‘WHY’ Does Someone Return? [v275]

JANUARY 2022

Are there some specific reasons ‘WHY’ someone will return to buy from a company? Then, are there ways to have them enthusiastically think to themselves, “I’ll be back”?

INTRODUCTION

Keeping an existing customer is far easier, and much cheaper, then looking for a new one. It never ceases to amaze me how few businesses realize this. They seem to have it ingrained into their thinking that their business growth strategy must remain sharply focused on continually ‘hunting’ for new customers. They allocate large sums of money to advertising and marketing, trusting that this will lure prospects from the opposition or entice others to buy products they really had not thought about or had a need for. They seem ‘infatuated’ with appealing to a fresh group of ‘potential’ customers that have never dealt with them before—sometimes neglecting their ‘current’ customers to a fault (possibly because they have no idea who their existing customers are and how to get in contact with them).

There are a variety of estimates but, on average, it is said that it is six to seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current customer! [ Depending on the industry and product, this ranges from 2 times to 25 times! ]. That’s why it is SO ‘IMPORTANT’ that a company learn how to ‘encourage’ and develop “RAVING FANS” of the business—like Apple does—since they always seem to be talking about your products or services FOR FREE! In addition to ‘TELLING’ OTHERS about how good a company’s products/services are, THEY ‘CONTINUE’ to buy more products and services from the company.

So, how can a company ensure that the current customers they have RETURN to buy more?

Well, best-selling author and award-winning speaker Shep Hyken says that many a successful business strategy has been built around the Hollywood legend and former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most famous tagline: “I’ll be back!” It points toward a vitally important principle when it comes to creating and sustaining a competitive edge in the marketplace: ‘REPEAT’ business, especially business that results from customer ‘LOYALTY’. This makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the success of a business.

[ VIDEO: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll Be Back” Catchphrase ].

When a customer says to a company representative, “I’ll be back,” that is a ‘game changer’ for the business—and the company should be ALL ABOUT generating those types of responses from customers more often, more strategically, and more reliably than their competition.

What a company should strive for is a customer who thinks to themselves, “I think I will return to this company the next time I need this”—and DOES! So, the question is then, how does a company get them to return…OFTEN!

The more moments company can support, encourage, and reinforce that “I’ll be back” response, the better off the company will be—and the greater the likelihood that it will survive and thrive, no matter what ‘curveballs’ they are served up by their local marketplace, the national economy, or even the global ‘situation’.

The ‘bottom line’ is that the very best way to secure sustainable growth for a business over time is to increase the number of RETURNING customers and to turn as many of those customers as possible into ‘repeat’ LOYAL customers.

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WHY CUSTOMERS ‘DON’T’ COME BACK

Customer retention has never been as important as it is today. The Harvard Business Review said that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. If that’s not enough, they said research shows that if you increase your customer retention rates by just 5%, your profits can increase by 25-95 percent!

– They’re Dissatisfied With The ‘Product’
– Poor Staff Attitude
– Noticeably Slow Service
– Inconsistency
– Lack Of Ambience
– Specific Needs Not Accommodated
– Expectations Not Met
– Poor Value For Money
– Lack Of Innovation
– Your Competitors Are Better

According to award-winning international loyalty relationship builder, Shep Hyken, below you will find 10 reasons that customers choose to terminate their relationships with companies… and ’NEVER’ COME BACK!

– Apathy
– Rudeness
– Your contact information is not easily accessible
– They could not connect with you on a channel they prefer using
– You simply did not respond when they told you they had a problem
– You had a poor response time
– They had a problem and you responded, but the customer still felt ‘unappreciated’
– You made them wait too long
– You made them repeat the same story again and again
– Someone else listened when you wouldn’t

HOW TO ‘LOSE’ CUSTOMERS

So, even ‘WORSE’ than a customer not coming back is if they had a ‘TERRIBLE’ experience with a company. One of the ‘main’ reasons that companies ‘lose’ customers is that companies DON’T ‘APPRECIATE’ the customer’s business.

Customers may not know a lot ‘about’ the business, but they know how they ‘feel’ when they do business with the company. Customers know what they have experienced in the past, and they assume that things pretty much are consistently going to be the same way as they have been in the past. So, what that means for the company is that if a customer has a ‘bad’ experience, they will then have no reason to believe that things will be different, and the ‘move on’.

Customers also have ‘long’ memories. Since they chose the company originally, they don’t want to feel that they made a bad choice. So, making a customer feel appreciated will, most of the time, return or continue to do business with the company. The customer will ALWAYS remember how the company made them ‘FEEL’.

WHAT DO CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT?

The following are the results of a 2006 customer service survey by the Stirtz Group who asked customers what they really want (ranked in order from most required to less required):

– Listen to me
– Know more than I do
– Be easy to work with
– Help me get what I came for
– Smile
– Tell me your name
– Acknowledge my presence
– Don’t treat me like I’m an interruption
– Show me you care
– Don’t waste my time
– Be honest
– Offer alternatives if you don’t have what I want
– High quality and low prices
– Don’t try to sell me. Just help me
– Do what you say you’re going to do
– Keep me informed

HOW TO KEEP CUSTOMERS COMING BACK

So, what is the very best way to build a business that thrive during good and bad times? Well, it’s the ‘EXPERIENCE’ that a company delivers that helps turn the people who buy from them into ‘REPEAT’ customers—customers who think to themselves, “I’ll be back!”

Then, what would you say is the single most important measurement in the world the business? Well, of course, sales numbers, revenue, profit, and expenses are all important. However, THE measurement that each and every business leader of the company should be watching, like a ‘hawk’, is whether or not the customer COMES BACK!

Let’s face it, most customers come back because of reasons other than loyalty. They may simply be buying on price, on location, or because of some other factor that has nothing to do with any ‘relationship’ that has been built up over time. The minute someone else shows up with a lower price or a more convenient location, that competitor may get the business. So, the question is not just whether the company holds onto the customer, it is whether they hold on to the customer in such a way that there is a powerful RELATIONSHIP in place—one that serves as a ‘barrier’ to competitors who want to take the customer away.

RETURNING CUSTOMER vs. REPEAT CUSTOMER

You should, at the very least, know who your regular customers are. Identify your top spenders and most frequent shoppers then build relationships with them. Studies have shown that repeat customers are easier to sell to and usually end up spending more, compared to new ones. Clearly, your ‘regulars’ are the BEST types of customers to have, so it’s ‘ESSENTIAL’ that you recognize and take care of them.

Now, a “returning” customer and a “repeat” customer are different but related terms. A ‘returning’ customer is simply someone who has bought your product or service once before and has returned to make another purchase. (It is the goal of any business to turn first-time customers into returning customers.) Whereas a ‘repeat’ customer is someone who returns to your business and REPEATEDLY BUYS your product or service TIME AFTER TIME. (People who shop at a neighborhood bakery, for example, often come back as the impulse to buy pastries or other goodies strikes them.) The next ‘step is then to get them to be a “LOYAL” customer.

So, here is a list to show why REPEAT customers are an asset worth investing in:

– Repeat Customers Drive Consistent Revenue
– Repeat Customers are More Likely to Trust You
– Repeat Customers Result in Word-of-Mouth Marketing
– Repeat Customers Have Greater Lifetime Value

Of course, every company wants to have repeat customers. It is a strong indicator of brand health and success. But there is NO shortcut to building a thriving customer base. HOWEVER, there are ways a company can win their customers’ loyalty, respect, and hopefully, repeat business:

– Be Helpful
– Create a Memorable Experience
– Give Customers More Choices
– Act on Customer Feedback
– Do Something Good in the World

Now, of course, there is great value in ‘REPEAT’ customers. Among the ‘BENEFITS’ are:

– Free Promotion for Your Business
– Getting Repeat Customers is Cheaper Than Acquiring New Customers
– You Can Use Them to Test Out New Products or Services

So, here are seven ‘WAYS’ to encourage customers to return:

1) Make Customer Service a Priority
2) Incentivize Repeat Customers with Loyalty Programs
3) Highlight Positive Customer Experiences
4) Vary Product Offerings to Keep Customers’ Experience New and Fresh
5) Share Helpful Insights Via Social Media
6) Never Ignore Customer Complaints
7) Survey Your Repeat Customers

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Customer loyalty is not about a lifetime. It is about the NEXT TIME—every time. Do not confuse a repeat customer with a loyal customer. (That is the difference between a good marketing program in a true loyalty program.) Loyalty is about creating an emotional ‘connection’ with the customer that makes price irrelevant and can ‘bulletproof’ the business from their competition (Or you could say, “Terminator Proof” the business from their competition).

– CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGIES
– ‘FOCUSES’
– GENERAL ‘ONLINE-SPECIFIC’ RETENTION STRATEGIES
– EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
– KANO MODEL CHARACTERISTICS
– CREATING ‘DELIGHT’
– CREATING REMARKABLE SERVICE
– PERSONALIZATION
– EMPATHY
– REPEAT CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT ‘PROCESS’

So, by getting your customers to come back time and again, you will be assisting them to climb the ‘rungs’ of the company’s “Loyalty Ladder.” Once they get to the top, they will be “raving fans” of your business. This is undoubtedly one of the BEST ‘ASSETS’ a company could ever have

SUSPECT:
PROSPECT:
CUSTOMER:
MEMBER:
ADVOCATE:
RAVING FAN:

Remember, the aim of the ‘game’ is to move people from customer to raving fan. This is where the company starts to really begin to make a profit!

WAITING FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ‘PERSON’ TO RETURN

Just like a ‘loyal’ customer returning to a business, the Scriptures promise that Jesus WILL return to earth—and based on the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of the prophetical ‘signs’, it looks like it just may be happening REALLY ‘SOON’!

Regardless of what the ‘scoffers’ say, Jesus IS COMING BACK (2 Peter 3:3-10). World history is ‘barreling’ toward the conclusion that God ordained. It isn’t an end that will come as a result of nuclear war, environmental irresponsibility, or alien invasion. It is the one that comes by the purposeful, pre-planned ‘action’ of God, foretold in Scripture. Make no mistake—Jesus WILL return!

THE ‘PROMISE’ OF GOD

Since there are 224 Old Testament prophecies that have to do with Jesus’ Second Coming—as opposed to 109 in His First Coming—can you see that the Word of God is ‘at stake’? If Jesus does not return, then God is a liar, and His ‘credibility’ is invalidated. ALL the prophecies regarding Christ MUST—and WILL—come to pass!

If God ever said something would happen that didn’t happen, then God ‘messed up’—and if God ‘messed up’ JUST ONCE then we are ALL in BIG ‘TROUBLE’, since that would show a ‘flaw’ in the character of God, and there would be no guarantee that it was only once!

JESUS’ EARTHLY ‘TEACHINGS’

Jesus must return not only because of the promise of God, but because of the statements that He made about Himself. His own statements ‘DEMAND’ His Second Coming. During His life and ministry, He made frequent statements regarding His return. Most of His parables, for example, are related to His own return. (And there are several whole chapters in the Gospels connected with His Second Coming.)

One of the most ‘important’ things He said was: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” [ John 14:2-4 ]. So, He is intending to come back to ‘take’ the believer BACK with Him to Heaven. So, if Jesus doesn’t return, He is a liar too, right?

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ‘TESTIMONY’

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit ‘inspired’ men to write the New Testament. So, probably the ‘most’ inspired of all of the writers would be the Apostle Paul. He wrote: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” [ 1 Corinthians 1:4-7 ]. It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is telling the Apostle Paul to say, “Tell them Jesus is coming!”

GOD’S ‘PROGRAM’ FOR THE CHURCH

In the book of Acts it says, “God visits the Gentiles and calls out a people for His name” [ Acts 15:14 ]. That’s the gathering of the “Church,” the “called out” ones [ Translating the Greek word “ekklēsia,” or “a gathering of those summoned” ].

As was mentioned just above, the Church is ‘taken out’ of this world before the “Second Coming” of Jesus (First the Rapture, then a minimum of seven years later, Jesus returns). James mentions that the prophets said that, “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it” [ Acts 15:16 ]. This is referring to Jesus ‘calling’ the Church out, and then He coming back to rebuild the ‘house’ of David. That means He sets up the Millennial Kingdom and reigns as King on David’s ‘throne’.

THE ‘CORRUPTION’ OF THE WORLD

The Bible says that, “All judgment is given unto Him” [ John 5:22 ]. So, if Jesus is the Judge, then He HAS to return to judge those nations. So God’s ‘program’ for the nations demands a return of Jesus Christ. [ Yes, God is a God of love, but He is also a God of judgment (our sins). ]

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem” [ Joel 3:1 ]. Joel was talking about the time when the “Messiah” (Jesus) regathers Israel in the future times.

“There’ll be wonders in the heavens, and blood and fire and smoke, and the sun turn to darkness, the moon and the blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord. In the great day of judgment. In that day, at that time, when I bring back Judah and Jerusalem, you know, when I gather them from captivity” [ Joel 2:30-31 ]. Here Joel is talking about the Second Coming.

“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there” [ Joel 3:9-11 ]. This is a prophecy of the battle of Armageddon.

THE ‘PROGRAM’ FOR ISRAEL

When the Church age is over, then all Israel shall be saved. Since the Church has been taken out with the Rapture, then God starts to ‘deal’ with Israel—they are saved during the seven-year Tribulation (which is actually THE main ‘reason’ for the Tribulation). It has been God’s ‘promise’ to Israel from the ‘beginning’.

As soon as the Rapture occurs, the ‘blindness’ is taken away from Israel. “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” [ Romans 11:25 ]. Israel is going to be ‘saved’ BUT, they can’t be saved until Jesus comes for the Church. So, Jesus MUST COME since the ‘program’ of Israel demands it.

– GOD’S PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL DURING THE TRIBULATION
– THE CONDITION FOR THE SECOND COMING

JESUS WILL ‘VINDICATE’ HIMSELF

The last the world saw Jesus was when He was hanging on a cross, dying. They never saw His ‘glory’. However, they WILL SEE IT when He returns. So, Jesus must return in exaltation because His ‘humiliation’ demands it.

The writer of Hebrews is clear about this: “But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” [ Hebrews 9:26 ]. This says that Jesus came once to die, but then, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him” [ Hebrews 9:28 ]. This then says that Jesus IS COMING BACK, only next time no more ‘sin-bearing’ and no more ‘humiliation’. The next time, He comes in ‘EXALTATION’.

TO ‘REMOVE’ SATAN

“Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” [ Matthew 4:8-9 ]. Satan is the ‘ruler’ of the earth—then and today.

Satan’s power is over all the nations of the earth. That could be very frightening when we realize that he can ‘influence’ people in such a way that they are not even aware that they are being influenced toward evil. His power is so extensive that he is over all the nations of the earth. Jesus calls him the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30). He affects people’s attitudes by moving their reasoning processes toward satisfaction of the self. He gives disinformation and stirs up people’s spirit.

Here’s what is so perverse about all this: It is not evil for one to take care of themselves, however, it IS evil to make the satisfaction of the self more important than God or others. We are to serve God before all else (the “Great Commandment”), and the second command is like it: We are on an equal par with others physically. Nowhere are we given the right or privilege by God to make ourselves greater than or more important than God or other human beings.

So that is Satan’s ‘strategy’. To make satisfaction of the self to become more important than conforming to what God says is the limit of our authority. In other words, he will ‘push’ us toward making ourselves greater or more important than righteousness or truth.

‘HOPE’ FOR THE BELIEVER

Let me tell you, God IS NOT in the ‘business’ of giving false hope. God loves the believer just the same as He loves Jesus—and you Hie “beloved” (Zephaniah 3:17; Romans 5:8; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4-5;1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:9-10).

The Apostle Paul said: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” [ Philippians 1:6 ]. The ‘day’ that Jesus ‘RETURNS’!.

The Apostle Paul then said: “Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” [ Titus 2:13 ]. That is ‘REAL’ HOPE for believers. Then, because believers are ‘looking’, the Apostle John encourages them with: “Beloved, now are we the children of God. But we know one thing; when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” [ 1 John 3:2 ].

SET UP THE ‘KINGDOM’

After Jesus visibly returns to this earth, He will ‘set up’ the Kingdom and then reign over this earth from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. How wonderfully glorious this will be, to think that believers will be ‘physically’ with Him, worshiping Him, helping Him to reign, and promoting His name, His cause, and His glory all over the earth.

A FEW ‘OTHER’ REASONS

The previous ‘reasons’ for Jesus coming back are the ‘primary’ ones. The following are a few of the ‘secondary’ reasons (though important) why Jesus MUST come back to earth.

– To Save Mankind from Total Destruction
– To Resurrect and Transform His Followers to Immortality
– To Teach the World His Ways and Bring World Peace
– To Bring Restoration to All Creation

Hopefully, all of the foregoing ‘reasons’ EMBOLDENS you that Jesus’ ‘RETURN IS CERTAIN! The Bible ends in affirmation of this abiding promise and a prayer for its swift fulfillment we should all join in with. Revelation 22:20 concludes, “He [Jesus] who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

WRAP UP

So then, what are the ways a brand can KEEP CUSTOMERS COMING BACK? Well, it’s the ‘EXPERIENCE’ that a company delivers that helps turn the people who buy from them into ‘REPEAT’ customers. Customers who think to themselves, “I’ll be back!”—which is THE measurement that each and every business leader of the company should be watching, like a ‘hawk’—whether or not the customer COMES BACK!

Now, all that data about how good a company is doing does not mean a thing if the customer doesn’t come back. So, everyone must do the job they were hired to do, in addition to making the customer ‘WANT’ to come back.

The thing is, all of this IS NOT ‘COMPLICATED’! Nothing ‘substantial’ has really changed in customer service. The customer wants to be happy THROUGHOUT their ‘experience’. Then, when they have a problem—and lets the company know about it—the company resolves it quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction (of course, confined to ‘reasonable limits’). That’s the way it has always been and always will be!

Now, you might argue that there is a new ‘way’ to do things using technology. While the way companies go about this may have changed, the beginning and the end of the customers journey with the company is still the same—a GREAT ‘EXPERIENCE’.

WAITING FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ‘PERSON’ TO RETURN

So, in my ‘eyes’, the most ‘important’ Person that the world is waiting for to ‘RETURN’ is Jesus Christ! The thing is, MANY believers say—including me—that the ‘signs’ are such that He may be COMING ‘BACK’ SOON! [ The “Doomsday Clock” is now “100 seconds until midnight” ].

Based on the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of the prophetical ‘signs’, it looks like it just may be happening REALLY ‘SOON’!

LOYALTY ‘TO’ JESUS

Just like a company wants to ‘encourage’ their customers to become a loyal ‘fan’ of its products/services, Jesus also expects His believers to be ‘loyal’ to Him.

The word “loyalty” brings to mind a powerful sense of belonging and solidarity. With it comes the idea of wholehearted fidelity coupled with unswerving devotion and duty. In the Bible, the concept of loyalty is purely relational. This means our whole being is thoroughly committed to Someone (Joshua 24:15). Such loyalty is expressed to us in both the divine and human realms as given to us in the first two commandments: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31; cf. John 15:13; 1 John 3:16).

WHAT DOES LOYALTY TO JESUS ‘LOOK’ LIKE?

Well, first off, loyalty means total ’DEVOTION’ of one’s ‘heart’. Has Jesus achieved the highest ‘place’ in your HEART? It is not your ‘deeds’ that He wants most—it is YOUR ‘HEART’! It is wonderful to ‘do’ things for Him, but it is still more wonderful to make a ‘home’ for Jesus in your heart!

JESUS ‘DESERVES’ OUR LOYALTY

We can’t know all that’s ahead for us, but we can choose to declare, “Jesus, You are my Master. I choose to be loyal to You—today and every day of my life.”

In many places in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul refers to himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:1; Colossians 4:12; Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 4:6). Jesus’ half-brother Jude refers to himself in the same way (Jude 1:1), and rather than capitalize on his close relationship to Jesus, Jude relegated himself to the status of a servant. Jesus’ family, friends, and chosen apostles refer to themselves as His servants, the plain implication being that Jesus is Lord.

“Servant” is a translation of the Greek word “doulos,” which means more literally “a slave or bondservant, someone who sets aside all rights of his own to serve another.” Because the word slave carries such a negative connotation to our modern culture, we often choose the word servant instead. However, servant does not quite capture the real meaning of doulos. Paul said he was a “slave” to Jesus.

RETURNING ‘TO’ JESUS

So, for those who have ‘backslidden’ (or are unbelievers), RETURNING ‘TO’ Jesus starts with being honest about all that’s going on in one’s head and heart in addition to whatever one has done. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun” [ Psalm 37:5-6 ].

So, how can you return to God? Well, get 100% honest—Admit every thought, desire, motive and sin to yourself and confess it to God. REPENT of your sins and believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. (“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” [ Acts 3:19 ]).

God WILL take you back! “Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them” [ Jeremiah 15:19 ].

JESUS DESERVES OUR ‘WORSHIP’

When you are hungry, it’s hard to ignore your body’s desire for food. When you are thirsty, it’s hard to ignore that craving as well. Hunger and thirst are both mental and physical cravings for something we truly need. The sensations of hunger and thirst can be powerful. They help us to survive, even.

Well, Psalm 10 describes a craving and a desire. It’s a craving and desire to be in the “House of God.” It’s a passion to be with God and to worship God in his holy ‘temple’.

Author and lay theologian C.S. Lewis rightly referred to this as an “appetite for God.” As the Bible tells us, man does not live by bread alone (Matthew 4:4). That physical hunger and thirst alone is not enough to meet our basic needs. Man also has a need to be in communion with God. This psalm expresses that fundamental need.

‘DELIGHTING’ IN JESUS

Webster’s dictionary defines “delight” as a high degree of gratification, or something that gives great pleasure.

Delight is such a ‘substantial’ word, and it has a ‘majestic’ feel about it—though ’quieting’ to the soul. Delight offers a more permanent state of mind and heart than even joy, which ‘expires’ in time. When one says they are delighted in a person, situation, opportunity, or accomplishment, they are deeply and gratefully fulfilled. They are content and at rest with a cheerful disposition, as they celebrate the good ‘fruit’ that delight produces.

So, what does it mean to “delight in the Lord”? Well, this comes from Psalm 37 that King David wrote. He said, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” [ Psalm 37:4 ].

Taking delight in the Lord means that our hearts truly find peace and fulfillment ‘in’ Him. If one can truly find satisfaction and worth in Jesus, Scripture says He will give them the longings of their hearts.

SEEKING JESUS’ ‘RETURN’

It is the extreme importance that each and every Christian seek to establish a good, close, intimate, personal relationship with the Lord.

God is now waiting with wide and open ‘arms’ for all of us to approach Him. So, what exactly is He waiting for? Well, intimate fellowship, intimate prayer and communication, intimate dialogue and conversations about anything and everything, and intimate sharing of our most personal, private, and secret thoughts.

The ‘bottom line’ is that God is looking for ‘SEEKERS’! Those that want to establish a passionate, intense, and a ‘tell-all’ relationship with Him—to understand all of His ways.

Let me finish this post with a story by Christian author Jeff Kinley (Author of “Wake the Bride”) discussing the great British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton:

“In 1914, there was a very famous British explorer named Sir Ernest Shackleton. He was one of the most famous explorers in England.

And he placed an advert in a London newspaper. It read, just like this:

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant dander, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.” – Ernest Shackleton

So, are your ‘bridal garments’ ready? Are you ready to be ‘wed’ the One who died on the Cross for you?

Well, Jesus IS anticipating with great joy ‘RETURNING’ FOR YOU!

If I have convinced you of the ‘PREDICTION’ that Jesus WILL BE ‘RETURNING’ to this earth either to ‘RAPTURE’ believers or to ‘JUDGE’ unbelievers—and that it is going to be SOON—I BEG YOU to ‘PREPARE’ for His coming! It WILL change the ‘location’ of your ETERNITY!!!

[ FYI: For more details about how to ‘prepare’ for Eternity, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/are-you-prepared-v210/ ].

The thing is, Jesus’ SOON ‘COMING’ brings great joy to the BELIEVER. The crucial question is: “Do you have this BLESSED HOPE?” Will Jesus return as your “Blessed Hope” or as your “Holy Terror”? It will only be one of the two, because there are only two ways that God ‘deals’ with sin: by His grace (Jesus’ perfect righteousness as ‘payment’ for all your sins when you were saved) or by His ‘appropriate’ wrath (presenting your ‘wretched’ unrighteousness as some kind of ‘restitution’ for all your sins).

[ For more details on a believer’s “blessed hope,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

HOWEVER, for the UNBELIEVER, this will be an ABHORRENT ‘EXPERIENCE’ since they WILL experience God’s ‘WRATH’! The Bible says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [ Hebrews 10:31 ]. Now, THAT is something people ought to be afraid of! If people are going to have a ‘phobia’—if they’re going to have an uncontrollable, debilitating, disabling, exaggerated, unconquerable fear—let it be the fear of falling into the ‘hands’ of the living God!

Jesus warned, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell” [ Matthew 10:28 ]. To ‘fear’ God is to live in the reality of His holiness, His sovereignty, and His judgment of sin. It is to love God, to respect Him, to reverence Him, to adore Him, to hold Him in awe, and to worship Him. Refusing to do this is at the ‘core’ of man’s prideful rebellion. [ Pride is why Lucifer (later Satan) was ‘kicked out’ of Heaven originally. ] This can only be ‘overcome’ by loving God’s only Son, Jesus, the ONLY Savior for mankind (John 5:23).

[ For more details on God’s ‘wrath’, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post (Look for the “‘Fear’ God’s Wrath!” section:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/got-your-attention-yet-v255/ ].

Now, one CAN look forward to Jesus’ return with gladness IF they ‘PREPARE’ themselves to meet their God—by repenting of their sins and believing that Jesus is their Savior and Lord (becoming “born again”).

[ FYI: For more details on how to become “born again,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/saved-from-death-v219/ ].

Finally, in today’s ‘vernacular’, Jesus said, “I’ll be back!” Just before He ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, you may be also” [ John 14:3 ]. This was Jesus’ promise to ‘RETURN’ to receive those who believe in Him so that they may be taken into Heaven to be with Him forever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoctMLIxTo&t=15s

[ VIDEO: “I’ll Be Back” – Michael Combs (Lyrics in the “Songs” section below) ]

Jesus IS ‘RETURNING’. Are you READY to be ‘received’ by Him?

DON’T MISS your opportunity to ‘DELIGHT’ in Him for ETERNITY in Heaven!

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ALL THE ‘DETAILS’
The following is a comprehensive presentation of the topic that follows the ‘headings’ laid out in the Summary.
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WHY CUSTOMERS ‘DON’T’ COME BACK
Customer retention has never been as important as it is today. The Harvard Business Review said that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from 5 to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. If that’s not enough, they said research shows that if you increase your customer retention rates by just 5%, your profits can increase by 25-95 percent!

Suggestion: REREAD that statistic to get the ‘full’ IMPACT of it! (Maybe a few times!) [ I will wait (“Jeopardy” them playing) ].

So, of course, the question then is, “How does a company keep their customers coming back?”

Well, let me ‘flip’—the normal focus of what TO ‘DO’ to keep the customer coming back to the reasons why your customers DON’T come back (so that you know what NOT to do!).

– They’re Dissatisfied With The ‘Product’
Customers want to enjoy whatever it is they spend their money on.

Would you return to a hotel where the bed was rock hard and you woke up with a sore back? I’m thinking your answer would be “No.” If you’re a hotel, you need to make sure your bed is super comfortable and your facilities are well taken care of.

– Poor Staff Attitude
Rude or negative staff do not invite your customers to return.

Although we all have bad days and have things going on in our personal lives that aren’t always pleasant, customers do not want to pay money to be at the brunt of a staff’s bad mood.

The company’s staff are the biggest factor in creating loyal customers, so a poor attitude is a big ‘No, No’.

– Noticeably Slow Service
As our culture evolves, convenience and efficiency have become a very important part of it. Making customers wait 20 minutes for a drink or 45 minutes for their meal, is no longer tolerable. They WILL NOT RETURN!

– Inconsistency
Consistency across a company’s brand is key in managing customer expectations and ensuring they return not only to a particular location, but also stay loyal to a company’s brand overall.

When inconsistency exists, customers are immediately disappointed as their expectations are not met. When that happens, the company has lost their trust.

– Lack Of Ambience
The ‘vibe’ or atmosphere a company creates is VERY important to customers—it evokes emotions from them. Emotions are ‘powerful’, especially when it comes to ‘good’ experiences.

So, if a business wants people to enjoy themselves (in a retail environment), everything from your music, lighting, design, and staff, ‘energy’ needs to come together to create that.

– Specific Needs Not Accommodated
When a business is completely inflexible or uncreative in meeting specific requests or needs of customers, it makes the customer feel alienated and they WILL NOT COME BACK!

For example, in the restaurant space, in an era where veganism and other food preferences/intolerances are on the rise, you can no longer have an offering that is not flexible enough to accommodate the customers in these scenarios.

– Expectations Not Met
How a company portrays their brand (in-person AND online), massively influences what customers expect when they choose to spend money with the business.

Have you ever viewed a venue’s Instagram page before visiting them, drooling over their gorgeous food pics, only to be so underwhelmed when you see/taste their food in person?

– Poor Value For Money
When your customers deem your offering to be low value for what they paid, they will definitely NOT be coming back.

It’s all about achieving that balance between cost and quality, making sure the company delivers for their customers EVERY single time.

– Lack Of Innovation
Businesses that are able to continuously innovate and think ‘outside of the box’, will stand a better chance of not only retaining customers, but also attracting new ones via the power of ‘word-of-mouth’.

– Your Competitors Are Better
Have you ever spoken to someone who is happy to pay for something that is average? Again, I’m guessing your answer would be “No.”

So, the business MUST KNOW who their competitors are, what they do and how they do it, and make sure that the company is continuously striving to be better than the competition.

As a customer yourself, I’ve got to believe that you can relate to some if not all of these reasons (and maybe others I didn’t mention). We’ve all been ‘there’.

The challenge for the company is to ensure that they don’t give their customers any of these reasons not to return. Make sure the company is measuring, analyzing, and improving their customer experience CONTINUOUSLY!

As we have all heard, the ‘trick’ is to THINK LIKE THE CUSTOMER DOES!

HOW TO ‘LOSE’ CUSTOMERS
So, even ‘WORSE’ than a customer not coming back is if they had a ‘TERRIBLE’ experience with a company. One of the ‘main’ reasons that companies ‘lose’ customers is that companies DON’T ‘APPRECIATE’ the customer’s business.

Another ‘major’ reason is word-of-mouth marketing. A 1980 study for Coca-Cola [ By “Technical Assistance Research Programs” (TARP), which is in the “Articles” section below ] revealed that, through word-of-mouth, an average of five people will hear about somebody’s good experience, but 10 will hear about a ‘bad’ experience! Then, a later TARP study for an automaker indicated that while eight people will be told about a good auto repair experience, 16 will be told about a bad one! (2X).

However, bad word-of-mouth travels even further on the web: 4X as many people hear about a negative experience as hear about a positive one! In addition to that, a 2008 TARP study found that 12% of the dissatisfied online customers told their ‘buddy’ lists, which average more than 60 persons! I’m thinking Arnold Schwarzenegger would say something like, “You’re terminated!”

[ If you are a corporate ‘executive’, I would strongly suggest you REREAD all 10 of them closely. Study them. Understand them, and DON’T let them happen in your company! ].

Notice that none of the 10 reasons you just read has anything to do with price or service quality. If you had been competitive and consistent in each of these 10 areas, you would have kept the customer from even comparing prices, service plans, and product specs with your competition. But you didn’t… so THEY LEFT, for GOOD!

So, maybe they went over to the competition because you performed to only the ‘minimum acceptable’ standard. You don’t have to deliver a ‘bad’ experience for this to happen. All you have to do is deliver a consistently ‘mediocre’ experience.

Now, on the other hand, other TARP research finds that ‘positive’ experiences can also have a great impact. In one package goods survey, 40% of consumers who were told of a positive exposure by another customer TRIED the product. ‘POSITIVE’ word-of-mouth can indeed be a powerful marketing tool!

WHAT DO CUSTOMERS REALLY WANT?
The following are the results of a 2006 customer service survey by the Stirtz Group who asked customers what they really want (ranked in order from most required to less required):

Even though the list of customer wishes seem basic and intuitive, many organizations are not delivering these things to all of the customers all of the time. If they were, I’m thinking that this list would be much shorter (since people would not bother to mention them if they were getting them on a regular basis).

So, for a company to be ‘remarkable’ in the eyes of a customer, doing the following will knock their ‘socks’ off:

– Return their calls and e-mails right away.
– Be easy to work with. Be flexible and accommodate their situation.
– Focus on how you can help them get what they want.
– Ask them how you can best serve them and listen to what they tell you.

Any company that follows these actions will build a better ‘relationship’ with their customer and will, in turn, increase RETURNING customers AND increase the possibility of them becoming ‘REPEAT’ customers!

HOW TO KEEP CUSTOMERS COMING BACK
So, what is the very best way to build a business that thrive during good and bad times? Well, it’s the ‘EXPERIENCE’ that a company delivers that helps turn the people who buy from them into ‘REPEAT’ customers—customers who think to themselves, “I’ll be back!”

Many business consultants think that this is probably the most ‘overlooked’ metric in the business world today. Now, there are plenty of ways to measure experience and customer service. Two of the most popular metrics are the “Net Promoter Score” (NPS) and “Customer Satisfaction” (CSAT). NPS measures how likely someone is to recommend a business to someone else, and CSAT measures the level of satisfaction the customer experiences with a given product, service, or interaction with the brand. Both of these focus on a customers’ happiness with the business, product, service, or ‘interactions’.

A third metric, the “Customer Effort Score” (CES), also focuses on “happiness”—but it does so indirectly—by focusing on the level of effort someone is willing to make in order to interact with a business’s products and services. CES typically is measured immediately after a person connects with customer support, and the surveys that generate this metric are often, but not always, conducted right after a purchase decision. Basically, CES measures how easy a business is to work with, and it helps to throw a spotlight on the areas of the process that could be approved to make the customer a little happier. Think of CES as identifying potential ‘obstacles’ to happiness. These surveys are rising in popularity because research shows that customers who note that there was a “Low Effort” to engage with a business actually returned.

Now, all that data about how good a company is doing does not mean a ‘hill of beans’ if the customer doesn’t come back. So, everyone must do the job they were hired to do, in addition to helping the customer to ‘WANT’ to come back.

Now, you might argue that there is a new ‘way’ to do things using technology. While the way companies go about this may have changed, the beginning and the end of the customers’ journey with the company is still the same—a GREAT ‘EXPERIENCE’.

The stakes are high. Whenever the company loses a customer to the competition, there is not just the loss of the customer’s business—which includes an immediate loss of revenue—but also the loss of that customers’ recurring business, and the potential loss of referrals to other customers.

Consider, too, that customer ‘churn’ does not just mean the loss of revenue and referrals. It also includes the major cost of trying to acquire new customers to replace those the company has just lost. Unfortunately, many companies focus far more on customer acquisition than they do on customer retention, despite the fact that, according to a 2018 study, it cost five times more to attract a new customer than to retain a current one!

Every organization’s success depends on it keeping customers satisfied with the goods and services that it offers, yet most executives tend to view the customer service function of their business as a little more than a necessary nuisance.

As we all know—from being customers ourselves—poor service can undermine all of a company’s efforts to retain and expand its customer base. As customers, we know how we respond to poor service: we go elsewhere, and we often tell all our friends and colleagues to do the same. VERY ‘BAD’ for any business!

It is no coincidence that market ‘leaders’ in their industries have typically committed themselves to strategic customer service, implicitly, or explicitly.

These companies know how much revenue can be lost as a result of less-than-perfect customer experience, and intend to retain as much of that income as possible. So, they invest in ‘aligning’ all functions to support their brand promise and then reap substantial rewards including:

– Happy customers who willingly pay premium prices or go out of their way to patronize the company
– Intense emotional bonds with customers that block competitors and boost brand loyalty. (Harley Davison customers sport tattoos of the company logo. Now that’s loyalty!)
– Positive word-of-mouth (like that of companies like Chick-fil-A, Cheesecake Factory, and USAA) that have their customers doing MOST of their selling for them.

Many, if not most, organizations already have the resources required to boost the performance of their tactical customer service functions and to move toward a strategic customer service process. Key components include customer service functions, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and, more importantly, Voice of the Customer (VoC) capabilities.

The VoC is the mechanism that describes the overall customer experience using all inputs—not just market research surveys, but also sources of customer data such as warranty claims, customer complaints, and employee input. True VoC extends beyond the traditional issues of product features and price to gather data on all ‘dimensions’ of the customer experience, such as sales tactics and messaging, warranty provisions, dealer service, and preferred methods of selling and financing. Unfortunately, in most organizations, VoC tends to be fragmented.

In one auto company, the head of service—who was ‘responsible’ for the VoC process— said that about seven different people owned various ‘parts’ of it. That’s unfortunate, since a fragmented VoC effort is actually MORE ‘damaging’ than none at all because it generates erroneous findings, contradictions, confusion, and paralysis.

[ For more details on Customer Relationship Management (“CRM”), view this previous “life’s Deep Thoughts” post (in the “Customer Centricity” section:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-have-you-done-lately-v272/ ].

RETURNING CUSTOMER vs. REPEAT CUSTOMER
You should, at the very least, know who your regular customers are. Identify your top spenders and most frequent shoppers then build relationships with them. Studies have shown that repeat customers are easier to sell to and usually end up spending more, compared to new ones. Clearly, your ‘regulars’ are the BEST types of customers to have, so it’s ‘ESSENTIAL’ that you recognize and take care of them.

SO, the real ‘prize’ is converting returning customers into ‘REPEAT’ customers—the most loyal and dependable segment of any company’s customer base.

You can probably name a few popular brands that have achieved a ‘cult following’ of repeat customers.

While not every brand can be the Apple or Starbucks of their industry, any brand can become ‘indispensable’ to their customers when they invest in their experience and prioritize the customer relationship. Put your customer first, and repeat sales are sure to follow.

So, how do you identify a “REPEAT” customer? Well, customer loyalty metrics such as customer lifetime value, customer retention rate, and repeat purchase rate are one way. After all, if a repeat customer has to repeat the same basic information each time they reach out to the business, they aren’t going to remember the experience as a positive one.

So, here is a list to show why REPEAT customers are an asset worth investing in:

– Repeat Customers Drive Consistent Revenue
True loyalty means customers are less likely to be swayed by competing offers or discounts, so you can feel more confident about money coming in.

– Repeat Customers are More Likely to Trust You
Repeat customers are often easier to sell to because they already have a relationship with you, built trust with you, and feel more confident in your ability to deliver.

– Repeat Customers Result in Word-of-Mouth Marketing
When you have a happy customer, they may recommend your product or service to friends or colleagues or ‘talk it up’ on social media.

– Repeat Customers Have Greater Lifetime Value
Repeat customers are likely to generate more value over their lifetime as they continue to try new offerings based on their relationship with your brand.

– Be Helpful
Research shows that nearly half of customers would switch to a competing company after just ONE (!) bad customer service experience.

To keep customers happy, you need to help solve their problems and answer their questions—even the most unconventional ones.

– Create a Memorable Experience
Brand recall is a top metric for marketers. It refers to the consumer’s ability to recognize and associate your products with your brand when they see your message.

Brands can cash in on recall by creating memorable experiences that set themselves apart, such as unique packaging, savvy social media posts or bold marketing campaigns.

In some cases, the ‘novelty’ of the experience can be the very reason why your customers come back for more.

– Give Customers More Choices
It feels good to have options. Give customers the luxury of choice.

– Act on Customer Feedback
If you want to encourage repeat buying, you need to have a customer feedback ‘mechanism’ in place.

Customer satisfaction surveys are a good place to start, and many companies rely on a Voice of the Customer (VoC) program to glean insights from their existing customers. Acting on customer feedback shows your customers that you’re listening, and you truly care about their experience.

– Do Something Good in the World
Increasingly, customers expect brands to take a stand on issues they care about.—and yes, this affects customer behavior.

According to an Edelman study, two-thirds of consumers buy based on beliefs. This means brands can no longer remain neutral, but you need to back up your values with action.

So, donate to causes that align with your brand’s mission. Encourage employee volunteering in your community. Update internal policies so they reflect your values

Now, of course, there is great value in ‘REPEAT’ customers. Among the ‘BENEFITS’ are:

– Free Promotion for Your Business
Often, these customers can help spread the word about a favorite business to family and friends. This word-of-mouth approach is often highly effective marketing for your business.

– Getting Repeat Customers is Cheaper Than Acquiring New Customers
Having a customer return to your business is less expensive than the costly and often time-consuming process of gaining new customers. Little to no additional marketing is generally required to attract a repeat customer back, as opposed to starting from scratch with people who know nothing about your company.

– You Can Use Them to Test Out New Products or Services
A repeat customer is often open to a new product launch or design updates that make an existing product or service more effective and customer-friendly. They already know your business offering, and an appeal to “give our newest product a try” is frequently met with enthusiastic participation.

The importance of repeat customers can’t be overstated. Over time, they can become a steady, reliable element in a business’s overall marketing and sales strategy, as long as the business makes keeping repeat and return customers a priority.

So, here are seven ‘WAYS’ to encourage customers to return:

1) Make Customer Service a Priority
Successful businesses focus on aligning operations to revolve around customer needs.

Empower employees to make on-the-spot decisions rather than passing along customer inquiries and complaints elsewhere saving time and frustration.
Encourage repeat customers to post reviews of their business on Yelp and their favorite social media platforms.

2) Incentivize Repeat Customers with Loyalty Programs
Here are three types of loyalty programs you may want to consider implementing:

– Electronic membership cards
This approach enables business owners to collect customer data, which can then be used to create targeted e-mail campaigns and determine what regular customers purchase the most. Rather than having to display a physical card. Rely on customers remembering to carry their cards, which does not always happen.

– Loyalty apps
In an era where a large percentage of business is conducted online, the capacity of a mobile app to build loyalty is almost limitless. That’s because:

– Customized apps cut marketing expenses by maintaining contact through e-mails, texts, and (when appropriate) push notifications.

– Apps reinforce awareness of the brand.

– Businesses can reward customers who make steady use of the apps through special rewards, discount offers, and other perks. This, too, can build repeat sales.

3) Highlight Positive Customer Experiences
Customers sometimes need to be ‘politely’ reminded that your business exists. You can distribute an e-mail newsletter that highlights customer satisfaction news and features. You can also interview loyal customers and feature their ‘testimony’ on your website, in your newsletter, and in other promotional materials.

Taking a personalized approach is another useful strategy. A brief, personalized response (even when no specific business issue or concern is involved) can speak volumes about the value you place on staying in touch with customers.

Another approach involves the use of an automated “Thank-you” message (Be careful to word this message in a way that avoids coming off as generic or insincere.)

4) Vary Product Offerings to Keep Customers’ Experience New and Fresh
The risk with valuable return customers is they may eventually tire of purchasing the same things time and again. So, find ways to vary your products or services, to spark renewed customer interest.

Pleasantly ‘surprise’ your loyal customers to keep their interest piqued for future purchases.

5) Share Helpful Insights Via Social Media
Look for ways to share helpful how-to articles and videos you come across (particularly as they relate to the use of your products or services).

By avoiding constant ‘pushy’ sales message, you can once again reinforce customer loyalty through ‘helpful’ non-sales-related actions.

6) Never Ignore Customer Complaints
It can take years to build customer trust, but only a matter of seconds to tear it down (especially through social media, where countless other prospective customers can get word of a single individual’s bad feelings toward a business). By responding immediately to negative reviews or complaints, you can keep them from spreading elsewhere—and you may win back your customers more quickly.

7) Survey Your Repeat Customers
Just as business owners may not know all the reasons why customers leave, they also may not fully comprehend why someone chooses to be a repeat or returning customer. Consider distributing a quick, easy-to-complete survey to these valued customers, seeking details on why they come back, what they like about your business, what areas might be worth improving, and any other thoughts they might have. (Offer a discount on their next purchase to incentivize them to fill out the survey.)

Then, when customer feedback results in an ‘implementation’ of their idea, let customers know that you acted on their input, and then provide them with an appropriate “thank you” ‘gift’.

Every loyal customer your business has once started out as a new customer. Proactively reaching out to these people afterward can greatly increase the odds that they will return and become loyal ‘repeat’ customers.

Again, the ‘secret’ reason customers become repeat customers is the ‘EXPERIENCE’ they had and how you made them ‘FEEL’. This will make them a customer for life! Repeat customers come for your product/service but stay for the ‘experience’—and after multiple ‘good’ interactions, they then become ‘LOYAL’ customers.

[ For more details about why people repeatedly return to a ‘place’, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts post:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/where-you-return-to-v273/ ].

CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Customer loyalty is not about a lifetime. It is about the NEXT TIME—every time. Do not confuse a repeat customer with a loyal customer. (That is the difference between a good marketing program in a true loyalty program.) Loyalty is about creating an emotional ‘connection’ with the customer that makes price irrelevant and can ‘bulletproof’ the business from their competition (Or you could say, “Terminator Proof” the business from their competition).

Again, this will ‘date’ me but, I remember a long-distance phone company commercial that had for its ‘theme’ line, “Reach out and touch someone.” (Remember the company?) So, when you think about it, this is the literal expression of what all brands attempt to do to create customer loyalty.

What company’s do is to ‘touch’ customers and build trust with the experience of their brand. This brings to mind the advice of Maya Angelou who said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In many ways, Maya’s reminder is the ultimate point of developing a true, compelling brand ‘story’ is to inspire employees and attract an enthusiastic customer following.

So, here’s the point that is missed by so many companies and their branding: Success hinges entirely on the ‘touch points’. These are most often the ‘little’ things that the company either does or doesn’t do along the customers’ ‘journey’ with the brand. The truth of the story is that the company is exposed in the little things they do—not the big things: Is the company’s story true? How does the brand experience make the customers feel? Do they trust the company to do what it promises? Never forget that what the company does speaks so loudly that customers can barely hear what the branding is trying to ‘say’.

One doesn’t have to be a professional business consultant to recognize that emotions have the ‘ruling’ influence on what customers remember. But, it is extremely useful to know that what they remember is determined primarily by the ‘intensity’ of emotions created within a particular moment—not the ‘overall’ experience.

To successfully guide the customers’ ‘journey’, it is important to understand more than what customers are responding to. It is essential to understand why. Knowing why enables companies to optimize that ‘touch points’ to fulfill the most essential motivations—creating experiences that consistently generate customer satisfaction and, in turn, brand loyalty.

CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGIES
Customer retention flows out of a good ‘relationship’. If a company truly holds ‘value’ for the customer, there will most likely be no reason for the customer to leave and buy somewhere else. That’s why relationship is a REALLY important characteristic in the customer ‘encounter’.

Relationship is what keeps people ‘connected’—whether family, friends, colleagues, or even customers. Without it, few people will ‘stick around’—at least volitionally (not like one is ‘forced’ to like a family member).

Now, a ‘relationship’ with a customer is a bit ‘trickier’, since they will not stick around solely because of a ‘good’ feeling to have about the company—the company actually has to provide the customer with what they need/require.

One will find that the relationship ‘builds’ the business. Not only will companies find that retention is much simpler when they focus on relationship, they will also find that many of their ‘repeat’ customers order more the second time than they did the first time. Because when a customer finds out that they can trust the company—since they performed ‘admirably’ with the first order—they will trust them with a larger order. Not only that, they will, most likely, share their experience with their ‘friends’. This ‘word-of-mouth’ usually gets the company new prospects/customers they can market to.

So, companies spent a lot of resources marketing your business, raising awareness, and getting people to walk through your doors the first time. The question is then, how do you get them to come back? How to get one-time buyers to be repeat customers?

Well, while businesses often direct their attention on attracting new clients, strengthening their ‘CONNECTION’ with existing customers is equally, or perhaps even MORE important!

Return customers are the ‘lifeblood’ of any business, and thanks to social media, they have the power to be an online ambassador for your organization. A loyal customer is not only paying for your products and services but is telling others about you, too.

Taking repeat business for granted is a BIG ‘MISTAKE’! Customers will come and go, often disappearing without ever letting you know why they’re not returning. So, be sure to protect the investment you made in earning their business the first time by taking the best possible care of them once they are ‘in the fold’.

Customer retention is a ‘branding’ challenge. What separates your business from the competition? Do your customers care enough to come back again and again?

Although getting return customers isn’t ‘rocket science’, there is definitely more to it than hanging a sign on the door that says, “Please Come Again!” (We all wish it was obviously that easy, but there are plenty of things you can do to make sure customers happily come back to your business.)

So, it’s VERY IMPORTANT to develop and maintain a LOYAL customer base. After all, it costs about five times more to acquire a new customer than it takes to retain a current customer. In fact, customer retention can improve your bottom line as well. However, sadly more companies concentrate on customer acquisition than on customer retention.

So, how does a company improve customer retention rate and turn first-timers into regular customer? Well, the following are some things that have been successful for a variety of companies in a variety of industries:

– Target Your Business’ Ideal Customers to Keep them Coming Back
Determine who your ideal customer is, and then focus your marketing and advertising towards those customers.

A better customer retention rate will significantly improve your perspective and overall business success. By working on the customer service fundamentals, you can impress your customers and see the results of good customer care tactics. Being constantly present and available for your customers will have the most impact on your customer retention rate.

New customers you do bring in will be more likely to stick with you because your business is just what they were looking for.

– Know Why They Came In The First Place
You have to understand what motivates a customer to come to your business. Whatever is causing customers to purchase from you can then become your ‘Unique Selling Proposition’.

You need to find out why so you can in turn help others arrive at the same place.

– Give Customers a ‘Reason’ to Come Back to Your Business
An easy way to give customers an incentive to buy from you again is to offer a discount on their next purchase, but the incentive doesn’t have to be monetary. You’re more likely to retain their continued business if long-time customers receive some kind of reward, or at least recognition.

Treating each customer with consideration, as a friend, can make a powerful impact.

– Give Them Something To Come Back For
Plan each sale strategically. You can offer customers special discounts on their second purchase to entice them to come back for another, and send them relevant e-mails to increase your chances of retaining them.

The key here is ‘relevance’.

– Make Customers Feel Like ‘Royalty’
It’s an age-old saying, but it still holds very true in today’s fast-changing world. Most people find online shopping boring since there is no direct contact and you do not even get to physically inspect what you’re buying.

So, there are a few ways to connect with your customers and making them feel ‘special’.

You can thank your customers by sending them an e-mail when they make a purchase or writing to them inquiring about the product and their experience. This will make sure you stay in your customer’s mind and they think of you when it’s time to buy another similar product.

HOWEVER, when you do send out this type of communication DO NOT try and sell them anything else.

– Product quality
Only release products that are excellent.

– The DIY Factor: Customers Actually Want to Work For It
A study conducted by Harvard Business School revealed something interesting about the connection between products that require some labor on the customer’s part, and the amount of value they place on those products.

Dubbed “the IKEA Effect” (https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/11-091.pdf) by the researchers, the study results showed that people actually tend to place more value on a product that requires some work to complete.
Isn’t there just something enticing about a salad bar, a Lego set, or the Build-a-Bear Workshop? In fact, there is research to back this up.

Now, one thing that they definitively proved through the study was that this doesn’t work unless your customer’s labor leads to successful completion, so that’s a key thing to remember if you attempt to use this strategy.

– Earn Repeat Business with a ‘Habit Forming’ Product
The key is to inspire ‘joy’ in the customer, to such an extent that they have to keep coming back for it—because they just can’t help it.

– Utilize the Attraction of Youthfulness and What’s ‘New’
To create a customer experience that makes them want to come back, it helps to take the drives that are in all of us, and incorporate that into your product—or at least into the way it’s presented.

The universal desire to feel young and vibrant may be one of the most compelling motivators to attract your customers. This might take the form of marketing your product as something that is on the cutting edge, or you can simply showcase younger customers who use your product.

– Have the Right People on the Front-line
You can have the best product in the world, but if the person your customer interacts with is not engaging or even worse, downright unpleasant to deal with, you will drive people away. Make sure you have qualified people on your team. Friendly, efficient, and personalized service should be the minimum.

– Put Together a Great Business Team
When you have a great customer service team that actually cares and treats your clients well, it shows.

Even if you run a 100-percent online business, you need people who are knowledgeable, hard-working, and effective (among other things) because the work they do is directly connected to the experience your customers will have.

– Provide the Best Customer Experience Possible
Make sure that your customers’ overall experience, is excellent. This involves a variety of elements, but among the most important ones are: Great service, great website or store design, quick and clear purchasing, and follow-up support.

– Don’t Assume That Your Customers Are Stupid
It is easy to upset a customer by ‘talking down’ to them, assuming that they won’t be able to understand, whether through a direct conversation, or in any other correspondence.

It is important that you treat them with respect & how you, yourself would want to be treated. (“Golden Rule”).

– Make It Easy for Customers to Reach You.
Have a website, send e-mail e-Blasts, have a 24×7 support helpline. Make a point of responding to Social Media comments, e-mails, and voice-mail messages promptly.

– Offer an Easy Way for Customers to Contact You, and Respond Promptly
Establishing clear ‘channels’ through which your customers can reach you is necessary to give them a way to tell you all their gripes and questions, and sometimes they might even send you a compliment.

The time it takes you to get back to a customer makes a huge difference. Responding quickly makes them feel that they matter to you, and they should!

If your customers can’t get through to you, then they may decide that they’re not happy with your service. (It doesn’t take much, for some customers, to be dissatisfied or agitated.)

– Planned Benefits
When a company has ‘systems’ that let customers know exactly how they will benefit by staying ‘connected’ with them, the customers likely respond with a greater commitment. (This is why loyalty programs are so effective.) Keep customers coming back with benefits that they only receive if they stay connected with you.

– Surprises
Sometimes a ’surprise’ helps keep the customer relationship to be stronger (Things like “BOGO” or a free something because of something they did, without ever signing up for it or expecting it.)

When someone does something above and beyond our expectations, we leave feeling delighted and excited, and will likely tell others. This can be as simple as remembering a customer’s name or as special as offering a gift on their birthday or another milestone. Reward them for their business by giving them loyalty discounts or extras when they use your services repeatedly.

– Positive Social Proof
The key to social proof are positive reviews from customers, as well as quick, solutions to customer/product issues.

– Engage With Customers on Social Media
Use contests and giveaways periodically to gain new fans and reach more people organically.

– Make e-Commerce Work for You
Customers love being able to ‘window shop’ online and then come in to try things on and get the feel it/touch it experience.”

– Use Automation
The company should have an automated process that requires very little customer effort/interaction (Like FAQs and self-service options).

– Build Community
With a community, the customer will not only feel that they have a ‘relationship’ with the company, but that they have made a good decision because of all of the other people’s good comments.

– Give Customers a Chance to Be Part of a ‘Community’
We all want to ‘belong’. Whether you have a healthy following on social media where customers have the opportunity to comment on your products, or a loyalty program that they can sign up for or subscribe to—the sense of ‘belonging’ to a community is a great way to keep customers.

One of the most reliable ways to win over customers is just to do what you do better than anybody else. Customers notice when you go the extra mile for them and include them.

– Be Socially Responsible
Give back to the community.

Takes part in charitable initiatives in your areas.
Host in-store shopping events with sales benefitting the nonprofits, and provide gift certificates.

Shoppers want to know the money they are spending is not all going into the company’s ‘pocket’ but is truly making a difference in the community they live in.

A survey by Neilsen found that 66% of respondents were willing to spend more money on socially-conscious, sustainable brands. Millennials, in particular, love Corporate Social Responsibility, with 81% saying that they would support businesses that demonstrate good corporate citizenship.

– Collaborate
Do good things together in the community. Whether it’s donating a portion of every sale to a non-profit or hosting a collection for the local food bank, choose an activity that lets customers help with a good deed, so they feel good about doing business with you.

– Turn Your Shop Into a ‘Destination’ Rather Than Just a Store
Discounts and points can certainly give people reasons to come back, but aside from enticing them with ‘stuff’, be sure to give them great ‘experiences’ as well. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by hosting events.

To give you a better idea, here are some of the common experiences that keep people coming back:

– Attending classes
– Personalizing items
– Entertaining experiences

Stay on your customers’ radar through occasional e-mails and reminders. If you know their date of birth, for example, send them a birthday greeting (along with a special offer).

– Consistency
If a company treats their customer consistently—if they authentically appreciate their business—they will always have more than enough customers.

– Proper Handling of Complaints
In almost all business sectors, a customer who complains and is satisfied by the resolution of their complaint is actually 30% more loyal than a non-complainer and 50% more loyal than a complainer who remains dissatisfied.

– Stay in Touch
After the sale, devote resources to continuing to build the relationship instead of merely setting your sights on the next transaction. Opportunities can include being active on social media, sending clients a special incentive, and regular communication such as e-mail newsletters. However, there is a fine line between keeping in touch and becoming a nuisance. Your communication should be meaningful and have a purpose.

– Assume They Won’t Remember You
A customer may have hired you once, but that doesn’t guarantee they will think of you the next time they need the services you offer. You are competing for their attention amidst a million other distractions every day. (This is true for both retail and business-to-business companies). If you provide services to other companies and you haven’t heard from them in a while, reach out and let your contact know you would appreciate their future business.

– Keep the Experience ‘Fresh’ and Relevant.
Give your customers a reason to shop with you again. Continue to hone and improve your offerings—and remember to articulate to existing customers what’s new. Changes and updates are more reasons to interact with your client base.

– Offer Instant Gratification
The best way to bring people back to your store is to ‘incentivize’ their visits, and give them instant gratification on each visit.

That means either issuing them a promo code, discount on their next purchase, buy one get one free if they return, or putting some sort of membership in place where they receive regular discounts on purchases that grow every time they purchase something in-store.

The key is making customers feel rewarded or that they’re getting something of value whenever they walk through your doors.

– Show Your Appreciation
Express your gratitude with something as simple as a heartfelt thank you when doing business in person. Take it a step further by sending a thank you note or a special reward for a referral. Building strong relationships takes time, but the payoff is worth the energy.

– Prove to Your Customers That They Matter, by Sending a Note
It helps to show that you remember your customers by sending out a quick, informal note, following their first purchase. A quick, simple “Thank You” note can be very effective for impressing your customers.

– Always Be Grateful
Just as the company would want the customer to be grateful for the product/service they provided, customers often appreciate when the company is grateful for their business. When the company shows that they ‘truly’ care that the customer chose them over other possible companies, then that customer begins to feel even more ‘connected’ to the company.

– ‘Recognize’ the Customer
Someone’s ‘why’ is stronger than any other influence. So, when a company supplies the customer’s ‘why’, they have actually ‘recognized’ the customer—sometimes filling an ‘empty’ area in the customer’s life. Now, remember, even if the company is able to recognize the general ‘makeup’ of the customer, each customer will carry their own intricacies that make them different. This is when ‘micro-targeting’ can help the company go above and beyond by recognizing the customer on an individual basis—which will really ‘stand out’ for the customer, and ‘weds’ them to the company.

– Loyalty Program
It’s not enough that you give customers a rewards card and send them on their way. You have to be more proactive about reminding them to collect points or redeem their rewards.

Come up with different ways to get their members to earn and redeem their rewards.

– Buy one get one
– Double rewards on certain purchases
– Happy hour offers

– Refund Policy
One way to show gratitude in a very ‘real’ way is through some kind of refund policy. Not only will customers trust the company more, they will also see that the company truly takes their product/service seriously, by standing behind it 100% and ensuring complete satisfaction. (Of course, it has to be ‘reasonable’ and related to performance.)

– Listen
This requires two steps: paying attention when they share feedback and also proactively asking them what they think of your business. Send surveys to customers regarding their opinion about your product and the service they received, and then take the information to heart.

– Bridge ‘Gaps’
The power of listening cannot be understated. The company can learn what the customer likes—whether the company can do what they want—and many bridge the ‘gap’ between their expectation and what the company can actually provide.

– Go Above and Beyond
When businesses do the ‘extra mile’, it will not go unnoticed, and the company can be sure that their customers will actually ‘want’ to keep/return the product or service since they know the company will go above and beyond.

– Offer free in-store pickups
brings people into the store and they often end up buying more.

– Take Care Of Your Reputation
“Customers like to shop from businesses that enjoy a good reputation,” says Simon Wadsworth, Managing Partner of Igniyte, an online reputation management agency. He further adds, “Businesses need to take steps to maintain their reputation. However, it’s not an easy thing to do in today’s environment where word of mouth spreads faster than wildfire.”

The thing is, today companies have to ‘up their game’ to control how they’re perceived. According to a survey, 93% of customers agree that a company’s reputation is fairly important to them. (Quite frankly how that number is not 100% is mind-boggling to me.)

– Building ‘Authority’
The company’s ‘authority’ will also help the customer make the decision to keep coming back again and again, and if a company has the top ‘position’ of authority in their niche, the customer will actually reach the company out to do business with them.

– Don’t Lose Track Of Your Customers
Stay in touch with your customer and track their behavior. This information can also be obtained through “cookies” and analytics.

– No Resting on Any Laurels
Even the biggest of companies can lose buyers if they fail to change with the times.

Customers get bored of seeing the same thing. They want something new to keep them interested. It’s your responsibility to stay abreast with the latest technological changes and adapt them. In this era of mobile phones, a great number of customers prefer to shop on mobile phones than on desktop computers (about 55%). Businesses need to have mobile-friendly sites with apps for all platforms to be able to retain customers.

‘FOCUSES’

– Focus On Customer Service
Go above the ‘call of duty’ to serve customers.

Delivering exceptional customer service is more than a corporate value, it’s a ‘process’. Companies that deliver exceptional customer service invest in it and try to delight their customers.

[ For more details on “customer service,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post (In the “Expectations” section):
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-have-you-done-lately-v272/ ].

It’s not easy to deliver outstanding customer service, and that’s what makes it a powerful ‘differentiator’.

– Focus On Choice
Offering the breadth of service is a differentiator. Build your portfolio of products and services around your customer and their needs

– Focus On Your People
In some industries it’s very hard, if not impossible, to differentiate the products or services. Industries that become highly commoditized may not have a lot of external options to differentiate the brand. But that’s not the end of the world because you can differentiate internally.

Organizations that build ‘dynamic’ cultures stand out. Customers notice happy, engaged, and productive employees.

Your culture can create an ‘energy’ that radiates out into your marketplace, and set your brand apart from everyone else.

– Focus On The Experience
Do you deliver a unique customer experience that sets your firm apart?

The ‘experience’ goes beyond the products and services. It focuses on how your customers interact with the brand, and how you can aid them.

– Focus On Convenience
Can you create a hassle-free experience?

It could focus on the buying experience, and streamline the ‘process’. It could focus on the product, and make it easier to use and maintain.

Saving your customers time and energy is an excellent way to differentiate your brand.

– Pick a ‘Focal Point’
A brand can stand out by doing just one or two things better than everyone else.

[ For more details on customer service, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-have-you-done-lately-v272/ ].

The ‘secret’ lies in making your customers ‘happy’. Understand what your customers want and provide them just that if you wish to continue to grow. [ Just what the “Kano Model” can help a company do, which is presented just below in the “Exceeding Expectations” section ].

AN EXAMPLE
Co-Founder and CEO of “Beemer”—a company that helps companies engage new and return users by getting them to return to their website to become loyal, repeat customers—Mariano Rodriguez Colombelli wrote an article about how Amazon maintained over 90% customer retention in 2020.

He said that, with the pandemic, lockdowns, and mobility restrictions globally, online sales and e-commerce experienced an unprecedented boom. And of course, Amazon led that trend, consolidating its position. In fact, Amazon registered its most profitable quarter ever during the third quarter of 2020!

Besides the favorable circumstances for e-Commerce during 2020, Amazon has been cracking customer retention for a long time now—Amazon’s customer retention increases year over year.

As of September 2020, Amazon “Prime” members in the US were estimated to be 126 million, who have a 93% retention rate after the first year and 98% after two years. That is an e-Commerce ‘dream’!

Increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits anywhere from 25-95 percent—considering it’s between 5 and 25 times more expensive to acquire new customers, any company will save a lot by focusing on customer retention.

Now, we understand that not every e-Commerce site can have the same reach and level of service as Amazon. But, there are many aspects of Amazon’s interface, customer experience, and marketing EVERY company can recreate ‘in house’ to improve their customer retention.

So, here’s how Amazon maintains over 90% customer retention year after year:

– Tailor new user experience
– Personalize the return customer experience
– Create a sense of urgency and FOMO
– Get their information down before they go (forever)
– Effectively reach out to users and update them off your site
– Create a simple and easy checkout process
– Offer free shipping, returns, and perks for your loyal customers

Though we can’t all have Amazon’s in-house development team and fulfillment infrastructure, these tips can help any company ‘mimic’ their outstanding customer retention rate.

The thing is, the goal is to create an ‘EXPERIENCE’ that your customers recognize, value, and seek out, which gives them a ‘REASON’ TO COME BACK!

GENERAL ‘ONLINE-SPECIFIC’ RETENTION STRATEGIES
So, instead of being constantly worried about driving new traffic to your e-Commerce business, why not focus on what you currently get and try improving conversions (Again, retaining a customer is far less expensive than it is to acquire a brand new one.)

You might be already spending substantial money driving these new shoppers to your store, however, are you certain that you are delivering a great shopping experience?

Things to Consider:
– Are you monitoring what customers do on the website? (Tracking)
– Are you asking them questions while they shop? (Web surveys)
– Are you requesting feedback? (Follow up surveys)
– Are you monitoring your analytics? (Google; Bing, etc.)

You need to understand the reasons why customers would revisit your website. This will help you focus on key areas of your online store that are most important to them.

– To Purchase Additional Products
One of the main reasons why you have an online store in the first place is to allow customers to purchase your products from the comfort of their home. Personalizing the experience will help increase sales.

Monitor what categories shoppers browse the most as well as what search terms are being used on site. This will help you merchandise better.

– To Reorder Products
Not only would customers return to purchase new products, but they might also want to reorder some items. (Examples of such products could be ink for their printer, diapers for the baby, beauty products, or popular coffee.) So, provide an easy way for customers to view past orders through their account as well as adding a simple reorder option.

– To View Order Status
A customer may visit your website to view the status of a recent order they’ve made with you. So, provide a link within their account to view recent orders as well as adding a link in the footer for “Order Status” or “Track My Order”.

– To Request a Return, Replacement or Refund
A customer may visit your website to request a return on an item they’ve recently purchased and received from you. There could be a couple of reasons as to why they would return it such as the item not meeting their expectations, wrong size, or being damaged. So, provide links within the user’s account, to your return policy/procedures, to your contact information, as well as a FAQ page.

– To Request Product Support
When customers need product support or have questions, they will visit your website to seek some help. So, remember to include your help/FAQ pages. Another idea is to include a link to help resources for that specific product within their order history or on the product page itself.

– To Browse What’s New/What’s on Sale
Customers will visit your online store to see what’s new as well as what are the latest promotions. So, consider adding a section for new arrivals and sales promotion on your Home page or site navigation. You can also add links to it on their order confirmation receipt e-mail.

– To Leave Feedback/Rating
If you’re actively seeking feedback from customers about their recent shopping experience with your brand, they will visit your website to provide you with this feedback. So, make it easy for customers to leave you feedback either by providing a link within their last order information, user account or via third-party survey e-mail.

– To See If a Product is Back in Stock
Let’s face it, all retailers run out of stock of certain items at one point. While some might not wait for you to get back in stock, some will check your site or would want to be notified when it’s available. So, consider adding a back-in-stock notification e-mail to those who are subscribers (which gives you the opportunity to continually interact with them appropriately).

– To See if There’s a Price Drop on a Product
Everyone loves a bargain. So, if a customer is thinking of buying an item from you, they might visit your website multiple times to see if the price changes over a specific period of time. So, consider adding an option on your website for price drop alerts especially if you’re in a competitive industry.

– To View Order History
A customer might log into to their account simply to view their order history or print an invoice for accounting purposes. So, display an “order history” link within their user account or within the footer of your website.

– To Get Store Address or Phone Number
If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, customers might visit your online store to view store locations, stores hours, or store phone numbers. So, provide a link to view all store location details. You might want to consider adding this linkto your e-mail communications.

– To Compare Prices With Competitors
Price comparison is very common among online shoppers. Before they buy something they want to make sure that they are paying the lowest price or getting the most value for their purchase. So, ensure that you monitor competitors’ pricing so that you remain competitive.

– To Read/Write Product Reviews
Before buying a product, customers may want to read reviews left by other shoppers to help them decide if the product is right for them. They may also want to write one about a product they’ve recently bought from you. So, display reviews on product pages since that’s where customers expect them. Show options of writing reviews or simply rating products.

– To Add Items to Their “Wish List”
Your customers may not be ready to purchase a product at this moment, but they may want to save it in their wish list for future consideration. So, remember to display an “Add to Wishlist” option on product pages as well as an option to view their saved wish lists within their account.

– To Purchase a Gift Card for Someone
If customers love shopping from your brand, they might decide to purchase a gift card for someone. So, include a gift card option and mind shoppers on product pages that you offer gift card options. Also, consider offering gift wrapping services as well as adding a greeting card.

– To Read Your Latest Blog Post
If you have an inbound marketing strategy in place where you consistently create interesting content, customers will visit your website to read what you’ve recently published since it has value to them. So, make sure to have a link to your blog and the Home page within your main menu or within your e-mails. Consider promoting your latest content in your newsletter as well so you can drive traffic to your blog. Do not limit yourself to text-only blog posts. Be sure to add pics and videos.

– To Update Credit Card or Shipping/Billing Info
Customers might simply want to update their account information including e-mail address, shipping, billing, and credit cards on file. So, provide easy options within user accounts that help customers update their information with ease. Make sure to also add a link to customer support within that section of the website in case they run into difficulties.

NOTE: A bigger percentage of returning customers will revisit your store on their phone or tablet. Monitor mobile traffic separately because it will be different from desktop behavior.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Customers essentially approach each purchase or transaction with the expectation that they will receive exactly what they intended to buy, with no unpleasant surprises. Expectations are set by the company’s image, brand, reputation, pricing, advertising, and sales and marketing messages. That promise of what you will deliver combines with your customers’ previous experiences with your organization and other companies in your market, as well as those of other customers, conveyed via word-of-mouth.

The following are five broad, sometimes contradictory trends in overall expectations that customers bring to interactions with organizations and particularly with the ‘service’ function:

– Expects the product is what the company purports
– Expects quick delivery
– Expects an immediate resolution of problems
– Expects genuine empathy when things go wrong
– Expects comprehensive order data

Once a company consistently fulfills the ‘basic’ customer expectations, it is time to start exceeding those expectations when it makes economic sense to do so. Exceeding customer expectations creates the response known as “customer delight.”

So, to create ‘delight’, the company must know the customer preferences to ‘fulfill’ them. One popular method of determining these is the “Kano MODEL.” It is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed by Professor Noriaki Kano at Tokyo University of Science. [ He developed the model in the 1970s for the Konica Corporation (Now Konica Minolta) ]. His intention was that we use the model to identify which features to build particularly when a company has constraints around time and budget and resources. So, in the Kano Model asks the questions, “What do we need?,” “What will make our product/service excellent?,” and “What will ‘excite’ our customers/users?”

Like the MoSCoW (Must-haves; Should-haves; Could-haves; and Won’t- and Would-haves) or R.I.C.E. (Reach; Impact; Confidence; and Effort) frameworks, it allows a company to determine which features they will add to their product backlog and which ones they will prioritize at any time. The company then can weigh this against the implementation costs and the difficulty and risks of creating the product/service.

The Kano Model differs from tools like “MoSCoW” or “RICE” analysis. It essentially determines the prioritization of features according to how much they are likely to satisfy and delight customers, and weighs these against implementation costs.

The Kano Model also can describe the relationship between meeting customer expectations and customer satisfaction. Using the Kano Model to analyze customer satisfaction is an efficient evaluation method when developing products to meet the desires and expectations of the target market. Using the Kano Model, product managers can ensure that they develop their products in line with their customers’ wishes. It is essentially: The more a company ‘gives’ a customer the ‘happier’ they are.

Kano MODEL CHARACTERISTICS
The Kano Model is a prioritization model. It helps you prioritize features or scope during the ‘definition’ stage of your project (Similar to the “Product Roadmap” in an “Agile” project).

So, in the Kano Model, the company is prioritizing according to how much a feature might satisfy or excite their customers/users, and then they can weigh this against the implementation costs and the difficulty/risks of creating the product/feature.

In its simplest form, the Kano Model ‘process’ consists of four ‘steps’:

1) Identify all of the potential features that the product could have
2) Weigh the potential to satisfy or to delight the customer against the implementation cost (A business case)
3) Categorize each feature and decide which of five categories
each feature fits into (Three desirable, two are not desirable—Details below)
4) Consult the customers/users about the features, and establish the extent to which the previous steps were correct in assigning which category they fall
into and the ultimate desirability to the customer

So, in the Kano Model, there are five ‘categories’ of customer satisfaction. The first three are to ‘include’ in your product/feature/serve and the last two are those to ‘eliminate’:

1) Threshold Attributes (“Basic Need”) – What customers expect and would take for granted [ “Musts” ]
2) Performance Attributes (“Satisfiers”) – Proportionate increase in customer satisfaction to investment [ “Shoulds” ]
3) Excitement Attributes (“Delighters”) – Disproportionate increase in customer delight (Wow factors create “fans”) [ “Coulds” ]
4) Indifferent features (“Indifference”) – Customer will not value nor use these; Invested in something to no benefit [ “Won’ts” ]
5) Dissatisfaction features (“Rejection”) – Including these diminish the perceived value

The Kano Model allows the company to prioritize features on a project in such a way that they acknowledge and respect the desires and preferences of their user group/customers. However, people are ‘fickle’. Features that today might be seen as performance features—where if you increase them they increase the customers’ satisfaction with the product (excitement attributes, which customers crave)—will eventually be seen as commodity features or “threshold attributes.” Future iterations of your product/service will have to accommodate a ‘reset’ of customer/user expectations.

In addition to all this, the Kano Model distinguishes between two types of quality:

– Objective quality characteristics comprise physical characteristics and related functions meeting a certain level.

– Subjective quality characteristics are determined by individual preferences such as customer expectations.

By considering both types of quality, the Kano Model enables you to not only focus on the functionality of the product or service in question, but rather also on how different perceptions of quality affect satisfaction.

Product managers can use the Kano Model to ensure that the products they are developing are in line with what their customers want and expect. Conducting a Kano Model analysis shows the direct relationship between the product’s characteristics and features and the resulting customer satisfaction. These results do not depend on what the product developers think or assume, nor are they based on theoretical models. They reflect real consumer opinion.

The Kano Model can be used in several areas:

– Conducting a user-orientated analysis of expectations
– Analyzing users’ opinions of existing products
– Evaluating new product ideas
– Prioritizing features and backlog for future development
– Differentiating between competitors

The Kano Model is used to evaluate the features and characteristics of the company’s offering in regard to their target market’s expectations and satisfaction. The chart below makes clear the relationship between customers’ perceived satisfaction (the Y-axis, vertical) and how their expectations have been met regarding the achievement of individual features and functions (the X-axis, horizontal).

THE “KANO MODEL”

Regardless of the extent to which customer expectations are fulfilled for a threshold attribute, you can see in the diagram above that the customer satisfaction it evokes never increases over a neutral level. For a performance attribute, however, the level to which expectations are met do affect satisfaction ratings. The better these expectations are fulfilled, the higher the customer satisfaction. If these expectations are exactly met, satisfaction is at a neutral level. For excitement attributes, it’s irrelevant to what extent expectations are fulfilled; just their inclusion leads to customer satisfaction, as long as the remaining expectations also meet expectations.

A further categorization looks at features and characteristics of an offering through the lens of customer expectations throughout “Quality Categories”:

‘THRESHOLD’ ATTRIBUTES (“Musts”/“Dissatisfiers”)

Originally known as must-be quality, the customers expect these as standard, indeed take these features for granted. They will not articulate a desire for these; they’re simply expected to be present. If these threshold attributes are missing, customers are dissatisfied. However, these features don’t evoke satisfaction in and of themselves, regardless of whether they are of particularly high objective quality.

These threshold features MUST be ‘present’ and don’t cause any significant competitive advantage. An example of a ’THRESHOLD’ attribute is having an MP3 player on a Smartphone. [ Shown in the chart below. ]

PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTES (“Wants”/“Satisfiers”)

Originally referred to as one-dimensional quality, these attributes are explicitly specified and requested by customers. They are decision-making criteria, or used to compare the performance of multiple offerings. They have a direct influence on customer satisfaction. Performance attributes are considered normal requirements which are known to the customer. They can evoke satisfaction but also dissatisfaction, depending on the extent to which they have been fulfilled.

An example of a ‘PERFORMANCE’ attribute is the battery time on a Smartphone. [ Shown in the chart below. ]

EXCITEMENT ATTRIBUTES (“Delighters”/“Exciters”)

Originally called attractive quality, these attributes excite your customers. They deliver a real—or at least, perceived—benefit. They are not a basic expectation so their absence doesn’t lead per se to dissatisfaction. If present, however, even a small increase in their performance is seen as a disproportionately high benefit. Excitement attributes are also referred to as ʽdelightful requirementsʼ and raise the product above the competition by evoking a certain excitement in the customer. The product itself may not actually be that different from a competitor’s product, but the customer now perceives it as particularly useful or beneficial.

In today’s fiercely competitive markets, every manufacturer or service provider needs to be identifying these excitement attributes and working out how to integrate them into their offerings so that they can benefit from the disproportionately high increase in customer satisfaction. If a manufacturer doesn’t manage to add these, this doesn’t lead to dissatisfaction per se, as long as the performance attributes specified by the customer are present. However, if in a competitive, busy market, with many suppliers offering nearly identical products, identifying and adding excitement attributes can really raise your product above those of the competition.

An example of an ‘EXCITEMENT’ attribute is the stylish design of a Smartphone. [ Shown in the chart below. ]

INDIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES

These don’t lead to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction, regardless of whether they are present or not. Essentially, their inclusion is only relevant for an extremely niche group. They are not expected by the customer, generally aren’t the deciding factor in whether a product is purchased, and are not worth including in marketing campaigns. Investing in these indifferent attributes is expensive and won’t help attract customers in decent numbers.

An example of an ‘INDIFFERENT’ attribute could be extending the range of emoticons stored on the Smartphone. [ Shown in the chart below. ]

REJECTION ATTRIBUTES

These lead to dissatisfaction if present, and don’t directly cause satisfaction if not. These attributes are critical to defining as they are not always easily recognized as the reasons a potential customer does not buy your offering. This information is rarely articulated by a potential customer.

An example of a ‘REJECTION’ attribute would be the damaged packaging of a Smartphone. [ Shown in the chart below. ]

So, the classification of attributes in the Kano Model shows category changes over time. Something which excites customers today can already have become an explicit expectation tomorrow. Soon, it may well become something that is taken as a ’given’. This can be illustrated with a car’s airbag. When originally introduced, it was an “excitement attribute” and showed that you had a ‘luxury’ car. Soon, however, this feature was also present in cars by other manufacturers and it had been downgraded to a “performance attribute.” Nowadays, airbags are a “threshold attribute,” included as standard equipment in even cars in the lowest price class.

This downgrading over time is due to the fact that customers get used to new features quickly. Exactly when these start to be taken from granted depends on the type of feature, competitors’ designs, and the customers themselves. In order to keep abreast of this eventual downgrading and react appropriately, a Kano Model analysis needs to be carried out at REGULAR ‘INTERVALS’.

So, in order to gain—and maintain—a competitive edge, a company really needs to be aware of their target customers’ changing and increasing expectations. The Kano Model helps to understand the different perspectives in the target market and thus makes a significant contribution to developing customer-orientated products and services.

Kano is an even stronger tool if NPS (Net Promoter Score) data is ‘overlaid’. By including the NPS scores of existing customers when trying to improve satisfaction, you can quickly map out the distracting areas to ignore.

[ FYI: For more details on “NPS” view this article:

https://sapioresearch.com/net-promoter-score-research?rq=NPS ].

CREATING ‘DELIGHT’

There are important strategic, competitive, and financial reasons for creating ‘delight’, and the most important of these is increased ‘loyalty’—which means increased revenue.

A delightful experience usually raises loyalty by 10%-30%, depending on the type of action. The listing below shows the impact of some delightful experiences (Delightful Experience: Average Percentage of ‘Lift’ to Repurchase):

– Service Beyond Expectation: 12%
– Assistance During Life Event: 14%
– No Unpleasant Surprises: 22%
– 90-second Staff Interaction: 25%
– Personal Relationship Over Time: 26%
– Tell Me of a New Opportunity: 30%
– Consistently Good Service: 32%
– Proactively Providing Information: 32%

[ Source: TARP (John A. Goodman) ]

Clearly, not all delight actions have the same impact or the same cost. Therefore, you must measure impact by type of the delightful action to determine which two or three actions make the most sense to do.

Beyond increased loyalty, there are a couple of other impactful delights:

– Highly positive experiences generate highly positive word-of-mouth (as well as increased loyalty)
– Delight dissolves price ‘resistance’

Research suggests that there are a few ways to create delight—with at least a dozen specific actions possible within each of the broad categories:

– Enhance Product Value
– Enhance Transactional Value
– Financial ‘Delighters’
– Proactive Communication
– Creating Emotional Connections

Now, while you may have a good idea of what delights your customers, a ’systematic’ approach can help to consciously set exceptions—and then exceed them. Specific sources of information on customer expectations and opportunities to create delight include the following:

– Listening Programs
– Asking the Customer Service Representatives
– Customer Complaints
– Surveying Customers
– Watching the Competition

So then—as the Kano Model points out—a ‘delighter’ becomes something that customers ‘expect’, the it soon ceases to be a delighter! It may continue to give the company a competitive advantage—as long as its competitors don’t provide it—but by definition, delight is the response that occurs when customers’ expectations are exceeded. However, when a feature expects a feature and it becomes simply a feature to be improved, it then becomes a now ‘expected’ experience.

So, companies need to create a STRATEGIC ‘INFRASTRUCTURE’ positioned to delight customers in ways that are conscious, planned, and systematic. Then results can be replicated elsewhere within the company.

As was mentioned, the quality of the human interaction in the customer experience represents a true source of delight—or its opposite! So, the company needs to give the customer service staff the strategic and tactical ‘tools’—and the authority—they need to create delight.

So, to sum up:

– Delight can be created only when customers’ basic expectations are being consistently met
– Identify delights by asking what caused customers to give the company a ‘high’ rating
– Not all delights have equal payoffs (which is what the Kano Model help determine), and some are downright ‘cheap’ to deliver
– Delights are much more cost-effective when they are tailored to the market segment, making them both relevant and suited to the specific customer
– Today’s delighter, when systematically delivered, can become tomorrow’s expiration and ‘standard’

[ For more details on “customer expectations,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post (In the “Expectations” section):
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-have-you-done-lately-v272/ ].

CREATING REMARKABLE SERVICE
There is a LOT of advice out there about how to deliver great customer service, and many of the ‘tips’ are reminders of what we already know (but occasionally forget). So, here are a few of the most ‘popular’ and effective items that consistently deliver to the customer what they want:

– ‘Connect’ with the customer
– ‘Discover’ what they want
– ‘Know’ what you can provide
– ‘Provide’ it
– ‘Follow up’
– ‘Thank’ the customer for buying/using

Following these items will increase the level of customer service dramatically—which will also increase a company’s customer loyalty, retention, and repeat business.

Delighting the customer does not have to be a ‘Wow’ experience every time, but EVERY ‘touch’ must be executed well. Jan Carlzon, the former president of Scandinavian Airlines, coined a term related to this: “Moment of Truth.” He defined it as “Anytime the customer comes into contact with any aspect of the business, however remote, and has an opportunity to form an impression.”

Essentially, there are three ‘major’ kinds of interactions a customer can have with the company: A positive interaction; an average or mediocre experience; or a negative interaction [ “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”? ;^D ]. Since there are countless moments of truth, that means that there are countless opportunities to ‘manage’ the interactions with customers. It is said that, “Impression is reality.”

So, if the goal is to create long-term loyalty with individual customers, then the company wants the odds to be on their side. That means they want to make sure that everyone in the organization is on board, that everyone is in the right role, is ‘tuned in’ to what the organization is supposed to be doing, and why it is being done. Everyone is motivated to ‘amaze’ (i.e. Disney).

To do all this, the way the company wants its customers to be treated must be congruent with the way the employees are treated internally. Shep Hyzen calls it the “Employee Golden Rule: “Do unto employees as you want done onto the customer.”

The legendary Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher said: “If the employees come first, then customers are happy… A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It is not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.”

So then, for a company to be successful at providing remarkable customer service, it follows that the ones ‘giving’ that service should be the first to be taken care of—so then they know how to care for the customer! When the employee feels supported and valued, they will treat the customer in the same way!

The co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group, Horst Schulz, said that, “Delivering amazing service means delivering, consistently unpredictably, and experience that is a little better than average—just 10% above average… Being just ten percent above average all the time delivers amazement.”

Schulze knew that if you delivered that 10% above-average level of service consistently and predictively—without ever drifting back into mediocrity—customers would give the company a score of five out of five ‘stars’ more often than not.

Many companies have found out that when they use the “Employee Golden Rule,” it has been the best way to grow their business and get customers to come back!

PERSONALIZATION

So, does the experience you deliver to your customers makes them feel as if they are ‘coming home’, as if they belong, as if they are ‘regulars’, as if they are recognized and remembered and valued as individuals?

Finding a way to make that kind of experience happen consistently is a powerful way to deliver an above-average experience—which will ‘amaze’ the customer.

[ For more details about how to “amaze” a customer, get Shep Hyken’s book “The Amazement Revolution.” (Book details in the “Resources” section.) ].

Whenever one works with someone who truly makes us feel at home, someone who treats us like one of the regulars, someone who knows our name, and knows what we are like, guess what happens? We want to go back! This may be because we want to feel at home like that again… Or it may be because we are curious about whether the experience will be as good the next time… Or it may be a combination of the two. But, one way or the other, we are open to another conversation, another interaction, another chance to do business together.

Remembering your customers is huge. It’s worth doing, worth training others to do, and worth rewarding whenever it happens. It works because it makes your customers feel special, it makes the experience personal, it creates a connection with your customers, and last, but not least, it dramatically increases the likelihood of a return visit.

Now, this is going to ‘date’ me again, but do you remember—or have seen—the 1980s sitcom “Cheers”? It was a popular sitcom that debuted in 1982 and remained popular for over 10 years. The theme song, “Where everybody knows your name,” was also the theme of the entire show. People like going to, and going back to, places where they are remembered. So, start by using the customers’ name. That is the ‘root’ of a personalized experience to start with—the to grow from.

EMPATHY

One of the single biggest factors in hitting the ‘bullseye’ and creating two true customer loyalty is empathy for what the customer is experiencing and dealing with in ‘life’. That is what makes the emotional connection possible. Customers who give companies high marks on surveys may be telling you that they are happy, but that doesn’t mean they are loyal.

So, there are a few powerful strategies for creating customer loyalty:

– Reward Empathy
– Adopt a ‘Hospitality’ Mindset
– Schedule a Regular Loyalty ‘Huddle’
– Make it Personal

REPEAT CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT ‘PROCESS’
The following is a six-step “I’ll be back” experience development process by Shep Hyken. This is used to create the kind of unique ‘RELATIONSHIP’ that turns a repeat customer into a long-term loyal customer.

– Step One: Why You?
Why do people do business with you? Your value proposition should be a brief, easy-to-understand reason why the customer would buy from you, and it should quickly set you apart from other organizations.

– Step Two: Check Out the Competition
What are we doing that they don’t do? What are they doing that we don’t do?

– Step Three: Make Sure You Are Keeping Pace
Look for differentiation not duplication

– Step Four: Move Beyond Your Industry
What companies, not including competitors, do you like doing business with the most, and why?

– Step Five: Compare Yourself and Borrow the Best
Look at companies from outside your industry and take as much time as necessary to look for what they do that you don’t do. This is where you will learn how to improve your customer experience. In a way that dramatically sets you apart from the competition.

– Step Six: Revisit Your Value Proposition
Your aim here is to create a customer experience that is world-class, which would be considered excellent both inside and outside your industry.

SUSPECT:
Only potential customers at this stage. Willing to buy from you if they are in your geographic area.

PROSPECT:
A suspect who has taken some sort of action like phoning in often ad or visiting your business.

CUSTOMER:
A prospect needs to have spent money, and you need to have recorded the sale in your records.

MEMBER:
When your customers make their second purchase, they become a member. They now have a feeling of belonging. Understanding that customers who make two purchases are 10 times more likely to make more than someone who has only made one purchase. So, you need to put some effort into your members. Give them a membership card or a membership pack.

ADVOCATE:
An advocate is someone who sells used to other people. The criteria for advocates is that they will give referrals or promote you, and they will keep buying. Advocates are one of your major capital assets.

RAVING FAN:
A raving fan is someone who cannot stop selling for you. They want to see you succeed. They continue buying from you.

Remember, the aim of the ‘game’ is to move people from customer to raving fan. This is where the company starts to really begin to make a profit!

