In Fusion and in all of my other Assimilation resources, I share how vital prompt follow-up is to connecting new people to your church.  I teach a practical process to follow-up with first and second time guests multiple times in the days immediately following their visit to your church.

Because of how strongly I emphasize that this follow-up happen quickly, I sometimes receive questions about whether or not your follow-up can happen too fast.

The short answer?  YES, you can follow-up too quickly.

One simple reason is that most people don’t check emails on Sunday.  For that reason, I like to wait until Monday or even Tuesday morning to send follow-up emails.

As for follow-up cards/letters, we’ve found that they’re most effective if they’re delivered on Wednesday afternoon, so people will get them when they get home on Wednesday. It’s close enough to their visit to reinforce their positive experience and close enough to the next weekend to encourage them to return.

For delivery to happen on time, we drop follow-up letters in the mail on Monday afternoon.  Here in NYC it takes about 2 days for a letter to hit, but it may be faster in your town.  Just aim to have your mail arrive on Wednesday.

All that being said, I do most of the work of preparing these items on Sunday (or even the week before as much as possible) to insure that I can click “Send” and drop them in the outgoing mail at the above times.

How effectively is your church following up with new people?

P.S. For more advanced ideas to connect new people to your church, check out The Assimilation Intensive.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.