During my seminary years back in the early 90s, I was like most of my fellow students: poor. Even though my wife and I both had degrees in education and I had already had experience in teaching high school, the schedule of classes and work load for seminary required that both of us find flexible jobs. I had also pastored for several years, but in a seminary town it seemed even the most tenured of students had church positions at least a two-hour drive from school. Seminary wasn’t cheap (and we were hungry), so after a couple of months’ prayer the Lord opened up part-time (around 30 hours per week) jobs at the Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. Leslie worked at Sears selling computers to an emerging techno market (this was back when IBM’s PS/2 had just been released with a whole 40 MB harddrive and a 14.4K modem!), and I landed a job in the mall selling diamond rings to potential couples in the research triangle. I enjoyed learning about the products, the customers, and the process, and I became salesman of the month for several months of my 2 years there; but what I learned from this experience was all the more priceless as I applied the lessons to planting churches in Russia.
The Start of the Conversation. We had many people who came through the store from morning til night. Many of them were “browsers,” and they let you know quickly by telling you “just looking” as soon as you said hello. Some were annoying “browsers” who were just killing time at the mall; you could tell them by the large slurpee in their hands (or the oversized chocolate chip cookie, the steamy soft pretzel, or the aromatic cup of java). Most of our sales guys would simply ignore these folks, but a couple of us made a game at seeing how many “just looking”s we could turn into actual sales by offering to clean their rings or by asking if they had seen the very latest piece we had. Some were “potentials;” these were the folks who stopped to look at something very specific. These were the folks you wanted to spend time with, and in a competitive market, these were the ones that sales guys “claimed” if they came in for a second look.
Regardless of the status of the customer, the two most difficult points in the sales experience was the start of the conversation and the close. To know how to start up a conversation without sounding hokey or tin was a challenge, but once you got beyond the initial words, things seemed to flow naturally. I found I could just say, “Hi, welcome to Gordon’s, I’m glad you came in (insert smile).” To preclude the “just looking” comment, I would often quickly add, “Please, have a look around and let me know if I can show you something.” Sometimes the very fact that I had just offered to ignore the customer would prompt a startled reaction like, “oh…can I see your diamonds?”
You see, I knew the fact that some of the folks came into the store meant that they were seeking something; they just didn’t want to be bullied. Church planting is like that. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Russian guys to start new groups in Bryansk and St. Petersburg. Almost every time, the initial start-up is one of the most difficult moments. But once you’re able to “begin the conversation” (by forming a bible study group with a family or friends in a home, by inviting the public to a free Bible distribution, by starting an English class, or by hosting a VBS or film showing), the second and subsequent meetings seem to flow more naturally. Jesus started several conversations with one-liners like “give me a drink of water” (John 4:7) and “get out of that tree” (Luke 19:5), but the fact is that he began the conversation!
The Deal. When I sold jewelry, I saw each interaction with the customer as a time of relationship building. I really wanted to know why they were buying a piece, and often the dialogue intrigued me. One of the most touching times was when a woman came in to buy a pretty large and expensive sapphire ring. As we talked and laughed about jewelry and life, I asked her about the significance of her purchase. She shocked me when she said that her husband of 30 years had just died. She started to cry and said, “He’s gone. He left me with a pile of insurance money and no one to share it with. I’m just buying stuff to try to help me quit hurting so badly.” I don’t cry, but at that point, I almost lost it. I found that really listening to the customer was crucial. I had the opportunity to share how the love of Christ can fill a void that material things cannot. I knew I could have lost the sale with that conversation, but she not only appreciated my candor, she indeed became a repeat customer.
Church planting requires really listening. It is a time of relationship building. Too often church planters view the church planting process as a simple function: plant & reap. But the growth needed between the start and finish of a church plant requires a lot of listening, a lot of care, a lot of pastoring. If you’re planting a church and don’t feel that you are gifted as a pastor yourself, look for that spiritual giftedness within the group. A group will only realize itself under the leadership of a listener. Even though the apostle Paul started churches in record time (sometimes within a day; other times within a couple of weeks), he did so by spending massive amounts of time in talking and listening and crying (Acts 20:31).
Closing the deal. If starting the conversation is difficult, closing the deal is intricate. I made a lot of mistakes in selling jewelry by attempting to close the deal too early. No customer wants to feel rushed. Sometimes I dragged out the conversation for too long. One time, a young business woman buying a diamond tennis bracelet finally blurted out to me, “Ok, reel me in and close the deal.” How you close the deal can determine whether your sale will be a later return. You really want to close well.
I’ve seen some of my colleagues struggle with how to get the bible study to finally make that step into becoming a new church plant. They agonize over whether the group is ready. They wrestle with whether the group is fulfilling all of the five functions of a church and whether the group truly understands the ordinances. But what I’ve noticed most is that the church planter is usually more uptight about this final step than the new church is. Maybe its because of an overprotective mothering instinct within the planter, a fear of potential failure in a false start, or some deeper issue the planter has with the demands and standards of his organization; but often times it’s the planter and not the people who tend to mess up the close. After teaching what it means to be a church and seeing people get saved and baptized, I have discovered it’s best to let the group “say yes to the dress.” There are ways in which a church planter can help or hinder that step, but a group knows when it is approaching that invisible line of becoming a church.
Follow-up. At Gordon’s, I kept a journal of everyone I sold jewelry to. When I made a sale, I asked them to write for me their birthday and anniversary. Most of them did, so a week prior to those dates and on special events like Christmas, I would send a card with a personal note that thanked them for their business and wished them the best on their birthday, etc. Interestingly, this not only proved successful in providing repeat customers, I actually became friends with some of them.
When a church is planted, the planter needs to follow up with ongoing contact. Paul did that for his churches (each of the epistles is a letter to a church he’d had influence). There is a point of diminishing leadership, because the regular steps of Model, Assist, Watch, and Leave (MAWL) are valid. But there is also a friendship that must be valued in the process. One of the greatest joys I had a couple of years ago was to return to the church plant on Vasili’s Island in St. Petersburg and spend time with the pastor and members with whom we partnered to plant this church. Still going strong and healthy, it was a joy to hear that they had also taken the initiative to start new groups and support their own missionaries. I was glad that we followed up with them.
Of course, there are more lessons than these that come from my sales experience, as I’m sure that you have some wonderful insights from the experiences God has given you. Hit reply and share those!
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