was dislodged. Frankly, it was a gross event, but the end result was that my hearing was cleared up. What a wonderful feeling it was to hear clearly again!
I think there is a lesson for organizations here. We must listen. But if our ears are clogged by some sort of obstruction then we have to take the time to get our ears cleaned out! It will be painful, but it will be better than not hearing what we need to hear. God help us all, to be willing to hear all that we need to hear. I agree with you 100 percent; we need to listen to our members and customers. Thanks for your great thoughts hear — I mean here.
Bill & Richard,
As I was reading Richard’s post, Bill’s comments on my post were a clanging gong in my ear! Listening. Listening. Listening. Why are leaders so afraid to listen? Why do leaders refuse to listen to those they are serving? Is it ego? Is it power? Is it, “I know better than you?” Is it insecurity? So often the answers to our problems (conflict resolution, attendance, money, etc) are right in front of us, but we do not take the time to listen.
I am writing this as much as a response as for myself. I need to cultivate my listening skills. Active listening requires hearing, understanding, asking questions, critically thinking… Most often, my listening is filled with distractions, answers before hearing the whole situation, and wondering what else I could be doing other than listening. Terrible! Simply terrible!
Richard & Bill, how much change could we instill if we simply listen?
Ashley,
I agree with you in that we do not listen enough. The reason leaders don’t listen can vary, but I think you hit the top reasons. Getting leaders (myself included in this category) to start listening is a question that I have been struggling with since I have been in ministry. Pastors and church leaders fight tooth and nail to hold onto the way they want things to be. I’ve even seen one pastor stack the board in his own favor so he could pursue “his vision” for the church.
I like to party, not look arietlcs up online. You made it happen.
That’s a posting full of insight!
It’s good to see someone thinking it through.
Bill, I feel your pain…I’ve been to the doctor for the same thing! Sometimes the truth hurts, but sometimes pain brings healing and health down the road. Often times, churches will dig their feet in and avoid going through pain. They would rather brush issues under the rug. I struggle with this, as I see that they often allow attitudes or behavior that is not Christ-like. In many ways, it is the sin that erodes away the ability for a church to fulfill their calling. I struggle with this as they will quickly point out other’s sin and cast judgment…yet knowingly let stuff go on under their own roof. For example, they will allow pet projects or funds to be spent on unnecessary causes in order to play the politics. I take my responsibility seriously when it comes to ensuring a church places Biblical principles and good operating standards in place…and I’ve often been chastised for this. But, I’ve come to realize that we must be firm and willing to stand up for what is right…no matter the cost to us personally.
Interesting post, Richard. I wonder about a number of factors which may impede many churches willingness to listen. First, I think that though we often function with a consumer oriented (seeker friendly) mindset, we don’t recognize it as such. We spiritualize our actions and then reject criticism as unspiritual. Second, I think some leaders have amazingly fragile egos. They personalize criticism and reject it. And sometimes the criticism is downright personal and mean. The congregants may have real concerns but misdirect it at a person instead of the real issue. What we can learn from business is to step back and follow the trends or themes as opposed to individual instances.
Richard,
“Capturing the heartbeat of the organization…”
I think that this is such a vital concept above-and-beyond just allowing for voice. Because, for instance, what if there are multiple voices at odds? Sometimes we might want less voice — at least in a sense. 🙂 How do we “hear” well?
I appreciate your thorough look at all the pieces that go into this process of healing and stabilizing.