WAITING FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ‘PERSON’ TO RETURN

[ For more details about the ‘convergence’ of end time ‘signs’, view these previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” posts:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/a-sense-of-urgency-v269/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/got-your-attention-yet-v255/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/last-generation-v249/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

A large portion of Scripture is prophetic (by some accounts, as much as one-fifth), and perhaps a third or more of the prophetic passages refer to the “SECOND COMING” of Jesus or ‘events’ related to it. It is undeniably a MAJOR ’THEME’ in the prophecy of both Old and New Testaments.

[ For more details on Jesus’ “Second Coming,” view these previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” posts:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/where-you-return-to-v273/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-final-deception-v268/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/kingdoms-past-present-and-future-v262/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

The thing is, Jesus has MANY very good ‘reasons’ to come back to earth—and this time, He is not just going to ‘drop in’ and see how things are going—making some casual visit to this planet, making stops in a few cities, visiting some Christians, giving some speeches, and then leave. He is COMING TO ’STAY’!

In Jesus’ “First Coming”—being born, living, and dying—He came to this earth to ‘pay’ for our sins and then ascended back to Heaven. Just a ‘brief’ stay.

However, in Jesus’ “Second Coming,” He is coming back to first take up the believers (the “Rapture”), to take out the enemy, and to take over the world (the reign of Jesus in the Millennium).

People are often surprised to learn that references to Jesus’ Second Coming outnumber references to the First Coming by a factor of 8 to 1, and biblical scholars have identified 1,845 different biblical references to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Then, Jesus’ return is emphasized in no less than 17 Old Testament books, and the New Testament authors speak of it in 23 of the 27 books. (One out of every 30 verses in the New Testament teaches us that Jesus is coming back to this earth!)

So, I just mentioned that there are “many” reasons that Jesus is coming back. Here are some of the ‘major’ ones:

– The ‘Promise’ of God
– Jesus’ Earthly ‘Teachings’
– The Holy Spirit’s ‘Testimony’
– God’s ‘Program’ for the Church
– The ‘Corruption’ of the World
– The ‘Program’ for Israel
– Jesus Will ‘Vindicate’ Himself
– To ‘Remove’ Satan
– ‘Hope’ for the Believer
– Set Up the ‘Kingdom’

So, let me ‘flesh out’ each one of these reasons.

THE ‘PROMISE’ OF GOD

So, if Jesus didn’t fulfill all the prophecies the first time, then He MUST return to fulfill them—so God cannot be called a “liar” (which He IS NOT!). So, let me give you a few verses that concern this.

– “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between His feet, until Shiloh come” [ Genesis 49:10a ]. That’s a Messianic promise. Shiloh means the one who’s right it is or the one to whom it belongs. There’s going to be a King and He’s going to hold the Scepter, and He WILL be from the line of Judah.

– “Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be” [ Genesis 49:10b ]. The first time Jesus came was there a gathering of the people to Him? No, and the Apostle John said, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive Him.” [ John 1:11 ]. That prophecy has not yet been fulfilled yet therefore Jesus MUST return. The credibility of God’s prophecy is at stake!

– “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel’” [ Psalm 2:6-9 ].

– Messiah’s going to come, He’s going to be a King, He’s going to reign on the throne, and all of the nations of the world are going to be subject to Him. He will “rule them with a rod iron” (Revelation 2:27). Did that happen the first time Jesus came? Of course not. If it didn’t, what has to happen? Jesus HAS to come again!

– “For unto us a child is born, unto to us a son is given” [ Isaiah 9:6a ]. Did that happen the first time He came? Yes, He was born. Then it says, “And the government shall be upon His shoulder” [ Isaiah 9:6b ]. Did that happen? No. Who is the prince of this world right now? Satan (John 14:30).

– “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David” [ Isaiah 9:7a ]. The first time Jesus came did He sit on the throne of David? No, they crucified Him as a criminal. However, the second time, “He’ll sit on the throne of David, and upon His kingdom to order it, to establish it with justice and righteousness from hence forth even forever” [ Isaiah 9:7c ]. The government has NEVER yet been on the ‘shoulders’ of Jesus! BUT , it WILL!

The first time Jesus came did He bring peace? No! He said, “I came not to bring peace, but a sword” [ Matthew 10:34 ]—to divide families, to sever relationships—because some would believe in Him and some would not. So, He doesn’t have any government of this world yet, Satan’s still the ‘prince’. If He didn’t fulfill it the first time, you better believe it that He going to come again to fulfill that or God is a liar and God’s prophecies do not come true.

Let me take you to another prophecy: “He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away” [ Micah 4:3a ]. Did Jesus do that the first time He was here, rebuke strong nations afar off? No, but He will!

– “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” [ Isaiah 2:4b ]. Has there been a cessation of war since Jesus came? Nope. Again, if He didn’t fulfill it the first time, He must come again to fulfill the second time. The credibility of God is ‘at stake’.

– “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely” [ Jeremiah 23:5a ]. Jesus came the first time and said He was a king, and they said, “We will not have this man to reign over us” [ Luke 19:14 ]. Jesus also didn’t “execute justice and righteous in the earth” [ Jeremiah 23:5d ], so He will have to come back to do that!

– “And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment” [ Ezekiel 21:25a ] (God’s going to get back to the situation when iniquity’s run its course and deal with them ), “Thus says the Lord, ‘Remove the diadem and take off the crown. You’ve been ruling in that land, but it’s over’” [ Ezekiel 21:26a ].

– “A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him” [ Ezekiel 21:27 ]. God says, “I’m going to take back that whole thing and give it to the one who it really belongs to, Jesus Christ.” Has He done that yet? Has God turned over the land of Israel to the rule of Jesus Christ? Nope, not yet. Just another reason why Jesus MUST come back!

– “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of Heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him” [ Daniel 7:13 ] (Jesus is going to have dominion). It continues: “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” [ Daniel 7:14 ]. Then, in verse 18: “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’” Has Jesus returned to have world dominion and given to His saints an eternal Kingdom? Again, not yet, but it will come to the earth, in the future, when Jesus comes back.

– “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward” [ Zechariah 14:4 ]. When Jesus comes, He will come back, at His Second Coming, with His ‘saints’. Did that happen the first time He came? No, obviously not.

So, do you see that since none of those things happened when Jesus came the first time, then He MUST come again so that they can be ‘LITERALLY’ fulfilled?

Then, to ‘reinforce all this, the Apostle Paul says: “Let God be true if every man is a liar” [ Romans 3:4 ], and “God who cannot lie” [ Titus 1:2 ]. This is saying that God CANNOT LIE. When God tells us something it’s true, and God said His ‘Messiah’ Jesus WILL do all of these things. If He didn’t do it the first time, believe you me, He WILL be back and do ALL OF THIS the second time!

Again and again, the Scripture says God cannot lie and that He will not change His mind (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2). What He has promised, He will do. The truthfulness of the Bible is ‘at stake’ in the Second Coming of Jesus. So, He MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth!

JESUS’ EARTHLY ‘TEACHINGS’

Then Jesus says, “For as the lightning comes from the East and shines as far as the West, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” [ Matthew 24:27 ].

Jesus goes on to say: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” [ Matthew 24:30-31 ].

Jesus said, “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory” [ Matthew 25:31]. Jesus said, “I’m coming,” over and over again, and HIS ‘CREDIBILITY’ is ‘at stake’!

“‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me’” [ Luke 19:26-27 ]. Jesus comes back and takes the ‘Kingdom’.

The book of Revelation says, six times, “Behold, I come quickly.” I’m thinking we ought to get the message. In this post’s ‘theme’, “I’ll be back!”

So, here we see that the character of God is at stake AND the character of Jesus is at stake! So, He MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

THE HOLY SPIRIT’S ‘TESTIMONY’

The Apostle Paul goes on to say elsewhere: “For our citizenship is in heaven from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” [ Philippians 3:20 ], and “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory” [ Colossians 3:4 ], and “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” [ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ] (A description of the ‘Rapture’).

Here are a few more ‘authors’ that told of Jesus’ Second Coming:

– “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him” [ Hebrews 9:28 ].

– “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” [ James 5:7-8 ].

– “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” [ 1 Peter 5:4 ].

– “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is” [ 1 John 3:2 ].

– “But with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” [ 1 Peter 1:19-21 ].

The Holy Spirit REPEATEDLY ‘TESTIFIED’ that Jesus was coming! So, He MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

GOD’S ‘PROGRAM’ FOR THE CHURCH

Then, after Jesus finally sets up the Kingdom, all the nations come before Him: “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord” [ Zechariah 8:22 ].

So, nothing further can happen for Israel until the Church is ‘consummated’. God can’t finish His plan with Israel until He finishes His plan with the Church. Jesus must return because the Church age can’t end until He returns. If the Church age doesn’t end, then there’s no ‘Kingdom’. (I can’t see how anyone can understand that plan any other way than to be pre-Tribulational and pre-Millennial.) Then, when Jesus is done with the Church, He comes back and works with Israel, sets up His Kingdom, and the Gentile nations come to the throne. God is still ‘gathering’ the Church.

BUT, this is going to end. One of these days the whole Church age ends like this: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” [ 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ].

The Church ‘age’ ends when Jesus comes down into the “clouds,” ‘collects’ the believers, and away they all go into Heaven. Now, that IS NOT His return to earth in the ‘fullest’ sense, that’s just the ‘beginning’ of His return. He will be back ‘physically’ in a minimum of seven years later, and His feet will hit the Mount of Olives and split it wide open.

[ For more details about Jesus’ return to the Mount of Olives, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/ ].

So, until the Church is removed, nothing else can happen. It will be like a Galilean wedding. The Church is called a “virgin waiting for her husband” (2 Corinthians 11:2).

The Apostle Paul also uses wedding imagery: “I am jealous for you with godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” [ 2 Corinthians 11:2 ]. Marriage is a beautiful metaphor that pictures Jesus’ love and care for His Church (Matthew 25; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-9), ad that’s why one can be ‘CERTAIN’ the Jesus will return to claim ‘her’, just as He promised (John 14:2-3). He will come back to get His ‘bride’ BEFORE the Tribulation (“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” [ 1 Thessalonians 5:9 ] and “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world” [ Revelation 3:10 ] ).

https://youtu.be/h1irWOiD_Ac?t=2

[ VIDEO: Trailer for the “Before the Wrath” movie ]

I think that the present state of the Church leads me to believe that the “Marriage Feast of the Lamb” is coming pretty fast. You say, “What do you mean?” Well, the Apostle Paul said, “In the last days, there will be people who will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons” [ 1 Timothy 4:1 ]. Paul then goes on to say that in the last days, watch out. The Church will be characterized by apostasy and demonism. The thing is, if there are two things that dominate the Church today, they are apostates and a preoccupation with demons.

Again, the Apostle Peter warned of this, too: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction” [ 2 Peter 2:1 ]. Then Peter goes on to say, “That scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’” [ 2 Peter 3:3-4 ]—they deny Jesus’ Second Coming, and we have that going on in MANY ‘churches’. So, that’s why I say that there are reasons to believe that Church age is fast coming to an end—and God’s program for the Church demands a return of Jesus.

So, Jesus MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

THE ‘CORRUPTION’ OF THE WORLD

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get down, for the press is full, the vats overflow, their wickedness is great” [ Joel 3:13 ]. Here are all these nations gathered together ready for a big war. Then, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be dark, the stars shall withdraw their shining, and the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake” [ Joel 3:14-16 ]. God is going to gather nations, and He’s going to gather them into the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:12). Joel called it the “valley of decision.”

Then, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all the nations, and I’m going to separate them one from the other as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats” [ Matthew 25:31-32 ]. He’s going to take the sheep nations, put them on one hand, and say, “Enter the Kingdom which is prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). Then, on the other hand, He is going to take the ‘goats’ and say: “‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” [ Matthew 25:41 ]. Then, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” [ Matthew 25:46 ].

All these nations gather for war; and as they converge on Jerusalem to fight war, they find out that they have been brought to the tribunal, to the judgment bar of God. They think they are coming to attack the Lord and Israel; they really wind up at the judgment seat of God. It is like going to war in a courtroom, the ‘tables’ are turned on them, and the nations are all going to be ‘JUDGED’! However, the nations that have responded to Jesus will ‘ENTER’ the Kingdom. This is the judgment God promises for the nations.

Jesus IS coming back to ‘JUDGE’ the nations. “The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged” [ Revelation 11:18a-c ].

So, He MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

THE ‘PROGRAM’ FOR ISRAEL

[ For more details about humanities ‘blindness’, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/are-you-blind-v252/ ].

Though the Tribulation is ’primarily’ for saving the Jews, not ALL the Jews are going to be saved—but the nation is going to be freed from persecution. (There will be some rebels who will be purged out according to Ezekiel 20).

I believe that Jesus IS COMING SOON because of what is happening to Israel. God has ‘gathered’ them into the land, and has ‘planted’ them there. Ezekiel tells us that when all these things happen, the next thing will be Israel’s salvation (Ezekiel 36:22-38)—which, as I mentioned, is the Tribulation.

So, BEFORE Jesus ‘raptures’ the Church, and comes again to set up His Kingdom, get ‘READY’ for His coming!

Once Israel is saved, then Jesus comes back to set up His Kingdom (His “Second Coming”). “And blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory.” [ Psalm 72:19 ]. Jesus must come back if the earth is going to be filled with His glory. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison to those who are bound” [ Isaiah 61:1-2 ].

How people can come up with Amillennialism—that there’s no earthly Kingdom—is beyond me. “Behold, the days come that I’ll raise unto David a righteous branch. A king shall reign and prosper, shall execute justice and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved; Israel shall dwell safely” [ Jeremiah 23:5-6a ]. That is saying that the Kingdom will be on the earth once again. “This same Jesus who is taken up from you shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go” [ Acts 1:11 ]. Jesus left the earth, went to Heaven, and will ‘LITERALLY’ RETURN BACK from Heaven to earth.

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR ISRAEL DURING THE TRIBULATION

Again, one of the major divine purposes for the Tribulation in relation to Israel is the conversion of the Jewish remnant to faith in Jesus as their Messiah. This will take place throughout the Tribulation, and by the end of the seven-year period, the entire number of the ‘elect’ remnant will become converted to Jesus. That number is likely a third of the Jewish people. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, “‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God’” [ Zechariah 13:9 ]. Then, as part of the process of bringing the Jewish remnant to faith, God speaks of a purging out of the non-elect Jewish element from the nation: “‘And it will come about in all the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it’” [ Zechariah 13:8 ].

Like a metallurgist, God will use the ‘fire’ of the Tribulation to purge out the unfaithful. He is going to “gather you [ Israel ] and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it” [ Ezekiel 22:21 ]. In this passage, “My wrath” depicts the time of the Tribulation. The outcome of this event will be that the nation “will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you” [ Ezekiel 22:22 ]. The thing is, right now Israel IS back in her land, awaiting the purging fire of the Tribulation that will remove the non-elect and reveal the remnant.

Again, we read of “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). The remnant will be saved through this time of trouble, which is clearly the Tribulation. God will chasten that nation of Israel during this time. “Only I will not destroy you completely. But I will chasten you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished” [ Jeremiah 30:11 ]. This chastisement will result in Israel’s conversion: “And you shall be My people, And I will be your God” [ Jeremiah 30:22 ]. Jeremiah says that these things will occur “in the latter days” [ Jeremiah 30:24 ].

In addition to these prophecies, the prophecies of Daniel are set within the timeframe of the Tribulation (Daniel 12). “Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand” [ Daniel 12:10 ]. We also see the continued theme of purging out the non-elect Jews during the Tribulation and the rescue or salvation of the elect as events that are said to occur during “the end time” (Daniel 12:9).

Theologian and prophecy expert Arnold Fruchtenbaum tells us that, “As a purified, believing nation, they will then turn to the Lord. Here again, he speaks of worldwide regathering in unbelief in preparation for a specific future judgment, but the purpose of the judgment is to bring them to national repentance.”

THE CONDITION FOR THE SECOND COMING

Many Christians are surprised to learn that the Second Coming is a “rescue event.” Jesus will return to planet earth in order to rescue the believing Jewish remnant that is on the verge of being destroyed during the ‘campaign’ of Armageddon. “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me” [ Hosea 5:15 ]. “Until” tells us that the nation will one day turn to the Lord.

Jesus Himself spoke an important “until” to the nation when He said, “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” [ Matthew 23:39 ]. The Apostle Peter also tells the Jewish nation that they will not see Jesus again until they: “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time” [ Acts 3:19–21 ].

The Bible teaches that one day the nation of Israel will return to the Lord their God. This will occur by the end of the tribulation and is the purpose for the time of Jacob’s trouble. Many passages teach the future conversion of the Jews to Jesus as their Messiah (Psalm 79:1-13; 80:1-19; Isaiah 53:1-9; 59:20-21; 61:8-9; 64:1-12; Jeremiah 30:3-24; 31:31-40; 32:37-40; 50:4-5; Ezekiel 11:19-20; 16:60-63; 34:25-26; 36:24-32; 37:21-28; Hosea 6:1-3; Joel 2:28-32; Zechariah 9:11; 12:10-13:9; and Romans 11:25-27).

One of the most interesting passages on the future conversion of the nation of Israel comes from Hosea (a book that tells about how God loves humanity so much that He will ‘put up’ with its horrendous disobedience, and continues to pursue them, and desire that they come to repentance and belief): “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him” [ Hosea 6:1-2 ].

So again, Jesus MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

JESUS WILL ‘VINDICATE’ HIMSELF

In the Old Testament, it describes the first time Jesus came: “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” [ Psalm 22:16-18 ]. This describes that this all happened on the Cross. However, it continues to describe what will happen after that: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee for the kingdom is the Lord’s, He is the governor among the nations” [ Psalm 22:27 ].

Now, in the New Testament, Jesus graphically presents Himself: “Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered” [ Matthew 26:57 ]. They mocked Him, plucked His beard, humiliated Him, and executed Him. So, is this what the world going to see the last Jesus for the last time? Nope: “But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’” [ Matthew 26:63-64 ].

The book of Revelation says that, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him” [ Revelation 1:7 ]. People ARE going to see Jesus again, but they’re not going to ‘like’ what happens this time!

Jesus MUST ‘RETURN’ to this earth, because His humiliation demands it. Do you see what I’m saying? It is inconceivable that the last ‘view’ of Jesus the world would have would be of a defeated, dying, bleeding, criminal.

So, He MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

TO ‘REMOVE’ SATAN

So that is Satan’s ‘strategy’. To make the satisfaction of the self become more important than conforming to what God says is the limit of our authority. In other words, he will ‘push’ us toward making ourselves greater or more important than righteousness or truth.

The Bible refers to Satan in terms that are surprisingly authoritative. As mentioned, Jesus Himself calls Satan the “ruler of this world” (John 16:11). Then, the Apostle Paul says that people who fail to trust in and follow Jesus’ walk, “follow the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” [ Ephesians 2:2 ]. Again, Paul tells the people of Corinth, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” [ 2 Corinthians 4:4 ]. Satan is “the god of this age.”

At this point, even Michael the Archangel’s authority does not surpass that of Satan. “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the Devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” [ Jude 1:9 ]. (However, that WILL change in the future!)

Satan has clearly been given a measure of authority on this earth—for a time. The world ‘system’ as we know it runs according to his design (again, see Ephesians 2:2). Therefore the wisdom believers receive from God looks like foolishness to the world because it is so fundamentally different from the world’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21-25). Satan’s rule over the world system is why the Bible asks, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” [ James 4:4 ], and “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” [ 1 John 2:15 ]—precisely because the enemy of God controls the ‘world’—for now.

As disturbing as Satan’s authority may be at this point, it is not absolute any more than the perceived authority of a fifth-grader is over their parents. In fact, it is SEVERELY ‘LIMITED’. Recall how Satan’s every attack on Job was reviewed by God in advance and specifically limited by God. Moreover, Satan is thrown into a pit without mention of a protest or fight: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time” [ Revelation 20:1-3 ]. It happens without any significant resistance.

However, for now, believers find themselves in the middle of a system over which they have no direct control. This ‘system’ regards everything we know to be right and good as nothing but foolishness. We are the ‘fifth-graders’ of this world.

Eventually, the ‘tide’ will shift for the believer. Our once and future King (Jesus) WILL COME BACK, and our enemy’s torture WILL ‘END’. We will be ‘complete’ since we know “that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” [ Philippians 1:6 ]. The ‘bullies’ (demons) now in charge will be subject to the believers since, “Do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world?… Do you not know that we will judge angels? [ 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 ].

The Apostle John said that, “The whole world lies in the arms of the evil one” [ 1 John 5:19 ]. At this point, Satan has ‘free reign’ to run all over the earth, exalting himself and receiving worship.

In fact, this was such a dilemma when the Apostle John started crying in his vision: “Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals” [ Revelation 5:1 ].

In his vision, John sees the throne of God, and God’s got a scroll in His hand. The scroll was written front and back. (The thing is, during the time that John wrote this, Roman law required that any kind of a will—this was a “title deed” to the earth that God had in His hand—had to be sealed seven times.) Then a mighty angel said: “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” [ Revelation 5: 2 ]. John continued to weep since there was “no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside” [ Revelation 5:4 ]. Who was going to take back the earth from Satan?

However, “Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” [ Revelation 5:5 ].

Then, John saw “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne” [ Revelation 5:6-7 ].

Who is this Lamb? Well, it’s Jesus! The only One that can take back the earth! This is just one more reason that Jesus HAS to RETURN to the earth. Why? Because He is the ONLY ‘ONE’ that can take possession of it and arrest it from the hands of Satan!

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil” [ 1 John 3:8 ]. Jesus must return because He’s going to take back the earth from the ‘usurper’.

So again, Jesus MUST ‘RETURN’ to earth.

‘HOPE’ FOR THE BELIEVER

[ For more details on the “Blessed Hope,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

This is nice to know, right? Can you even imagine this? Jesus’ triumphant return WILL ‘FULFILL’ the hope of the believer! The Apostle Paul characterizes Christians as those who “love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). The Apostle John says, “Now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” [ 1 John 3:2 ]. The return of Jesus will INSTANTLY ‘USHER IN’ the fullness of the believer’s glorification!

Then John adds these words: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” [ 1 John 3:3 ]. This is the test of one’s eschatology: Are you looking beyond the ‘commotion’ of this world with the realization that you could soon meet Jesus face to face? Are you preparing your heart and soul for that? Are you eager and watchful? Are you filled with joyful hope and expectation? That is the attitude to which Scripture calls the believer.

[ For more details on how to be ‘watchful’, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/being-a-watchman-v250/ ].

The Rapture (and Jesus’ Second Coming) are not supposed to make you stop what you are doing and just wait for the His return. Neither should it motivate you to focus all your attention on the events and political developments of this world. Instead, it should prompt you continually desire to be more holy as you ANTICIPATES WITH ‘JOY’ your ‘home-going’!

SET UP THE ‘KINGDOM’

So, here are some reasons why Jesus is coming back as it relates to the Jews on earth and the MILLENNIAL ‘KINGDOM’ to come:

Jesus Christ is coming back to receive His inheritance from His Father.
[ Psalm 2:6-8 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to save a large remnant of Jews.
[ Romans 11:25-27 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to shepherd His flock.
[ Micah 5:4 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back so He can be King over the world, reigning on this earth during what is often called the millennial kingdom.
[ Zechariah 14:11, Revelation 11:15, Psalm 2:6-9, Isaiah 9:6-7, Daniel 7:13-14, 27, Micah 5:4 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back so that both the recently glorified believers and the newly saved Jewish believers can reign with Him over the world.
[ Revelation 20:6 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to give the Jews the land that was promised to Abraham.
[ Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-15, 15:18-21 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to possess Judah as His portion, and to rule over the earth from the holy land, from Mount Zion.
[ Zechariah 2:12 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to save a great number of Gentiles during the millennial kingdom.
[ Psalm 67:2, Romans 15:9-12 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to teach the truth of God to the people on earth.
[ Isaiah 54:13 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to lead and guide the nations on the earth.
[ Psalm 67:4 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back so that the kingdoms of the world will worship and serve Him.
[ Psalm 22:27-31, Psalm 102:21-22 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
[ Habakkuk 2:14 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to rule the world with a rod of iron.
[ Psalms 2:9, 110:1-2 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to put all His enemies under His feet, including death itself.
[ 1 Corinthians 15:25-26, Revelation 20:14 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to carry out the overthrow and final defeat of the devil, and then cast him into the lake of fire.
[ Revelation 20:7-10 ]
Jesus Christ is coming back to judge the unbelievers who are on this earth at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, and then cast them into the lake of fire.
[ Revelation 20:11-15 ]

A FEW ‘OTHER’ REASONS

The previous ‘reasons’ for Jesus coming back are the ‘primary’ ones. The following are a few of the ‘secondary’ reasons (though important) why Jesus MUST come back to earth.

– To Save Mankind from Total Destruction

We desperately need Jesus’ return, or the human race is doomed.

The world is growing worse and worse. Paul told us to “Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come” [ 2 Timothy 3:1 ]—times of increasing danger and distress. He then gives a list of selfish, hardhearted, and evil attitudes and behavior on the rise (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

This is the age in which we live—becoming more and more like the “days of Noah,” when people’s thoughts were perpetually evil and God determined to destroy the world with a global flood, except for Noah’s family (Genesis 6:5; 6:11-13). Jesus said that before His return, conditions would be like the days of Noah, with people going about normal activities amid the increasing wretchedness, oblivious to the catastrophic destruction that was coming (Matthew 24:37-39).

In fact, Jesus said that the end of the age will turn into the worst time ever before His return, warning, “For then there will be great tribulation [horrible trial and distress], such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” [ Matthew 24:21 ].

Conditions will be so bad that, “But, for the sake of the elect [God’s chosen people] those days will be cut short” [before total destruction] [ Matthew 24:22 ].

Mankind has now come to the point where we are able to exterminate ourselves from the planet through nuclear armaments and other weapons of mass destruction—and many prophecies show that the nations are progressing relentlessly to a coming time of terrible world war in which such weapons will be unleashed. Moreover, still, other prophecies warn that God will send cataclysmic disasters on an unrepentant humanity that would wipe out any yet remaining if the effects of these disasters are not cut short.

Thankfully, Jesus WILL intervene as He promised to keep mankind from being obliterated—again, for the sake of those ‘elect’ or chosen of God!

– To Resurrect and Transform His Followers to Immortality

Jesus promised eternal life to His followers, stating that He would raise them up at the last day (John 6:39-40; 6:44; 6:54).

Just after describing all people on earth seeing His return (Matthew 24:30), Jesus said of Himself: “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” [ Matthew 24:31 ].

This includes Jesus’ true followers who are still alive when He comes as well as those who’ve previously died: “For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” [ 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ].

Jesus thus comes for His spiritual “Bride”, the Church—His collective body of believers—with Him as the Bridegroom and Husband (Matthew 25:1-13; Ephesians 5:25-33).

– To Teach the World His Ways and Bring World Peace

When Jesus rules the world from Jerusalem, “Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” [ Isaiah 2:1-3 ]. Instead of war, the world will be taught the way to peace: “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” [ Isaiah 2:4 ].

As part of Jesus setting everything right, the age-old dream of world peace will finally be a reality. God’s Spirit then being poured out on all humanity (Joel 2:28).

– To Bring Restoration to All Creation

With the transformation Jesus will bring, even the animals will be at peace: “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them… They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” [ Isaiah 11:6, 9 ]. This mountain refers to God’s ruling Kingdom, which will expand and encompass the whole earth. (See also Daniel 2:35, 44).

The war-torn and devastated world, starting at Jerusalem, will be restored to a paradise resembling that of the Garden of Eden. “For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord” [ Isaiah 51:3 ]. “So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited’” [ Ezekiel 36:35 ].

At that time, both the natural realm and mankind will experience amazing healing: “The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose…” [ Isaiah 35:1 ]. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water” [ Isaiah 35:5-7 ].

This rejuvenating water is literal but also symbolic of the Holy Spirit and all God’s blessings. As God says: “For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring” [ Isaiah 44:3 ].

Because of sin, mankind was cut off from the Garden of Eden and access to the tree of life there. But that access will ultimately be restored (Revelation 22:1-3, 14).

When Jesus returns from Heaven, He will bring “the times of restoration of all things” proclaimed by all God’s prophets (Acts 3:21), and the whole creation will be freed from its bondage to decay (Romans 8:18-23).

WRAP UP

It is no coincidence that market ‘leaders’ in their industries have typically committed themselves to strategic customer service, implicitly or explicitly.

These companies know how much revenue can be lost as a result of less-than-perfect customer experience, and intend to retain as much of that income as possible. So, they invest in aligning all functions to support their brand promise and then reap substantial rewards including:

– Happy customers who willingly pay premium prices or go out of their way to patronize the company

– Intense emotional bonds with customers that black competitors and Boost brand loyalty. (Harley Davison customers sport tattoos of the company logo. Now that’s loyalty!)

– Positive word-of-mouth search that companies like Chick-fil-A, Cheesecake Factory, and USAA that have their customers doing MOST of their selling for them.

The ‘secret’ reason customers become repeat customers is the ‘EXPERIENCE’ they had and how you made them ‘FEEL’. This will make them a customer for life! Repeat customers come for your product/service but stay for the ‘experience’—and after multiple ‘good’ interactions, they then become ‘LOYAL’ customers.

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

CUSTOMER RETENTION STRATEGIES

Customer retention flows out of a good ‘relationship’. If a company truly holds ‘value’ for the customer, there will most likely be no reason for the customer to leave and buy somewhere else. That’s why relationship is a REALLY important characteristic in the customer ‘encounter’.

Relationship is what keeps people ‘connected’—whether family, friends, colleagues, or even customers. Without it, few people will ’stick around’—at least volitionally (not like one is ‘forced’ to like a family member).

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

So, to create ‘delight’, the company must know the customer preferences to ‘fulfill’ them. One popular method of determining these is the “Kano MODEL.” It is a theory of product development and customer satisfaction developed in by professor Noriaki Kano at Tokyo University of Science. [ He developed the model in the 1970s for the Konica Corporation (Now Konica Minolta) ]. His intention was that we use the model to identify which features to build particularly when we have constraints around time and budget and resources. So, in the Kano Model, we ask the questions, “What do we need?,” “What will make our product/service excellent?,” and “What will ‘excite’ our customers/users?”

Kano MODEL CHARACTERISTICS

The Kano Model is a prioritization model. It helps you prioritize features or scope during the ‘definition’ stage of your project (Similar to the “Product Roadmap” in an “Agile” project).

In its simplest form, the Kano ‘process’ consists of four ‘steps’:

So, in the Kano Model, there are five ‘categories’ of customer satisfaction. The first three are to ‘include’ in your product/feature/serve and the last two are those to ‘eliminate’:

By getting your customers to come back time and again, you will be assisting them to climb the ‘rungs’ of the company’s “Loyalty Ladder” (Suspect; Prospect; Customer; Member; Advocate; Raving Fan). Once they get to the top, they will be raving fans of your business. This is undoubtedly one of the BEST ‘ASSETS’ a company could ever have!

Remember, the aim of the ‘game’ is to move people from customer to raving fan. This is where the company starts to really begin to make a profit!

WAITING FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ‘PERSON’ TO RETURN

Based on the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of the prophetical ‘signs’, it looks like it just may be happening REALLY ‘SOON’!

[ For more details about the ‘convergence’ of End Times ‘signs’, view these previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” posts:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/a-sense-of-urgency-v269/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/got-your-attention-yet-v255/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/last-generation-v249/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

It is said that prophecy occupies one-fifth of the Scriptures, and that the Second Coming of Jesus occupies one-third of that one-fifth. For example, there are over 660 general prophecies; half of them are concerning Jesus. Of these 333 prophecies concerning Jesus, 109 of them were fulfilled in His First Coming, which leaves 224 yet to be fulfilled in His Second Coming.

Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, less than 10 of them speak of events in Christ’s First Coming, while 36 of them speak of events connected His Second Coming. There are a total of 1,527 Old Testament passages referring to the Second Coming. There are 7,959 verses in the New Testament; and 330 of those, or 1 out of 25, refer directly to the Second Coming of Jesus.

The subject of the Second Coming is the MOST ‘DOMINANT’ subject in the New Testament. For every time in the Bible the first coming is mentioned, the Second Coming is mentioned eight times! For every time the atonement is mentioned once, the Second Coming is mentioned twice. The Lord refers to His return 21 times, and 50 times plus men are exhorted to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. Now that is an OVERWHELMING ‘INDICATION’ that the Bible majors on the Second Coming of Jesus.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into Heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven” [ Acts 1:11 ]. The PROMISE is that just as He physically and literally left, He will physically, literally come: the same Jesus in the like manner, the same person in the same way.

So, there are “many” reasons that Jesus is coming back, but these are some of the ‘major’ ones:

The following are some of the Bible verses that specifically address Jesus’ SECOND COMING:

Jesus Christ is coming back to carry out His Father’s eternal will and purpose for planet earth. (Matthew 6:9-10, Psalm 33:8-12)
Jesus Christ is coming back so that all things and all people in heaven and earth will be summed up in Him, and will be under His authority and control. (Ephesians 1:9-11)
Jesus Christ is coming back because He’s going to keep His promise. (Hebrews 10:37; Revelation 22:7, 12, 20)
Jesus Christ is coming back to fulfill God’s Word, to carry out all His plans for this world, and the people living in it. (Matthew 5:17-18, 24:35; Revelation 22:18-19)
Jesus Christ is coming back to bring this present evil age to an end, to start the new age, and to establish His kingdom on earth. (Ephesians 1:11-21; Psalms 47, 67, 72, 96)
Jesus Christ is coming back for His bride, for He loves her, and He can’t wait to take her home to heaven, to celebrate the wedding feast, to show her His glory, and then to reign over the world with her. (John 14:1-3, John 17:24, Revelation 19:7-9)
Jesus Christ is coming back to clean up a world that has been polluted and messed up by sin and Satan. It must be a holy place before He can begin His reign over the earth. (Genesis 12:1-3, Isaiah 41-66, Acts 3:17-26, Romans 11:25-27)
Jesus Christ is coming back to be worshiped, for every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that He is Lord of heaven and earth. (Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 5:13)
Jesus Christ is coming back so that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
Jesus Christ is coming back because God’s character demands it. He will be holy and judge sinners on the earth. He will be loving and rapture believers from the earth. He will be faithful and carry out God’s will on earth. (Isaiah 42:1-4; Matthew 24:3-40; Revelation 4:8)

As I have said previously, at this time we are living in the last part of this present “age,” what is often called the “Church Age,” and Jesus is building His Church. As I have also said, many believe that we are now living in the “End Times” (Daniel 12:4), and therefore we know that this present age is coming to a close, that our stay on this sin-filled earth is about over, and that specific, God-ordained plans for the Church will soon begin to be fulfilled.

At this time Jesus Christ is in Heaven, and He is waiting for the signal from His Father to return to earth to bring this present age to a close (like the Galilean groom waits for his father to say, “Everything is ready. Go get your bride!”). After returning, Jesus will then begin His Millennial Kingdom. Here are some of the reasons why Jesus is coming back at the END OF THIS ‘AGE’:

Jesus Christ is coming back to give Christians relief from the great persecution that they will be experiencing on this earth. (Matthew 24:21-22, 2 Thessalonians 1:7)
Jesus Christ is coming back to rescue the Christians from God’s wrath that will be poured out upon this world. (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, 5:9)
Jesus Christ is coming back to give Christians rest from their labors. (Revelation 14:13)
Jesus Christ is coming back to resurrect the believers already in heaven, to glorify them, and to gather them to Himself. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44, Philippians 3:20-21)
Jesus Christ is coming back to rapture the Christians from the earth, to glorify them, and to gather them to Himself. (1 Thessalonians 4:17, Matthew 24:31)
Jesus Christ is coming back to redeem the Christians from their sinful bodies and from this evil world. (Luke 21:28, Ephesians 1:14)
Jesus Christ is coming back to reunite you with all the believing friends and loved ones you knew on earth who have gone on ahead of you. (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, 4:13-14)
Jesus Christ is coming back to reward you for all your work for Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9, Revelation 22:12)
Jesus Christ is coming back to pour out His wrath on the unbelievers, during what is called the Day of the Lord. (Psalm 98:9; Jude 14-15; Revelation 8-9, 16)
Jesus Christ is coming back to destroy Babylon, the sinful and Satanic religious and economic world systems. (Revelation 16-18)
Jesus Christ is coming back to destroy his chief enemy on the earth, the devilish Antichrist and his evil empire. Christ will then cast him and his wicked partner, the false prophet, into the lake of fire. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, Revelation 19:19-20)

I hope you are beginning to see that God has many great plans for your future and the future of this world. It’s important for you to see that life is not so much about what you are doing but much more about what God IS doing and WILL BE doing. On this earth, men and women go here and there, hustling and bustling, hurrying and keeping busy, making plans, and doing what they want to do. HOWEVER, ultimately, all of God’s plans will be carried out.

In my opinion—and the opinion of MANY others—it WILL NOT BE LONG before Jesus ‘RETURNS’ and everything will change! None of us can fathom how different this will be, going from a Devil-ruled, man-centered, sin-dominated world, to Jesus suddenly taking over and doing what He has always planned on doing. The Lord and Savior will be back, the Judge is coming, and the King will be here to stay.

This is GOOD ‘NEWS’ for the believer, for they will experience the mercy and goodness of God. HOWEVER, but this is BAD ‘NEWS’ for the unbeliever, for they will experience the justice and wrath of God!

[ For more details on ‘when’ Jesus just may come back, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/ ].

[ For more details on Jesus’ “Second Coming,” view these previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” posts:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/where-you-return-to-v273/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-final-deception-v268/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/kingdoms-past-present-and-future-v262/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

So, many ask “Why hasn’t Jesus returned yet?” Well, we humans are impatient and God is not. Jesus is patiently waiting to come back, because He is giving humanity as much time as possible to choose and follow Him. Jesus wants AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE to repent and return to Heaven with Him: “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” [ 2 Peter 3:8-10 ].

During this time of waiting, Jesus continues to gather His people to Himself, ‘building’ His Church by the power of the Holy Spirit: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it” [ Matthew 16:18 ]. Then, “‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you’” [ John 14:15-17 ].

So, as you think about the life you are now living, what do your think Jesus would say about you if He returned today? Would you be a “goat” (unbeliever) or a “sheep” (believer”)? [ Matthew 25:31-33 ].

I PLEAD with you! DO NOT DELAY! Make the necessary ‘preparations’ (repent and believe in Jesus) TODAY, so that you may look forward with confidence to the day when Jesus comes again (1 John 4:17).

LOYALTY ‘TO’ JESUS

Just like a company wants to ‘encourage’ its customers to become a loyal ‘fan’ of its products/services, Jesus also expects His believers to be ‘loyal’ to Him.

God established the very essence of loyalty through His Covenant relationship with His chosen people: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations” [ Deuteronomy 7:9 ]. Through His Covenant, God’s people are assured of His never-ending love from which no believer can ever be separated (Romans 8:35-39).

Although God’s Covenants with man are unilateral—He promises to fulfill them by Himself—there is still an ‘admonition’ to loyalty on man’s part. For God has made it clear that, “If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed” [ Deuteronomy 8:19 ]. Those who prove to be disloyal are those who prove they do not belong to Him (1 John 3:24). But for believers, we have the promise that even “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself” [ 2 Timothy 2:13 ].

For true believers, loyalty is shown in our commitment to Jesus and His Gospel (Mark 8:35; Romans 1:16). It is the acknowledgment that Jesus Christ is our sole source of authority and salvation (Matthew 28:18; John 14:6). Such devotion and commitment should echo the attitude of the Apostle Peter, who said, “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” [ 1 Peter 4:11 ].

Believers should demonstrate their loyalty and self-sacrificing allegiance to Jesus by following His command: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” [ Mark 8:34 ]. But even when we fail to be completely loyal and steadfast to Him, we have His assurance that He will be loyal to us: “And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age” [ Matthew 28:20b ].

So, what does loyalty to Jesus look like? Well, the ‘standard’ of loyalty was set by Jesus Himself. “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” [ Luke 14:25-27 ].

Jesus’ call to Himself was so demanding that it involved leaving everything. As God incarnate, Jesus had (and still has) the right to demand such sold-out loyalty. For He ‘bought’ His followers with a price—His very own life (1 Corinthians 6:19).

“Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world,[a] when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first’” [ Matthew 19:27-30 ].

This single-minded devotion to Jesus involved the death of one’s ‘friendship’ with this world. That price was too high for many people, and so they stopped following Jesus. At the end of this age, loyalty to Jesus will also cost people dearly: “Then they will deliver you to Tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another” [ Matthew 24:9-10 ].

[ For more details about the ‘cost’ of following Jesus, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/it-will-cost-you-v233/ ].

Jesus is NOT something you can ‘add’ to your already comfortable lifestyle to make it even better. Let us remember Jesus’ words: “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters” [ Luke 11:23 ].

Are you ‘sold out’ enough to obey Him even if it requires suffering—even MUCH suffering?

Loyalty to Jesus begins in the ‘heart’ (the ‘core’ of one’s being—the ‘seat’ of knowledge, thinking, understanding, and emotion). We must love Him supremely. “He who loves father or mother more than Me—is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me—is not worthy of Me” [ Matthew 10:37 ].

In the book of Revelation, when Jesus is discussing the seven churches, He commends the church of Ephesus for many things—its works, its toil, its patience and that it could not bear evil men. “But I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love” [ Revelation 2:4 ]. With all its activity and self-sacrificing service—it did not love Jesus as it used to.

The biblical term used for the ‘falling away’ or a deteriorating relationship with Jesus is “backsliding.” This happens as a result of a person chasing after their own fleshly pursuits and/or falling into various types of sins they knew were going against the will and ways of God. They have made some serious mistakes with the way they were running and handling their own personal lives.

They now know that they should have turned the reigns of their lives over to the Lord the minute they got saved so God could have led them into the perfect divine plan that He had already set up for their lives.

Now they look back and see how they have really ‘blown it’. Many of these people’s lives are now in total shambles.

Some of them are now in deep pits of despair and depression, feeling that there is no more hope for any of them due to the desperate straits they now found themselves in.

God seems so far and so distant to many of them, that they feel there is no way that He would ever take any of them back again because of how they have handled and run their lives over the years.

To any of you who are now in this state, I am here to tell you, that NO MATTER how far you have backslid from the Lord, no matter how many bad and evil sins you may have committed against Him, Jesus WILL still allow you to ‘RETURN’ to Him and start all over again!

God is a God of SECOND ‘CHANCES’! God loves to take His people back when they have backslid from Him, build them up and fully restore them again, and then place them on the path of His perfect will for their lives. It is NEVER TOO LATE to start your spiritual life ALL OVER AGAIN with the Lord.

There are some very powerful things that will prove to you, without any shadow of a doubt, that God will take you back if you will only ‘reach out’ to Him and fully commit your entire life back to Him. A brand new life and a brand new fresh start for each one of you if you will only HUMBLE YOURSELF before the Lord, CONFESS YOUR SINS before Him, FULLY SURRENDER your entire life back to Him for His direction and handling, and then be willing to work with the Holy Spirit to start to clean up your life and any wreckage that has occurred over the years that you have backslid.

There is a very powerful story in the Bible, “The Parable of the Lost Son,” that shows that no matter how far you have backslid from God, no matter how many bad sins you have committed against Him, and no matter how many years you have been completely away from Him, He WILL allow you to ‘RETURN’ to Him!

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

This is an extremely powerful story that you will need to ‘grab a hold’ of if you have backslid from the Lord to any appreciable degree. God made sure this specific story was put in the Bible so as to let everyone know that He WILL TAKE YOU BACK if you have fallen away from Him for any length of time.

WHAT DOES LOYALTY TO JESUS ‘LOOK’ LIKE?

Then there must be the loyalty of ‘CHARACTER’. Paul suggests a cluster of the

‘fruits’ of the Spirit: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” [ Galatians 5:22-23 ]—which most are ‘quiet’ virtues. They are qualities of character. We must think of the passive and quiet virtues—as well as the active ones—when we are trying to discover the full meaning of loyalty to Jesus.

[ For more details about the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23), view this website I created: http://fruitsofthebeatitudes.org/ ].

Loyalty to Jesus must also be ‘ACTIVE’. The believer belongs to the ‘army’ of Jesus and must follow this King to battle. They who fail to do their part in the ‘conquest’ of the world, cannot consider themselves fully loyal to Jesus. They may not be an enemy of Jesus they just might be a ‘shirker’ or lacking in courage.

Being active also means being in the ‘service’ of Jesus. Find your work—what you can do to make the world holier and righteous—and do it with ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!

Loyalty to Jesus also demands of us the uttermost of ‘SINCERITY’ and truth in all our living. God desires truth in the ‘inward’ parts.

