It’s not at all unusually for one of our Executive students to contact his mentor and ask for specific approaches to a particular market.  Keep in mind that we don’t always have the answer.  But what we do have is an insatiable appetite for new marketing techniques. 

In some cases these support contacts stimulate new marketing ideas.  Sometimes it takes a little research on the part of both the Student and the Mentor to assure a reasonable marketing result.  But, what’s most important about this new series is that it provides us with the opportunity to share these unique concepts with other Executive members.

The Executive Question:

How would an advocate approach a religious organization about his/her service?

“I was setting in church Sunday morning day-dreaming about my new Advocate service.  As I looked around, it dawned on me that in a church with several thousand members, someone must be applying for disability benefits.  The question is; how does an advocate market to a religious organization?”

This is not only an extremely good question; it also identifies a growing market that is more than capable of providing a steady source of clients to your service.  Given the size of the Advocate market, it’s logical to assume that at least one church member will need representational services.  If the member does not require services then perhaps one of his family members or an acquaintance would need our services.  Simply put, churches represent a viable market for disability advocates that should not be ignore.

After receiving this question, the mentor wisely shared it with our advocate marketing team.  After a little research, we identified some unique aspects of religious marketing that we would like to share with you.

Unique Approach

The most difficult part of religious marketing is the approach.  If you attempt to directly approach members, say after a service, you run the risk of alienating potential customers who may not be in the mood for a sales pitch on Sunday morning.  You also run the risk of alienating the Pastor of the church by invading or inconveniencing his folk without proper authorization.

Unique Sensitivities

Let’s begin by discussing the church member.  It’s not a good idea to approach any religious sect that you know nothing about.  As a marketer, the least you should do is take the time to understand the basic tenets of the church.  This means that you should never approach a church until you have at least a basic understanding of that church’s fundamental beliefs.  Taking this precaution serves you in three ways:

1. Prevents you from inadvertently offending a member. 
2. Helps you to create a more effective marketing approach. 
3. Helps you avoid alienating church leadership.

Unique Leadership

Our research showed that the absolute best way to acquire access to a church’s membership is by respecting its leadership.  That is, you should approach the leadership of a church first and ask permission to approach and enlighten his membership.  If you attempt to circumvent church leadership, they’ll cut you off at the knees.  So, how does one approach a religious leader?

Approaching church leaders is secondary to determining who the leaders are.  This is done in two ways.  First, understand the basic structure of the church.  For example, in most Christian sects such as the Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc, there is a fairly common approach to the leadership hierarchy.  You can usually identify the leadership by visiting the churches website or requesting a copy of the church bulletin. 

If neither of these two approaches will work, then directly approach a pastor and request information about joining the church.  If you can’t get access to the pastor, then approach a member with the same request for membership information.  The member may lead you directly back to the pastor.  Requesting membership information will usually result in a very positive response.  It also acts an opportunity for you to learn whose who within the church.

Suggestion: 

If you’re going to use the “I’m thinking of joining approach” pick large denominations.  In this way, you have a larger potential marketing base.

Once you’ve identified the churches leadership, you should do the following:

1. Attend a few services if possible and make donations.
2. Request an audience with the pastor.  This may automatically occur when using the potential new member approach.
3. Do not bring up the subject of your service in the first meeting. 
4. Make sure you’re comfortable with the pastor before mentioning your business.  Our researched showed that most pastors will in fact ask you what you do for a living.  This could be your opportunity to discuss your service without making the leadership feel that you’re trying to sale them something.  If this occurs, use an informative approach rather than a selling approach.

Religion is a Business

Some of you may be offended by my suggestion that religion is a business.  For this, I apologize.  However, my statement holds true if you recognize that churches have financial obligations just like any other institutions.  You can use this financial reality to your advantage when requesting access to membership.  If you’re given an audience with church leadership, come prepared to explain your service.  Be able to list the benefits of your service to the individual member and emphasize your dedication to outstanding service.  You should also offer the leadership an incentive to cooperate:

Incentive (A) 

Whether you become a member or not, offer to help someone who is unable to pay for services.  Charity work is an extremely important aspect of religion and will warm the hearts of the leadership.

Incentive (B)

Offer to share revenue with the church.  For example, if the church provides you with a referral, upon successful completion of the case, you promise to donate say 5% of your fee to the church.  Putting this in writing is also effective in extracting cooperation. 

If you follow through with your promise, this could really open doors.  Think of your approach to churches as a give-and-take relationship and you’ll succeed in acquiring this market.

One more thing, large denominations are the absolute best markets because they usually have multiple church locations and a centralized local power structure.  If you succeed with a single church that is part of a larger denomination, you could enjoy a multiplying affect across your community.  Creating a good reputation with a single church could open doors to an entire denomination.