Guides

Guest follow up in Planning Center.

Planning Center gives you the connect card and the checklist. Here is how a team uses them for guest follow up, and where each guest's story lives.

SVSean Verchick, Founder of ShepUpdated October 20265 minute read

The short version

  1. Connect cardA form in Planning Center People collects the guest's details.
  2. WorkflowThe form adds them to a workflow, with a step for each follow up.
  3. ShepherdOne person on your team owns the guest from day one.
  4. StoryWhat you learn on each call is written where the whole team can read it.
  5. Next stepA group or a team in Planning Center, with a leader who invites them.

What Planning Center does for a first visit

Planning Center People gives you two tools for guests. A form is your connect card. A workflow is your checklist: each guest is a card that moves through steps, and each step is assigned to someone on your team. Set the form to add every new guest to the workflow and nobody has to remember to start it.

That covers who and when. A workflow tells you whether the call was made. It was not built to be the place your whole team reads how the call went, what the guest is looking for, and who on your team knows them now.

That part is the story, and the story is what Shep is for.

Guest follow up with Planning Center and Shep

  1. Sunday

    The connect card goes into Planning Center.

    Paper card or phone, it ends up as a form submission in Planning Center People. That stays your source of truth for names, phones, and emails.
    In Shep

    The guest comes over with the sync, and their first visit lands on their story as a milestone. Nobody types them in twice.

    MilestoneFirst visit, from Planning Center
  2. Sunday afternoon

    Give them a shepherd.

    Whoever met them on Sunday is their shepherd for the next six weeks. A workflow step can be assigned to anyone. A shepherd is the one person the guest actually knows.
    In Shep

    Set the shepherd on their profile and add them to your guest journey. Write the one thing you learned on Sunday as the first note.

    SMSarah Mitchell added a note on James Carter
    First visit. Moved from Denver in August. Two kids, 6 and 9.
    ShepherdSarah Mitchell
    JourneyGuest follow up, on the step First visit
  3. Within 48 hours

    The call, and the note.

    Their shepherd calls or sends a personal message. If you keep a workflow, mark the step done in Planning Center. Then write down what you learned, in two plain lines.
    In Shep

    Write what you learned as a note on their story. It shows up in the activity feed, so the rest of the team knows without asking.

    SMSarah Mitchell added a note on James Carter
    Called James. Settling in well, kids start school Monday. Looking for a group with other parents.
  4. Week 1

    Bring in the group leader.

    Your groups already live in Planning Center. The invitation should come from the person who leads the group, so the shepherd's job this week is to connect the two of them.
    In Shep

    Mention the group leader in a comment on your note. When the guest joins the group in Planning Center, it shows on their profile in Shep after the next sync.

    SMSarah Mitchell added a note on James Carter
    Looking for a group with other parents.
    Sarah Mitchell @Ryan Cole Could you call James about Tuesday night?
    Ryan Cole On it. Calling him tomorrow.
    GroupsTuesday Night Group, from Planning Center
  5. Weeks 4 to 6

    A team, scheduled in Planning Center.

    If they want to serve, start with a shadow day beside someone who already does it. The team and its schedule stay in Planning Center, where your team leaders already work.
    In Shep

    Give the team leader a task with a date for the shadow day. Once the guest is on the team in Planning Center, the team shows on their profile.

    Shadow day with James on the welcome team
    Dana Brooks, due Sunday
    TeamsWelcome Team, from Planning Center
  6. After week 6

    Bring a third person to coffee.

    Think of one person who would connect well with them, and get the three of you together: a coffee, a walk, something you all enjoy. Never go alone. Once the two have connected, that person becomes their shepherd.
    In Shep

    Once the two have connected, make that person the shepherd on their profile. A sync never overwrites a shepherd, a note, or a journey.

    ShepherdMichael Reed

Keep the workflow, or use a journey?

You do not have to choose. Some teams keep the Planning Center workflow as the checklist and use Shep for the story. Others lay the same steps out as a journey in Shep, so the step and the story sit side by side. Either way, write the notes in one place.

WhatWhere it lives
The connect cardPlanning Center
People and householdsPlanning Center, synced to Shep
Groups and who attendedPlanning Center, synced to Shep
Serving teams and schedulesPlanning Center, synced to Shep
Each guest's story: notes, wins, milestonesShep
A shepherd for every guestShep
Follow up tasks with an owner and a dateShep

How to know it is working

A finished workflow card tells you the steps were done. Ask three questions about your team as well, for every guest.

  • Does someone know them?
  • Has anyone talked with them lately?
  • Is their story written down?

If the answer is no, that is ours to fix, not theirs.

Run this in Shep

Connect Planning Center once. Your people, households, groups, and serving teams come over, and your team gets one place to keep up with how each guest is doing, on the web and on the iPhone app.

Shep does not score your people. It scores your team on those three questions.

Start free trialBook a demo

14 day free trial. No card needed.

Questions

Can Planning Center do guest follow up?
Yes. Planning Center People has forms for the connect card and workflows for the steps, with each step assigned to someone on your team.
Does Shep replace Planning Center workflows?
It does not have to. Keep the workflow as your checklist, or lay the same steps out as a journey in Shep. Either way, Shep adds the story, a shepherd for each guest, and one feed the whole team reads.
How do guests get from Planning Center into Shep?
Through the sync. People, households, groups, and serving teams come over every day and when something changes. You choose who comes in by Planning Center membership status.
Do we have to enter people twice?
No. Add them in Planning Center and they come over. People you already added in Shep are matched, so nobody shows up twice.

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