A life of loyalty to Jesus means a life that is pure, through and through. No one can build a godly character upon ‘hidden’ sins (hidden to others, but NOT not God!).

The Apostle Paul said that one should bring every thought into ‘captivity’ to the obedience of Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5). We should test every feeling, every imagination, every disposition, all conduct, by “EXAMINING OURSELVES.”

The Apostle Paul gave the directive to “test yourselves” while dealing with serious problems of sin in the church of Corinth. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul was preparing to return to them a third time after having spent a great deal of time in Corinth already. Before his arrival, Paul sternly cautioned the congregation to prepare to face the issues he had previously raised. Part of Paul’s warning are included in these words: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” [ 2 Corinthians 13:5 ].

Paul did not want to have to exercise church discipline in Corinth—He would rather have seen the wrongdoers repent. But, many of those who had fallen into immoral practices had taken to challenging Paul’s authority as an apostle. Paul decided to firmly discipline those who did not heed his warnings and repent before his arrival (2 Corinthians 13:2-3), so he turned their challenge around, asking them to examine and test themselves to see whether they were in the faith.

This was not the first time Paul had admonished the Corinthians to examine themselves. Earlier, he had observed the church participating in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. He told them, “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28). Believers are to examine their motives, their actions, and the current condition of their hearts to make sure they don’t bring God’s discipline on themselves.

Paul’s primary concern was to bring spiritual health and wholeness to the Christian community in Corinth. If the individuals were genuinely in the faith, then they would know that Jesus lived ‘inside’ them. His Holy Spirit would be at work within them, promoting sanctification and moral living. But if their lives showed no evidence of the Spirit’s activity, then Jesus Christ was not indwelling them—and if Jesus was not in them, they failed the test.

Again, a way to test yourself is to check for evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Jesus confirmed that true prophets of God are recognized by their fruits (Matthew 7:15).

A tough but spiritually beneficial question to ask ourselves regularly is, “What is my spiritual condition?” The prophet Jeremiah called God’s people to honest self-evaluation and repentance: “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD” [ Lamentations 3:40 ]. Scripture calls us to “test everything,” renounce evil, and “hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). We might consider making this our prayer as David did: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” [ Psalm 139:23-24 ].

JESUS ‘DESERVES’ OUR LOYALTY

We can’t know all that’s ahead for us, but we can choose to declare, “Jesus, You are my Master. I choose to be loyal to You—today and every day of my life.”

[ FYI: For a great book on this, consider reading John MacArthur’s “Slave.” Details are in the “Resources” section below ].

In ancient times, slaves were purchased or born into a slave family and served the master until they died or until the master decided to free them. Some slaves had developed such a close and loving relationship with the master’s family that they wanted to continue serving, even when they could go free. That’s the idea Paul and others were conveying when they referred to themselves as servants of Jesus. He has bought us with a high price (1 Corinthians 6:20), and those who come to know Him desire to abandon all rights to Him and choose to serve Him faithfully.

A servant of Jesus knows who is the King. A servant of Jesus is one who has voluntarily sets aside their personal rights in order to love, serve, and obey the will of God in Jesus. Servants of Jesus die daily to sin and fleshly desires, allowing Jesus’ life to ‘flow’ through them (Galatians 2:20).

To be a servant of Jesus is to seek His will in all things. Our primary desire every day, as servants of Jesus, is to honor and glorify the One who bought our freedom from sin (1 Corinthians 10:31). This means we must die to ourselves (Luke 9:23), renounce our right to direct our own lives (Luke 6:46), and seek ways to bring our Master pleasure (Psalm 37:23; Proverbs 11:20). Just as a master in ancient times took on the responsibility of caring for his bondservants, Jesus says that He will provide all we need when we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19).

Jesus has given us instructions in His Word (the Bible) and expects those who profess His name (believers) to know them. As we learn more, we do better. Servants of Jesus put into practice all they learn. While He has specific jobs for each of us according to the gifts and opportunities He provides, some requirements are universal for anyone called to be a servant of Jesus:

Continue in faith (Colossians 1:23)
Destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)
Take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Pursue holy living (1 Peter 1:14-16)
Daily crucify the lusts of the flesh (Romans 6:1-6)
Love brothers and sisters in the faith (1 John 3:14-15)
Store up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20)
Eagerly await the Master’s return (Revelation 22:20; 2 Timothy 4:8)

Servants of Jesus do their work humbly and selflessly, desiring only to please their benevolent Master. There’s no pretension, no self-importance, no compensation-seeking in true servanthood. Jesus reminds us of the lowly place a servant occupies: “You also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” [ Luke 17:10 ].

Servants of Jesus consider their lives on earth as a brief time of preparation for eternity. The hardships and struggles we must face while in the flesh will be far outmatched by the glory and reward awaiting us (2 Corinthians 4:17). Just as a servant who loves his master lives for the master’s approval, so servants of Jesus live for the moment He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master!” [ Matthew 25:21 ].

Loyalty affects how we approach life—Jesus’ way or all those other options out there that offer nothing lasting. The loyalty factor is a huge lesson for all believers to grasp. Jesus ‘DESERVES’ ALL of our loyalty!

RETURNING ‘TO’ JESUS

The Biblical story—familiar to some—is about ten lepers who Jesus healed and only one ‘returned’ to Jesus. This may just help to underscore God’s ‘DESIRE’ to have people return to Him:

The account (in Luke 17:11-19) is about ten men who had infectious skin diseases, commonly translated as “leprosy.” In the Israelite community, when a person discovered a rash or skin disorder, he or she had to go to the priest for examination. The priest then determined whether this was a contagious disease and whether the person was to be declared ceremonially unclean (Leviticus 13:1). Jewish law prohibited anyone with such a disease from associating with the general community. They had to be isolated and many times lived as outcasts until they died (Leviticus 13:45-46). This was necessary in order to keep infectious diseases from becoming an epidemic. But, for those afflicted, it could be a life ‘sentence’.

These ten men—who were part of a leper colony—approached Jesus together, but they remained at a distance, as per the law. They called out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Without seeming to do anything to heal them, Jesus merely gave them the instruction to go show themselves to the priest.

At the moment of Jesus’ instruction, the men were still lepers. No physical change had yet taken place. But, in faith, the men obeyed. As they began to walk to the priest, they were healed. (Jesus always required faith on the part of the person who asked for healing.)

The Bible does not record how far they had walked before being healed, however, only one man returned to thank Jesus for the healing. (After he thanked Jesus for his healing, Jesus did something for him that he didn’t do for the others.) Jesus then expressed disappointment that the other nine had not thought to give praise to God for their healing.

After the man was already healed of leprosy, Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17:19). It could be that the man’s return to fall at Jesus’ feet gave him—in addition to the physical wholeness he had received—spiritual ‘wholeness’.

Again, God REALLY wants us to ‘return’ to Him—and then thank Him for taking us back (which, in this case, He may just bless us with something we were not even seeking!).

Returning to story of the prodigal son shows that he was wholly ACCEPTED BACK by his father [ who is a metaphor for God the Father ], and then was ‘additionally’ blessed with a huge party! God LOVES when people honestly repent and ‘RETURN’ to Him! “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” [ James 5:19-20 ].

JESUS DESERVES OUR ‘WORSHIP’

Well, Psalm 10 describes a craving and a desire. It’s craving and desire to be in the “House of God.” It’s a passion to be with God and to worship God in his holy ‘temple’.

The believer comes to worship God in part because of the grace that God gives us as we worship Him. This “appetite for God” is partly the result of the grace of God in worship. The result of God’s grace coming to us in worship is this craving and desire to be in worship.

The believer should rightly prioritize worship because of who God is. Who He is, His greatness, is the chief reason for our weekly worship of Him. Exalting and glorifying God is the chief reason to go to church. The Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us that, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

So let’s consider the benefits of being in the house of God and in communion with God. Well, primarily it’s about grace and blessing.

Not only do we give to God when we worship, but He also gives to us. That’s what grace is about. Grace is something God gives us that we don’t deserve. Not only do we glorify God when we worship, something of God’s glory is extended to us! He gives grace—a VERY good thing! (Without it, we are ALL bound for Hell!).

If it was just about giving to God and glorifying God, we would understand that—since He’s the almighty and all-glorious God. BUT, isn’t it amazing that He gives us grace and declares His blessings on you!

God’s people should have a desire for being in God’s presence and worship. We should find our ‘DELIGHT’ in this. “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness.” That’s such a wonderful and powerful way of saying it. It’s showing the unsurpassed greatness of God’s house versus the way of ‘wickedness’.

It is also said that, “Better is one day in God’s house than a thousand elsewhere” [ Psalm 84:10 ]. One day in God’s courts as a servant is better than 1,000 days of the best the wicked (this ‘world’) has to offer! This appetite for God and God’s worship is what this Psalm commends to us today.

[ FYI: The “Better Is One Day” song is in the “Songs” section below. ]

My desire has been to show you why worship is so good—and why you would want to passionately be the church each Sunday, worshipping God with God’s people. That this would be your ‘appetite’—a hearty craving for worshiping God. This is kind of like Lay’s Potato Chips’ slogan, “Betcha can’t eat just one.” That should be EVERY believer’s desire—to spend a time of worship with the LORD.

Worship is to delight in God’s goodness and glory; to receive His grace and blessings. These can happen when believers are gathering together in the presence of God. Then, when they leave, they will be ‘built up’. This should be every believer’s most insatiable desire, and delight in it!

Now, believers know that they SHOULD have this desire, but that doesn’t mean that it IS their desire. They tend to ‘theoretically’ agree with the ‘concept’, yet in practice, which do they ‘crave’ more? Do they desire to be at church worshipping God, or do sometimes the lures of ‘wickedness’ seem to whet their appetite more?

So what can you do, don’t sense this “appetite” inside you? Well, God is the one who changes hearts, so start by praying to Him about this ‘HEART’ CHANGE. Keep asking that He would form this aspect of Jesus in you—that aspect that delights in going to the house of the LORD over ALL other things!

We are reminded that, “I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” [ Psalm 23:6 ]. In Jesus, the believer gets MORE than just one day! More than even a thousand days! They get to spend eternity worshipping God in His holy presence! Hopefully, this will excite you for that day when it comes!

The thing is, all of mankind worships something or someone. However, in order for one’s heart to truly worship God, one must be willing to humble themselves and willingly submit to God’s authority. One can’t worship God if they are worshipping self or the pursuit of ‘idols’.

English Anglican Bishop said it well: “Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose and all this gathered up in adoration the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and source of all actual sin.”

“When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart.

I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself is not what You have required
You search much deeper within through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You Jesus
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, all about You Jesus.”

While writing this post, one of my favorite songs, “The Heart of Worship,” started playing in my YouTube “mix.” The words to the song reminded me that we should intentionally remind ourselves to ‘return’ to the worship of Jesus, since He DESERVES it:

[ The full song, by Chris Rice, is in the “Songs” section below. ]

It was a timely reminder that God waits to worshiped by us. As Christian author and pastor A.W. Tozer wrote in his book “The Pursuit of God”: “He is much more concerned about our hearts than about having things the way they were.” Jesus comes near wherever and whenever people come near to Him: “Come near to God and he will come near to you” [ James 4:8a ].

Christian Gospel singer CeCe Winans commented about worshiping God like this: “It’s God’s will that we become true worshipers. And when something is God’s will, he will move heaven and earth to help us do that thing. He wants us as close to him as we can possibly be. He longs to open the windows of heaven and pour out more and more of his love on us. Our only job is to surrender to him on a daily basis so that he can daily give us more of himself. But the Lord is such a gentleman, he will never force us to do anything. He leaves the act of surrendering up to us. And that’s where it has to start.”

Here are a few other ‘comments’ about worship:

– “If you don’t worship… you’ll never experience God.” [ Pastor David Jeremiah ]

– “The worship most acceptable to God comes from a thankful and cheerful heart.” [ Philosopher Plutarch ]

– “God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship.” [ Pastor A. W. Tozer ]

– “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” [ Theologian Augustine ]

– “Worship has been misunderstood as something that arises from a feeling which ‘comes upon you,’ but it is vital that we understand that it is rooted in a conscious act of the will, to serve and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.” [ Christian songwriter Graham Kendrick ]

– “Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so.” [ Theologian D.A. Carson ]

– “Your heart’s desire, even if you haven’t realized it, is to live every moment in the wonder of worship.” [ Pastor David Jeremiah ]

– “The worship to which we are called in our renewed state is far too important to be left to personal preferences, to whims, or to marketing strategies. It is the pleasing of God that is at the heart of worship. Therefore, our worship must be informed at every point by the Word of God as we seek God’s own instructions for worship that is pleasing to Him.” [ Theologian R.C. Sproul ]

The thing is, EVERY human is a ‘worshiper’—it just depends on ‘what’/‘who’ it is! The Apostle Paul suggests Who to worship and how: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” [ Romans 12:1-2 ].

Echoing the words of Paul, I ‘URGE’ you to GIVE YOUR ‘ALL’ to Jesus who gave His all for you!

So, if you are a believer and you are not ‘happy’ with your relationship with Jesus, let me encourage you to ‘RETURN’ to the heart of worship—because it’s really ALL ABOUT ‘DELIGHTING’ in Jesus!

‘DELIGHTING’ IN JESUS

Webster’s dictionary defines “delight” as a high degree of gratification, or something that gives great pleasure.

So, does that mean, if one goes to church every Sunday, God will give them a new Rolls-Royce Boat Tail, a new History Supreme yacht, or a new seaside villa on the French Rivera? Nope. The idea behind this verse portion off the verse is that, when one truly delights in the ‘eternal’ things of God, their desires will begin to parallel His—and then one will never go unfulfilled. Jesus emphasized this when He said: “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [the ‘necessities’ of life] will be given to you as well” [ Matthew 6:33 ].

Many delight in wealth, status, material possessions, and other ‘temporary’ things of this world, but they are usually never satisfied. They never truly get what they want, hence the reason that they are always wanting more.

At the peak of his wealth (the first-ever billionaire, in the early 1900s), John D. Rockefeller had a net worth of about 1% of the entire US economy, and he owned 90% of all the oil and gas industry of his time. When a reporter asked him “How much is enough money,” he responded: “Just a little bit more.” At another time, he was asked, “How much money does it take to make a man happy?” He responded: “Just one more dollar.”

Adjusted for inflation, it has been said that King Solomon has been the richest man in history (compared to today’s rich guys, Solomon makes Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett look like paupers.) He said: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” [ Ecclesiastes 5:10 ]. On the other hand, delighting in the Lord is true treasure indeed: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” [ 1 Timothy 6:6 ].

So, it looks like—from an ‘expert’ in wealth—one will never be deeply fulfilled or “happy” with the things this world has to offer, and the Apostle John concurs: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” [ 1 John 2:15-17 ]. If one places their joy and hope in God first, He will meet ALL of one’s ‘needs’. He will even grant one’s wants, as their hearts’ desires begin to ‘MATCH UP’ with His will. So, if one truly places ‘priority’ on the Lord, chances are their heart’s greatest desire will not be that brand-new Rolls-Royce, but eternal treasures in Jesus! Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” [ John 4:14 ].

So, what does delighting in the Lord look like ‘PRACTICALLY’? Well, if one delights in a person, they desire to be in their presence and to hear their voice. Indeed, one should seek to be like the blessed man whose “DELIGHT is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” [ Psalm 1:2 ]. Then, like the psalmist who “opened wide his mouth and panted, because he longed for God’s precepts” [ Ps 119:131, 40 ], one only needs to daily choose to “delight in His commandments, which we love” [ Psalm 119:47 ]. One should be like a young couple who are so in love that their greatest desire is to be in each other’s company, prompting them to rearrange all of their priorities! Why? Well, not because that was their ‘duty’ to do so, but because it was their greatest ‘desire’ and delight to do so!

This then begs the question that one should ask themselves: “Do I DELIGHT in God’s Word like this? Do I set aside time to commune with Him in His Word because I DELIGHT in hearing His voice? Has my quiet time become ‘too quiet’, because I have begun to see it more as a ‘duty’ than a DELIGHT?”

As English pastor Charles Spurgeon said: “Those who delight in God desire or ask nothing but what will please God.” In other words, as one practices the presence of God—daily delighting in Him, in His Word, and in prayerful communion with Him—gradually the Holy Spirit will transform their heart so that their desires become His desires. It is THOSE desires that God will grant.

Indeed, one’s desires will be His desires when one’s heart ‘sings’ with something like what Frances Havergal wrote back in 1874:

“Take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days; and let them flow in ceaseless praise… Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall no be no longer mine… Take myself and I will be, ever only, all for Thee, ever only all for Thee.”

[ Frances Havergal’s entire song is in the “Songs” area below ]

Because true worshipers love God, they find in Him their source of joy and delight. They acknowledge that, “the joy of the Lord is [their] strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Like the psalmist, they find that ‘in’ God they “find exceeding joy and delight” (Psalm 43:4). True worshipers “delight to revere [His] name” and “are granted favor” (Nehemiah 1:11). The contemplation of God’s glory and majesty, and what He has done in one’s life, is the believer’s supreme joy and delight.

When obedient believers delight themselves in the Lord, He will plant the desires in their hearts for what ‘glorifies’ Him (Psalm 37:4), and those desires will ‘control’ their prayers. God’s answers to those prayers will glorify Himself, bringing believers’ wills ‘into line’ with His purposes—filling them with joy.

[ For more details about having joy (even during trials), view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/having-joy-through-trials-v198/ ].

We delight in God because He created us to enjoy Him. Again, the Westminster Catechism asserts that, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This is the ‘secret’ of perfect worship. We establish our relationship with God as we love Him, give our hearts to Him, enjoy His presence, thrill at the wonder of His mighty acts, and spontaneously explode with expressions of praise to Him: DELIGHTING in Him is enjoying Him, which finds all-consuming pleasure in Him!

Whatever delights your ‘heart’ will end up ‘directing’ your heart. If you delight in the Lord you will delight in His Word, which leads to increasing delight in the Lord—‘continually’ increasing, like an Archimedes spiral.

God is vitally interested in seeing the believer establish a relationship as a DAILY companionship with Him as their living Lord. He desires that this relationship with Him be active, vibrant, energetic, and a true holy friendship. God wants to ‘walk’ WITH them. He will nurture this relationship-personally, individually, and lovingly. God is most pleased when one is satisfied in Him. Trust Him and He will fulfill your deepest desires!

[ For more details on learning the ‘trust’ God, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/learning-to-t-r-u-s-t-v263/ ].

God also wants to reveal more of Himself so that we will enjoy worshipping Him. As we worship, He reveals more of His wonder, glory, and majesty. As we grow and mature in our understanding of God, that relationship grows and develops. As we enjoy being with Him, God grants us the opportunity to rest in His peace and assurance. As we ‘work’ for Him, He promises His presence and His favor.

Christian author and speaker Rhonda Stoppe said, “True delight in Him causes us to take our sights off of what we want in order to long for what He desires.”

When one delights in the ‘excellencies’ of God, one will come to understand that everything about Him is the answer to EVERY ONE of one’s longings! When one devotes oneself to discovering in the Bible what He reveals about His character and ways, one can’t help but delight in His excellence.

If you spend the rest of your life learning the immeasurable greatness of God, this will ignite an insatiable desire in you to know more of His excellencies––resulting in even greater delight and true satisfaction in Him (like that Archimedes spiral).

Consider this quote from Puritan Preacher Jonathan Edward’s sermon, “The Excellencies of Christ”:

“The person of Christ brings together infinite highness and infinite condescension, infinite justice and infinite grace, infinite glory and lowest humility, infinite majesty and transcendent meekness, deepest reverence towards God and equality with God, infinite worthiness of good and greatest patience under suffering evil, exceeding spirit of obedience with supreme dominion over heaven and earth, absolute sovereignty and perfect resignation, self-sufficiency and entire trust and reliance upon God.”

The Bible says that if we “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” [ James 4:8 ]. How cool is that? The Creator of Heaven and earth is MORE THAN WILLING to ‘draw near’ to you if you would just ‘lean’ just a bit into His presence through prayer and meditation on His Word.

Consider Martha’s sister Mary who chose the “better thing” when she sat at Jesus’ feet while Martha was “distracted”:

“And [Martha] had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’”

Yes, there are times we ‘need’ to get things done. BUT, there are probably more times than not that we could just slow down a bit and ‘listen’ to what Jesus just might want to teach us at that time (after which, we can go back to doing what we were engaged in previously).

Pastor A.W. Tozer said, “We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit” and that “when the Holy Spirit shows us God as He is we admire Him to the point of wonder and delight.”

Now, to ‘delight’ oneself in the Lord, we must first ‘know’ Him—and God calls us to know Him for several reasons. First, He wants us to discover His many attributes that are so worthy of delight. He also desires a relationship with us. Another reason God calls us to press on to know Him (Hosea 6:3) is because the exercise of seeking Him is profoundly important to the nurture of our souls.

Our invitation to know Him—to seek Him—is one of a Christian’s most valuable privileges. King David declared that, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” [ Psalm 27:4 ]. In other words, when we seek him and delight ourselves in the Lord, HIS ‘DESIRES’ become our own!

SEEKING JESUS’ ‘RETURN’

It is the extreme importance that each and every Christian seek to establish a good, close, intimate, personal relationship with the Lord.

The ‘bottom line’ is that God is looking for ‘SEEKERS’! Those that want to establish a passionate, intense, and a ‘tell-all’ relationship with Him—to understand all of His ways.

The ‘key’ to being able to establish this kind of deeper, personal, intimate relationship with the Lord in this life is dependent upon one, simple, little thing—be WILLING to seek Him!

The Bible encourages the believer that if they draw near to God, He will draw near to them (James 4:8), if one asks it will be given to them (Matthew 7:7a), if they seek they will find (Matthew 7:7b), and if they ‘knock’ the door will be opened to them (Matthew 7:7c).

God will allow us to “find Him.” We will be able to make direct ‘contact’ with both God and Jesus through the Holy Spirit if we show God that we mean serious business with Him by putting Him FIRST with a certain amount of ‘intensity’ in our seeking of Him.

If there is one ‘secret’ in all this it is that one needs to be a ‘ferocious’ SEEKER with a ‘ravenous’ DESIRE for all of His ways! The more you seek of God, the more of God you will find. You give God a 100% effort on your end, God will more than give you a 100% effort from His ‘end’.

This kind of intensely personal relationship with the Lord will not be built up overnight. God will work to bring you up to this level at a nice, slow, comfortable pace that you will be very comfortable in working with.

Just like most romantic love relationships between men and women do not start off with any kind of maximum intensity—it usually takes a while for the real true ‘sparks’ of love to build up. That is the exact same way with Jesus. All He is asking for is that you just give Him a few small ‘endeavors’ to work with, and He will then more than prove Himself to you that you can learn to fully trust Him and eventually DESIRE Him ALL THE TIME!

So, after developing a deep, intentional, and passionate relationship with Jesus, then one can turn their ‘focus’ to His SOON-COMING ‘RETURN’!

EVERY PERSON on the planet is either under the ‘GRACE’ of God (John 3:16) or the ‘WRATH’ of God (John 3:36). It is a ‘GLORIOUS’ thing to be under God’s grace, but a ‘TRAGIC’ thing to be the subject of God’s wrath!

When Jesus was hanging on the Cross, EVERY SIN you and I have ever committed—and ever will commit—was ‘placed’ upon Him, and HE received all of the wrath of God that you and I deserved! (That’s what “propitiation” means.)

So, when a person “accepts” Jesus as their Savior (repenting of their sins and believing that Jesus is the propitiation for their sins), they are ‘IMPUTED’ THE RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus, and become ‘IMMUNE’ to God’s wrath…forever!

Now, I am trying to be a spiritual ‘watchman’ here warning you that there is GREAT DANGER looming on the ‘horizon’—the “Great Tribulation”—and if you are not yet truly “born again” and a ‘child’ of God right now, this just may be the LAST OPPORTUNITY for you to ‘MISS’ the most horrific time the world has ever known! God may just be using this post to WAKE YOU FROM YOUR ‘SLUMBER’!

[ If you have any doubts about how bad it’s going to be, then read this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/ ].

The thing is, if you are reading this, IT’S NOT TOO LATE! God still doesn’t want any to perish! “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” [ 2 Peter 3:9 ]. HOWEVER, the next verse describes what will happen to those who are not “born again”: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” [ 2 Peter 3:10 ].

One becomes “born again” or “saved” by putting their trust in the Person of Jesus. The author of the Book of Hebrews said that, “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him” [ Hebrews 11:6 ].

So, if you have never put your faith ‘in’ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I STRONGLY SUGGEST you do so RIGHT NOW (since no one knows the time of their death). Just confess to God that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Then, ‘receive’ Jesus as your Savior!

[ Note: The “Prayer of Repentance” below might be able to ‘guide’ you in formulating your thoughts, however, the ‘specific’ words don’t really matter that much, just tell God what you are feeling in your ‘heart’ ].

God is STILL RECEIVING ALL who will ‘come’ to Him in faith! Repent and believe in Jesus NOW and BE ‘SPARED’ from having to go through the “Tribulation,” and BE SURE you are going to Heaven! Believers WILL NOT go through the “Tribulation” period!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbAvo_Ra5po&t=247s

[ VIDEO: “Will Christians go Through the Tribulation?” ]

You’re probably saying to yourself right now that I am sounding like a ‘broken record’. Well, that might be true, but I just want to BE SURE you ‘caught’ my WARNING of your IMPENDING DOOM!

Yes, this is very ‘strong’ language, but don’t ‘shoot’ the messenger! I’m just telling unbelievers in Jesus (and superficial, apathetic, and lukewarm ‘believers’) what the Bible says! (Romans 10:9-10; John 3:5-6; John 3:18; John 5:24; Acts 16:31; Revelation 3:20).

I REALLY CARE that people (maybe you!) are ‘dropping’ into Hell every minute of every day, and I DON’T WANT YOU to be one of them!

PLEASE consider it VERY IMPORTANT that you DO SOMETHING about this SOON! You are in GREAT DANGER because of what is on the way—The “Tribulation.” BUT, you can get yourself OUT OF THE DANGER!

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” [ Romans 10:9-10 ].

If you are an unbeliever, DON’T PUT THIS OFF until tomorrow. GET ‘SAVED’ TODAY!

[ FYI: For more details about “getting saved,” read this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/saved-from-death-v219/ ].

So, if you are a believer—and are not ‘happy’ with your relationship with Jesus—let me encourage you to RETURN to the heart of worship, for it’s really ALL ABOUT Jesus!

Let me finish this post with a story by Christian author Jeff Kinley (Author of “Wake the Bride”) discussing the great British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton:

“In 1914, there was a very famous British explorer named Sir Ernest Shackleton. He was one of the most famous explorers in England.

And he placed an advert in a London newspaper. It read, just like this:

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant dander, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.” – Ernest Shackleton

Shackled and didn’t think he would get any response from this. But, in fact, hundreds and hundreds of men wanted to go on this journey with this famous explorer. So much so, that he had to turn almost all of them away.

In the end, he chose 28 men. And these are actual pictures, right, by the way, that you’re seeing from this expedition.

These men included doctors, cooks, carpenters, experienced sailors—all filled with anticipation upon accompanying this famous Shackleton on this incredible voyage.

So, on their ship called the “Endurance,” they set sail. And they began making their way across the Antarctic. But, after time, the ship began to be stuck in very thick ice. In fact, these unfriendly megaton ice flows soon closed around the ship to the point that it was crushing the ship’s hull and timbers like matchsticks.

Now, without a ship, the crew had to camp on the ice flows for two months. But, then the ice flows began to break up and flow in unfriendly directions. So they had to make a difficult decision. They launched their three tiny lifeboats on April 19, 1916, and they began rowing for this place called Elephant Island; this uninhabited rock about 100 miles away.

Can you imagine rowing 100 miles in icy waters in a rowboat? They did it. They soon found themselves on the island. But they knew, at that moment, that they were 800 miles from civilization.

Now, keep in mind, no one knows where they are. There’s not e-mail. There’s not radio. There’s no Morse code. to send back. Nobody knows where they are. And they end up on this island, 800 miles from near civilization.

So, Sir Ernest Shackleton had to make a very difficult decision. He said, “Someone’s got to go for help, and it might as well be me.”

So, Shackleton and chose four other men [to go] with him. And they made this makeshift boat,. They climbed into this lifeboat, and they sailed away to far away South Georgia Island—which was 800 miles away. But before Shackleton left, he gathered his men on the beach, and he said to them, in subzero weather, he looked each of them in the eye, and he promised them, “I will return for you one day!”

And Shackleton and his four comrades sailed away.

In the meantime, as he sailed across the seas, amazingly, he ended up landing on South Georgia Island in 16 days. After sailing through furious weather and massive winds, they landed on South Georgia Island—800 miles in 16 days.

And he began to put together a rescue crew. He would get these huge ships together, and they would try to go out to go back to save his men all those miles away. But they couldn’t do it because the ice was just in the way.

Four different times he tried to do this. On the fifth time, he finally made it through, miraculously, to South Georgia Island.

Meanwhile, his men had been there for four months. Four months living in the subzero temperatures, scrounging around for any type of critter on the ground or seal they might happen to find—or a piece of fish. And they waited for him to come back.

The real question was, would they be alive? These were the men that he left behind.

Finally, Shackleton made it back to the island. And upon sighting the beach, he saw his men there. They were ready, and they were waiting for him. Quickly, they launched the boats to get to shore. They got to shore.

They quickly scrambled aboard and set sail off for home. No sooner than the ship had cleared the waters, the huge ice flows closed in behind them, preventing any other escape from the island.

As they’re sailing off from Elephant Island, this is what Shackleton said. He remarked to his man. He says, quote, “It was fortunate that you were all packed and ready to go.” And one of them replied to the captain. They said, “Sir, we never gave up hope. Every day, whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and we reminded each other that the boss could come back today.”

Jesus did not just travel to another island. He ‘traveled’ to Heaven, and He, the “Boss,” IS coming back! Coming back for His “Bride”—and He wants to find His ‘children’ ready for Him. Ready and waiting!”

The Bible says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope for he who is promised as faithful. Let us consider how to stimulate one another, to love and to good deeds, not forsaking our own assembly together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (The day of Jesus’ return to this earth!)

Now, we don’t know the exact day. We can see the ‘SIGNS’ of Jesus’ coming, and Jesus wants believers to be ready.

So, are your ‘bridal garments’ ready? Are you ready to be ‘wed’ the One who died on the Cross for you?

Well, Jesus IS anticipating with great joy ‘RETURNING’ FOR YOU!

[ FYI: For more details about how to ‘prepare’ for Eternity, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/are-you-prepared-v210/ ].

[ For more details on a believer’s “blessed hope,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/ ].

HOWEVER, for the UNBELIEVER, this will be an ABHORRENT ‘EXPERIENCE’ since they WILL experience God’s ‘WRATH’! The Bible says that , “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” [ Hebrews 10:31 ]. Now, THAT is something people ought to be afraid of! If people are going to have a ‘phobia’—if they’re going to have an uncontrollable, debilitating, disabling, exaggerated, unconquerable fear—let it be the fear of falling into the ‘hands’ of the living God!

[ For more details on God’s ‘wrath’, view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post (Look for the “‘Fear’ God’s Wrath!” section:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/got-your-attention-yet-v255/ ].

[ FYI: For more details on how to become “born again,” view this previous “Life’s Deep Thoughts” post:

https://markbesh.wordpress.com/saved-from-death-v219/ ].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoctMLIxTo&t=15s

[ VIDEO: “I’ll Be Back” – Michael Combs (Lyrics in the “Songs” section below) ]

Jesus IS ‘RETURNING’. Are you READY to be ‘received’ by Him?

DON’T MISS your opportunity to ‘DELIGHT’ in Him for ETERNITY in Heaven!

[ Excerpts by: Jeremy Miller; Steve Olenski; Sarah Olson; Kim Durant; Gerod Farmer; Joshua S. Kangley; Kevin Stirtz; Shep Hyken; John A. Goodman; Daryl Travis; Kevin Stirtz; Bradley J. Sugars; Steven J. Hogan; John MacArthur; Tom Robinson; John W. Ritenbaugh; Kyle Hooks; Got Questions; David Sheldon; Melanie Newton; Alex Hawke; Michael Bradley; Rhonda Stoppe; W. Reid Hankins; Emma Danzey; Russell Henderson; John Piper; Annette Griffin ]

RELATED POSTS:

“‘WHY’ Does Someone Return?”
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/why-does-someone-return-v275/

“‘WHEN’ Will Something Important Happen?”
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/when-will-something-important-happen-v274/

“‘WHERE’ You Return To”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/where-you-return-to-v273/

“‘WHAT’ Have You Done Lately?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-have-you-done-lately-v272/

“It’s ‘WHO’ You Know”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/its-who-you-know-v271/

“What Really ‘Matters’?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/what-really-matters-v270/

“A Sense Of ‘Urgency’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/a-sense-of-urgency-v269/

“Gaining A Deep ‘Understanding’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/gaining-a-deep-understanding-v264/

“Learning To ‘T.R.U.S.T.’”
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/learning-to-t-r-u-s-t-v263/

“Persistently ‘P.U.S.H.’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/persistently-p-u-s-h-v261/

“A ‘Yes’ For Everyone”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/a-yes-for-everyone-v259/

“Love ‘Letter’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/love-letter-v258/

“Got Your ‘Attention’ Yet?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/got-your-attention-yet-v255/

“Two ‘Choices’, One Way”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/two-choices-one-way-v254/

“The Only ‘Way’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-only-way-v253/

“Are You ‘Blind’?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/are-you-blind-v252/

“Being A ‘Watchman’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/being-a-watchman-v250/

“Last ‘Generation’?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/last-generation-v249/

“Mankind’s ‘Destiny’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/mankinds-destiny-v247/

“‘Final’ Tribulation”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/final-tribulation-v246/

“‘Blessed’ Hope”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/blessed-hope-v245/

“‘Benefits’ Of Assurance”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/benefits-of-assurance-v244/

“Knowing ‘Assurance’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/knowing-assurance-v243/

“It Will ‘Cost’ You”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/it-will-cost-you-v233/

“The Greatest ‘Gift’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/the-greatest-gift-v226/

“A ‘Place’ To Retire”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/a-place-to-retire-v221/

“New ‘Identity’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/new-identity-v220/

“‘Saved’ From Death”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/saved-from-death-v219/

“Greatest ‘Comeback’ Ever”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/greatest-comeback-ever-v217/

“Are You ‘Prepared’?”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/are-you-prepared-v210/

“‘Communication’ With God”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/%e2%80%98communication%e2%80%99-with-god-v152/

“Be a ‘Light’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/be-a-light-v190/

“In His ‘Grip’”:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/in-his-grip-v161/

“Are You ‘Prepared’”?:
https://markbesh.wordpress.com/aug-08-v114/

‘PRAYER’ OF REPENTANCE

In the Bible, there is a parable that Jesus told about a Pharisee and a tax collector praying the the Temple. He notes that the tax collector didn’t even dare to lift his eyes toward Heaven as he prayed. Instead he “beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner’”—and Jesus said that the tax collector “went home justified,” he had been “born again” and ‘reconciled’ by God. (Luke 18:9-14).

If you are ‘sensing’ something like that right now, let me strongly encourage you to HUMBLE YOURSELF, CRY OUT to God, and PLEAD for Him to mercifully ‘SAVE’ YOU! None of us have a ‘claim’ on our salvation, nor do we have any ‘works’ that would cause us to deserve it or earn it—it is purely a gift of Divine grace—and all any of us can do is ask. So, CONFESS YOUR SINS and acknowledge to God that you have no hope for Heaven apart from what He provides through Jesus. [ See Psalm 51 ].

There is no ‘formula’ or certain words for this. So just talk to God, in your own words—He knows your ‘heart’. If you are genuinely sincere, and God does respond to your plea, one will usually have a sense of joy and peace.

Jesus said, “He that comes to Me, I will not cast out” [ John 6:37 ].

[ FYI: This is a great sermon on the “Call to Repentance” by John MacArthur from his book “The Gospel According to Jesus”: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-22/the-call-to-repentance (Transcript: http://www.spiritedesign.com/TheCallToRepentance-JohnMacArthur(Jul-27-2019).pdf) ].

[ NOTE: If you have ‘tasted the kindness of the Lord’, please e-mail me—I would love to CELEBRATE with you, and help you get started on your ‘journey’ with Jesus! ].

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RESOURCES
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’ll Be Back”

By: Shep Hyken

How do you build a business that thrives during good times and bad? Is there a strategy that can set up your company for success, no matter what curveballs the world may throw your way? There is: Turn customers into repeat customers, and turn repeat customers into loyal customers.

Renowned customer service and experience expert Shep Hyken maintains that delivering an amazing customer service experience that keeps customers coming back for more is everyone’s job. Customer service is not a department. It’s not just for people on the front lines. It’s the responsibility of everyone in the organization, from the CEO or owner of a business to the most recently hired employee. It’s the result of a customer-focused philosophy that must be baked into the culture. And it is what separates you from your competition.

In I’ll Be Back you will learn…

– How to design and create an experience that gets customers to return, again and again

– The one trackable trend that leaders must monitor every morning

– The difference between repeat customers and loyal customers

– How to build the I’ll Be Back culture

– How delivering an amazing customer experience is within the reach of every organization

– The two simple words that are the secret to every customer service program

– Why most “loyalty programs” fail to create customer loyalty

– How to personalize the customer experience

– Why setting up or expanding self-service and digital customer service choices are a must, not an option

– Ten loyalty killers that can terminate your relationship with your customers

– And much more!

This book includes the must-have tools, tactics and strategies you need to get your customers to say, “I’ll be back!”

https://www.amazon.com/Ill-Be-Back-Shep-Hyken/dp/1640953019/

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“Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days”

By: Joey Coleman

Award-winning speaker and business consultant Joey Coleman teaches audiences and companies all over the world how to turn a one-time purchaser into a lifelong customer.

Coleman’s theory of building customer loyalty isn’t about focusing on marketing or closing the sale: It’s about the First 100 Days® after the sale and the interactions the customer experiences.

While new customers experience joy, euphoria, and excitement, these feelings quickly shift to fear, doubt, and uncertainty as buyer’s remorse sets in. Across all industries, somewhere between 20%-70% of newly acquired customers will stop doing business with a company with the first 100 days of being a new customer because they feel neglected in the early stages of customer onboarding.

In Never Lose a Customer Again, Coleman offers a philosophy and methodology for dramatically increasing customer retention and as a result, the bottom line. He identifies eight distinct emotional phases customers go through in the 100 days following a purchase. From an impulse buy at Starbucks to the thoughtful purchase of a first house, all customers have the potential to experience the eight phases of the customer journey. If you can understand and anticipate the customers’ emotions, you can apply a myriad of tools and techniques — in-person, email, phone, mail, video, and presents — to cement a long and valuable relationship.

Coleman’s system is presented through research and case studies showing how best-in-class companies create remarkable customer experiences at each step in the customer lifecycle.

In the “Acclimate” stage, customers need you to hold their hand and over-explain how to use your product or service. They’re often too embarrassed to admit they’re confused. Take a cue from Canadian software company PolicyMedical and their challenge of getting non-technical users to undergo a complex installation and implementation process. They turned a series of project spreadsheets and installation manuals into a beautiful puzzle customers could assemble after completing each milestone.

In the “Adopt” stage, customers should be welcomed to the highest tier of tribal membership with both public and private recognitions. For instance, Sephora’s VIB Rogue member welcome gift provides a metallic membership card (private recognition) and a members-only shade of lipstick (for public display).

In the final stage, “Advocate,” loyal customers and raving fans are primed to provide powerful referrals. That’s how elite entrepreneurial event MastermindTalks continues to sell-out their conference year after year – with zero dollars spent on marketing. By surprising their loyal fans with amazing referral bonuses (an all-expenses paid safari?!) they guarantee their community will keep providing perfect referrals.

Drawing on nearly two decades of consulting and keynoting, Coleman provides strategies and systems to increase customer loyalty. Applicable to companies in any industry and of any size (whether measured in employee count, revenue, or total number of customers), implementing his methods regularly leads to an increase in profits of 25-100%.

Working with well-known clients like Hyatt Hotels, Zappos, and NASA, as well as mom-and-pop shops and solo entrepreneurs around the world, Coleman’s customer retention system has produced incredible results in dozens of industries.

His approach to creating remarkable customer experiences requires minimal financial investment and will be fun for owners, employees, and teams to implement. This book is required reading for business owners, CEOs, and managers – as well as sales and marketing teams, account managers, and customer service representatives looking for easy to implement action steps that result in lasting change, increased profits, and lifelong customer retention.

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Lose-Customer-Again-Lifelong/dp/0735220034/

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“Connected Customers are Repeat Customers: Customer Service Principles and Strategies That Create an Excellent Customer Experience”

By: Gerod Farmer

This is a practical book with principles that can and should be applied to any business. Customers are the lifeblood to your business, and it is important to remember that a customer will only be loyal to your business if there is a connection.

https://www.amazon.com/Connected-Customers-are-Repeat-Principles/dp/0997774835/

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“Little Things, Big Returns: How to Deliver Experiences that Matter Most to your Customers”

By: Daryl Travis and Harrison Yates

80 percent of companies believe they deliver a good customer experience. Yet, only 8 percent of customers agree. Why is there such a disparity? Where do companies go wrong? How can you optimize your customers’ experience?

Little Things Big Returns reveals how companies miss the little things that draw customers in or turn them away. Most importantly, this book explains how companies can close the customer experience gap and realize big returns.

Research confirms little things happen in the moments that matter most to your customers. By little things I mean human things, the kindnesses and considerations that surprise people and create feelings that are never forgotten. When those experiences are memorable, customers become loyal and even fall in love with your company.

You’ll also learn how doing what matters most for your customers can cost very little yet produce big returns. Just change your attitude and resolve to make your customer’s experience the best it can be. After all, how much does it cost to change your attitude?

Discover…

– How to identify the little things that matter most to your customers

– Why only a few customer experiences matter much more than others

– How to optimize the most critical moments along your customers’ journey

– How to design and deliver powerful customer experiences that cost very little

– Why what matters most to your customer also matters most to your success

– How many successful companies realize high returns from doing the little things

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Things-Big-Returns-Experiences/dp/0989710351/

—————-

“Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary”

By: Steve Curtin

If you want to know how strong your company’s customer service is, ask your employees to describe what their work entails. Then pay attention to whether they simply list their duties and tasks or if they speak to the true essence of their job–to create delighted customers who will be less price sensitive, have higher repurchase rates, and enthusiastically recommend the company or brand to others. The latter should be every employee’s highest priority, because when it’s not, your customers are merely the recipients of a transaction, not an experience, and transactions do not make for a lasting impression or inspire loyalty.In Delight Your Customers, customer service expert Steve Curtin makes a compelling case that customer service managers need to shift from monitoring service activities to modeling, recognizing, and reinforcing the behaviors that actually create happy and returning customers. Things such as:• Expressing genuine interest• Offering sincere compliments• Sharing unique knowledge• Conveying authentic enthusiasm• Providing pleasant surprises• Delivering service heroics when neededSimply based on their own personal experiences, everyone knows that great customer service is rare. So why wouldn’t you want to provide a unique, caring, and beneficial experience for all your customers to rave about with others? With the real-world stories, examples, and strategies shared in this invaluable guide, you can take the customer service experience you offer from ordinary to extraordinary.

https://www.amazon.com/Delight-Your-Customers-Customer-Extraordinary/dp/0814432808

—————-

“The Easiest Ways To Get More Repeat Customers: How To Have A Reliable Stream Of Customers (New Edition): Become Repeat Customers”

By: Archie Delavina

Returning customers are a cornerstone of any successful business since they are essential to long-term prosperity. When the competition heats up, though, firms may find it difficult to grow a customer base and keep people coming back. It’s critical to understand how to attract clients to return, especially for small firms. You will never need to engage in desperate marketing campaigns if you stick to this plan and maintain a mix of new and repeat consumers regularly. Furthermore, while your immediate competitors will be short on work, your company will be strong, and you will have a steady supply of consumers.

https://www.amazon.com/Easiest-Ways-More-Repeat-Customers-ebook/dp/B09GKZ1Q8L/

—————-

“Your First 100: How to Get Your First 100 Repeat Customers (and Loyal, Raving Fans) Buying Your Digital Products Without Sleazy Marketing or Selling Your Soul”

By: Meera Kothand

What if you had a pool of repeat customers and loyal, raving fans waiting to buy EVERY SINGLE ONE of your digital products?

What if you never had to chase or wonder where the next sale of your digital product is going to come from?

What if you knew exactly how to turn first time visitors into subscribers and then loyal customers who stay and buy again and again and again…

Nodding YES?

Your First 100 will allow you to discover how to take the brand and business you have right now and transform it into one that has the potential to build repeat customers and loyal, raving fans.

Brand loyalty isn’t just for the big brands. Your First 100 will show you how you can tap into the exact loyalty recipe as an online business and brand selling digital products.

Here’s what’s packed into this how-to guide:

How to be TOP OF MIND every single time your ideal customer is ready to buy

The 4C formula to writing emails that hook

That ONE thing you need to get from your ideal customer (without this, the ASK gets so much harder)

A DEAD SIMPLE way to structure your offers so that your customers keep coming back for more

How the 5P Touch Framework will help you burn a single brand footprint into all interactions your audience has with your business (and why you need ALL 5!)

How you can QUICKLY turn your ideal customer into a buyer and then a loyal, raving fan

In Your First 100, you will be introduced to a system of ideas and questions to think about, ask yourself, and apply to your digital product–based business in 5 core areas so that you can turn first time visitors into repeat customers and loyal, raving fans.

Imagine for a minute how your business would change if you never had to worry about where the next sale of your digital product is going to come from…

Your offers (paid and free) become seductive magnets of YES! that your audience can’t resist.

Your audience is sold on whatever you put on sale because it’s from YOU and they want it.

Every core area in your business is intentional and works toward creating a brand experience that attracts your tribe—your repeat customers and loyal, raving fans.

That’s the power of the process and promise behind Your First 100.

Intrigued yet?

Then scroll to the top and click or tap “Buy Now.”

https://www.amazon.com/Your-First-100-Customers-Marketing/dp/1986802558/

—————-

“Strategic Customer Service: Managing the Customer Experience to Increase Positive Word of Mouth, Build Loyalty, and Maximize Profits”

By: John Goodman

Any organization can win more customers and increase sales if they would only learn to be more strategic with their customer service. This book draws on over 30 years of research from companies such as 3M, GE, and Chick-Fil-A to teach readers how to transcend a good business into a profitable word-of-mouth machine that transforms the bottom line.

When customers complain, employees respond. The typical service model is riddled with holes. What about people and businesses who never speak up…but never come back?

Learn to actively reach out, prevent problems, and resolve issues in ways that boost loyalty. Transform customer service into a strategic function, and reap benefits far exceeding investments—often 10 to 20 times more.

Strategic Customer Service is a data-packed roadmap that shows you how. This new edition of a landmark book distills decades of research on the impact of great versus mediocre service. Complete guidelines and case studies explain how to:

– Gather and analyze customer feedback

– Empower employees to fix problems

– Track your impact on revenue

– Generate sensational word of mouth

– Tap opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell

– And more

Updated sections help you forge bonds via social media and online chat, attract and retain great employees, and leverage the latest technology.

Why settle for passive service? Make a business case for ramping up operations—and get the tools for making it pay off.

https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Customer-Service-Managing-Experience/dp/0814439055/

—————-

“Sticky Branding: 12.5 Principles to Stand Out, Attract Customers & Grow an Incredible Brand”

By: Jeremy Miller

Sticky Brands exist in almost every industry.

Companies like Apple, Nike, and Starbucks have made themselves as recognizable as they are successful.

But large companies are not the only ones who can stand out. Any business willing to challenge industry norms and find innovative ways to serve its customers can grow into a Sticky Brand.

Based on a decade of research into what makes companies successful, Sticky Branding is your branding playbook. It provides ideas, stories, and exercises that will make your company stand out, attract customers, and grow into an incredible brand. Sticky Branding’s 12.5 guiding principles are drawn from hundreds of interviews with CEOs and business owners who have excelled within their industries.

https://www.amazon.com/Sticky-Branding-Principles-Customers-Incredible/dp/1989025889/

—————-

“The 7 Concepts of Customer Service: How to Win Over Your Customers and Keep Them Coming Back! A Short and Practical Guide for Companies and Employees to Raise Standards of Customer Service”

By: Joshua S. Kangley

What if your company saw a raise in the standards of customer service? Would your business receive better online reviews? What if your company received more business from satisfied repeat customers and word of mouth? Would this be a benefit and add to your bottom line?The 7 Concepts of Customer Service is a practical guide and step-by-step resource that will help your company and your team foster an environment that is focused on delivering excellent customer service. In this short, and easy-to-follow book, you discover the Concepts by Joshua Kangley, that he has used to help him receive better reviews, personal recognition from CEO’s like Christopher Nassetta from Hilton, and move himself up the corporate ladder, and create successful businesses. Learn what customers really want and what you and your team can do to achieve success in delivering the best possible customer service and keep them coming back from more! So are you ready to get a leg up on your competition and be known for the best customer service and experience? Pick up this book and get ready to learn what it takes.

https://www.amazon.com/Concepts-Customer-Service-Customers-Practical/dp/171777377X/

—————-

“The Experience Effect: Engage Your Customers with a Consistent and Memorable Brand Experience”

By: Jim Joseph

The overall experience of the buying process ultimately determines whether consumers will pay money for a product or service: they weigh what they are purchasing with their responses to the marketing message, the advertising, the sales approach, the website, the interaction with company personnel, and more. Jim Joseph calls the ideal combination these elements the “experience effect.” In this book, he shows how any business can create one for its brand to ensure customers leave satisfied. The Experience Effect does this by teaching readers how to understand their brand’s target audience, conduct more effective market research, connect with customers on an emotional level, establish appropriate and engaging customer touchpoints, link digital and nondigital media, and perform a gap analysis of their brands’ marketing. Filled with practical advice and real-life examples, this insightful guide helps companies of any type and size coalesce the varied elements of their business into a seamless consumer experience that resonates deeply, builds brand loyalty, and keeps customers coming back.

https://www.amazon.com/Experience-Effect-Customers-Consistent-Memorable/dp/0814437591/

—————-

“More Loyal Customers: 21 Real World Lessons To Keep Your Customers Coming Back”

By: Kevin Stirtz

Keep your customers coming back again and again! If you want to grow your company, the best way to start is by increasing customer loyalty. According to one study, a 5% growth in customer loyalty can lead to a growth in profits of anywhere from 25% to 95%. So increasing customer loyalty makes sense. This book gives you real-world examples, tips, tools and advice on how to get started. It’s fast-reading but packed full of valuable ideas and suggestions you can use right away. Here are some examples of what you’ll learn from this book: * The most important thing you can do to get customers coming back. * Six powerful steps to deliver great customer service. * How to create customer evangelists for your company. * What your customers really want. Now these tools are available to you in this valuable book. Buy this book now, read it today and you could be on your way to increased customer loyalty tomorrow!

https://www.amazon.com/More-Loyal-Customers-Lessons-Coming/dp/1441446761

—————-

“Instant Repeat Business: Loyalty Strategies That Keep Customers Coming Back”

By: Bradley J Sugars

You’re promotional campaign worked like a charm and the flow of new customers has been phenomenal. So why are your profits less than stellar? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that while you were busy chasing after new customers you overlooked your old ones.

Did you know that the most loyal twenty percent of your customer base accounts for 80% of your revenue? Or that a customer who buys from you twice is ten times more likely to buy again? Yet, if you’re like most business owners you’re content to wait for satisfied customers to return on their own, rather than actively inviting them back.

In Instant Repeat Business, entrepreneurial legend Bradley Sugars shows you how to cultivate a big, enthusiastic base of fiercely loyal customers who buy, buy, and buy again.

A multimillionaire by the time he was twenty-six, Brad has built dozens of successful companies. He also founded Action International, a business coaching network with more than 650 franchises worldwide. In Instant Repeat Business, he delivers the same easy to understand and implement strategies that nearly half a million satisfied Action International clients already have used to build customer loyalty and mine the vast untapped potential of their core customers.

In easy-to-digest, bite-sized lessons, Brad Sugars explains the 6 steps to developing a winning loyalty strategy, and he shows you how to:

Create a newsletter that sparks and sustains customer interest

Offer exclusive sales that bring your best customers back again and again

Transform loyal customers into raving fans by continually exceeding their expectations

Get your customers to promote your business for you and bring new customers into your business

Let Instant Repeat show you how to give your customers what they really want–to feel so special they’ll never want to take their business anywhere else

https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Repeat-Business-Strategies-1-Jan-2006/dp/B012HUCXH8/

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“How to Unleash Email Marketing with MailChimp: Going from contacts to repeat customers without spending the big bucks”

By: Travis L. Holt

In How to Unleash Email Marketing with MailChimp, we take a tour in full color with nearly 200 illustrations of the Email Marketing features available online for free under MailChimp’s Forever Free plan. This book is H-Impact’s official curriculum for the course taught by the author Travis L. Holt, CEO & Co-Founder of H-Impact LLC. Its illustrations of screenshots help to assist the reader as they follow along in a step-by-step fashion. To ensure an easy read the text is slightly larger which makes the overall book’s dimensions of 7 by 10 inches feel that much more natural.

How to Unleash Email Marketing with MailChimp is full of powerfully effective Email Marketing practices and describes the familiar classic features and processes, as well as the newly enhanced features now available for MailChimp users for 2018.

After creating an account on MailChimp, we jump right in and familiarize ourselves with some of the main features including:

– Email Templates,

– Performance Reports, and

– List Management tools

Then we take a stab at setting up our own Email Campaign using an Email Template to merge and send to a Mailing/Subscriber list. We use Microsoft Excel and MailChimp’s online web forms to collect email addresses for our Mailing list. By the end of this book, you will have the skills needed to create, send and monitor your own Email Campaigns or eBlasts using the powerful free services provided by MailChimp.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Unleash-Email-Marketing-MailChimp/dp/0999531506/

—————-

“Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want”

By: Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Gregory Bernarda, and Alan Smith

The authors of the international bestseller Business Model Generation explain how to create value propositions customers can’t resist

Value Proposition Design helps you tackle the core challenge of every business — creating compelling products and services customers want to buy. This highly practical book, paired with its online companion, will teach you the processes and tools you need to create products that sell.

Using the same stunning visual format as the authors’ global bestseller, Business Model Generation, this sequel explains how to use the “Value Proposition Canvas” to design, test, create, and manage products and services customers actually want.

Value Proposition Design is for anyone who has been frustrated by new product meetings based on hunches and intuitions; it’s for anyone who has watched an expensive new product launch fail in the market. The book will help you understand the patterns of great value propositions, get closer to customers, and avoid wasting time with ideas that won’t work. You’ll learn the simple process of designing and testing value propositions, that perfectly match customers’ needs and desires.

In addition the book gives you exclusive access to an online companion on Strategyzer.com. You will be able to assess your work, learn from peers, and download pdfs, checklists, and more.

Value Proposition Design is an essential companion to the ”Business Model Canvas” from Business Model Generation, a tool embraced globally by startups and large corporations such as MasterCard, 3M, Coca Cola, GE, Fujitsu, LEGO, Colgate-Palmolive, and many more.

Value Proposition Design gives you a proven methodology for success, with value propositions that sell, embedded in profitable business models.”

https://www.amazon.com/Value-Proposition-Design-Customers-Strategyzer/dp/1118968050/

—————-

“Moments of Truth”

By: Jan Carlzon

The president and CEO of Scandinavia Airlines (SAS) shows how to adapt to the new customer-driven economy.

https://www.amazon.com/Moments-Truth-Jan-Carlzon/dp/0060915803/

—————-

“The Convenience Revolution: How to Deliver a Customer Service Experience that Disrupts the Competition and Creates Fierce Loyalty”

By: Shep Hyken

When you make it easier for customers to do business with you, they will reward you with their money, their loyalty, and their referrals.

There is a reason they call it a convenience store – because it’s convenient! When you have to pick up a gallon of milk, would you rather stop by a large supermarket or a 7-Eleven? Customers who shop at convenience stores know the selection is smaller and the prices are often higher…yet they still come in droves because of the ease of purchase.

What about the minibar in your hotel room? That’s convenient too…but the convenience comes at a cost. Did you ever stop to think that the same $5.00 can of Coca-Cola in the hotel’s mini-fridge can be bought down the hall from the vending machine for just $1.25? Yet even with that can of Coke being four times more expensive, hotels are restocking minibars every day.

Customers will pay for convenience. And they’ll choose to do more business over time with the people and companies that make their lives more convenient!

This book shows you how to leverage convenience as a powerful way to differentiate yourself from your competition. You’ll learn six compelling strategies, supported by numerous examples and case studies that will fuel your plan to create a focus on convenience for your customers.

The value proposition is both simple and profound: when you reduce friction and make it easier for customers to do business with you, they’ll reward you with their money, their loyalty, and their referrals. That’s the advantage of being a part of The Convenience Revolution.

https://www.amazon.com/Convenience-Revolution-Customer-Experience-Competition/dp/1640950524/

—————-

“The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience”

By: Shep Hyken

Customer service isn’t a department–it’s a philosophy that includes every person and aspect of the best and brightest companies. In a tough, competitive, and price-sensitive economy, customer service is one of the most essential tools to separate your business from the competition. In this sequel to the bestseller The Cult of the Customer, Shep Hyken delivers seven powerful strategies that any organization can implement to create greater customer and employee loyalty:

– Membership: What if you treated the people you serve like members instead of customers?

– Serious FUN: What if your employees felt a sense of fulfillment and enjoyment that made them loyal to you and your customers?

– Partnership: What if your customers thought of you as a partner rather than just another vendor?

– Hiring: What if you could implement innovative hiring processes to support your customer-service mission?

– The After-Experience: What if you could create a memorable, positive experience after someone did business with you?

– Community: What if you could create a community of evangelists–loyal customers who brag about you to their friends and associates?

– Walking the Walk: What if every person in your company didn’t just deliver, but lived and breathed your vision for amazing customer service?

Hyken shares more than one hundred insightful examples from fifty role-model companies that prove these strategies can and should be implemented immediately–by any organization, large or small.

Corporate and industry clients from all over the world have tapped into the simple and direct strategies of Shep Hyken. Now you can use his advice to build a successful, customer-focused organization and start your own Amazement Revolution!

https://www.amazon.com/Amazement-Revolution-Customer-Strategies-Experience/dp/1608321061

—————-

“The Middle East Meltdown: The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel”

By: Andy Woods

We live in one of the most interesting time periods of history. The Lord seems to be setting the stage for His return as never before. One of these major stage-setting trends that we are currently seeing is the rise of a coalition of nations that harbors a hostile intent toward Israel. No matter which presidential administration comes into office in this nation and no matter how the calendar turns, this is an issue that does not seem to go away.

The prophet Ezekiel foresaw these things 2,600 years ago in a vision along the Chebar River in Babylon. Now, respected Bible Prophecy teacher, Dr. Andy Woods, explains the vision of Ezekiel.

– WHO will be involved in the coming Islamic invasion of Israel?

– WHEN will it take place?

– WHY will all this happen?

–WHAT will the war look like?

– HOW will this all come together to fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy?

Dr. Woods concludes with seven powerful points of application.

https://www.amazon.com/Middle-East-Meltdown-Islamic-Invasion/dp/1945774002/

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“Jesus the Messiah: Tracing the Promises, Expectations, and Coming of Israel’s King”

By: Herbert W. Bateman IV, Gordon Johnston, and Darrell L. Bock

Few books have sought to exhaustively trace the theme of Messiah through all of Scripture, but this book does so with the expert analysis of three leading evangelical scholars. For the Bible student and pastor, Jesus the Messiah presents a comprehensive picture of both scriptural and cultural expectations surrounding the Messiah, from an examination of the Old Testament promises to their unique and perfect fulfillment in Jesus’ life.

Students of the life of Christ will benefit from the authors’ rich understanding of ancient biblical culture and pastors will find an indispensable help for understanding the unity and importance of the ancient promise of Messiah. This handsome volume will be a ready reference on Messiah for years to come.

https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Messiah-Tracing-Promises-Expectations/dp/0825421098

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“The Rapture Question”

By: John F. Walvoord

Now completely revised and enlarged, using quotations from the New International Version — John F. Walvoord’s classic work on the Rapture! The Rapture Question examines the four views of the church’s role in the tribulation: Partial Rapturism, Pretribulationism, Midtribulationism, and Posttribulationism, with the revised edition particularly discussing the current debate between pretribulationism and posttribulationism. In updating his work, the author also added treatments on the Rapture in the Gospels, in 1 Thessalonians 4, in 1 Thessalonians 5, in 2 Thessalonians, in 1 Corinthians, and in Revelation. A bibliography of current literature plus general and Scripture indexes are included.

https://www.amazon.com/Rapture-Question-John-F-Walvoord/dp/0310341515

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“Wake the Bride: Facing These Last Days with Your Eyes Wide”

By: Jeff Kinley

Jeff Kinley wrote this innovative guide to the book of Revelation for the same reason the apostle John wrote the original—to arouse a sleeping church to prepare for Christ’s return. Jesus said, “Wake up and strengthen the things that remain.”

The apostle Paul shared the same concern. “Wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Many people are unaware of the signs of the times. Many others seem consumed by end-times hype. Kinley shows that our primary concern should not be the timing of Christ’s return but rather the spirit and character He desires in His bride.

You’ll find enlightening descriptions of Jesus and His coming, the church and its mission, heaven and judgment, Satan and the antichrist, and other themes of Revelation. Bolster your confidence and conviction with this up-to-date presentation of Christ’s clear message to the church.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0736965165?psc=1&smid=AFJSFHKSHU1G7

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“Ready to Return: Bringing Back the Church’s Lost Generation”

By: Ken Ham, Jeff Kinley, and Britt Beemer

The Church is in danger of losing future generations, but only if we fail to understand the problem and don’t engage them with Bible teaching that does not compromise! This powerful conclusion to Ken Ham’s best-selling Already Gone and Already Compromised series offers parents, pastors and Christian educators the information and help they need to reach teens and millennials in a way that cements their Christian faith.

In Ready to Return, Ken Ham presents alarming statistics revealing the reasons young Christians leave the church and their Christian faith. Discover…

Why this is happening, and more importantly, what can be done about it to help bring back a godly generation

New persuasive research that clearly reveals shocking details about views on the Church and faith by people in their 20s, known as millennials

Conclusive evidence we cannot ignore, showing a lack of effective biblical apologetics in homes and churches, compromise with secular beliefs, secular education, and failures on the part of previous generations, contributes greatly to this dilemma.

Ready to Return is more than just a clinical diagnosis of the Church’s current condition and how we got here. It’s a simple and powerful call to a more sufficient view of the Word of God and a much-needed focus on teaching how to defend it in a world full of skeptics and manmade philosophies.

This is a call to fulfill the Great Commission in our homes and churches with effective strategies Christian parents, pastors and church growth experts need.

https://www.amazon.com/Ready-Return-Bringing-Churchs-Generation/dp/089051836X/

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“The Coming Apostasy: Exposing the Sabotage of Christianity from Within”

by Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley

“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” ―2 Timothy 4:3-4

Jesus Christ is coming back. It is certainly a Christian’s greatest hope during these difficult times. The Bible warns us that the last days will be tumultuous―wars and rumors of wars will spread (Matthew 24:6). In our age, the world seems to be spinning out of control, creating fear, confusion, and uncertainty. In addition to violence, pestilence, and epidemics, the Bible predicts a great “falling away” from God in the end times. Bible teachers call that “the great apostasy.” Are we seeing evidence today in the church of this massive rejection of sound and wholesome teaching? Bestselling authors Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley team up to examine the evidence from the teachers of our time. Are today’s teachers allowing people to follow their own desires by telling them what they want to hear, as the Bible clearly predicts? Are major portions of the church ready to abandon sound and wholesome teaching?

Together, Mark and Jeff explore alarming trends among today’s church leaders and they are simply stunned by what they discover. The great apostasy is coming, but is it closer than we imagine? What does that mean for the future? Let Mark and Jeff be your steady guides to the difficult days ahead.

https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Apostasy-Exposing-Sabotage-Christianity/dp/1496414071/

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“Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts”

By: Harold M. Best

We are not created to worship. Nor are we created for worship. We are created worshiping. Too often Christians have only thought of worship in terms of particular musical styles or liturgical formats. But a proper view of worship is far larger than what takes place in churches on Sunday mornings. Worship is not limited to specific times, places or activities. God is by his very nature continuously outpouring himself. Because we are created in his image, we too are continually pouring ourselves in various directions, whether toward God or toward false gods. All of us, Christian or not, are always worshiping, whether or not that worship is directed toward God. We are unceasing worshipers. The fruition of a lifetime of study, reflection and experience, this volume sets forth Harold M. Best’s understanding of worship and the arts. Widely respected as one of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in his field, Best explores the full scope of worship as continuous outpouring in all settings and contexts. With careful exposition and eloquent analysis, Best casts a holistic vision for worship that transcends narrow discussions of musical style or congregational preference. On this broader canvas, Best addresses popular misunderstandings about the use of music and offers correctives toward a more biblically consistent practice of artistic action. Incisive, biblical, profound and comprehensive, Best’s landmark volume is one by which all other statements on worship and the arts will be measured.

https://www.amazon.com/Unceasing-Worship-Biblical-Perspectives-Arts/dp/0830832297

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“How to Worship Jesus Christ: Experiencing His Manifest Presence Daily”

By: Joseph S. Carroll

What does it mean to enter the presence of Jesus? Can people today do this or only biblical characters?

In this classic book, Joseph Carroll shows us what it means to truly come into Jesus’ presence.

There is so much more to truly worshiping Jesus than church services and personal devotions. True worship requires complete commitment of emotions, intellect, and will—and our reward is great. Carroll directs us into the presence of Christ by drawing on Scripture, especially the book of Revelation, and by giving practical steps of personal worship. The experiences of some of history’s greatest saints also serve as relatable examples of true worship.

This deeply practical and personal book will help us know Jesus more intimately on a daily basis. It will help us draw close to Christ, to experience His presence, and to worship Him in ways far better than what most of us imagine to be possible.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Worship-Jesus-Christ-Experiencing/dp/0802409903/

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“Desiring God”

By: John Piper

Experience the Lifelong Pleasures of Knowing God!

Satisfaction…Happiness…Joy. According to John Piper, the pursuit of pleasure in God is not only permissible, it’s essential.

Desiring God is a paradigm-shattering work that dramatically alters common perspectives on relating to God. Piper reveals that there really is no need to choose between duty and delight in the Christian life. In fact, for the follower of Jesus, delight is the duty as Christ is most magnified in His people when they are most satisfied in Him.

Constantly drawing on Scripture to build his case, Piper shows why pursuing maximum joy is essential to glorifying God. He discusses the implications of this for conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering.

Piper beckons us to approach God with the hedonist’s abandon. Finally, we are freed to enjoy Jesus—not only as our Lord and Savior, but also as our all-surpassing, soul-satisfying Treasure.

Desiring God may turn your Christian world upside down. And that will be a good thing, for the glory of God, and for your deepest joy.

https://www.amazon.com/Desiring-God-Revised-Meditations-Christian/dp/1601423101

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“Preparing for Jesus’ Return: Daily Live the Blessed Hope”

By: A.W. Tozer

Just as in our day, people under the teaching ministry of A.W. Tozer wondered about the end times. How should we read the book of Revelation? What does it mean for how believers live? In this never-before-published book, today’s Christians can learn from one of the twentieth-century church’s most profound thinkers and pastors. Tozer’s teaching on Revelation offers a fresh and timely perspective on the purpose of prophecy, which the renowned writer believed was to lift our gaze from the immediate to the eternal. Preparing for Jesus’ Return offers readers a panoramic view of what is to come and explores what it means for individuals, churches, and the world.

https://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Jesus-Return-Daily-Blessed-ebook/dp/B00LA9GGIU

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“Adoration: Mary of Bethany- The Untold Story”

By: Martha Kilpatrick

Mary of Bethany stands alone in the Gospels. She was the friend of Jesus, sharer of His secrets. She abides, uninhibited and limitless, an eternal emblem of adoration of Jesus.

Mary received from Jesus what no other player in the Redemption Story received: His never-ending command that where the gospel is preached, the story of her alabaster jar is to be told. This book proclaims her memorial place with extraordinary insight and reverence, laced with the goal of following this quiet one who was the delight of Jesus into our own . . . ADORATION.

Here is a profound gaze at the very human story of two sisters and the stark contrast between what gains God and what loses Him. Martha Kilpatrick quietly and lovingly dispels the hype and reveals the secret of true worship.

https://www.amazon.com/Adoration-Mary-Bethany-Untold-Story/dp/0940232723/

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“Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World Study Guide: Finding Intimacy with God in the Busyness of Life”

By: Joanna Weaver

As a companion product to Joanna Weaver’s 10-week DVD Bible study based on her best-selling book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, this study guide helps participants discover the “better part” Jesus offered Mary and Martha – the intimate friendship that is found when we take time to sit at His feet.

Featuring an expanded and revised version of the book’s original study, this beautiful guide provides space to capture what’s been learned from reading the assigned book chapters and the study of God’s Word. Practical sidebars, memory verses, video pages and “Make a Plan” prompts make this a resource women will turn to long after the study is done.

https://www.amazon.com/Having-Heart-Martha-World-Study/dp/030773160X/

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“Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ”

By: John F. MacArthur

Centuries ago, English translators perpetrated a fraud in the New Testament, and it’s been purposely hidden and covered up ever since. Your own Bible is probably included in the cover-up!

In this book, which includes a study guide for personal or group use, John MacArthur unveils the essential and clarifying revelation that may be keeping you from a fulfilling―and correct―relationship with God. It’s powerful. It’s controversial. And with new eyes you’ll see the riches of your salvation in a radically new way.

What does it mean to be a Christian the way Jesus defined it? MacArthur says it all boils down to one word:

“We have been bought with a price. We belong to Christ. We are His own possession.”

Endorsements:

“Dr. John MacArthur is never afraid to tell the truth and in this book he does just that. The Christian’s great privilege is to be the slave of Christ. Dr. MacArthur makes it clear that this is one of the Bible’s most succinct ways of describing our discipleship. This is a powerful exposition of Scripture, a convincing corrective to shallow Christianity, a masterful work of pastoral encouragement…a devotional classic.” – Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“John MacArthur expertly and lucidly explains that Jesus frees us from bondage into a royal slavery that we might be His possession. Those who would be His children must, paradoxically, be willing to be His slaves.” – Dr. R.C. Sproul

“Dr. John MacArthur’s teaching on ‘slavery’ resonates in the deepest recesses of my ‘inner-man.’ As an African-American pastor, I have been there. That is why the thought of someone writing about slavery as being a ‘God-send’ was the most ludicrous, unconscionable thing that I could have ever imagined…until I read this book. Now I see that becoming a slave is a biblical command, completely redefining the idea of freedom in Christ. I don’t want to simply be a ‘follower’ or even just a ‘servant’…but a ‘slave’.” – The Rev. Dr. Dallas H. Wilson, Jr., Vicar, St. John’s Episcopal Chapel, Charleston, SC

https://www.amazon.com/Slave-Hidden-Truth-Identity-Christ/dp/1400204291

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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

SPECIAL ‘GENERAL’ RESOURCE

“ApologetiX Songbook”

(An interactive PDF)

It features the lyrics to every song on every CD and every “download” from 1993-2020

Special features:
– indexed by title, original song, original artist, subject, and Bible verse
– each song’s page has icons showing what albums it appears on
– each song’s page has a commentary from lyricist J. Jackson
– each album’s page includes liner notes and track listing
– print any pages you like or use for slides in church
– photos from ApologetiX’s debut concert in 1992
– discography of out-of-print cassettes
– downloadable in PDF format

New features in this edition:
– all song commentaries from J. Jackson updated and expanded
– also indexed by year when original song spoofed was a hit
– J.’s original handwritten rough lyrics to 40 ApX classics
– scads of photos from ApX 25th-anniversary concerts
– list of 40 ApX parodies most likely to be redone
– over 200 new parodies and journal entries
– list of the first ApX concerts in each state
– six new full-length feature articles
– DVD discography and synopses
– never-before-seen rare photos
– lyrics for over 700 parodies
– over 1000 pages!

Interactive features:
– click on any page number in indexes or TOC to go to that page
– click on any album icon to go to its liner notes and track listings
– click on any song title on an album page to go to that song

Note: This e-book is a download-only and doesn’t include sheet music.

The songbook is available for a donation of $50 or more. After we receive your donation, we’ll send you a follow-up email with the link.

Get the Songbook for a donation:

http://www.apologetix.com/store/store.php#songbook

Songbook Demo Video: https://rumble.com/vfazhl-apologetix-songbook-2020-demo.html

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“THE SEARCH FOR MEANING” WEBSITE

This site presents discussions on the 12 most commonly asked questions about the Christian faith.

The 12 discussions are accessed by the “tabs” at the bottom of the page. The tabs are numbered 1-12. Roll your mouse over them and you will see the question displayed at the right. Click on the number to select that question.

Within each question (i.e. tabs 1-12), there are subtopics (or dialogues) to select that appear as smaller tabs underneath the numbered tabs. Roll your mouse over them and the title of these topics is also displayed to the right. Click on the open rectangle to select that dialogue.

For each question (1-12), a link to related resources and an optional flowchart is provided. To access this material, click on the respective words, “Related Resources” or “Options Flowchart.”

To play a more detailed discussion of the subject, between two people, select the desired dialogue and click on “Play Audio Dialogue.”

In the upper right-hand corner of the page, there is an icon that looks like binoculars looking at a question mark. Click on this icon to return to the homepage.

In the upper right-hand corner of a “Related Resources” page, there is an icon that looks like some books. Click on this icon to get to an “overview” page that has links to all of the resources for all of the questions. There also are additional “appendices” for most of the questions.

In the upper right-hand corner of a “Flowchart” page, there is an icon that looks like an Org chart. Click on this icon to get to an “overview” page that has links to all of the flowcharts.

http://4vis.com/sfm/sfm_pres/sp_q1_d1_1of10.html

[ Content by: Bill Kraftson and Lamar Smith; Website by Mark Besh ]

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“FRUITS OF THE BEATITUDES” WEBSITE

(The ATTITUDES of Jesus that produce the CHARACTER of Jesus)

CLICK ON THE LINK to view:

http://fruitsofthebeatitudes.org/

FACEBOOK PAGE:

https://www.facebook.com/FruitsOfTheBeatitudes/

[ Mark Besh ]

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[ P.S.: If you would like to investigate further about what it means to “believe,” visit the following link:

http://www.4vis.com/sfm/sfm_pres/sp_q10_d1_1of10.html ].

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ARTICLES
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“I’ll be back (Police station assault)” [ Movie Snippet ]

Storyline: A seemingly indestructible robot is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a young waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against sentient machines, while a human soldier from the same war is sent to protect her at all costs.

[ “The Terminator” movie ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYc2jQaM8gM&t=40s

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“10 Ways To Encourage Return Customers”

It’s not all about getting new customers through the door. Return customers can make up the bulk of business for many companies and can be more important as a result. If you’re getting customers but none are wanting to return, here are just 10 ways in which you can encourage them to keep coming back for more.

Improve your customer service

Good customer service is everything. If you go above and beyond to give your customers the best experience possible, it’s likely they’ll want to return. If you provide slow service or don’t smile or make big mistakes, a customer is unlikely to want to use your services again.

Complaints or negative reviews are a good sign that your customer service is lacking. Start providing the best service that you can and ensure that any employees are trained up to a proficient level so that they offer the same standard of service.

Offer loyalty discounts and freebies

You can also entice back customers by offering them the opportunity of a discount or a freebie.

Introducing a loyalty card or points card could be one way of doing this – this allows customers to get a discount or a freebie after a certain amount of purchases or after spending a certain amount. These cards are commonly used by retail companies and cafes. You may be able to stamp the card or you may be able to simply collect points digitally. You’ll find custom loyalty card manufacturers online.

For companies dealing with bigger purchases, another option could be to give away a voucher with the purchase to spend next time or simply offer the promise of a discount. For example, if you’re a car mechanic – you could offer loyal customers a discount off their next repairs or service as a way of encouraging them to come back.

Offer membership perks

Another way of encouraging customer loyalty could be to offer customers the chance to become members. On top of getting access to discounts, becoming a member of your company could have other advantages. It could allow access to faster delivery service or unique services that aren’t available to others. This could be a creative way to keep people coming back.

You could even supply a subscription fee with your membership. This could allow you to still make an income even if customers choose never to return.

Advertise future deals

Making your current customers aware of promotions that will be taking place in the future can encourage them to make another visit when the promotion is running. For example, if you own a clothing store, you could up poster about a sale you’re holding in a month’s time.

On top of promotions, you could also advertise new products that may be coming in. If you own a coffee bar, this could include advertising special Christmas drinks in the lead up to winter. This could help to build up excitement for these products and get customers coming back.

Embrace social media

Social media is the perfect tools for encouraging return customers. Many people that follow companies on social media do so as a way of staying in the loop when it comes to company news and promotions. Make sure that you’re posting regular news updates and promotions to encourage these people to pay you a visit. If you’re not savvy with social media, you can always hire a social media marketing company to handle this element for you.

The hardest part is often getting your customers to follow you on social media in the first place. Try to make social media a major part of your branding. Print your Facebook address and Twitter handle on signage, business cards and other physical forms of advertising. You can even print it on the side of a company vehicle or on a company t-shirt. Meanwhile, if you communicate with clients via email, make sure to put your social media addresses in your email signature. As for your website, consider adding plug-ins that allow visitors to easily follow you on your social media channels.

Create a mailing list

Another way to entice customers back with promotions and news is to sign them up to a mailing list. Physical mailing lists have largely gone out of fashion, but many companies still use email mailing lists. Use a bulk mailing service you can send out the same email to lots of people at once. There’s also SMS messaging which involves sending out information via text message – there are similarly bulk SMS messaging services that you can use for this purpose.

In order to put a customer on your mailing list, you’ll need their contact details and their consent. You can ask customers in person whether they’d like to be added to your mailing list or you can offer a box to tick when signing up to your service online. It’s also possible to place a pop-up ad on your website asking people to sign up to your email mailing list. Always allow an opt-out feature – when it comes to SMS marketing many companies allow customers to text STOP in order to automatically take them off of the mailing list.

Build a customer app

Building an app could also be a way of encouraging return customers. Whenever the customer opens their phone, they’ll see you app and be reminded of your company, which may prompt them to reuse you service. An app should always have a clear purpose – it could be a digital takeaway menu or a digital loyalty card or a live progress report.

You can build an app by approaching an app development company. The cost of producing an app depends on how elaborate you plan your app to be – flashy and intricate apps are likely to cost a lot more than more basic apps. Once you’ve produced your app, you may want to look into mobile app testing services. This can help you to fix any flaws that your app may have allowing you to polish your app before you allow your customers to use it.

Encouraging people to download your app can be difficult and is much like encouraging people to follow you on Facebook – you can’t force your customers to do it. You’re best recommending it to your customers in person and highlighting the perks of using it. If you own a shop or a restaurant, make sure to put up signage letting customers know about your app and the benefits that it carries.

Respond to positive and negative feedback

Responding to feedback can also encourage customers to return by acknowledging their criticism. Such feedback could be in person, via email or via an online review (the likes of Trip Advisor allow companies to reply to customer reviews). Those leaving positive feedback are likely to want to return on their own accord, but you can still thank them to make them feel appreciated and further encourage them to come back. As for negative feedback, it’s possible to offer these unhappy customers discounts if they decide to use your services again. This can encourage these customers to give you another chance. You may be able to use this opportunity to prove that you can provide good service, turning these unhappy customers into loyal happy customers.

Get to know your customers

Simply getting to know your customers and develop a relationship can have a big impact on loyalty. If a customer feels that you know them, they may trust you more and could result in extra convenience for them (for example, knowing a regular customer’s order before they’ve even placed it). Try to engage in small talk when appropriate and get to know your customers’ names – all in all, do whatever you can to build a rapport.

Keep ahead of the competition

Customers may not be returning simply because your competitors are offering better deals or better services. By offering better deals and services than your competition, you can stop your loyal customers jumping ship. Try not to get too caught up chasing competitors by beating their prices – instead try to single yourself out by providing a USP (unique selling point). This involves finding the gap in the market and exploiting it. For example, if you own a bar, think about which drinks other bars in the area aren’t selling. If nowhere has a good selection of gin, this is something that you could provide to keep the gin drinkers coming to you.

[ Business Blogs ]

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“5 Reasons Why Customer Retention Is Key To Your Business”

Customer retention means satisfying existing customers so they continue buying from your brand instead of competitors. It takes eight purchases for a customer to be considered a “regular” at a company, but customer retention is about much more than repeat orders.

So why is customer retention important?

Optimizing the customer experience and listening to their needs leads to lifetime brand loyalty, plus major financial benefits. On average, attracting a new customer costs five times as much as keeping an existing one, plus up to 30 times the marketing cost. However, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost your profits by 25% to 95%!

Here are five reasons why customer retention is important for your ROI:

– LOWER MARKETING COSTS

– REPEAT PURCHASES MEANS REPEAT PROFIT

– WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING

– GAIN VALUABLE FEEDBACK

– SELL AT PREMIUM PRICES

1. LOWER MARKETING COSTS

Your marketing budget goes further by prioritizing existing customers in the retention stage of the buyer journey. Repeat buyers are already familiar with your products and services, so marketing campaigns for loyal customers don’t need to be as expensive. According to BCG, advertising to an existing customer costs about $7, whereas it costs around $34 for a new client一that’s over four times as much! Existing customers also have keen brand awareness, lowering their reliance on customer support that saves you money, depending on your industry.

2. REPEAT PURCHASES MEANS REPEAT PROFIT

Loyal customers who make regular purchases tend to spend up to 33% more money when they do, resulting in higher customer lifetime value. They’re also 50% more likely to try new products than new customers due to mutual trust with your brand. A valued customer not only believes that your products are superior to competitors in the market, but that your company aligns with their needs and preferences. To satisfy existing customers, take note of their buying history and recommend related products to encourage future purchases.

3. FREE WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING

You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: word-of-mouth is the most cost-effective form of advertising. And guess what? It only comes from loyal customers who believe in your brand.

Repeat customers are more likely to share their positive experiences with like-minded people, essentially becoming free advocates for your business. This tactic works because people trust the opinions of those who are close to them. Almost half of U.S. consumers say that their friends and family are their top sources of brand awareness, and 92% of people trust recommendations from their friends and family over any other type of marketing.

4. GAIN VALUABLE FEEDBACK

Part of winning over customers is providing an exceptional customer experience, which requires listening. In past surveys, 97% of consumers said they are somewhat likely to become more loyal to a company that implements their feedback, while 55% of consumers said they’re not likely to continue being a customer of a company that ignores their feedback.

Customers who make frequent purchases from your business will also see areas of improvement, so don’t be afraid to ask. Gathering feedback can be as easy as sending an email to your subscriber list, putting up a poll on your social media accounts, or sending surveys to clients right after they place an order. Once you implement new changes, you’ll find opportunities that were overlooked, as well as increase retention rates and sales.

5. PREVIOUS CUSTOMERS WILL PAY PREMIUM PRICES

Repeat buyers are far less price-conscious than new leads because they’ve used your products before. This is especially true among millennials who would only switch brands if prices were at least 10% lower. About 70% of the younger age group also pays premium prices when perks (like free shipping) are offered in loyalty programs. Overall, many customers associate higher prices with quality service, so offering added benefits motivates them to keep coming back.

[ DCR Strategies ]

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“5 Rewards to Keep New Customers Coming Back”

A one time customer is good, but a repeat customer is even better. They spend more on average and they are more likely to recommend you to their friends and family. In fact, repeat customers are responsible for generating 40% of a store’s revenue (and that’s just retail).

So how do you get new customers and clients to come back?

You could just ensure that you create better products or provide better services year after year. The problem is that can cost a lot of time and money. Even then, it doesn’t guarantee people will choose you instead of a competitor.

In most cases, there are several options for people to get the same products or services. You have to reach out and give customers a good reason to come back.

That’s why we’re going to talk about customer rewards. They’re the ticket you need to keep customers coming back. I’m going to take you through five reward options, and show you how to distribute them.

Keep reading to get those customers coming back.

What do rewards accomplish?

The goal of customer rewards is to show customers you value that you value them. Good rewards programs build relationships that benefit your customers and strengthen your bottom line.

In fact, discounts and coupons came in as the top-ranking tactic for driving loyalty, with 61% of consumers saying they use them.

They also give you an excuse to regularly engage with your customers, which can have exponentially positive benefits.

Related: 15 Unique Conversation Starters to Drive Customer Communications

Use these rewards to keep customers coming back.

1. Offer punch cards to increase customer consistency.

Punch cards are a simple and cheap option. You give a customer a hard paper card that gets a hole punched in it whenever they visit, make a purchase, or refer a friend.

Once the card has a certain number of holes punched, like 10, that customer gets a reward. Common options include:

Free coffee

Free appetizer

Free socks

20% off next purchase

Next service free, etc.

But you don’t have to just use physical cards.

You can do the same digitally by tracking customer visits or purchases. These are easier for a lot of customers because they don’t have to remember to bring their card every time.

Square has a great digital option for the punch card. They use the customer’s phone number to keep track of points earned in an online dashboard. It will even send the customer a text letting them know when they have a reward waiting.

2. Have loyalty discounts to encourage customers to work with you again.

Many products and services are not bought or needed very often. That means there’s a lot of time between purchases for clients to disengage. A few of these are:

Buying a car

HVAC repair

Roofing repair

Tax services

Even if customers enjoyed working with you, you need to provide an incentive for them to choose you again.

For instance, Kia gives you cash off a new purchase if you already own or lease a Kia. You can take this concept and apply it to most industries.

Take HVAC services, for instance, you can offer current customers a discount on their next HVAC unit when they move or just need a new one.

3. Share freebies to show customers value.

People love free things, whether it is a physical product or even a how-to guide. If you are an online software company (SaaS), you might offer a free guide that relates to your industry.

For instance, HubSpot offers free Ebooks related to marketing and customer relations.

Offering free guides helps you gain credibility and strengthen your relationships with customers, both of which encourage them to come back.

Another common freebie comes from restaurants. Most will give you a free something for dining with them on your birthday. Restaurants like Provinos will give you an entire meal for free!

If you need ideas, The Penny Horder has a list of 100 birthday freebies. Check them out for yourself. (Here’s an example from Starbucks.)

4. Run giveaways to increase engagement.

Who doesn’t like random free stuff? Any business can use giveaways to increase engagement, sign-ups, and purchases.

Take Cash App, an online banking alternative, for example. Every Friday they have a give away on their Instagram. All someone has to do is like is and comment with their cash app name tag, and they could when some free money.

This increases engagement with their current customers, and brings in referrals that they’re able to convert into customers.

Another example would be for an insurance agency to offer free estimates. Everyone who enters for a free estimate is also entered into a drawing for a tablet, tickets, or some other prize. Then you instantly have a new list of prospects you can follow-up with.

5. Show appreciation with social media shout-outs.

What person doesn’t appreciate some sort of recognition? Social media shout-outs give buyers a sense that you care about them, and most love the added attention.

Use this to your advantage to not only get exposure but to also show off your products, strengthen relationships with your audience, and build loyalty – all through user generated content.

A Chattanooga paddle board rental and adventure gear company, L2 Outside, will re-post customers who have either gotten a rental or bought some of their clothing, and shared that on social media.

When L2 does this, they do two things:

They are giving gratitude to their customers, and they are showing all of their customers’ friends what fun their customers are having.

This is also a great way to fill up your content schedule.

Related: 5 Text Request Features Perfect for Content Marketing

How do you share these rewards?

It’s great to offer customer rewards, but you have to actually get people to use them. How? Here are five ways.

1. Use physical mail to send rewards and packages.

This one is a bit old-school, but it’s a great option for sharing rewards. You see companies send coupons in the mail all the time. The ones I get most are right after an oil change, when they send me a coupon for my next one.

Mail is also a great way to send something big. Vans will sometimes send out a loyalty box with goodies such as a water bottle, backpack, hat, and stickers, just for being a member of their rewards program.

Then their customers will post it on social media for others to see, and starts a positive chain event.

2. Send rewards and opportunities through Email.

If you searched through your email right now, you could probably find several offers from a variety of businesses. Here’s an example – Regal movie theater will send you upcoming opportunities to earn extra points.

Email is easy to send, and the ROI can be great. However, email can also get easily get lost, missed, or sent to spam. You can also use email to tell customers about expiring rewards.

3. Text updates, promos, and images.

With a 99% open rate, text messaging is one of the best ways to ensure your message is seen. Use it to send quick messages like:

Rewards balances

Coupons

A link to a sales page

And anything else

Texting can often replace email when it comes to simple messages, or you can use it in conjunction with email. Here’s an example that drives traffic and sales:

Texts are also great for giving out a random freebie. Text out a promotion to your contacts, and have the ones who reply be entered into a giveaway.

Through Text Request, you can also schedule texts to go out on contacts’ birthdays notifying them of a free birthday gift.

4. Utilize in-app notices to make things convenient and personal.

If you have an app, you really need to be utilizing in-app notices like push notification and banners. It’s a great resource for your customers and makes the experience personal for them.

Starbucks does a good job of using their app to notify customers of rewards and other things.

However, building an app for the sole purpose of rewards probably isn’t a good choice for most businesses. It’s expensive, and the adoption rate is very low.

5. Grab attention with in-store notices.

In-store notices are a great way to grab the attention of new and existing customers. REI Co-op, for instance, has a membership program that costs $20. When you sign up in store, they give you a $20 gift card to use the next time you visit.

Another great example is a retail company asking in-store customers to post on social media with the company’s products. Maybe customers will get a chance to win a free product, earn a discount the next time they buy, or to be featured by the company.

What is the best choice?

The best choice is going to be a combination of several rewards options and distribution methods. That’s what will create the most engagement with the highest ROI.

If you are in the service industry like HVAC repair or roofing, using a loyalty program for these long term purchases would best be delivered through physical mail, so they have something to hold on to. You can also use seasonal email or texts.

A CPA firm can use email and texting to remind and prepare customers for the upcoming tax season. You could also use it to offer them a reward for filing with you again, or a free consultation to discuss their options.

In retail, if you don’t already have an app, sending notifications and coupons via text will bring you great results. Combine this with the occasional emailed coupon, in-store notice, and social media shout-out to increase sales and engagement.

If you do have an app, utilize those in-app notifications, and use email to send extra little coupons or birthday wishes.

For the best open and read rates, texting is going to be the best hands down. When it comes to cost, in-store notices are the cheapest.

However, there is no one right answer, and the only wrong answer is not using them at all.

[ Ramey Miller ]

Article has graphics and videos: https://www.textrequest.com/blog/rewards-keep-new-customers-coming-back/

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“22 Examples of Customer Retention Strategies That Work”

What’s better than acquiring one new customer?

It sounds like a trick question, but the answer isn’t “acquiring two customers.” It’s actually retaining an existing customer.

While there’s a certain allure that comes with capturing new customers, keeping customers coming back will continually result in a greater ROI — and it costs 5-25X less.

But how do you create a customer retention strategy that keeps your current customers engaged and happy?

We’ve broken down some of the most applicable customer retention strategies that the biggest brands are currently using to inspire loyalty. From leveraging convenience to prioritizing personalization, we’ll cover all the must-haves that any customer success or marketing team can test out today.

Free Resource: Customer Churn Analysis Template

How to Retain Customers

– Track and analyze churn metrics.
– Implement a customer feedback loop.
– Maintain a customer communication calendar.
– Send a company newsletter.
– Start a customer education program.
– Build trust with your customers.
– Offer unique services.
– Start a customer retention program.

[ Sophia Bernazzani ]

Article: https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-retention-strategies

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“How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back”

Having your customers return to your website or your store, time and again, is not a matter of game. Getting a positive review for once doesn’t mean that the customer will return to you. It takes many efforts than what you think. Returning customers are like the lifeblood of your business because they not only become your customers but also become your brand advocates and can help promote your brand to attract more traffic. Taking returning customers for granted is the biggest mistake that a marketer can do. You worked hard on your marketing plan to make your business stand out of the crowd and to drive customers to your doorstep, it’s time to get them to return to your website. Finding and then retaining the customers are the two biggest challenges for a new business. It’s very important to develop and maintain a loyal customer base. So how can you make your customer come back? The article below will explain you the tips to do that.

1. Engage and respond the customers

Businesses in the super-connected world today have ‘n’ number of communication channels like social media channels, Email, calls, etc to interact with their customers. But the communication channels keeps on increasing day by day. So get familiar with all the channels to engage with the customer. No engagement should be left behind or ignored. You should respond to each customer within a short period or adopt a policy in your company that ensures no ignorance of customer engagement.

2. Use Content Marketing Strategy to Improve Customer-Retention

Content marketing strategy not only allows you to reach a wide potential audience, but you will also remain on top of your existing customers who can then retain with valuable reasons. Simply writing content is no longer enough to bring the ROI for you. Write useful and valuable customized contents and share them with your peers, and followers to ensure the best results in engagement and retention.

Content marketing strategy Digital Ready

3. Invest in Distribution

Just creating content is not enough. If no one can see your content, then it’s a total waste. Whether it’s the optimization of your content or sending it to relevant bloggers, you should get as many eyes as possible to create a massive amount of traffic for your website and to retain your existing customers. Find the right social marketing channels and spend more time to learn numerous free and paid ways to distribute your content.

4. Know your Customers and What they need from you

Know your customers and what they need from you Digital Ready

Learning about your customers and understanding the customer’s needs is very important in your customer retention journey. Don’t go for the “One size fits for all” approach when communicating with your customers. Segmenting your data can help you build your ideal customer profile. Customer’s data segmentation narrows down the type of customer based on the following information: Demographic data Information that is related to customer’s age, occupation, gender, and socio-economic status. Geographic data Information about the place of the customer. Behavioral data Data about how a customer uses a product, their shopping habits, and propensity to become loyal. Social Graphic data Information about how customers behave using different social media platforms. Psychographic data Data about the personality and lifestyle of customers. By segmenting customers on the basis of above data, you can reach out to them with specific offers according to their needs and can value them as they need.

5. Be Accessible

Communication between a company and its customer today is different than what it was before. It was a one-way street before. Companies sold their product(s) to the customer, and that was all. But now, negative feedback on social media can ruin your business like hell, and positive feedback can raise you up for anything. If a customer can reach you out through social media, blog comment, or email, you can be certain that they want a personalized and an on-time response. Consider the following examples of good and bad customer feedback on social media.

Bad customer service post example on Twitter Digital Ready

This tweet was seen by 76,000 users, and on top of that, the British Airways correspondents failed to respond the tweet within eight hours, giving time to go viral with negative feedback.

Bad customer service example on Twitter Digital Ready

Take an example of good customer service. WholeFoods have responded within half an hour of the customer’s tweet and provided a quick and easy solution to the minor problem of the customer.

Good customer service example on Twitter Digital Ready

By making a company accessible through social media, a company can guarantee many customers to be loyal and some of them to retain as much as possible.

6. Provide Offers to Your Loyal Customers

Provide incredible values to the customer who is loyal and can be your brand advocate. When customers buy something from you, they expect something to get in exchange for their hard-earned cash. So give them the reason to return. Provide added value before they turn up to some other competitors.

The Value of a loyal customer Digital Ready

Offer your customer with coupons and other deals. You industry type doesn’t matter here. If you can provide your products at a discounted rate, then your customer will appreciate it and be likely to continue business with you in the long term. Use segmented data of your customers to provide specific offers according to their interests and needs. Whether it’s after or before the purchase, you should provide your customer with supplemental materials that shows how you care about your customers in person. You can provide your prospective customers with materials before they purchase so that they can get to know your product(s) and can prepare themselves to get the full out of your product and service. By providing more than what your customer expects, you are positioning yourself higher in your industry.

7. Ask for Frequent Customers Feedback

How customer feedback benefits your business sales Digital Ready

There are tools, like Analytics, which give you all insights of what customers want from your business and what they think, but getting straight answers right from your customers would be the best way that can help you in engaging and retaining. Customers’ feedback is the answer if you are looking for retaining customers. Set up a short survey for your customers once they purchase something from you, or you can ask for feedback through text or email. Taking feedback is as important as answering and acting on them. Surveys, reaching out directly, usability tests, feedback boxes, and user activities are some ways to get feedback from your customers. So if you are looking for your customers to come back, then it’s essential for you to leverage your customer’s feedback strategy.

8. Go Extra Mile for your Customers

Go extra mile for your customers Digital Ready

Going the extra mile is often helpful for any business to stand out. Here are some tips to go the extra mile:

Engage and follow up with your customers on social media with the aim of providing help in any way you can.

All customers complaints, reviews, and feedback should be recorded because this information is helpful for engagement opportunities

Respond with thankful notes to the cases where customers are referring their friends on social media by mentioning you.

Leverage your VIP and loyal customers.

70% of the complaining customers will do business with you if you resolve their complaint. So do follow up with your complaints even after resolving it to go extra mile for your customers.

9. Utilize your Customer’s Accounts

Customer’s accounts can be beneficial for the customer to purchase as it gives the customer easy access to their past orders and pre-filled shipping information. Provide an option of creating an account just after the first purchase or order. In this way, you can effectively implement and encourage customer’s account without hindering conversions of the first time customers. If customer’s accounts are optional, then you can send invitations through the mail to encourage your customers to create their accounts after their order.

10. Send Regular Newsletter Email to your Customers

Email list plays a vital role in customer engagement and for maintaining a good relationship with your new and existing customers. Email is proven to be one of the top converting channels in the marketing field. Email conversions are much higher than social and organic search. An email campaign can be quickly implemented and can produce profits for you.

Conclusion

Understand what your customers want and provide them just with it to grow your business. Don’t ever forget to appreciate your existing customers as it’s 7x more expensive to get a new customer than to retain your existing one. If you want to learn and be an expert in customer retention strategies, then join our digital marketing course. Our course will help you get a deeper understanding of every aspect of digital marketing and every piece of valuable information that you need to know.

[ Reshma Mandal ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TkWpMwPqU0

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“5 Customer Retention Strategies That Keep Customers Coming Back”

Want to discover the SECRETS to evolve beyond your recurring fears and doubts so you can rise above any obstacle that comes?

[ Tim Han ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQwbpCwrTkM

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“How To Keep Customers Coming Back Again And Again!”

Many companies think that in order to get repeat customers they have to compare themselves to their competition. But there are many reasons why that’s not the best method for how to keep customers coming back.

In my newest business book, “I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again,” I cover a six-step process to get your customers to say, “I’ll be back.” I’m going to summarize the process here.

It’s not complicated. It’s actually pretty simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

The first step is to ask yourself why people should do business with you. What makes you unique?

Then, how does your competition differentiate themselves from what you do?

The third step I lay out in my new business book is to look at the differences that exist between you and your competition. Make those differences your own. That is, adopt them but give them a twist.

The fourth step in learning how to keep customers coming back is to move beyond your industry. Ask yourself which companies you like doing business with and why.

Fifth, what do these companies do to get repeat customers that you could also do?

Sixth, revisit your value proposition. Once you’ve taken from other companies, ask yourself what makes people want to do business with you. You should have some new answers at this point.

You can learn how to keep customers coming back by putting this six-step process into action along with other ideas, strategies, and tactics from my new business book.

Repeat customers are gold. Loyal customers are sacred.

This is exactly what it takes to get your customers to say, “I’ll Be Back!”

What do we have to offer?

[ Shep Hyken ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX39IvxuEVU

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“5 reasons why customers keep coming back”

A large proportion of our clientele are repeat customers, who return to us with different probes and their various issues. But why?

What do we have to offer?

[ Probe Logic ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnyOUNB7jzA

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“How to Get Customers to Return When They Have Left”

Personal service will encourage customers to return.

When it comes to marketing, it’s relatively easy to get new customers in the door, but getting them to return is a challenge. Every business needs a healthy dose of new and returning customers, and your repeat customers give you the biggest return on your investment. Not only do they spend more money with your business, but they may be more likely to recommend your business to others.

Coupons

In the same way that a coupon can get a new customer in the door, a coupon can encourage a customer to return. Avoid distributing coupons that are good for a few months or do not have an expiration date. Give a coupon with an expiration date in 30 days or less; that gives it a sense of urgency, and keeps the coupon, and your store, fresh in the customer’s mind. Make the coupons worthwhile, such as offering a free product with a purchase, or $5 off a $20 purchase. Use coupons to make your customers feel they are missing out on a great deal if they let the coupon expire.

Reward Loyalty

Customers want to feel valued. One way to reward customer loyalty is to implement a customer loyalty card. Allow customers to rack up points or earn punches on their cards for each purchase, and reward them with a free product or large discount at a certain point. Invite loyal customers to special sales or allow them to be the first to purchase products that are in high demand. Solicit feedback from these customers when ordering new products or making changes to your services. This will help loyal customers feel invested in your business and motivate them to continue doing business with you.

Customer Service

Providing excellent customer service involves more than getting customers through the line quickly. Focus on consistency and personality to get customers to return, and take steps to ensure that your customers know what to expect when they visit your business. Avoid drastically changing the look of your business. Train all employees in how to provide excellent service and how to deal with customer issues. No matter who is working, the customer should get the same experience. Get to know your customers. Know their needs, the products they like, and information about their lives that directly pertains to your business. You and your employees should be positive and upbeat when interacting with customers, even when handling difficult situations.

Connections

Connecting with your customers can get them to come back. Give customers the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter or email promotions. Send out an email once a week or a newsletter once a month to remind customers about your business and your latest promotions. Encourage customers to “like” you on Facebook or follow your Twitter feed, and then post regular updates to hold their interest. For large purchases, write thank you notes to customers. Do not overwhelm customers with communication, but the more you can connect with customers and keep your business at the front of their minds, the more customers you will see return to your business.

[ Stacy Zeiger ]

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“Acquisition vs Retention: The Importance of Customer Lifetime Value”

What is more important, the acquisition of new clients, or the retention of existing ones? It’s a classic sales and marketing question and one that most CEOs would quickly answer with “both, of course.” But it’s not as simple as that. Resources are finite and when measuring your output you should be able to quantify what percentage of time and effort was put towards new clients vs. those you already have. Is 50-50 really the right number?

Why Customer Acquisition is Important

We’re stating the obvious here, but increasing your customer base is the fastest way to grow your business and the most obvious way to reach short-term revenue goals. Don’t assume it’s the only way, however, as up-selling to an existing customer can sometimes prove more lucrative than what you’ll make on a new client. And that’s before we get to “lifetime value.”

Screen Shot 2018-02-16 at 6.52.00 PMSource: Ted Goff

Customer acquisition will always be a driver for businesses, which is the main reason inbound marketing is such a rapid growth industry right now. Inbound tools are ideal for attracting qualified potential clients and converting them into sales.

SEE ALSO: How To Achieve Sales Growth With Inbound Marketing

Why Customer Retention is Important

Stepping aside from concerns of pure profitability, customer retention is one of the best ways to measure how reliably your company is providing its service. Put simply, companies with high retention rates are knocking it out of the park, and doing such good work their customers realize they would be worse off without them.

Strong customer retention rates can also be a great driver of customer acquisition, through referrals and the case study evidence you can provide to potential clients.

When it comes to revenue, customer retention is hugely important to consistent growth and financial planning. The more committed customers you have for the next financial quarter, the easier it is to make budgetry decisions. Another benefit of retained customers over acquired customers, is the fact they generally require less maintenance.

Breaking Down Customer Lifetime Value

When we talk about “customer lifetime value,” what we’re referring to is a prediction of the total profit generated by a customer over a projected period of time. Calculating this number helps businesses see the long-term vision, in terms of how valuable a client would be if retained for a set cycle.

Finding Customers vs Keeping Old Customers-Chart

Having a clear sense of customer lifetime value might help you make a decision on where to prioritize your resources – be it on retaining customers, or acquiring new ones. It also educates your long-term strategy, in terms of scaling your business and where your focus should be.

SEE ALSO: Is Inbound Marketing Right For My Business?

Crunching the Numbers

Here are some great numbers that were put together by Invesp, who conducted a survey:

Acquiring a new customer is five times as expensive as retaining an existing customer.

44% of companies admit they, “have a greater focus” on acquisition, while 18% focus on retention (the rest claim to have an equal focus).

89% of businesses, “see customer experience as a key factor in driving customer loyalty and retention.”

76% of companies see Customer Lifetime Value as “an important concept for their organization.”

The success rate of selling to a customer you already have is 60-70%, while the success rate of selling to a new customer is 5-20%.

“Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25-95%.”

Never Ending Debate

The customer aquisition vs. retention debate will run forever. How your company balances its resources should be educated by all the information you have available. To most, this is a difficult task. It’s a lot to think about, but once you look at the numbers it’s often more clear. If you would like to deepen your understanding of this topic, we are happy to help.

[ Will Tidey ]

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“How Amazon Maintains over 90% Customer Retention – Updated 2020”

Stay at home – that’s probably one of the most repeated phrases during 2020. Luckily, you could always count on Amazon to bring anything that you needed during those times.

With the pandemic, lockdowns and mobility restrictions globally, online sales and e-commerce experienced an unprecedented boom. And of course, Amazon led that trend, consolidating its position. In fact, Amazon registered its most profitable quarter ever during Q320.

Besides the favorable circumstances for e-Commerce during 2020, Amazon has been cracking customer retention for a long time now. Amazon’s customer retention is through the roof year over year. As of September 2020, Amazon Prime members in the US were estimated to be 126 million in the US, who have a 93% retention rate after the first year and 98% after two years. It’s an eCommerce dream.

Increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits anywhere from 25-95%. Customer retention is a huge factor in the longterm success of e-Commerce stores and can’t afford to go overlooked. Considering it’s between 5 and 25 times more expensive to acquire new customers, you’ll save a ton focusing on customer retention.

Now we understand that not every eCommerce site can have the same reach and level of service as Amazon. But there are many aspects of Amazon’s interface, customer experience, and marketing you can recreate “in house” to improve your customer retention.

Here’s how Amazon maintains over 90% customer retention year after year:

Contents:

Tailor new user experience

Personalize return customer experience

Create a sense of urgency and FOMO

Get their information down before they go (forever)

Effectively reach out to users and update them off your site

Create a simple and easy checkout process

Offer free shipping, returns and perks for your loyal customers [more…]

[ Mariano Rodríguez ]

Article: https://www.getbeamer.com/blog/how-amazon-maintains-over-90-customer-retention-year-over-year

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“10 things that can get customers back into your store”

Remember the good old days when customers walked into your store, picked the items they wanted off the shelf, and that’s all there was to it? Thanks to the Internet and social media, those days are long gone, and they aren’t coming back. Operating a successful retail store in the information age requires blending the old ways with new technologies to deliver an up-to-date shopping experience that keeps customers coming back. With that in mind, here’s what today’s consumers want from every retail store.

1. A seamless multi-channel buying experience

Anyone with a personal computer or smartphone can learn about your products, compare prices with other retailers, and get recommendations (or warnings) about your customer service before setting foot in your store. Providing a seamless buying experience starts with understanding the different types of information your customers are looking for, and then making it quick and easy to access it across all channels.

2. Centralized personal data

To speed up the buying process, every customer’s information should flow easily and accurately through all transactions, whether online or in the store. For example, once customers enter their data online, they shouldn’t have to stand around in the store while a sales associate rekeys the same data into the POS system.

3. Knowledgeable store associates

Today’s consumers tend to research the products they want to buy online. However, once in the store they often need help understanding the many features, functionalities and differences in brands, especially with technology products. Smart retailers equip their sales teams with tablets, digital displays and other tools to help them instantly access the information needed to answer questions and help customers make informed buying decisions.

4. A personalized buying experience

These days, just about everyone is overwhelmed with off-target marketing messages and unwanted information. To deliver a more personal, relevant buying experience to your customers, gather as much data about them as possible in order to provide targeted advertising, emails, product recommendations and special deals that attract rather than push customers away.

5. In-store price matching

Thanks to the Internet, customers can learn all about a product before coming into your store. At the same time, they can also pull out their smartphones to compare competitor pricing while in your store. To avoid losing customers to a competitor’s lower price, train your sales associates to know when it’s okay to match prices and give them the authority to do so.

6. In-store pickup for online orders

To save time and shipping charges, retail shoppers are increasingly buying online and then coming into the store to pick up their purchases. Not only do shoppers expect to have this option, they expect you to get it right every time. This requires seamless integration between your e-commerce, inventory management and point-of-sales systems. Customers do not appreciate a web site that says “item in stock” only to come into the store and discover it isn’t.

7. Customized rewards programs

The days of simplistic customer rewards programs are also disappearing. Gathering personal information about shoppers allows you to create personalized loyalty programs targeted to each shoppers’ interests and buying patterns. For example, consider special discounts or offers based on past purchasing history rather than the ùùtotal amount of dollars spent. When done well, personalized rewards programs can deter customers from defecting to competitors that offer lower prices.

8. Reliable data security

Nobody wants to read that their favorite retailer has had sensitive customer information stolen by hackers. Make customer privacy and data security a top priority for your IT team. Also, have a plan in place to notify customers what steps to take and how you will help protect them against fraudulent use of their information in the event of a data breach.

9. Hassle-free returns

After price, convenience is probably the second most important shopping criterion for consumers. Make your returns process quick and easy by offering both in-store and online returns. Give employees plenty of training in both areas, and never put an untrained associate at the returns counter.

10. Consulting, not selling

Customers often spend weeks researching a product before making a buy/no buy decision, especially with complex technology products or high-ticket items. Focusing only on completing the transaction can drive away customers who aren’t ready to buy but haven’t said “no.” Instead of pushing to make the sale, focus on providing the information (both in-store and online) customers need to mak8e the right purchasing decision.

In today’s competitive markets, customer loyalty can be hard to come by. Hire good employees, offer competitively priced products, and keep in step with what consumers want. Your customers and your business will reap the rewards.

[ Karin Jakovljevic ]

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“7 Ways To Be Memorable and Get Customers Back”

My buddy Steve had neck pain and had been researching a pain-relieving pillow for weeks.

Finally, he found the perfect one online and purchased it.

He immediately started getting emails from the manufacturer begging him to review the pillow. They wanted his recommendation to show on their product description.

Here’s the thing…

Steve doesn’t know anything about the company that made the pillow or their website.

And when people ask him where he purchased it, he just says,

I got it on Amazon

A lot of brands are pushing customers away with relentless and ill-conceived efforts to engage online. Few, other than Amazon, meet with success. That’s why so many online stores are opening their own brick and mortar shops.

Оnline retailers know the shopping experience in a store has the ability to stick and be memorable, where online does not.

Brick and mortar retailing at its best offers the stickiness that shoppers remember so they return again and again. It’s one of the best ways to attract customers to a retail business.

To accomplish that, you have to be thinking like a customer.

Here are seven tips for becoming memorable to your customers

Go out of your way just because

Greeting a customer in the parking lot with an umbrella when it is raining can go a long way to being memorable. Picking up a large purchase and carrying it out without asking stands out.

How can you show customers they come first in your store?

Greet everyone and tell them where they are

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with tasks and lose focus on who pays the bills: your customers. Greeting within 15 seconds – that’s much longer than it sounds – with “Welcome to (name of your store)” helps solidify where the shopper is.

Your greeting sets the standard that shopping with you is different, better than all the rest.

Have accurate inventory

Research by Accenture recently found that almost 50% of shoppers want to check stock availability before visiting a store. Google found that 25% of shoppers say they’ll steer clear of a nearby store to avoid the risk of items not being available.

Ideally, your entire inventory should use RFID tags or other current technology to provide real-time transparency of your stock. Then you focus on buying fewer SKUs but go deeper to prevent out-of-stock situations.

You never want to be the store that”never has what I want”.

Train employees to make the complex simple

Sure, a camera salesperson can spout numbers of pixels and resolution but a well-trained employee can talk about the number of photos that fit on different sizes of memory cards.

An excellent associate helps facilitate and makes buying an easy decision.

You never want to trip a shopper’s idiot switch.

Train employees the difference between upselling and adding on

Advanced selling skills like what I teach in SalesRX.com teach your associates that you upsell someone from a cheaper item to one that is more expensive because it does more with less work.

You add-on to a sale after the customer has decided to buy the main item by showing them one additional item that makes the original purchase do more.

Exposing someone to training doesn’t necessarily make them a salesperson.

You have to have a long view of what it actually takes to build confident, avid salespeople, and only providing initial training means you’re just getting started.

Tell customers where they are again

It’s easy to say, “Thanks” or “Come again” but when you hand over the bag to the customer it is your last shot to stand out.

Add your business name to the message. For example: “Thanks for shopping at (name of your store.)”

Remind customers of where they were

It is reported the average American received 88 pieces of email a day back in 2016 – and about 33 text messages a day as well.

Shoppers are constantly being marketed to, so the chance for you to be forgotten grows every day you don’t communicate with them. That’s why you should send out a bi-weekly newsletter – even better a weekly one – so they don’t forget you.

Technology has enabled shoppers to exist in a perennial buy state.

The only way brick and mortar retailers can survive is by seizing each moment of influence. This means providing customer service that’s memorable, and with consistent marketing.

Your end goal is to become your customer’s go to store whenever and wherever.

See also: 7 Skills Every Retail Manager Needs To Succeed

Don’t be the unknown pillow manufacturer

We are being told all shoppers want to do is get in, get what they want, and leave quickly.

Unless you are memorable, you’re like that pillow manufacturer – providing what is needed but not standing out.

[ Bob Phibbs ]

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“Winning Back Lost Customers: 5 Tips for Success”

When all it takes is a username and password, customers can start engaging with your digital product, app or service faster than ever. Starting a subscription or placing an order online takes only a few seconds.

But the speed and ease with which they can become your client means they can switch to a competitor or forget about your service just as quickly.

It may sound like a waste of time and money to focus on bringing back customers who have expressed disinterest in your company, but data from the Client WinBack Benchmark Study found that 26% of clients return with a win back campaign, and with double the lifetime value.

Even if customers have become inactive, you have a 60-70% chance of success to sell to them again, while the chances of success for selling to a new potential customer are only 5-20%. That means you could be 13 times more likely to sell a past customer than a new one – not to mention that it’s 5 times more cost-effective than going after a new customer.

A win back program re-engages lapsed customers by offering a reward if they do a specific action, such as re-activating a subscription or completing a new purchase.

This can be used to target old customers who haven’t made a purchase in a certain number of days or months, people who expressed interest but never bought, or even those who have explicitly cancelled their subscription:

If it’s cheaper and easier to re-engage past customers, what have you got to lose?

Keep reading for five things you need to know about launching a successful win back program:

Only focus on the “best” lost customers

Your customers left for a reason, but not all for the same reason

Your win back program can run itself

Always be measuring success (and failures)

Your winback strategy should complement your lifecycle marketing strategy

1. Only focus on the “best” lost customers

Your win back strategy shouldn’t aim to bring every single lapsed customer back to your website or app.

Just like with regular marketing efforts, some customers are better to target than others. If a customer doesn’t fit your ideal criteria, has a low lifetime value or offers a minimal contribution to your MRR, they’re probably better off somewhere else.

There’s no point in wasting money on customers who aren’t at all likely to stick around the second time.

What kind of customer is more likely to come back – and stay with you?

Data about past customer behavior will offer the best clues into who is more likely to return.

An article in the Journal of Marketing indicates that your most valuable former customers are those who:

Have referred others to your brand

Left for reasons surrounding price rather than service quality

Had complaints that were satisfactorily resolved

2. Your customers left for a reason, but not all for the same reason

While the objective of a win back program is to re-engage old customers, not all of them spent time away from your brand for the same reason.

Differences in motivation to leave call for differences in motivation to return, meaning offering all lapsed customers a 10% off coupon and hoping they’ll bite is merely wishful thinking.

A customer may cancel their subscription to your service or stop making purchases because of product limitations, price barriers, poor customer service, a lack of product understanding, or other reason.

To best tailor your win back strategy, start by answering these three questions:

What is the goal of your win back program? For example:

More sales

Adoption of a new product

Awareness of a new feature

Increased cash flow

What customer action will help you achieve this goal?

Re-activating their subscription

Placing a new order

Logging back in to your portal

Re-downloading your app

Why did your customers leave?

Too expensive

Bad experience

Product hard to understand

Forgot about your product

Our model below shows what kinds of rewards work best based on a customer’s reason for not continuing to buy:

If you’re stuck on what to offer, data shows that when win back emails offered a dollar discount they consistently performed 2x better than emails that offered a percentage discount.

However, don’t be afraid to take your win back incentives beyond percentage or cash-based discounts! Send out an offer that can be redeemed for a specific product, a free consultation with a product expert, or even company swag.

Keep in mind that the reward you offer will influence a customer’s behavior once they come back. Discounts on a one-time purchase may not encourage someone to reactivate their subscription, while a discount on their next 5 purchases may help someone reform a strong repeat usage habit.

Check out this win back email from video game app Pokemon GO that incentivizes players to get back in the game and explore new features:

3. Your win back program can run itself

Your win back program’s rewards can be automatically sent out to the right customers at the right times when you leverage dedicated software, erasing the need for manual monitoring.

This means that you can:

Set how long after a user’s last activity date you would like to automatically send a reward.

Choose the win back reward type and value you would like to send.

Customize the reward notification email sent to customers who have successfully earned a reward.

Start winning back customers!

With a platform like SaaSquatch, the system constantly monitors your available customer data to determine whether or not the customer is eligible for the reward detailed in your win back program rules. If they meet the criteria, the customer is notified by email that the reward has been added to their account balance and is ready for use.

Making the reward immediately available to the user increases the likelihood that they will accept it, while you can add an expiry date to instill a sense of urgency.

4. Always be measuring success (and failures)

Tracking the results of your win back program helps ensure you’re putting your resources (both human and financial) to good use when offering and fulfilling rewards.

Look for a platform that lets you report on which customers were successfully won back because of your win back efforts, and how much they spent with you since their reactivation.

A key consideration is measuring how much of an impact a customer has on your revenue after they have been re-engaged, and what kind of lifetime value they now represent. A successful win back program is characterized by customers who are reactivated and remain active for a significant amount of time, as opposed to accepting the reward only to immediately go quiet again.

Try measuring your program’s success with a reactivation rate (%) to understand how well your win back strategy is bringing people back on board. This is similar to how you would use a percentage to track lead conversion.

Access to your program’s data also lets you continuously test and optimize your incentive strategy and experiment with variables like reward value, email copy, and timing to establish a formula with optimal conversion rates.

5. Your winback strategy should complement your lifecycle marketing strategy

Win back campaigns can be a powerful strategy for bringing back lost customers, but user engagement shouldn’t start once the customer has already left!

We believe that win back campaigns are an important component of lifecycle marketing – a strategy that aims to keep customers engaged with content, offers, and incentives from the moment they learn about your brand.

But since it’s simply unrealistic to expect every single customer to stick around forever, reactivation campaigns like a win-back offer can supplement your lifecycle marketing when customers need a little extra nudge.

In contrast, a siloed win-back campaign presents the risk that customers will take advantage of your reactivation offers only to cancel or lapse again once they’ve used it up, leading to a negative ROI.

[ SaaSquatch ]

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“Customer Retention: 5 Ways to Turn One-Time Holiday Shoppers into Returning Customers”

As holiday shopping moves online due to COVID-19, eCommerce businesses are expected to see a huge spike in holiday sales. But if you want to make the most out of the 2020 holiday season, then it’s time to think beyond the holiday calendar. While your seasonal sales only run for a few days, your potential to continue earning from them can last a lifetime.

How do you keep the momentum alive? Avoid the dreaded churn. Shift your focus from customer acquisition to customer retention and turn those first-time seasonal shoppers into lifelong customers.

Yes, holiday shoppers are wonderful in terms of customer acquisition, but they’re more likely to churn than customers you acquire throughout the rest of the year. After all, holiday shoppers come with a very specific intent—to buy items at the best price for a specific date or event. So once they’ve feasted on your online store, how do you keep them coming back for seconds, thirds and even fourths? You need to have a customer retention plan ready.

What is customer retention?

Customer retention is a range of activities that nurtures new customers into loyal, repeat customers for the long-term.

If you haven’t thought about customer retention before, you’re not alone. Most businesses focus on acquisition, while only 18% focus on retention. But, when you crunch the numbers, retaining customers is a lot more profitable than acquiring them.

Here’s a quick look at the statistics:

It costs 6-7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Existing customers are 50% more likely to buy from you again.

Existing customers spend an average of 31% more than new customers.

Increasing your retention rate by just 5% can boost your profits anywhere between 25-95%.

Convinced it’s time to start converting your holiday shoppers into your most loyal, lifelong customers?

Here’s a quick outline of the five most effective ways to keep them coming back:

Email marketing

Stellar customer service

Customer loyalty programs

One-time offers

Retargeting ads

Now let’s dive deeper into each tactic.

01. Win them over with email marketing

Email marketing may be the oldest of all digital marketing channels, but it’s still the top performer with a 4400% ROI. Marketing professionals also report email as the most effective tool for customer retention. You can develop a year-long pipeline of email campaigns to win your customers’ loyalty, but let’s focus on the must-haves.

Must-have customer loyalty email campaigns

Welcome email: These have an average open rate of 50-60%, the highest of any email campaign. Take this opportunity to make your shoppers feel seen and appreciated by personalizing their “welcome” based on the customer information you’ve collected. Think beyond the personalized greeting, “Hi Karen”.

For example, you can frame the welcome email based on their specific purchase: Congratulate them on choosing the item and offer some tips on how to use and care for it.

Content email: Keep new customers engaged by sending them a selection of relevant content that adds value to their customer experience.

For example, if you have a blog, use your email campaign to link to articles that your customers will find helpful or simply entertaining. If you don’t have your own content to share, don’t let that stop you. You can curate content from sources that closely align with your customers’ needs and interests. Also, think of including a variety of content formats like blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics and more.

Upsell email: Never miss an opportunity to upsell. After all, the probability of selling to an existing customer is a significant 60-70%. They key to successful upselling is personalization. Use demographic information and your shopper’s first-time purchase to suggest the most relevant products for their second purchase.

For example, if you sell yoga apparel, and a seasonal shopper bought a purple yoga top as her first purchase, send her a selection of yoga pants that will complement her top. Beyond personalized selections, you can also suggest items that are bestsellers or on sale.

Abandoned cart email: eCommerce businesses lose $18 billion dollars a year to abandoned carts—but don’t let it happen to you. If shoppers already started the buying process but backed out, let them know you noticed and gently encourage them to complete their purchase with an abandoned cart email. Make sure to automate it to be sent some time after the event so you’ll succeed in bringing the customer back to your store.

For example, if a customer left a product in their cart, you can email them a time-sensitive coupon code to help entice them to complete the purchase.

02. Wow them with your customer service

The holidays are a notoriously frenzied time for shoppers and businesses alike. This year, because of COVID-19, eCommerce sales are expected to surge. All of this activity means you need to come extra prepared with stellar customer service. After all, a happy customer is a loyal customer.

Here are some ways to let your customers know how much they mean to you:

Send personalized thank you notes: Exceed your customers’ expectations by including a personalized and branded thank you note with their order. This adds a memorable touch that is especially appropriate for the holiday season. If a handwritten thank you note is too time-consuming, then consider printing them and add your handwritten signature.

Reinforce your resources: Santa needs more elves during the holidays, and every smart business needs more support agents—so make sure to hire some extra help for the season. It’s a good idea to source support agents who reside across different times zones, like Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Having a global support team will help you extend your support hours and offer 24-hour support without assigning grueling overnight shifts to your agents (it’s important to keep them happy as well!).

Now is also the perfect time to add live chat to your support channels. Customers overwhelmingly prefer live chat compared to phone and email support. One of the biggest advantages of live chat is that your customers can receive real-time support and don’t have to stay glued to the chat window. Just like any other chat platform, customers can minimize the chat and get a notification as soon as an agent is available. They can also leave their email addresses and receive a response at a later time.

Be proactive: Providing excellent customer support means being proactive and not just reactive. While it’s important to respond to queries in a friendly and timely manner, it’s equally important to anticipate and address problems before they arise. Take this proactive approach by assessing your support issues from last year’s holiday season. Identify issues that arose most frequently and clearly address them in your store’s FAQ page and store policies.

Wix Stores eCommerce platform banner.Wix Stores eCommerce platform banner.

03. Create a customer loyalty program

Customer loyalty programs reward customers for their continued business. One of the most popular examples of this strategy is the airline industry’s frequent flier program. The more a customer spends, the more points and perks they earn. More than 57% of customers join loyalty programs to save money and nearly 38% join to reap the rewards. You can start your building your own loyalty by adding a Members Area to your store. With a Members Area, shoppers can create their own profile within your store and securely save their information like payment options, billing and shipping addresses, and their order history. This saves them precious time in the checkout flow for the next time they make a purchase. It also gives you the opportunity to recognize your most loyal shoppers and offer them exclusive deals and rewards. If you already have a loyalty program in place, make sure to promote it on your website. Once a shopper signs up as a member, trigger an automatic email to welcome them to your loyalty program and explain the benefits.

Read our article about brand loyalty to learn more.

04. Offer a special discount

Who doesn’t love a discount? Warm up to your first-time holiday shoppers by offering them an exclusive, one-time coupon code for their next purchase. Then, simply add the code to the Welcome email and the Thank You note included in their package.

05. Retarget them on social media

Another way to keep customers coming back is by engaging with them on social media. If you don’t have one already, create a social media presence for your business and encourage your holiday shoppers to follow you. Then keep the page active by designing beautiful and eye-catching social posts to showcase special sales, promotions or deals throughout the year.

Besides for organic social posts, you can also retarget your shoppers with paid Facebook ads. Three out of four customers notice retargeting ads and chances are you have as well: One morning, you’re browsing a pair of shoes on Asos, and later that afternoon you see an ad on Facebook for the same pair of shoes from Asos. This magic is powered by something called a Facebook pixel that tracks customers’ activity on a website. Once your customer leaves your site and starts browsing Facebook, the Facebook Pixel kicks in by displaying your ad. It’s an extremely powerful tool for increasing conversions and easy to set up. Simply add a Facebook Pixel to your online store and start a Facebook Ad campaign. The pixel automatically tracks events within your store, such as product views and past purchases, and uses that information to optimize your Facebook ad.

You can also use Wix’s Facebook Ads to quickly create promotions from your site’s dashboard that’ll be seen by your target audience. This way, you won’t need to create audiences, A/B test or track sales. Wix’s machine-learning algorithm will automatically optimize your ads for maximize performance.

Read our article to learn 10 best practices for creating Facebook Ads.

The takeaway

When it comes to new holiday shoppers, the hard truth is that they can disappear on you just as quickly as they flocked to you. But, as long as you implement a few of the tactics listed above, you can expect to convert some of them into loyal customers. Remember that this is definitely worth the effort: Even a small amount of customer retention—as little as 5%—can have a huge impact on your profits. So, as you continue to acquire new shoppers throughout the holiday season, make sure to funnel them through to your customer retention plan. You’d be surprised at how much of an impression you can make on your shoppers with even a simple gesture, like a handwritten note.

[ Geraldine Feehily ]

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“5 Reasons to Focus on Repeat Business”

1. Repeat customers spend more money

300 percent more, according to RjMetrics.

Financing gives your customer more equipment for a financially feasible price, and gives you a distinct competitive advantage for their next lease.

2. Repeat customers are easier to sell to

When you’re marketing to a prospective customer, you only have a 13 percent chance of closing.

SalesChain’s lease desk gives you comprehensive views of each lease, including meter reads and usage data to help you close that deal again.

3. New customers cost you more

It costs five times more to acquire a new customer than it does to keep a current customer.

Reduce the cost of marketing tools by targeting repeat business and upgrading wherever possible.

4. Repeat customers promote your business

By focusing on repeat business, you’ll create a group of loyal customers that will promote your business.

Repeat customers also refer 50 percent more people than one-time buyers.

5. Businesses are built on customer retention

Your business shouldn’t be a revolving door of customers. By increasing customer retention just five percent, a company’s profitability will increase by an average of 75 percent.

View the value of expiring leases in SalesChain’s Data and Analytics dashboard to understand how much of this repeat business you should expect.

[ Sales Chain ]

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“How to Get Repeat Purchases From E-commerce Customers in 5 Easy Steps

Customers with repeat purchases are a very valuable resource to any e-commerce business. Repeat customers pay more, they are easier to sell to, and they are more likely to refer you to someone else. Do you remember the question Ryan asks Michael in the fourth episode of the second season (titled, The Fire) of The Office?

Ryan: Is it cheaper to sign a new customer? Or to keep an existing customer?

Dwight: Keep an existing…

Michael: [to Dwight] Shut, it. Can I… can I just do it please? [to Ryan] Uh, it’s equal.

Ryan: It is ten times more expensive to sign a new customer.

Bonus Content

– Retail Strategies and Omnichannel Engagement Frameworks [Download Ebook]

– Customer Lifecycle Marketing Campaigns: An In-depth Guide [Download Ebook]

So, yes, repeat customers are great, but how do you get them to purchase repeatedly on your app? [more…]

[ Pulkit Jain ]

Article: https://www.moengage.com/blog/how-to-drive-repeat-purchases-ecommerce-customers/

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“TEN REASONS WHY CUSTOMERS CHOOSE TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU”

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” That quote comes from Simon Sinek, author of the book, Start with Why. This quote makes me think about the different reasons behind why a customer chooses to do business with a company. There are plenty of them to consider, so I put together a short list of some of these Whys:

Price: Let’s get this one out of the way first. Some people choose price as a primary reason. Those companies that get customers because of low price will lose those customers when someone else has a lower price. The loyalty to the company is because of price, not the company.

Convenience: Who doesn’t want an easy and frictionless experience? And, people are often willing to pay a higher price if the experience is convenient.

Customer service: You love the way they treat you. Employees are friendly, knowledgeable, and quick to respond. They are there to take care of you, and in turn, you take care of them… by doing business with them.

The culture: This is the kind of organization you want to be affiliated with. Your values are congruent with theirs.

A Cause: You believe in what they believe in. At some level, this ties into culture and values, but this is more about giving back and community involvement. It can be a charity or any other cause that is important to you; everything from saving elephants to curing world hunger.

Trust: You trust them. They do what they say, every time. If you don’t trust the organization, you probably wouldn’t be doing business with them anyway.

Reputation: You’ve heard good things. Maybe it’s comments from friends or colleagues at work. Or, maybe there are plenty of reviews that can confirm this is a good company. Reputation is a big part of the decision.

Consistency: This ties in with trust and reputation. Outside of lying, if there is something that erodes trust quicker than anything, it’s a lack of consistency. You want customers to use the word “always” to describe their experience with you. “They are always friendly, knowledgeable, helpful…” You get the idea.

The Way: The way they do business: This is about their process, policies, the hours they are open, their location and more. It is really about their operation. These are very tangible reasons. These may get a customer in the door, but many of the other reasons are why customers choose to come back.

The Why: Let’s end where we started, with Simon Sinek’s quote. All of these reasons (and more) may contribute to the decision of why a customer chooses one company over another. When you figure out a customer’s Why and can scale it to meet the reasons and needs of a larger group, you connect on another level that brings customers back, again and again.

[ Shep Hyken ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElaXvKRtnN8

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“50 Tips on How to Get More Customers to Your Store

For a small retailer, an empty store can quickly mean an empty bank account. How can a small retail store drive more foot traffic? Here are 50 ideas to try.

.Spruce up your store sign. Make sure your sign is in good repair (lights working, paint fresh), clearly visible, and easy to read from a distance. (Here are some other tips to improve a store’s curb appeal.)

.Announce what your business does. Customers driving by should be able to tell immediately what your business sells. If your signage doesn’t clearly communicate whether you sell children’s clothes or pet supplies, they won’t bother to come in and find out.

.Announce you’re open. Have you ever driven by a dimly-lit shop with closed doors and wondered if it was open or not? Keep your door open and lights on. Put up an “Open” sign with your hours—even roll out an actual welcome mat. Anything to signal to passersby you’re open for business.

.Indicate where to park. If your store has parking that’s not immediately visible (like behind the store) a sign in the front window saying “Free Parking in Rear” will help encourage visitors who might not want to search for street parking

.Provide bike racks or storage. Does a lot of your target market ride bikes? Depending on city ordinances, you may be able to get a bike rack outside your store.

.Use mobile signs. Sign-twirlers dressed as hotdogs reek of desperation, but a sandwich board with a great offer gets passersby to stop, look and shop. Add a clever saying and they’ll probably share it on social media, too.

.Promote perks via signage. Do you have free Wi-Fi? Do you offer layaway? Did you just get a new shipment of a wildly popular product that’s hard to find? Alert passersby with a sign in the window.

.Hold an in-store event. A fashion show, book signing, author reading, art exhibit or even live music are all ways to get more people in the door.

.Hold a contest. Promote it online, via email and on social media, but require coming into the store to enter.

.Use in-store social media. Set up a “selfie wall” with a backdrop people can take pictures in front of. Change it out from time to time and put your store hashtag on it. Give customers discounts for posting to social media and tagging your store.

.Use Google Local Inventory ads. When customers search online for products, these ads let them know you have what they want in stock. Learn how to use Google Local Inventory ads.

.Start a local merchants association. Get together with nearby businesses and brainstorm ways to market your area, such as pooling advertising dollars or holding monthly events.

.Cross-promote with individual businesses. Put your flyers or coupons in nearby businesses’ locations, and vice versa. Offer shoppers a discount at Store A if they show a receipt from Restaurant B.

.Lure customers inside by displaying some outside. Set up a tempting sidewalk sale can entice customers to enter the store.

.Attract a crowd with your window display. Creative displays shouldn’t be limited to the holiday season. Update your store window every few weeks to give shoppers something to see year-round.

.Give out free samples along with a discount coupon for a larger purchase of the item.

.Offer a free gift with purchase. This can be enough to entice passersby in the door.

.Place pet water bowls outside. As strolling dog owners pause to let Fido sip, they’ll check out your merchandise.

.Hold a class. Teach people how to do something relevant to your business, like cooking lessons for a cookware store or makeup tutorials for a boutique.

.Do a product demonstration. Show customers how to use a popular product you sell.

.Play music in your store. The right music can tell shoppers at first listen exactly who your target customers are—and get them inside.

.Piggyback off the popularity of nearby businesses. Benefit from popular nearby businesses, such as movie theaters, restaurants, bowling venues, arcades, or non-competing stores, by handing out samples, flyers or coupons near these stores or buying in-mall advertising near these locations.

.Sell gift cards. Users have to come back in to your store if they want to use the cards—and they’re likely to buy more than the value of the card.

.Make sure employees look busy and friendly. Employees who look bored, engrossed in their phones, or ready to pounce on the first customer who comes in the door scare people away.

.If you sell online, offer a buy-online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) option. Customers almost always browse once they’re in the door, and frequently end up buying more than they came in for.

.Accept in-store returns of online purchases. When customers make a return, always ask if they’d like to look around first—you might make a sale or at least turn a return into an exchange.

.Use Facebook and Instagram ads to drive store visits. You can actually create ads that have the goal to drive store traffic. These show up when shoppers are near your location and offer coupons to redeem in-store.

.Optimize your business for local search. Manage your local directory listings, especially Google, to ensure they’re up to date and complete with your hours of operation, phone number, link to your website, enticing photos of your store, and keywords customers use when they search for you. Learn the steps to local search optimization.

.Create a pop-up shop inside your store. Invite a complementary business or a popular brand you sell to do a pop-up in your store. This will attract their customers, whom you can then ask to sign up for your marketing emails.

.Use email marketing to get customers into your store. Send special offers or coupons that can only be redeemed in-store.

.Set up a photo booth. You can rent a photo booth for a week and encourage customers to take photos, share them on social media and tag your store. Reward customers who do so with a discount on their purchase.

.Hold a flash sale. A limited-time, surprise sale can get customers in the door. Offer a two-for-one special, 30 percent off everything in the store or whatever makes sense for your business. Send emails and text messages or post on social media about your sale to build urgency.

.Make it mobile. If your business already uses mobile marketing apps that reach out to people based on their location, put them to work. Customers who are already out and about are more likely to be tempted to come into your store.

.Offer refreshments. On a cold, snowy or rainy day, free coffee, tea, hot chocolate and other treats can entice frozen shoppers to stop by and warm up. On a hot day, stock up on lemonade, cold water and iced tea. Keep a supply of these items in your stockroom so you can serve refreshments at a moment’s notice. Promote them on social media and via your other marketing methods.

.Provide a place to rest. Window shoppers might become real shoppers if their companions have a place to sit and rest while they browse. Put a few chairs or an ottoman in your store.

.Entertain children. Entice parents into your store (and get them to spend more time there) by providing entertainment for their children. Set up a little area in the store with a play table, toys and books. Enlist an employee to read stories to the kids or play games with them. Meanwhile, offer the parents discounts and the chance to get a break from their kids while they shop.

.Reward them. Does your store already have a loyalty rewards program? Great. Let customers know you’re offering double or triple rewards points today. The extra incentive might be all they need to get out the door and into your store.

.Market to loyalty program members. As members build up loyalty points, send emails to remind them when they’ve reached a certain level and encourage them to come in.

.Send targeted offers to loyalty program members who haven’t visited your store in a while to win them back.

.Reward your most active loyalty program members with VIP experiences. For example, offer a preview of your newest products, a free makeover, a sale after-hours just for them, or other special treatment to make them feel valued.

.Spruce up your façade. Make sure your store looks appealing from the outside; clean the windows, keep the sidewalks swept and pick up trash.

.Get customers to sign up for mobile messages and you can text special offers during slow times

.Review your website SEO strategy to make sure it’s pulling in customers. You may need to update keywords or create new content to attract online searchers.

.Use Google AdWords weather targeting to advertise weather-related products. For instance, if a rainstorm is in the forecast, advertise compact umbrellas or rain hats. Find out more about weather targeting on Google; Facebook and Instagram offer a similar feature.

.Use local social media influencers to attract customers. A social media influencer your target customers care about can help drive customers to your store. Find out how to work with influencers.

.Offer services related to your products, such as free repairs or annual maintenance. This will give your customers a reason to come back.

.Use direct mail. With so much email in your customers’ in-boxes, physical mail can really stand out—just use it sparingly. A postcard a few times a year with a special offer will get attention.

.Send birthday greetings to customers with a special birthday offer or a free gift for visiting the store.

.Follow up after a purchase. Contact customers to see if they’re happy with the purchase and use the opportunity to suggest related products they might like.

.Start a referral program. Offer your customers rewards for every new customer they refer. Ask customers who are new to your store how they heard about you.

And a bonus tip—Measure the results of your marketing efforts. Track which of the tactics above work best and keep using them.

[ Rieva Lesonsky ]

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“How To Get Customers Back Into The Store”

While the consumer retail experience appears to be leaning increasingly more to the digital side, 73% of consumers like to research online and buy in store. Contrarily, former “online-only” brands such as Amazon, Fabletics and Missguided (to name a few) are investing more in brick-and-mortar to create a holistic balance of benefits between their digital and physical presence.

So if retail brands are working on balancing out their approach, why do we continually see well-known, long-standing brands closing down?

It’s not that big chain retail is dying, and it’s not just one thing that contributes to it. Rather, the store closures we’re seeing are a result of brands that lack the innovation and relevancy that draw in and retain customers. The key is to create a seamless digital-to-physical customer journey that starts when, how and where the consumer chooses to begin that journey. By enhancing the overall customer experience, subsequent business outcomes, such as customer retention and loyalty, will naturally follow.

Here are three actionable strategies that retail brands of all sizes and industries should consider to get customers back in-store and filling their online shopping carts.

Bridge The Gap Between Online And In-Store Experiences

Imagine shopping online and storing items in your cart that you simply can’t bring yourself to purchase because you need to see and feel the product before “taking the plunge” — free shipping and returns be damned! It’s a relatable scenario for many consumers — myself included. In fact, 87% of modern consumers want to see and experience a product prior to purchase.

Brands need to consider this — and how they orchestrate every moment — to make it simple and efficient. Start a consumer’s journey where and how they prefer, supercharging every touch point with invitational offers that drive better engagement (and business outcomes). Actions retailers can take include having the technological ability to monitor a customer’s online shopping journey, and send notifications that a product in their online shopping cart is in stock at a store near them

Adding that layer of technology empowers you — the brand — to pinpoint how and when each individual customer prefers to begin engaging. In turn, customers receive the response they expect, and also can create additional opportunities for a surprise and delight — remember the importance of innovation and relevancy.

Events And In-Store Courses

Events are an underutilized and powerful opportunity for retailers to bring consumers together and allow them to spend dedicated time with well-educated employees. You might be wondering how much an event could help drive foot traffic — research shows that 60% of modern consumers are interested in attending in-store events and product demonstrations, but only 23% have been invited.

As a retailer, you’re missing out on the opportunity to bring consumers to the store and increase revenues if you’re not considering events or in-store courses. This misstep between the digital and physical interaction is known as the “failure zone.” Consumers who engage in face-to-face interactions in-store often increase their online basket sizes more than 3X based on that experience. Whether it’s through exclusive VIP events for product launches, product education courses or guest speakers, retailers should use the physical store to improve brand awareness, customer satisfaction and even sales conversion rates.

For example, luxury brand Chanel mastered a product launch experience by enticing customers to their pop-up store in one of London’s most luxurious shopping centers. By offering customers the ability to test the new scent, learn about the inspiration behind the fragrance and book workshops ahead of time, Chanel was able to increase awareness and buzz around one single product launch.

Booking Appointments For Concierge-Like Engagement

Because consumers still value the ability to see the whites of someone’s eyes via face-to-face interactions and have a desire to connect with well-trained, knowledgeable staff, retailers should use in-store technology such as appointment bookings and personal shoppers to provide this level of convenience and personal touch for consumers.

Retailers have a big leg up on digital-only stores when it comes to the human interaction, which is where personal shopping by appointment can come into play. Debenhams, one of the world’s top international department stores, has had great success with this. They increased in-store visitors by rolling out an omnichannel appointment system that allows customers to book personal shopper sessions. By offering a variety of different sessions, such as appointments for groups or gift giving for loved ones, the retailer has been able to increase appointment booking by nearly 25%. In addition, appointment booking tools can improve staff utilization, allowing employees to focus on driving meaningful interactions with customers, resulting in increased revenue and improvement in overall employee well-being over time.

Retailers — large and small — cannot afford to neglect an in-store strategy, given the battle for market share in today’s retail landscape. A true, 360-degree customer view enables continuous measurement and optimization that accurately predicts consumer behavior, as well as tracks revenue and business outcomes across all channels. Ditch the idea that the only way to get consumers in the store is through incentivization and discounts — it’s not. While consumers are enthralled with digital, they still crave the brick-and-mortar experience at some points of their path to purchase. Retailers must learn to bridge the digital and physical divide in order to ascend from the “failure zone,” exceed the expectations of today’s modern consumer, and provide an omnichannel experience that cultivates high brand value and loyalty.

Before starting at BookingBug, Glenn Shoosmith worked as a developer, consultant, team and project manager in various industries. During this time, he wrote trading systems for some of the world’s largest banks, including Bank of America and Merrill Lynch. In 2008 he founded BookingBug with the ambitious objective of building a platform where time could be treated as if it were a stock inventory item. BookingBug has since grown to become the market-leading multichannel appointment booking platform.

[ Glenn Shoosmith ]

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“7 tips for re-engaging customers after COVID-19 quarantine”

When the COVID-19 quarantine began, people across the world locked themselves in their homes and only went out for essential services. In fact, department store sales plummeted 75% from Q1 to Q2 of 2020, as consumers flocked to online storefronts over traditional retail. In many cases brands who didn’t quickly adapt their strategy lost customers to those who did.

As the world recovers from the pandemic and people start going out again, businesses need a plan to get customers back after COVID-19. Whether you’ve already opened your doors and want advice for winning back lost customers, or are planning to reopen soon — we’ve created this guide to help with your post-pandemic strategy.

Check out these ways to engage customers and win them back after COVID-19.

Khoros | Strategic Services

1. Plan an announcement on your website and social media for when you resume operations

If you stopped operations during COVID-19 and are planning to resume soon or have already begun doing so, let consumers know and provide details on how you’ll protect customers and employees.

For businesses with a customer facing physical location, indicate if you’ll be utilizing safeguards such as contactless transactions, mask policies, and hand sanitizer stations. For online retailers and service providers who are resuming operations following a delay, let customers know you’re back and detail the steps you’re taking in workplace facilities including offices and manufacturing plants.

You should do this across a variety of channels, but it’s important that you add any post-quarantine announcements to your website’s homepage, where they can’t be missed. You can accomplish this in several ways. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Banners — Adding a small, non-intrusive banner can be used to highlight important announcements without disrupting customer experience. Be sure to add the banner to your homepage, and consider making it global across your site so that customers can see it no matter what page they land on.

Pop-ups — Like banners, pop-ups are an easy way to implement announcements globally across your website. Pop-ups allow for more room for text and will ensure the announcement doesn’t go unnoticed.

Blog posts — Lengthier announcements may require their own unique pages, and your blog is a perfect medium for this. Use the space to lay out thorough information about when and how your business will begin to resume operations, and what customers should expect. Make sure to update this as things change, such as if you are increasing the allowed customer capacity in a storefront.

Social media — Your website isn’t the only place to make announcements. Make sure to get the word out on social media so that your customers will know you’re back in business even if they don’t visit your website. You can also use social media listening tools to see what customers are asking about with regards to your reopening plan.

2. Email and text your customer list

Another way you can re-engage your customer base after quarantine is by sending out an email or SMS campaign to update your entire list. Though your most loyal customers may regularly check your website or follow you on social media, most probably don’t. An email or SMS campaign is an easy way to send pertinent updates directly to your customers. This increases the chance that they will see your message and re-engage with your business.

3. Update your Google My Business listing with hours of operation

If your business has a physical location or service area, you probably have a Google My Business (GMB) listing. If your business’ hours changed or you had to temporarily close your doors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you likely updated your GMB listing to reflect these changes..

When you’re ready to reopen or resume normal business hours, it’s important to go back into your listing and update your hours of operation to reflect the change. If you don’t, some customers may think you’re still closed or operating under different hours which could lead them to shop elsewhere. Make sure your open status and hours of operation are consistent across your GMB listing, website, social media profiles, and all other places it’s featured to avoid confusing customers.

4. Offer exclusive content or discounts

One of the best ways to engage and win back lost customers after COVID-19 is through exclusive offers and content. Unfortunately, the quarantine has negatively affected many peoples’ finances and even after the pandemic is over, customers may feel hesitant to spend money on anything that isn’t a necessity. You can re-engage with customers — and support them in a time of need — by offering limited-time discounts or subscriber content as you resume normal operations.

For example, camping gear company Sierra Designs had a flash sale encouraging customers to “get ready for when outside is open again.”

Sierra Designs

During the pandemic, Disney+ gave subscribers plenty of exclusive content to keep audiences engaged. They began by bumping up the digital release of movies that had already been in theaters including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Frozen 2, and Onward which hit the streaming service weeks after its theatrical debut.

Disney+ class=

While this move netted the brand plenty of positive reception from audiences and media, they didn’t stop there. Disney+ kept audiences engaged by releasing new movies including Mulan and a film captured version of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. The decision to release this content helped retain existing customers and drove new subscriptions as well.

In fact, the company started with 10 million subscribers in November 2019 with the goal of achieving 60 million subscribers by 2024. They blazed past the initial goal, surpassing 100 million subscribers just 16 months after launch; they’ve since updated their goal to hit 260 million subscribers by 2024.

Whether you’ll offer discounts, exclusive content, or both — start planning now. Exclusive content can help keep existing customers engaged, while discounts can help get customers back and attract new ones as well. Whatever you do, make sure to spread awareness about it across several channels including social media where it can be shared to others for greater reach. If you’d like to expand your social media marketing capabilities, learn how the Khoros Platform can help you drive engagement.

5. Host a reopening event

Throughout the pandemic many brands hosted virtual events to keep customers engaged including webinars, sales events, and more for people who couldn’t leave their homes. For example, Chipotle frequently hosted Zoom lunch parties which featured Q&As, celebrity guests, and giveaways:

Chipotle hosts virtual lunch parties

You can also create events that don’t require any type of interaction. For example, UberEats ran a virtual food festival which spanned 13 days. Each day gave customers discounts focused on a different type of cuisine which encouraged frequent purchases and supported local businesses.

Uber Eats Food Fest social media post

Even if you aren’t reopening soon, you can host digital events like this to re-engage customers. After the COVID-19 pandemic is over, you’ll likely have customers that have been isolated and are craving social interaction. You can use this as an opportunity to host an in-person event to bring customers back, just be mindful of local health guidelines at the time. Advertise the reopening event on your website, social media, and email — then follow up after it’s over and consider hosting similar events on a regular basis to keep customers coming back.

6. Support your community

The impact of COVID-19 on society is impossible to ignore. Even after your business begins to pick up, it’s crucial that we support those in our communities who were affected.

Many businesses stepped up during the pandemic to manufacture highly demanded items like masks and hand sanitizer, while others offered food and more to affected communities. But the need for help doesn’t end after the COVID-19 pandemic, as people still need food, medicine, and other essential supplies and services. Showing your support not just during quarantine but also during recovery shows your business’ commitment to the community. Even if you’re not in a position to help directly, you can still organize charity events, team up with businesses who are in such a position, or make donations to organizations providing relief.

Chipotle is a great example of this — in the early stages of the pandemic they donated money to Direct Relief with gift card purchases, then as things started winding down they celebrated healthcare workers by giving out free food.

Chipotle gift card to give back

Chipotle free burrito giveaway

Think about how your brand can give back to the community after the pandemic. Doing so can foster brand loyalty and win back customers who left during COVID-19.

7. Listen to customer feedback

The period of recovery following quarantine may test how well your business reacts to customer sentiment and feedback. Businesses will need to closely monitor feedback and pivot strategy based on changing demands. For example, businesses that started offering customers curbside pickup, delivery, live streaming, and other social distancing-approved services are likely to see continued customer demand for these services after quarantine has ended, as customers may still be wary of social interactions or find the services more convenient. Your business’ success could depend on how well you meet these changing customer needs.

Social listening is a quick, easy way to get a pulse on this conversation. Below are a few tips to get you started:

Review mentions of your brand and with this sample query in Khoros Intelligence: (@brand OR #brand OR “brand name”)

Scan social feeds of others in your industry and beyond to see how those brands are engaging in the conversation.

Look into mentions of your competitors and the crisis to understand if their approach is resonating with their audience.

Social media listening example

Businesses that listen and adjust strategy based on customer feedback after the COVID-19 quarantine ends will improve customer satisfaction as customers will feel heard. To start utilizing social listening for your brand, check out Khoros Intelligence.

[ Khoros Staff ]

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“5 Ways to Get Customers to Return When Reopening”

As businesses reopen around the country while concerns about COVID-19 persist, there are many things they should do to prepare for returning customers.

With the majority of states allowing businesses to reopen while COVID-19 concerns remain, business owners have a long list of things to do to make sure they can open safely while also convincing customers to come back. In the age of coronavirus, business owners should be constantly thinking about new ideas to win customers both new and old in this environment.

Here are five ways to get customers to come back to businesses that are reopening around the country.

Establish plans and contingencies

One of the most important things businesses should be doing as they reopen is creating plans and contingencies for whatever situation might arise. If you don’t have plans in place, it may be hard to interact with customers consistently and confidently.

Where business leaders go to grow

CO— is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Your business should be able to answer important questions, such as:

How can you serve customers safely and maintain social distancing?

How will you comply with all new protocols and regulations set by federal, state and local governments?

Do you have a plan for closing and cleaning if a customer or employee tests positive for COVID-19?

Will you require all customers and employees to wear masks? What happens if someone refuses to comply with your directives?

How will you convey messaging clearly to customers?

Once you can answer questions like these, then you will likely be ready to talk with customers and answer any question they could possibly ask. Having set plans and policies will give cautious customers more confidence to return.

Communicate reopening across multiple channels

While it may seem obvious, another incredibly important part of bringing customers back in is actually letting them know you are back in business. Once you have reopening plans in place, you should know what your operating hours and policies are, and that information should be put out in the world.

There are several channels from which you can tell customers that you are open and what your policies are, including email, social media, online platforms and your website. Be sure to also change your official business listings on services such as Google Maps, Yelp and Foursquare that let people know you are operating and what your current hours are. Both Google and Yelp have also added COVID-19-specific features to help communicate your policies.

While online tools will of course be vital for communication, don’t forget about your in-person presence as well. Signage on your door or your building should convey that you are open, what your current hours are, and important policies for customers. You can also display signage around your shop to remind customers of your expectations. And don’t forget to have someone available who can answer the phone when people call to ask questions.

Want to learn more about how to re-connect with customers post-pandemic? Watch this episode of our CO— Blueprint series on re-engaging with your customers.

Flexibility will be key to designing your new customer experience and rebuilding your relationship with customers.

Be flexible

While you might have thought all of your reopening plans are set, it’s possible that as your customers come back in you may want to make changes. Flexibility will be key to designing your new customer experience and rebuilding your relationship with customers. For example, if you set up an outdoor curbside pickup option but no customers are interested in using it, then perhaps scrap that and try something else in its place.

Keep in mind that your customer’s expectations, needs and priorities may have changed since they last visited and there may be ways to better meet your customers where they are mentally and emotionally. If customers come in and ask for a hand sanitizer station, see if it’s possible to deliver it.

Embrace new technologies

Part of getting customers back will also include using new technologies to interact with them. For example, to limit the number of people in workspaces, some businesses (such as a popular salon in Wisconsin) are using new online tools so customers can make appointments. Other businesses have adopted video chat sessions so they can accommodate people that aren’t comfortable with in-person interactions yet.

Set the right tone

No matter how you are communicating with customers, setting a kind and understanding tone is vital during this time. While it’s impossible to predict your customers’ attitudes generally, 2020 has been a particularly tough year for many Americans and it’s important to keep that in mind as your customers come back. Being polite and helpful with your customers can help rebuild loyalty.

Part of setting a compassionate tone can also shine through with your policies. For example, if you can set aside an hour a day for seniors and immunocompromised persons, it shows that you care about your customers’ health and wellbeing. You can also make sure your kindness is conveyed through your advertising and social media, as well.

[ Sean Ludwig ]

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“4 Ways to Rebuild Customer Loyalty After COVID-19”

Businesses that shut down during COVID-19 may have lost some momentum in their customer relationships. Here’s how to encourage your customers to re-engage.

Whether it’s due to public health concerns, strict in-store capacity limits or less disposable income among their customer base, it’s not surprising that many small businesses have lost some momentum in their customer relationships throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent poll from MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the majority of small businesses (86%) are fully or partially reopened, but 70% still concerned about financial hardship due to prolonged closures.

To get your business back on track, it’s important to focus on rebuilding customer loyalty and trust right now. Even if you stayed connected with your customers via social media and/or online service offerings while you were closed, they may still be wary of going out and patronizing your business in-person.

If your business is ready to welcome back its loyal customers, here are some tips for rebuilding your relationships and encouraging people to engage with your business again.

Provide incentives for engaging with your business

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CO— is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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Your business may have provided special offers like discounts and gift cards during the shutdown. Now is the time to double-down on incentives that will drive business while making customers feel safe and important.

“Remember, the economic impact of recession has impacted both businesses and consumers,” said Greg Traverso, CEO of travel company Metamo. “[We] provide a special loyalty offer to customers traveling with us. For example, we are upgrading all our travelers to private small groups through June 30, 2021. We want people to feel safe and welcome during this unprecedented time, while also feeling that they can experience the world and travel when they feel comfortable doing so.”

[Read: 5 Ways to Retain Your Customers During the Coronavirus Outbreak]

Maintain your online communications

If you ramped up your social media and email marketing during the pandemic to stay in touch with customers, work to keep that activity going. Dr. Marianna Weiner, DDS and cosmetic dentist at Envy Smile Dental Spa, said clear, communicative emails have helped her maintain patient relationships, even when their reopening plans got delayed.

“The initial emails were just explaining our situation and what the ideas were for improving accessibility to our office,” said Dr. Weiner. “After we … had procedures in place, we sent another email, including a cute animation, to further explain the protocol set in order to ensure safety amongst our patients and staff. I found this not only made the overall check in process easier for everyone, but our patients actually enjoyed receiving updates from us.”

Richard Lin, founder and CEO of Thryve, also recommended keeping your customers updated by documenting your journey throughout the pandemic. He emphasized the importance of telling your story and communicating with your customers frequently in a genuine and honest manner.

“[Journaling] your process combatting COVID-19 helps build empathy with your customers,” Lin said. “People appreciate the struggle and are always willing to help, [especially those] who’ve been part of your business from the very beginning.”

No matter how you’re communicating with customers, your goal always should be to make them feel comfortable and knowledgeable about your business and its products/services.

“Staying in touch is the most effective way to make sure those … goals are accomplished, no matter what the circumstances,” said Dr. Weiner.

It is always better to give than to receive and, now more than ever, we need to be there for our clients in ways that will pleasantly surprise them.

Greg Traverso, CEO, Metamo

Stay true to your brand and put customers first

All relationships, including those with your customers, are built on trust. Building trust involves putting the needs of others first, said Travaso.

“Companies with an already loyal customer base … have to remember not to change who [they] are and not to forget who helped [them] along the way,” he told CO—. “When we put others first, we gain harmony within ourselves which then reflects back from our clients because they see we are genuine. It is always better to give than to receive and, now more than ever, we need to be there for our clients in ways that will pleasantly surprise them.”

[Read: 8 Ideas to Foster Customer Loyalty When Reopening]

Keep a pulse on your customers’ evolving needs

The businesses that have survived and thrived throughout the pandemic thus far are the ones that have pivoted to meet their customers’ changing priorities. This strategy is just as relevant now that many businesses are reopened, and you must continue to listen and adapt if you want to draw people back in.

“Understanding [customers’ changing] needs and offering relevant products along with convenient and safe fulfillment methods will allow businesses to retain customer loyalty,” said Carlos Castelán, managing director of The Navio Group. “As an example, local restaurants that have been able to survive and grow have been able to quickly shift to offer customer-friendly online checkout as well as increased their delivery or pickup options to meet the shift in customer behavior.”

Throughout the pandemic and beyond, said Traverso, business leaders need to listen and learn from their former loyal customers — not the other way around.

“We need to discover their needs and help as much as we can,” Traverso said. “This goes beyond offers or discounts. We need to encourage customers to stay true to their own mission. Ask them questions. Listen. Learn. Dig into what makes us most human when re-engaging customers.”

[Read: 6 Tools to Build a Loyal and Excited Customer Base: https://www.uschamber.com/co/grow/customers/tools-to-build-loyal-customer-base ]

[ Nicole Fallon ]

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“Planning Your Customer Win-Back Strategy After Covid-19”

As we said in our Be A Game Changer During the Covid-19 Crisis and The Time to Plan Your Reopening is Now blogs, it is imperative you work on your reopening readiness plan with a clear understanding that it’s not “just open the doors and back to business-as-usual.” This pandemic has changed the playing field. Research tells us consumers will not return to businesses they perceive as unsafe (elevate your cleaning protocols, including contactless payments) and/or brands that have disconnected during the lockdown.

Consumers are suffering serious cabin fever, when restrictions are lifted there will be a huge consumer surge (see image below of China consumers at a tourist attraction after restrictions lifted). Your consumers will be coming out in a massive roar, and you want to focus on plans that will draw customers to your business. Will your staff be ready? Will your venue be ready?

BB12dpJC.imgWhile we are awaiting governments to lift restriction for businesses to re-open, it’s the time to start planning your customer win back strategy after COVID-19. Having this operating and promotion plan ready allows you to execute quickly and in real-time.

Host a Grand-Reopening Event – Invite your entire social media community and charge a flat rate to attend (sell the tickets online, pre-paid; lower price online and higher price at the door) for a 4-hour party. Host an all-you-eat BBQ, free-flow drinks, free or high discounted game-play, have a PR Wall where attendees can stand and take a picture and post on social media with a hashtag for the event (encourage customers to upload their pix and tag your business; pick a winner every hour), post your own pix while your event is happening and encourage attendees to do the same (it will attract more people in real time who will think, “there’s a great party happening now, a flat rate entrance fee is good value, and the venue has dramatically elevated hygiene standards, so it’s “good, clean, fun.”).

Your reopening event will communicate the following: it is not business as usual, your business has re-opened and it is better than ever, with a greater menu, greater packages for family, better bundle deals on games, and more fun for the entire family and friends than any other FEC.

Elevate Your Hygiene Environment – All businesses are communicating the measures and steps they are taking to mitigate risk and protect their employees, customers, and the industry from the coronavirus. You must do the same. It requires you have a clear operating plan. If you haven’t already, it’s the time to switch to contactless payment processes, which assures your customers of a safe (virus-free) environment.

Contactless payment technology such Embed’s Kiosk and smartTOUCH readers ensure eliminated risk of unhygienic coins and paper tickets, and/or cash payments (which can carry viruses for 3-days); plus you need to give consumers’ the ability to game using a virtual game card on their mobile (enter Embed’s Mobile Wallet), which means zero contact (no app download), dramatically reduced risk of any ole virus transmission.

Demand Generation Campaigns – ongoing social media campaigns (cost nothing) can help you build consumer buzz and re-engage customers around your FEC’s reopening. Engage customers in simple and straight-forward competitions with winners (the prize should be something that drives traffic to your venue). Offer special prices on seasonal passes, BDay party events, game league parties, gift cards (pay $10 and get $20), etc., it encourages repeat visits and drives loyalty to your FEC. You can run promotions tied to future national holidays and occasions, like graduation gift cards, birthday parties, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.

Your guests have amazing memories of their experiences at your FEC and can’t wait to return! Your win-back strategy ensures your business is on the list of top places they visit when they come out and play, and your grand opening event ensures the crowds come to you first and experiences the “new and improved” you.

The opportunity is now. Don’t wait. If you haven’t already, start planning it.

[ Brittany Gooding ]

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“8 ways to tempt customers back to your business after lockdown

How to create an inviting experience for shoppers heading back to the high street

With the easing of lockdown in certain areas, the high street is slowly coming back to life. Humans are naturally social, so after a long period of video calls, banana bread baking and isolation, it feels good to be back out in the physical world.

While much of this return to normality remains tentative, the good news is there’s plenty that independent shops, restaurants and cafes can do to nurture that footfall. It hinges on making customers feel safe, relaxed and reassured – as well as excited to be out shopping and supporting small businesses

Adhering to safety measures will help to reassure your customers

Here are eight tips on how to welcome those customers back…

1. Promote a personalised service

Some see the disruption to the economy as an opportunity to reinvent the high street. It will be the human touch offered by many independents that appeals to people and draws them in. So push your individuality. Be open and friendly. And if your customers are looking for dedicated time and attention, when buying jewellery perhaps, consider offering appointments. You and those shoppers need each other – so during those appointments, take time to talk and find out what they need from you.

2. Experiment with what you offer

The pandemic has changed many people’s perceptions of what they need and how they get it. Buying fresh veg locally, for example, may now feel more convenient and safer than jumping on a bus to travel further afield. So find out what people need, and if it fits with your existing service and brand values, offer it as a second, complementary service. Word will soon spread, and you’ll get a separate independent revenue stream.

3. Start online

For many shoppers, a trip to the high street starts with researching goods on the internet. This is a perfect opportunity to show them you’re open for business – and just round the corner. That may mean harnessing SEO so you appear high up in the search results when they are googling, or showing off your wares in social media stories to build and maintain a buzz.

4. Blend the online and physical worlds seamlessly

Promoting click and collect delivery options will restore the connection between the customer’s online experience and the local physical store. Extend time periods to return products like clothing that can’t be tried on in store or, better still, offer collection points with changing rooms to make the whole returns process smoother.

5. Adopt safety measures

It can be tricky balancing the need to ensure people’s safety with maintaining convenience. But well-managed measures like hand sanitiser, flow control and track and trace are important: the YouGov survey of shoppers in July showed the promotion of social distancing was the second most important factor in swaying a customer’s choice of shop – behind being sure the item they want is in stock in the first place.

6. Honour good causes

Using your service as a platform to support key workers and the vulnerable is a good way to boost team morale and create positive word of mouth while giving back. Consider giving discounts for NHS workers, partnering with food banks or letting key workers and the elderly go to the front of the queue.

7. Get help

The economic reality can feel daunting, so it’s important to remember you’re not alone. While the onus is on local, you can call on the support of larger businesses to help you. American Express offers a range of business support to SMEs, including cash flow tools and payment services, and its Shop Small Offer helps draw people to spend with you. By signing up your customers can save up to £50 this summer by shopping locally.

8. Collaborate

High streets are a bigger lure for shoppers when they feel like a community. This starts with the business owners themselves. Are there ways to run cross-promotions and deals to help you harness each other’s footfall? Do you have space to act as a fulfilment hub for your neighbour’s business and their products? Anything you can do to foster connections between your business and other independent companies will send out a strong, can-do message about your high street as a whole.

Support small businesses and Shop Small

Shop Small with American Express to support small business owners and make a big difference to your local community. American Express understands that we can all achieve more – in life and business – if someone has our back. Now in its ninth year, Shop Small runs until September 13, 2020. American Express® Cardmembers, including Business Cardmembers, can get £5 back on their Card when they spend £10 or more in a single in-store transaction at any participating location. To learn more about how to save the Offer to your Card and where you can Shop Small with American Express, click here. Terms apply.

[ Time Money Mentor ]

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“Win back customers as we recover from COVID-19”

The way COVID-19 changed our habits means once loyal customers may now be occasional visitors. In order to keep your customers, or win back any you may have lost, consider these three strategies to make your customers feel valued.

Stay engaged

It’s important to put your customer’s needs first. You’ve likely made changes to your business as the COVID-19 crisis evolved — but have you thought about how to keep customers engaged through those changes?

For example, a local wine shop may have added online ordering and curbside pickup to accommodate customers who prefer to stay home. This move puts customer safety first, but it’s possible to go a step further to build customer relationships. Consider New York wine shop Corkbuzz, which hosts virtual wine classes for a small fee. Customers have the option to purchase corresponding wines ahead of time. Create something similar by telling customers about business updates that prioritize their needs and interests, then look for a way to develop those updates one step further.

If your business works with other businesses (versus directly with consumer), you can create this kind of engagement via community involvement. If you partner with other organizations, talk to them about ways to help the community, like sponsoring socially distanced events to help replace live sports or concerts.

Action: Think of how your customers’ lives (or businesses) have changed since early 2020. Use your customer journey to figure out how to make their new reality easier; it might deepen your relationship.

Stay receptive and empathetic

Excellent customer service requires listening, as well as outreach. Make sure you are available to your customers: social media, email, telephone, website, and even in person, if it’s safe to do so.

Be sure customers can easily get in touch with you to voice any complaints or issues. Your customers may be emotionally, physically, or financially on edge, so try to lead with empathy and follow these tips.

Devise a strategy. Determine the best way to respond to customer inquiries or complaints, then write it down and share it with employees. Be specific. For instance: If a customer wants to cancel a membership, authorize employees to offer a discount or a three-month hiatus. If that doesn’t work, cancel without pushback.

Make sure customers feel heard. Determine how you’ll acknowledge and address customer problems, even if you can’t fix them. Your employees might say, “This is important, and the owner would want to hear from you,” before taking a call-back number.

Adapt your strategy. As the saying goes, the customer is always right. Ask your employees to share what works and doesn’t when taking customer feedback. Don’t be afraid to update your plan and policies accordingly.

If a customer walks away from an interaction feeling good, they’re more likely to come back. Make sure they feel heard and supported.

Action: Try to be less rigid about fees, cancelations, and returns, if you can. If you can’t, explain why and be as empathetic as possible.

Reward loyalty

Just thanking customers for their business can go a long way toward making them feel valued. But there are a few other things you can try.

Price: Consider a basic discount for any long-term customers. This could apply to a single product or service, or everything you offer.

Service: Thank long-term customers with special or added services, like priority reservations.

Points: Generate long-term loyalty by offering some type of reward points that can be redeemed in the future.

Perks: A one-time perk, like a free gift or service, can acknowledge customers who stayed with you during any breaks in business.

Action: Be strategic about which products and services you use as rewards. If you’re reintroducing products or services following the crisis, can you use those as rewards to also raise awareness that those offerings are back?

Making your customers feel appreciated can help protect you against any future disruptions, whether they’re related to COVID-19 or not. Be overt about wanting to develop a strong bond. After all, valued customers not only come back, they can also generate positive buzz that leads to new customers and sales.

[ Sources: Corkbuzz, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, McKinsey & Company ]

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“4 Smart Ways to Get to Know Your Post-COVID-19 Customers”

As the world begins to open back up, there’s no doubt that life, as we know it, has changed. This is doubly true for the consumer. The way we buy, the things we buy, and the mindset in which we buy them have all been altered forever. This means that the way businesses present their products and communicate with their customers also needs to change.

how to get to know your post COVID customer Bain & Co video

From the Bain & Co. report we’ll discuss later in this post.

The changes will look different for every business, and they will continue to evolve as the pandemic situation evolves, which is why I’ve written this post. I’m going to use expert insights, recent data, and marketing fundamentals to help you better familiarize with and more effectively and compassionately market to your post-COVID customers. I will cover:

How COVID-19 has impacted consumers in general.

What the post-pandemic consumer is looking for.

Four strategies to better understand your customers in the wake of COVID-19.

Before we begin, we do want to acknowledge the reality that COVID-19 is still an active pandemic that is taking lives daily. The terms “post-COVID” and “post-pandemic” in this post refer to this current time period after the peak of the pandemic in March and April.

Update! With the world opening back up again, check out these inspiring post-COVID marketing ideas!

How COVID-19 has impacted consumers

We know that COVID-19 has impacted businesses across all industries, but let’s focus on the consumer—or rather, the individual with a family, a job (hopefully), and basic daily needs to support. Much of this is not surprising, but let’s take a look at what is being said among institutions about the impact of COVID-19 on today’s buyer:

Refocused priorities

As Accenture explains, “Consumer priorities have become centered on the most basic needs, sending demand for hygiene, cleaning and staples products soaring, while non-essential categories slump.”

get to know your post covid customer priorities have changed

From our latest COVID-19 benchmarks post.

More online and buy local behavior

The factors that influence brand decisions are also changing as a “buy local” trend accelerates. Digital commerce has also seen a boost as new consumers migrate online for grocery shopping—a rise that is likely to be sustained post-outbreak.”

Weakened mentality

Consumers and businesses have been through trauma—emotionally, physically, financially, and more. COVID-19 has left millions of people without jobs, sent billions into isolation, and has forced everyone to come to terms with the fact that we are all inherently vulnerable, as reported by CNBC.

Let’s focus not just on the consumer, but the individual with a family, a community, and basic daily needs to support.

What is the post COVID-19 consumer looking for?

So we can see that the post COVID-19 consumer is lacking in morale, security, and even the ability to venture out of their local community. But what does this translate to in terms of what they need? What is this new customer looking for? Management firm Bain & Company recently conducted a survey of 162 people in seven countries, who shared their priorities and their essentials as we move into this new season:

People want to feel less anxious.

People are seeking a more balanced, healthy lifestyle.

People want to feel more connected.

People are seeking out kindness and purpose.

People are more mindful of their spending, reflecting on what is essential and what is frivolous

how to get to know the post covid consumer bain report video

Source: Bain & Company

Aside from emotional changes, the landscape for businesses has changed physically, too. Consumers are more likely to interact with businesses online, opening up an even wider digital landscape.

Consumers are more likely to interact with businesses online, opening up an even wider digital landscape.

How can you get to know your post-COVID customer?

So it’s clear that COVID-19 has caused major shifts across all aspects of the consumer’s life—buying behaviors, emotional mindsets, daily challenges, and core desires. So what does that translate into for your customers? How can you thrive in a post-COVID world? These four expert-recommended strategies will help you to obtain and implement that knowledge.

1. Recreate your personas

It’s clear that you’re no longer serving the customer you were serving 6 months ago. That means it’s time to update your personas so your messaging, outreach, sales, and branding are actually attracting customers to you. Holly Rollins, President of 10x digital echoes this sentiment in her recent blog post. She says:

“Even if you’ve done this exercise before, it’s still a great time to revisit—especially with the drastic shifts that have occurred during this season. A persona should include your target audience’s general demographic/psychographic details, behaviors, industry pain points, and concerns.”

get to know your post covid customer personas

From our post on buyer personas.

Rollins suggests that your personas should also include details that help you dig deeper into their emotions, purchasing behaviors, and more, including:

Motivations

Purchasing habits

Goals and objectives

Frustrations

Personality type

Roles and responsibilities

One way to get your new persona information is to conduct one-on-one customer and client interviews. Get to know what they want and need right now and build those new customer profiles around their responses.

2. Don’t ignore social media

In a post-pandemic world, social media can no longer be avoided—both for getting to know your customers and for connecting with them. A recent study from CMO found that 84% of companies were using social media for brand building and more than 54% have used it for customer retention.

But what does that mean for getting to know your post-COVID customer? Just as you conducted the one-on-one client check-ins for personas, it’s important to use social media as a tool to connect with and get to know your post-COVID customer passively and actively. For example:

Passively take note of consistent questions and comments. What patterns are emerging about the verbiage your customers are using and the topics they’re discussing?

Actively seek out conversations with your customers via comments and DMs, polls, surveys, and other engagement features on social media. With so many interactive tools now available through social media, you can intentionally get to know your customer better.

how to get to know your post covid customer CMO survey social media

Remember, however, that above all, consumers are looking for authenticity, especially on social media. In fact, a recent Stackla report found that 90 percent of the 1,590 consumers surveyed say authenticity is important in deciding which brands to support.

Focus on community building centered around authentic content to get to know your customers and keep them around long-term.

Remember that above all, consumers are looking for authenticity, especially on social media.

3. Build customer engagement into your culture

In our post-COVID world, customer engagement and development are key. For Alex Turnbull, founder of Groove, it’s all about getting your customers on the phone on a regular basis to discuss their pains, their needs, and their challenges.

While Turnbull likes to have these conversations off-the-cuff, it might help you to prepare a few questions, such as:

How has your business or life changed since COVID-19?

What would make your life easier?

How can our product or service be better suited to your current needs?

Remember: this type of customer communication goes beyond one-on-one calls. Build this mentality and curiosity into your company culture so anyone on the phone with a potential or current customer is culling these insights. When everyone is asking the same questions, patterns will emerge, allowing you to get to know this new customer.

4. Track customer sentiment

Tracking what your customer is saying, feeling, and thinking is a critical right now. In an article for Forbes, contributor and marketing expert William Craig explains:

“Track the decision-making process of clients through trends and cyclical patterns gathered through analytics and predictive modeling tools. You can build realistic models of what future patterns look like, and get ahead to impress the client and build your brand.”

how to get to know your post covid customer ab testing.png

A/B testing is one way to quantifiably track your customers’ sentiment.

To get started with tracking your customers’ sentiment, get a few key processes and elements in place:

Set benchmarks and quantify wherever possible so you have a constant to compare back to.

Choose and implement your tools, along with processes for tracking and accessing data so everyone is seeing and working with the same data sets.

Consistently check-in and analyze the data. It’s not doing any good if no one is actively tracking it and implementing changes.

Having this knowledge about your new normal audience is crucial for being able to maintain effective client communication, strong client relationships, and relevant marketing messaging.

Now is the time to get to know your post-COVID-19 customer

Consumer habits have shifted drastically, and will likely continue changing as we wait to see what else COVID-19 will bring to the world. Getting to know this new customer and continually engaging with them to keep a thumb on the pulse of what they need is key to your success in marketing during and after COVID-19.

Use these strategies to tune into your customer, rebuild your personas, get a feel for their needs, and start speaking their language so you can continue growing and evolving as a company, no matter what’s happening with COVID-19.

[ Jessica Thiefels ]

Article has charts and videos: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/09/18/post-covid-19-customers

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“Connecting With New Customers After COVID-19”

Living through a once-in-a-generation crisis has affected all of us. Life will return to some of its previous norms after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, but it will never go back to “normal.” Thousands of lives have been lost, and millions of jobs have been slashed. It’s a sobering time—and there’s no clear end in sight.

What does this uncertainty mean for your small business? For starters, your customers have gone through the same types of struggles as you. By extending empathy to them, it’s not hard to imagine some of their losses and hardships. After all, they’re not so different from you.

The Balance of Old vs. New

Your customer base is the fuel that drives your business. But in the post-COVID world, you won’t be able to simply rely on your base. You’ll need to extend your reach and attract new customers, which requires a delicate balance.

Imagine that you have a litter of kittens in your home. Of the 6 kittens, 3 love staying on the couch and sitting on your lap. The other 3 haven’t established a connection with you and instead wander around the house. If you try to bring the 3 wanderers to the couch, you’ll need to leave your most loyal cats sitting there. They might stay put while you search for the others, but chances are high that when you return with the 3 adventurous cats, 2 or 3 of your loyal cats will have wandered away.

“One of the most significant challenges of growing a business is keeping its initial customer base satisfied,” explains Forbes. “When a company is small and has a limited customer base, it’s easy to talk directly with consumers and get a feel for their wants and needs. However, as the business starts to scale up, entrepreneurs may lose contact with the core consumers, leading to problems with meeting their needs and engaging their feedback. Losing that rapport can have disastrous consequences on the company’s bottom line.”

Nurturing your customer base while also attracting new customers requires you to understand the wants and needs of everyone involved. You might feel that you’ve done a great job of this in the past, but your 2019 playbook will need some retooling.

Global research from McKinsey and Company reveals that consumer optimism is slowly ticking up in Asia but dropping in North America. This shift is hardly surprising, given the fact that 32% of American respondents anticipated an income decrease within the next 2 weeks. Correlated to decreased income is lower spending, with US consumers feeling reluctant to open their wallets for purchases. Things are even more grim in Canada, where more consumers reported an unwillingness to spend than in any other country surveyed.

As for how long these conditions will last, 75% of global consumers anticipated that the financial impacts of the pandemic would last more than 2 months.

“Looking ahead to the ‘next normal,’ consumers remain hesitant to return to some of the activities that were part of their daily life before the start of the pandemic,” concluded the McKinsey study’s official report. “Consumers globally do not intend to undertake international travel soon, while consumers in several countries—with the exception of Germany and France—plan to restrict domestic travel as well. Most consumers expect to shop less frequently in physical stores for items other than grocery, simultaneously shifting that spending online.”

It’s not likely that your customers will match up exactly with the averages produced in this study. But the general trends are undeniable, which means that the customers you hope to attract in the future will not behave quite like those you brought into your base in years past.

Despite so much emphasis on change, many of your pre-COVID marketing plans are still relevant. It’s important to consider them with a fresh perspective for the remainder of 2020.

Here are 8 strategies for connecting with new customers. If you’re not currently using them, consider adding them to your arsenal—and if you’re already using them, look for ways to elevate what’s already in play.

1. Provide superior customer service: While many strategies for attracting customers require you to put money and effort into various marketing channels, this is the purest plan of all: simply focus on your customers.

“All humans, including the humans we call ‘customers,’ tend to remember what happens to us in our lives in terms of stories,” says customer service expert Micah Solomon. “The implication for any company striving to build customer engagement and loyalty is this: Merely satisfactory customer service, when everything is ‘just fine’ but not extraordinary, may not be enough to lodge yourself indelibly in the memories of your customers. For this, you’ll need to step it up, at least in some interactions with your customer, in order to ‘wow’ them in a way that will be truly memorable.”

You’ll need to work hard to provide the level of customer service that gets people excited. Some experts refer to this extra-mile approach as “finessing the finish.” Whatever you want to call it, these positive interactions build momentum and carry throughout your customers’ circles of influence. You’ll simultaneously build loyalty and bring new people into your business’s fold.

2. Be proactively transparent: Here’s another strategy that directly involves your interactions with customers. Communication with your customers is always important, but it has taken on a whole new significance during this crisis.

Use every available channel to deliver clear and honest messages to your followers. Tell them when you’ll be open, how your plans adhere to the guidelines of your region, and any precautions you have taken to improve their safety. If you’ll be wearing masks, let them know that—and if you won’t be wearing masks, you’d better share a good reason for that decision. Make sure to relay everything you are doing to benefit their health, safety, and overall experience.

Use communication as a way to bring your customers closer, not as a reactionary way to try to stop them from leaving. Your goal: communicate so clearly that it will be impossible for you to be misunderstood.

3. Partner with another business: It’s helpful to combine your resources when you’re trying to make every dollar count. Search your network for noncompeting businesses that offer relevance and value to your customers, then find ways to work together for a common goal.

An essential element: collaborating with small businesses that share similar customer profiles. This alignment empowers both parties to connect with a wide swath of potential customers that might not have been reachable otherwise.

“Make your strengths and shortcomings known up front and insist on the same level of honesty from your partner,” advises a business analysis from Inc.com. “Both companies have to be transparent about what they lack and what they offer before deciding whether the partnership is a good idea. You also have to remain transparent for both sides to capitalize on every opportunity and learn from every failure. Honesty is the best policy when building any relationship. You’ll get more out of your business partnership if you make it a priority.”

By bringing your best to the partnership, you’ll create a positive arrangement where both businesses realize clear benefits. In the process, you’ll also provide a valuable resource to your current customers by introducing them to this other brand.

4. Always offer fresh content: The quarantine has given many of us lots of time to sit on our couch and consume content—so you can assume that your loyal customers have already read everything posted on your website and blog.

As we transition into the recovery phase, it’ll be crucial to create new content that provides authentic value to your customers. One approach could be an insightful article about how your industry is adapting post-COVID. Or you could share a teaser for a new product or service. Finally, there’s value in humor, so don’t shy away from posting a funny article that’ll bring some brightness to your customers’ day.

The added benefit of loading your website and blog with quality content: your search engine rankings will improve. While the various SEO formulas are constantly in flux, fresh content with relevance to your business is consistently advantageous.

5. Use videos in your marketing: Your marketing collateral is never mutually exclusive, so consider adding video to social media, display, and email whenever possible. Why the focus on video? Research shows that 85% of Americans take the time to watch online videos each day. If you don’t think video is relevant to your customers, you probably don’t know your customers as well as you think you do.

“Video’s popularity has exploded in recent years,” explains Forbes. “Now, more than 250 million hours of videos are watched each day on YouTube, and it has become the new format of choice for younger Americans. According to a survey conducted by the nonprofit Common Sense Media, the next generation of teen and tween consumers have doubled the amount of time they spend watching online videos every day since 2015 […] Now, it’s up to marketers to make sure they’re creating video content in a way that keeps their audiences coming back for more.”

Your videos could be anything from short snippets highlighting a product to long-form features that share customer stories. Production quality is a plus—but it’s not always necessary. Using your smartphone, you can often create nimble, relevant videos that will get your business noticed.

6. Lean heavily on digital: If you prefer old-school advertising methods like radio, print, and outdoor, you should reconsider depending on them now that COVID-19 has altered the landscape so thoroughly. These traditional methods are time-consuming and costly—2 factors that you probably have less patience with now.

“In the coming months, businesses are going to become more reliant than ever on their digital strategy,” asserts a business strategy report from Forbes. “Without wanting to sound too alarmist, in many cases it will be the deciding factor in whether they make it through the tough times ahead. The unprecedented, almost-total disappearance of all channels related to live events and conferences, and the increasing barriers on face-to-face business, pose an enormous challenge. Key to resilience is the development of ongoing contingencies to mitigate against this loss.”

Your customers were already migrating online before the pandemic. Social media use has been on the rise for years now, and 80% of American consumers shop online. As these trends continue climbing, it’s estimated that online shopping revenue will top $4.8 billion in 2021.

Digital marketing allows you to create cheaper content and reach customers faster. Featured in the same online spaces where your customers already spend their time, your marketing content allows them to engage with your business via the mere click of a button. This immediacy jibes perfectly with customers’ online habits like instant content and 2-day shipping.

7. Base all your marketing on profiles: While it’s always been important to speak to various customer demographics in unique ways, COVID-19 has made it an absolute necessity. For example, different regions of the country will have different guidelines and protocols in response to the pandemic. So if you use a generic approach to promote a special event at your stores, it might not even apply to many of the customers who see the advertisement.

“Different marketing strategies focus on different geographic reaches, including local communities, larger regions, entire countries, or an international scale,” explains small business guru David Ingram. “Marketing degree programs teach a wide range of techniques useful for large, corporate businesses, but small business owners have to get creative to reach a smaller local or regional audience. Knowing how to market your product on a local and regional level can save you money while boosting your marketing effectiveness.”

How do you make sure to reach the right people with the right message? You need to use the targeting tools that are common in digital advertising. For example, Facebook makes it easy to select certain criteria for those who will be served your ads. And you can take things further by using geotargeting to deliver your content to the most relevant customers.

8. Tap into your base: Your customer base has never been more crucial than in the post-COVID recovery phase—but don’t expect them to simply stick with you out of loyalty. It’s likely that many of them have suffered financial hardship and won’t be eager—or able—to spend money on even their favorite businesses.

Show your respect for their opinions by sending out surveys to find out how to best serve them. Be sure to follow up on their feedback—let them know what you’re implementing and why you’re doing so.

You can also send out exclusive offers to your base. Communicate how much they mean to you and that you’re happy to reward them for their commitment to your business.

Finally, ask your customer base for referrals. Many of their friends and family members will probably match up with your customer profile, so this is a powerful way to build your base. Just be sure to offer an incentive for all referrals so that it’s a two-way street.

Your marketing strategies should continue to evolve throughout the rest of the year. What worked yesterday could flop next week. This is a volatile period of time, and you’ll need to embrace agility if you want to succeed.

“Marketing plans are just that, plans,” says Forbes. “Once put into practice, you will quickly know what is not working. It is important to be flexible in your approach. Don’t be afraid to shift as needed. It is imperative to A/B test, see what works, and lean into those successes. More often than not, what we think will be our core strategy is adjusted by the response we get from the consumer.”

Stay close to your base and deliver what they need in the ways that they want it. Be responsive to them and keep on the lookout for ways to improve your messages—doing so will position your small business to weather this storm and create an even stronger foundation for the future.

[ Grant Olsen ]

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“How to get customers back to your business after COVID-19”

With COVID-19 going on for over a year now, it has had a profound impact on businesses all around the world.

Thanks for the vaccine and health care workers, the time to reopen your businesses may be soon.

But the question as to how to effectively communicate with your customers and tell them your business is open still remains.

Preparing for your business to open

Before you open your business, you need to follow CDC protocol and make sure it is safe to open your business: Make sure your business is clean, practice social distancing, advise employees and customers to wear masks, provide the hand sanitizer, etc. After all, your customers need to feel safe to visit your business.

Train employees

Even if business is open, it’s still unknown as to how long this pandemic will last. As a business owner, you should train your employees on the CDC protocol and encourage everyone to follow the protocols. The typical protocols are:

Asking employees and customers to wear masks

Social distancing 6 feet apart with a sign indicating this

Limiting the number of people allowed in the store at one time

Requiring employees and customers to use hand sanitizers and/or wear gloves

Limiting physical contact such as avoiding cash

Taking temperatures for employees and customers using an infrared temperature sensor

Communicate effectively:

There are multiple ways to get customers back.

Have a sign indicating your business is open on your door front. The sign saying you are open should be prominent and catch people’s attention. This may attract foot traffic if you are in a shopping plaza.

Update your web site.

You need to update your website and display your new business hours. You should display the safety protocol clearly in your website.

Have a live chat widget, such as SMS chat widget. This way, you can get a customer’ mobile number, and can notify them that your business is open.

Update your Google My Business and Facebook listing.

If you have an online presence, make sure to update the information and say that you are open for business.

Send emails to customers

You can send emails to your customers and welcome them back. Email has a low open rate issue.

Send texts to customers

This is the most effective way to get your customers back to your store. Research shows that SMS open rates are as high as 98%, comparing that to just 20% of all emails. To add to this, it takes on average around 90 seconds for someone to respond to a text and 90 minutes to respond to an email.

You can use a keyword feature so that anyone that texts your business office number the keyword can get a discount or offer. An example of a keyword could be “open”.

Use contactless technology

You can have contactless payment such as text to pay.

Automated appointment system. The appointment system can track and limit how many customers are in the store. Some systems can automatically send a SMS auto reminder.

Have a video chat. Use video chat to conduct business in order to eliminate physical presence.

Customer services

When your staff answers questions, they can let their customers know that business is open.

If your customers see your effort to keep your business safe, they will come back more often. If you provide a good service, you can ask them to write a review in social media, which in turn can drive more businesses.

[ WikiPro ]

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“6 WAYS TO CONNECT WITH CUSTOMERS AFTER COVID-19”

REBUILD PRE-PANDEMIC CONNECTIONS WITH CUSTOMERS WITH THESE TIPS.

There are reasons to be optimistic that the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be over, and businesses will be able to open to full capacity. After more than a year of creative operations to keep workers and customers safe — e.g., online ordering, curbside pickup, and video conferencing with clients — it may take some time to adjust and reconnect.

Engaging with new audiences and loyal customers who stuck with you through the hard times will be key to bouncing back after COVID-19. That’s why we developed this helpful guide for ways to connect with customers:

Listen and learn

Continue to focus on digital

Offer virtual options

Be transparent

Reward loyalty

Engage in new and exciting ways

Read on for more on ways to connect with customers.

LISTEN AND LEARN

Frequent, honest customer communication is vital to understanding where they’re at and showing you care. Budgets and priorities may have shifted, and you need to be proactive about gauging how your business can meet customers’ new needs.

Schedule phone calls with your best customers, send out email surveys, and engage one-on-one with fans and followers on social media. Look for emerging trends or patterns and be prepared to make shifts in your own business model, too.

CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON DIGITAL

Chances are, you’ve already spent the past year evaluating and growing your website, e-commerce platform, and social media accounts.

Customers have gotten used to being able to browse specific products and services, watch video stories, and learn about your hours or safety protocols with just a few clicks. Now is not the time to abandon the progress you’ve made in the digital space. Even after in-person services resume, these consumer expectations will remain.

Your staffing needs may also need modification to accommodate the growth of digital commerce and customer match. Consider hiring or strengthening your social media team to share engaging stories, training support staff to answer questions through your website or online chat, and creating a nimble team of web designers and developers who can build and improve innovative engagement options such as e-commerce, live streaming, and more.

OFFER VIRTUAL OPTIONS

The use of video chats for service calls or self-service kits has also expanded. While not all services can go virtual, consider emerging technologies so you can offer remote or online services in addition to the more standard face-to-face methods. Giving customers flexible options will increase the likelihood of a long-lasting relationship.

BE TRANSPARENT

Once you’re ready to fully re-open, communicate clearly and consistently across all platforms. Use email lists, website pop-ups, blog posts, and social media to announce new hours, new products, or safety protocols that remain in place. If your company has a physical location, update your Google My Business listing. You might also make personal phone calls to top clients or throw a celebratory “back to business” party once it is deemed safe.

REWARD LOYALTY

Find a way to say “thank you” to the customers and clients who stuck with you during challenging times. Identify your top clients or returning shoppers and offer value-adds, discounts, or perks. Ask customers to generate buzz about your business online in exchange for pre-order opportunities or contest entries.

ENGAGE IN NEW AND EXCITING WAYS

Stand apart from the competition by hosting a combination of virtual events and small in-person gatherings. Schedule live steams, offer free lessons or classes, or host virtual meetups for customers with common interests.

Don’t be afraid to get creative (while still staying on brand). Ask customers to try out your products and record a video review that you can share across platforms. You might host an interactive giveaway or contest, interviews with industry influencers, or a series of musical performances.

[ EZ Office Products ]

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“10 Simple Strategies To Draw Customers Back To Your Brick-And-Mortar Store”

During the pandemic, consumers who couldn’t safely shop in brick-and-mortar stores turned to online shopping instead. Whether it be for mundane tasks like grocery shopping or picking up prescriptions, or more leisurely activities like clothes shopping, these errands could be done efficiently from the comfort of home.

But as brick-and-mortar businesses open back up and pandemic restrictions ease or disappear altogether, these businesses are once again looking to draw in more customers. To help, Young Entrepreneur Council members weighed in on what might help increase foot traffic to these stores and continue to keep shoppers invested in the “in-person” experience.

1. Offer Discounts

Brick-and-mortar stores should have special discounts in place for people who visit the store as opposed to shopping online, which would provide an incentive for buyers to come and visit the store in person. Since people get to touch and feel the products in hand, it’s also more likely that they buy multiple products, increasing the average order value of every customer. – Michelle Aran, Velvet Caviar

2. Improve Customer Service

Despite the fact that I am not a retail salesperson, from my point of view, in order to bring customers back to the retail market from the internet space, it is necessary to improve customer service. It all starts with the smallest details, from clean sales areas and a welcoming smile to the staff and the professional service. The goal for each employee should be to satisfy the client. Their motto should be the following: service, service and, again, service. – Aidar Vafin, ARFEN Inc.

3. Create Clear Hygiene Protocol

People want to feel safe post-pandemic, so I would continue to make hygiene a priority and advertise that fact. One way to do this is to make sure the store is ultra-clean. If you had a cleaning policy during the pandemic, I would suggest keeping it a little longer. Additionally, I would advertise to your customers that you, in fact, do have a rigorous cleaning policy. Display the policy where your customers can easily see it and include it in some of your advertising. You can also boost consumer confidence by offering cleaning products, sanitizers and masks at the front of the store. To stay on top of this, you can assign several employees to monitor and restock the supplies as needed. Just a few steps can help consumers feel safe to return, even after vaccines are distributed. – Shu Saito, Godai Soaps

4. Promote Services That Can’t Be Offered Online

Offer services that cannot be offered online or, if you can, offer advice from an expert so they don’t just go online and buy something with no advice. Adding on services that are only able to be done in person can be extremely beneficial for most companies. Make it into a hybrid model so people can shop both in-store and online if possible. Make it easy to shop in person as well. Since people are used to service not being so good right now, maybe go the extra mile to make your customers happy. – Daniel Robbins, IBH Media

5. Offer Incentives For In-Store Pickup

To bring in more retail foot traffic to brick-and-mortar stores, one method store owners can implement is creating online incentives for picking up an online order in-store. While some customers may choose to only pick up their online orders and leave, others may stay to browse some more or see something that piques their interest and that prompts an impulse buy. Incentives can be something as simple as guaranteed no waiting in line, a percentage discount off the total order or an in-store-only discount for a high-demand product or service. – Richard Fong, SeniorStrong.org

6. Extend Your Store Hours

While people still like to have the tactile experience of browsing a brick-and-mortar store, they won’t want to compromise on safety. So, a clever idea for businesses is to extend their opening and closing hours. That way, people can choose to come in at a time they believe will have fewer shoppers. Businesses may need to hire more people and make sure that they’re complying with local laws, but promoting their extended or new timings is a surefire way to interest people who want to shop but not bump into too many other people. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

7. Team Up With Other Businesses

Make the customers feel special! Advertise locally and support other local businesses. Try to team up with other local companies by giving out discount cards or other little incentives that they can hand out to their customers that are only good for in-store purchases. – Amanda M. Sheehan, Oakland Family Dental

8. Focus On Existing Customers

To bring more customers into your brick-and-mortar store from your website, market to your existing local customers. They’re already interested in your brand and its products and services, so it’s easier to convince those who live in the area to stop by. You can even encourage them with in-store-only discounts and promotions that are exclusive and guaranteed to get their attention. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

9. Host A Pop-Up Shop

In-person shopping isn’t dead! For those looking to do something different to attract customers, I suggest experimenting with a pop-up shop approach. The limited duration of the shop being open creates a sense of interest and urgency that drives shoppers to show up or run the risk of missing out entirely. Couple this with time-limited sales and promotions and added value events, such as happy hours, food trucks or even hands-on experiences within the space. Each year we operate a month-long pop-up retail experience that results in huge returns for our organization. The key to success is to remember that in order to differentiate yourself from the competition, it’s no longer enough to be middle of the road—you have to be truly innovative and memorable to grab and hold attention. – Ashley Sharp, Dwell with Dignity

10. Create A Compelling Experience

We are experiencing quite strong pickup in brick and mortar as people are looking to get back out there again. I think the key is having a compelling experience that makes coming into a physical store worthwhile. This includes engaging decor and design, a compelling staff, a wide assortment of merchandise and bringing it all together to create unique exposure for your brand.

[ YEC COUNCIL – Ashley, Merrill, and Lunya ]

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“25 E-Commerce Experts Share Their Best Tips for Driving Repeat Sales Online”

Whether you’ve been running an online store for 6 months or 6+ years, it’s a never-ending battle to win conversions. With average cart abandonment rates hovering around 68% – a mix of new and returning customers – you want to do everything you can to both acquire new customers and get them spend more money and convert when they return.

Here are some great tips from some of the sharpest minds in the marketing and ecommerce industries to help you drive more repeat business in your online store. [more…]

[ Neil Patel ]

Article: https://neilpatel.com/blog/driving-repeat-sales-online/

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“8 Tips for Generating Return Customers to Your eCommerce Business”

1. Improve Website Experience for Your Customers

Just imagine if they walked into a brick-and-mortar store and found it difficult to find products. Or the checkout took too long. Or the employees were offhand and unhelpful. Customers will give a wide berth to such a store. This also happens in the virtual world. When a potential customer visits your website, they need to enjoy a hassle-free experience.

If you’re just starting your eCommerce business and are looking at how to build an eCommerce website, get the navigation right. The site should have user-friendly navigation. Along with a simple and straightforward checkout process. Above all, make sure that your site downloads quickly, especially since eCommerce sites are graphic heavy. Improving the site speed can do wonders for your sales. For example, it can reduce your cart abandonment. Use a content delivery network, get faster web hosting for your online store, and opt for smart routing of traffic as ways to improve the website experience of the visitors.

Bad Website Experience Statistics

Picture 1. Bad website experience statistics

2. Improve Customer Service

There will be times when customers will want more information about a product. Or they may need help to complete the purchase. Under such circumstances, it is always a robust and professional customer service team that comes to the rescue.

Make sure you have a full-fledged customer service team available through live chat, email or phone to assist customers when the need arises. This personalized service and willingness to assist customers will work wonders. It will also improve the interaction that they have with your eCommerce store. Your customers will, as a result, be more likely to return for their next purchase.

3. Use Marketing Automation Tools

You need the right tools at your disposal if you are seeing to generate return customers. One tool that all online marketers, including eCommerce businesses, need is a smart CRM. Automating a host of your marketing processes will save you a lot of time and effort. Moreover, it will boost your return on investment.

Automating your marketing means you can upsell products to existing customers. You can also use the tool to identify the best leads and prospects. Once you do this, you can reach out to them at the right time and ensure they have a memorable experience with your eCommerce store. It will improve the likelihood of them returning to make more purchases.

Read Small Business Marketing Automation Platforms.

4. Allow Customers to Track Their Orders and Shipments

Letting customers track their orders and shipments is a wonderful way to ensure engagement even after they leave your online store. Your site can easily become their favorite site if they can track the status of their order and later on the location. It gives them peace of mind knowing that their order was received and finally that the package is on the way.

A research conducted by Forrester found that nearly 78% of business-to-business customers state that being able to track the order status is essential for overall customer satisfaction. So, you shouldn’t think twice about including this tracking system.

5. Encourage Customer Engagement on Social Media

Most people have social media profiles and check their accounts on a daily basis. If you know which social media platform your target audience favors, you can establish a presence on that platform to connect with them.

Use email marketing to offer old customers discounts to follow you on social media. Or, you can provide a discount to everyone who follows you on your preferred platform. Other ways to improve customer engagement are:

Holding regular contests that offer contestants free prizes

Listing special offers only for your followers

6. Incentivize Your Emails to Past Customers

Have a system in place to track the purchases of your customers. And look for customers, who were previously purchasing regularly but stopped suddenly for no reason. Make an effort to reconnect with them through your email marketing efforts.

You would have to entice and lure such customers back to your site. The best way to do so is by offering them a discount coupon. Alternatively, you can persuade all previous customers who have not come back for another purchase with discount coupons. Or you can send the coupons on their birthday as a surprise gift. Offer discounts on products based on their previous purchase. Give them a reason to revisit your eCommerce store and reconnect with you.

Discount Statistics

Picture 2. Discount statistics

7. Make Retargeting a Part of Your Online Marketing Strategy

Retargeting refers to a marketing strategy where you can display your business’ ads online just to individuals who have visited your website before. The premise behind this marketing tactic is simple. Just because a person leaves your website after making a single purchase or abandoning the cart, it is not an indication that the person is no longer interested in your products or services. It is quite likely that the person got distracted or was not ready to complete the purchase as yet.

Retargeting allows you to target visitors who left without making a purchase as well as past customers. The ads showcase your store and this can encourage them to revisit and complete the purchase. One study has found that by using retargeting, it is possible to enjoy a 70% conversion rate. This click-through rate is too high to ignore. Especially if you want to generate return customers.

8. Reward Your Customers with a Loyalty Program

To ensure repeated return customers, it is necessary to entice them to your site. There they can find the products they are seeking, but also get handsomely rewarded for making the purchase. You can do this with the help of a loyalty program. This program is a way to demonstrate to your customers that you value their patronage. And that you want to give back something to them as a way of thanking them.

Establish a point system, where customers get a specific number of points for each purchase. Once they reach a particular level, they can encash their points for a significant discount or a free product. Such a program will encourage customers to keep returning to make a purchase at your site rather than your competition’s website. Just make sure that the loyalty program is financially viable for your business and your customer. Set a realistic point system after crunching numbers. It should benefit both your customers and your business.

Perks of eCommerce loyalty programs

Picture 3. Perks of eCommerce loyalty programs

Read eCommerce Loyalty Programs: How to Foster Customer Advocacy?

Make the Most of These Opportunities

It takes a lot of effort and time to generate new customers. That is something you may already be aware of. You should always endeavor to attract new customers, but don’t forget past and existing customers. Using these simple and result-oriented tips, you can transform a one-time customer into a repeat customer. After all, return customers are the lifeline of an eCommerce business and you should not ignore them.

What is your take on these tips? Do you think they will add to your ongoing marketing tactics and help you generate return customers?

[ Paldesk ]

Article has videos: https://www.paldesk.com/8-tips-for-generating-return-customers-to-ecommerce-business/

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“8 Ways to Increase Customer Lifetime Value”

While some of our ideas can be spun to drive new acquisitions, all the examples included in the white paper are meant to retain or drive longer lifetime value from customers; or in some cases, accomplish both.

In this white paper, we’ll break down eight strategies to help improve CLV, including:

– Stop Leaving Critical Journey Touchpoints to Chance

– Ensure the Renewal

– Reduce Churn During Critical Periods With Science & Strategy

– Win Back Dormant or Ex-Customers With Honest & Transparent Offers

– Increase Lifetime Value Through Cross-Selling & Upselling

– Infuse Surprise & Delight

– Amplify Experiences & Engagement When Customers Increase Spend

– Deliver Exceptional Customer Experience by Empowering Employees

We’ve helped focus the strategies by pointing out at what stage of the customer journey they’ll work the best. If you’re focused on CX (no matter your title), this white paper features proven strategies to improve CLV.

[ ITA Group ]

Whitepaper: https://www.itagroup.com/insights/8-ways-increase-customer-lifetime-value

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“6 Principles of the Convenience Revolution”

Amazing Customer Service

Whenever I hear the word “amazing,” I immediately think of my friend Shep Hyken. He probably has the work trademarked. Shep sets the bar high for customer experiences and challenges leaders everywhere to raise their game. It’s not enough to be good. You need to be AMAZING.

His newest book is amazing. It’s called The Convenience Revolution: How to Deliver a Customer Service Experience that Disrupts the Competition and Creates Fierce Loyalty. It’s all about how to wow your customers by becoming more convenient. How do you make it easier to do business with you? Shep takes it one step farther, saying it’s not only for companies but also for individuals.

“People do business with people, not organizations—and they do more business, more often with AMAZING people.” -Shep Hyken

Shep Hyken is a customer service and customer experience expert and the Chief Amazement Officer of Shepard Presentations. He’s also a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and he has been inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame for lifetime achievement in the speaking profession.

“Amazement is all about showing up at the top of your game.” -Shep Hyken

In this video interview, we talk about the six principles of the convenience revolution. Shep shares examples ranging from 7-11, Amazon, Uber, Panera, Salesforce, Walmart, to small businesses like Shep’s personalized car dealership and a dentist that delivers wow experiences. Learn how these six principles can revolutionize your organization:Convenience Revolution

– Reducing friction

– Self service

– Technology

– Subscription

– Delivery

– Access

“What happens on the inside is felt on the outside by the customer.” -Shep Hyken

“Think of the relationship before you start reciting the rule book.” -Shep Hyken

“If you think you don’t need to hear constructive criticism, you’re the person who needs it the most.” -Shep Hyken

“Every time a customer shares feedback with you, consider it an opportunity to create a disruptive market advantage over your competition.” -Shep Hyken

“Friction kills the customer experience-and those who do the best job of reducing or removing it are most likely to win in the marketplace.” -Shep Hyken

[ Skip Pritchard ]

Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4prW2FcwiA

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“Review of The Convenience Revolution”

In this One Win Book Review, we take a look at The Convenience Revolution by Shep Hyken.

Check out the video above to hear Adam’s the one win that you can take away from The Convenience Revolution to improve your organization’s customer experience and customer service.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

How can you disrupt your competition – and maybe even an entire industry? Be convenient!

Whether you’re trying to out-service a competitor or disrupt an entire industry, creating less friction and being more convenient for your customers should be your strategy. When you raise the convenience bar, you create the next level of amazing customer experience. And, when you do, your customers will reward you with their money, their loyalty and their referrals. That’s the advantage of joining The Convenience Revolution.

This book shows you how to leverage convenience as a powerful way to differentiate yourself from your competition. You’ll learn six compelling strategies to fuel your plan to create convenience for your customers. Each of these strategies are supported by numerous examples and case studies from many different businesses and industries that include huge Fortune 50 companies to small local businesses. There is even a chapter on how individuals can be more convenient.

[ Customers That Stick ]

Book Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4zF0Hu4pMQ

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“The Convenience Revolution: An Interview with Shep Hyken, Customer Service and Experience Expert”

Shep Hyken is the “CAO” (Chief Amazement Officer) of Shepard Presentations, and is a leading expert on the topic of excellent customer service and experience. As well as a nationally known keynote speaker, he is also author of several books on the topic, including The Convenience Revolution (Sound Wisdom, 2018). We recently reached out to Hyken to discuss customer service and experience in the wine industry.

Listen to the full interview here or read along below:

Audio Player

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Milton Cornwell: Today I’m here with my dear friend, Shep Hyken, who is arguably one of the foremost experts on delivering amazing customer service, managing the customer experience, and creating brand loyalty. As a keynote speaker, his client engagements take him all over the country (and internationally for that matter!) for companies like AT&T, Disney, Lexus, SAP, American Express, and coincidentally, our local favorite In-N-Out Burger. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and inducted into the National Speakers Hall of Fame. So, with this backdrop, Shep, please tell us how you first got started in your profession.

Shep Hayken: So, I have been in this business since 1983. That’s a long time! Prior to that, I had a number of jobs in the retail world and I also was a birthday party magician. Believe it or not, that first job as a magician was really important.

After I did my first party at age 12, I came home and my mom said, “What are you going to do after dinner?” I thought the right answer was homework, but the right answer was actually “Write a thank-you note to the people that just paid you for that first birthday party.”

And my dad said, “Great idea. And then next week call the parents, thank them again, and then ask them, ‘How did you like the show? What did you like about the show? What were your favorite tricks?’ And if you do that enough times, you’ll start to hear people talking about the same tricks. Get rid of the tricks they don’t talk about and replace them with tricks they will.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was customer service and experience. Show appreciation, get feedback, act on the feedback, and make improvements.

And that’s how it all started. Today I’m very fortunate: I’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of companies, some of the largest brands in the world, and even some people in the wine industry. And I’ve been so lucky to be able to work with them and help them build a stronger relationship with their customers.

Milton: What really impresses me, Shep, is the amount you write. One of your books I’ve been reading is The Convenience Revolution, because it has a lot of different things that apply to wineries. And maybe let’s use that as a framework for our discussion today. Can you walk us through it a bit?

Shep: Actually, I’d like to go a little bit further back and talk about the conceptof convenience. Convenience is not a modern thing; it started many, many years ago, back in the days of Justinian the Great and the Byzantine Empire. Towns were spread very far apart, and chariots were the only way to go anyplace, and it took a long time. Justinian recognized the need for places where one could buy life’s necessities along those roads. And so the Byzantines created these stores at major intersections—the first convenience stores!

That basic idea carries through to today’s convenience stores, like your typical 7-11: People will pay more for a more convenient experience. They drive by, they go in, there’s less selection, prices are a little bit higher, but they love the convenience of a convenience store.

So Milton, I’m going to ask you, what would be the easiest company in the world that you probably do business with today on a regular basis?

Milton: Amazon!

Shep: Amazon. Easy. Ding, ding, ding. That is the correct answer. So Amazon is a great example of all six convenience principles in action. As a matter of fact, they’re so comfortable with the experience that they give you, that they’ll tell you, right on their website, you can buy this item at a lower price and give you a link to the actual provider. But guess what happens? People are enamored with the experience they have from Amazon.

Last year we did a survey of over a thousand consumers and we asked some basic questions: “Would you be willing to pay more for good customer service?” And the answer was a resounding, “Yes,” by almost 60%; 12 or 13% said, “No, we wouldn’t.”

But then we asked another question, “Would you be willing to pay more for convenience?” And more than 90% of the people said, “Yes.” So, convenience is trumping even basic customer service. When I wrote my book, I thought, customer service is really what people come back for. But if you can add convenience to it, you’ve got an unbeatable combination.

Milton: OK, so let’s assume we’re on board with the idea of convenience. Walk us through the six principles you describe in your book.

Shep: The six principles are reducing friction, self-service, using technology, a subscription model,delivery, and access.

The wine industry has gone from straight retail to delivery and subscription models for members of wine clubs. People in your industry are actually practicing many of these convenience principles. But are they really consciously exploring all of them?

That subscription model, that’s a great start. It’s convenient, like clockwork; it shows up on my doorstep. Customers love that consistency. (By the way, so do companies, because it’s recurring revenue and it doesn’t stop until the customer says no. And if you do your job, the customer should never say no. It should be value all the way.)

Milton: This is the challenge for us. What most wineries seem to be doing right now is focusing on providing customer experiences through their tasting room. Everyone is trying to change their tasting room model to get customers to stay for two to three hours; many are literally building them into entertainment venues.

Shep: That reminds me of a quote from a friend of mine, Jeff Skaletsky. He said: “What usually happens is the one that gets the order is usually the last place the customer is.” He’d tell you that, if you want the customer notto go to another store, say to them, “Hey, I’ve got a special gift for you.” Give them a gallon of ice cream on the way out. They then have to go home and put it in the freezer. They’re done for the day.

Milton: So let’s go back to those six pillars you discussed. The first was reducing friction. Talk to me a little bit about that. What does that mean?

Shep: There is an element of reducing friction in all six of the principles I mention in the book. Think, for example, about what Amazon’s done.

Amazon’s website makes it potentially open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. What else do they do? They make it so easy. Open up your computer, you go to amazon.com. You look for something in the search bar, you find it. If you’re set up, you don’t have to put in your address, but it gets better than that because Amazon said, “Wow, we’ve got to create an even better experience.” They created something called the dash button and the dash button is like a doorbell-looking button that’s tied to a product that you buy.

So let’s say that one of our wineries has a specific wine and they send you a little doorbell-like button and you connect it to your wifi in your home, and every time you say, “Oh my gosh, I’m down to three bottles, I need to order more.” You just push the doorbell and it automatically places an order for you. Now that’s pretty convenient. Isn’t it?

Milton: That’s brilliant.

Shep: So Amazon did this and they tied it to consumables, like dishwashing detergent or things you ate and drank. But guess what they said? “Not convenient enough.” What could be more convenient than just pushing a button? Why should you have to push a button when we sell you an Amazon Echo? Just say, “I want to buy more wine,” and it places your order for you.

Milton: That brings to mind then the entire delivery experience. For example, once they purchase, how long does it take? That’s something that is a little bit more problematic in the wine industry, because we’re dealing with alcohol and adult signatures. It makes me wonder if your second principle, self-service, applies…

Shep: It does! People like self-service. Suppose you needed to make a dentist appointment. Which experience would you prefer: Would you rather call the office, be put on hold, wait for them to pull up your record, and so on? It’s no big deal, takes just seven or eight minutes—but imagine now that you go online, find an opening, and put your name in and it takes 60 seconds. Most of us would prefer that second option! We can take that mentality and start to drive a better self-service experience for our customers.

For example, you teach them where they can go on a website and order exactly what they want, and where their account is. Depending upon how easy you want to make it, it could be a straight-up shopping cart experience just like going to Amazon or any other online retailer.

Or if they’re going to join a club, maybe you can onboard them with some personalization and have an employee walk the new member through the process of, “Hey, let’s go on the website together. We’ll share a screen on the computer. Let me show you what to do when you want to order more, when you want to try a sample,” and whatever. There’s lots of ways you can incorporate that self-service option.

Milton: That dovetails nicely into your point about technology. Which do we choose, and how do we use it?

Shep: Yes, technology drives a lot of that self-service experience that we’re talking about. Technology drives accessibility. Being open 24/7 is inherent to the web. An app is technology, too. If a customer loves your wine, they could download your app, especially if you provide value in that technology.

For example, you can get the Shep Hyken app. Every week when I post a video or I write an article, it automatically brings it in so that anybody that wants to follow me, they have my app in their pocket. Anybody that wants to check out what the latest and greatest wines are, or maybe an article that would give some value. If I know on a regular basis you’re going to provide me value, I’m going to keep that technology nearby.

Milton: Well, I know we have a lot of players in the wine space that use apps to share experiences with brands. But to my knowledge, I don’t know of any one single winery that has its own app! So that’s a great nugget right there. But what about actual wine club subscriptions?

Shep: That’s the utopia in business, right? People don’t need to be on location to pick up a case of wine; every month, every quarter, every season, they get their shipment, like clockwork. The recurring revenue that you get is great, and if you create enough value with it, people will not unsubscribe. And this will go on for potentially years and years and years.

Milton: So when we here at Copper Peak talk about that, though, a lot of what we deal with on the shipping end is, what does that customer see when they open up that box? [NB we’ve also written about this topic many times on your blog; you can access those articles here. —MC]

Shep: That’s part of the experience, isn’t it? I just bought another iPad and just opening up the box is a cool experience. We should make sure that we give the customer or the member the same quality experience that they would have coming to a vineyard or enjoying that nice, wonderful bottle of wine. It’s just not, “Let’s put them in a box with some styrofoam around.” Let’s make it look good. Feel good.

Milton: So how does one do that? How do we bring that tasting room experience and make it resonate through the boxes that they receive? I mean, we don’t use styrofoam because of the environmental issues, but we use laydown pulp and, to be honest, it’s just not aesthetically appealing when individuals open this box. So I imagine that the collateral, the story that you can add into it are just as critically important.

Shep: So this is important. I could see you opening the box and there’ll be a note, “We love ugly boxes. Why? Styrofoam, which is what most people would use, is detrimental to the environment. So we’ve chosen instead to do this.” Now people understand it, they accept it. But here’s the cool part. There are certain people that say, “They think like I do. I love them even more now that I know that that’s the kind of company they are.”

Milton: That’s really insightful. I have to ask: What about speed? One of our challenges with delivery is “chasing Amazon.” Everybody wants immediate gratification. But in the wine industry, the vast majority of wineries still ship everything from California locations. Copper Peak and a few others do have multiple locations allowing wineries to be able to store product closer to the customer. And wouldn’t you agree that, in this Amazon world, the quicker we can get a shipment into the hands of the customer, the better? Because it creates a better customer experience?

Shep: Yeah, it’s the “Amazonation” of the world. They have set the bar for what delivery looks like. So it’s hard to get around that, because it’s often difficult and expensive to send a case of wine or multiple cases that weigh a lot. But here’s what we must do. We must educate the customer on what to expect. Once the customer knows, they’ll accept that it’s going to take five days, because you’ve explained why. And you’re going to take them through every step of the way.

Milton: Talk to me about building brand loyalty. This is something that everyone is trying to promote for their individual brands… How do you really create brand loyalty?

Shep: Sure. So loyalty is emotional. When you create brand loyalty, don’t confuse people coming back, repeat purchasers, because you’re just convenient. To create true loyalty, there has to be a connection.

What I want you to think about is: What are the companies that you enjoy doing business with most? What do you love about them? What do you truly say, “This is why I love doing business with them.” Then ask yourself, “Can I do that in my business, too? And if I can, what would that look like?” So now we’re using other companies as a benchmark to determine how to create that loyalty.

But let’s talk about the difference between loyal customers. There’s satisfied customers, and there’s loyal customers, not to be confused.

People that say they’re satisfied are not always loyal. As a matter of fact, there was a study done at Vanderbilt University where they found that up to 40% of satisfied customers don’t come back, even though they were satisfied. They’re not loyal.

In a business like a restaurant, that number can go as high as 80%. “How was your stay?” “It was okay.” Okay is satisfactory, okay is not, “Wow. It was great. Can’t wait to come back. Your people are so friendly. They’re so nice. The food was wonderful. The rooms were really beautiful.” So you’re using positive adjectives to describe it.

Horst Schulze, the first president and co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain, once said, “For us to become the world-class brand that we want to be, we need to be 10% better than average all the time.” You must always be a little bit above average. You want people to say, “I love doing business with them. They’re always so friendly when I call. They’re always so knowledgeable when I have a question. They always get back to me quickly when I need them. Even when there’s a problem, I know I can always count on them.” That’s how you know you’re starting to create some type of connection that’s going to drive loyalty.

Milton: Well, Shep, you have given us some great anecdotes and perspectives from great leaders from other industries. And that’s exactly what we’re attempting to do with the Expert Series at Copper Peak: Bring forward experts from other industries to help our wine industry be able to benchmark with them. We really appreciate you giving us your time and your wisdom and insights. Is there anything you’d like to leave our wine industry folks with as we wrap up here?

Shep: Sure. The one thing I want you to think of more than anything is to recognize interaction points—touch points, if you will. Any time a customer comes into contact with any aspect of the business, they’re going to form an impression. Recognize every one of those touch points, manage them well, and that is the start to creating a great customer experience.

Milton: Couldn’t have said it any better, Shep. Appreciate your time, as always.

Milton’s Wrap-Up

My interview with Shep Hyken was a lively one, and worth listening to the entire audio here .

We covered many topics, but they centered around the six pillars from his book: Reducing friction, self-service, technology, subscription services, delivery, and access. These were then wrapped into the idea of building brand loyalty by really creating an emotional attachment that individuals can have with our brands.

Looking at the customer service aspect of it, whether that be in person or even online, it really goes back to making sure that leadership has the vision, they share that vision, they train all of their employees on that vision. As Shep’s examples show, it requires practicing this style of customer service, repeating it over and over until it becomes second nature.

[ Milton Cornwell ]

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“The Convenience Revolution – Shep Hyken full interview”

Hear from Shep Hyken, award-winning customer service expert and Chief Amazement Officer, about how creating the easiest, most seamless user experience turns your customers into repeat customers and disrupts the competition.

[ Mind Your Business ]

Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCbXlpvWAw

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“Measuring the Grapevine- Consumer Response and Word-of-Mouth”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

An in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior is a necessary foundation for any successful marketing program. One important aspect of consumer behavior is word-of- mouth communications: consumers telling other consumers about their experiences with a company or product. Surprisingly, little in the way of empirical research is available that quantifies the extent of such consumer word-of-mouth communications.

In an effort to address this gap in the marketing literature, The Coca-Cola Company contracted with Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc. (TARP) to conduct a study of word-of-mouth communications. This study was designed to measure the extent of word-of-mouth that resulted from the Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company responding to consumer complaints and inquiries. Secondarily, the study explored the marketing benefits resulting from complaint/inquiry handling.

(Relative to the volume of soft drinks sold, The Coca-Cola Company received very few consumer complaints. More than 85 percent of those complaints received by the Corporate Consumer Affairs Department are resolved to the consumers satisfaction. Consumers who had submitted complaints were targeted for study because it was felt that the word-of-mouth resulting from such complaints would have special significance for marketing.)

A mail survey methodology was used to collect data from separate samples of com- plaining and inquiring consumers whose communications had been processed by the Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company during a seven-month period in 1980. 1,104 complainants and 613 inquirers were mailed two-page questionnaires, each covering similar topics.1 The response rate for the complainant survey was 60.0 percent and 62.0 percent for the survey of inquirers.

1Less than 3 percent of the communications received by the Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company during 1980 were complaint-related. The disproportionate size of the complaint sample was necessary to fulfill the study’s research objectives.

TARP found that the extent of word-of-mouth communications varied substantially on the basis of consumers’ satisfaction with their interaction with The Coca-Cola Com- pany. Specific findings included:

Complainants

– Consumers who felt their complaints had not been satisfactorily resolved told a median of 9-10 people about their negative experience.

– Consumers who were completely satisfied with the response from the Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company told a median of 4-5 people about their positive experience.

– More than 12 percent of the complainants told more than 20 people about the response they received from The Coca-Cola Company.

Inquirers

– Consumers who felt their inquiries had not been satisfactorily answered by the Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company told a median of 4-5 people about their negative experience.

– Consumers who felt their questions were completely answered told a median of 3-4 people about their positive experience.

– More than 9 percent of the inquirers told more than 20 people about the response they received from The Coca-Cola Company.

For both complaints and inquiries, then, there was a substantial multiplier effect between the number of consumers who initially contacted The Coca-Cola Company and the number of people who ultimately heard about the results of these interactions.

TARP found that brand loyalty can be reinforced by satisfactorily responding to consumer complaints/inquiries. Conversely, brand loyalty can be severely eroded when consumers are not satisfied with responses to their complaints/inquiries. Findings in this area include:

Complainants

– Nearly 10 percent of those consumers who were completely satisfied with the response from the Consumer Affairs Department now buy more products of The Coca-Cola Company.

– More than 30 percent of the consumers who felt their complaints had not been satisfactorily resolved said they no longer buy the products of The Coca-Cola Company; nearly 45 percent of these dissatisfied complainants claim they now buy products of The Coca-Cola Company less often.

Inquirers

– 17.0 percent of the consumers whose questions were completely answered by the Consumer Affairs Department now buy more products of The Coca- Cola Company.

– 12.5 percent of the consumers whose questions had not been answered to their satisfaction no longer buy the products of The Coca-Cola Company; another 12.5 percent of these dissatisfied inquirers claim they now buy the products of The Coca-Cola Company less often.

The Coca-Cola Companys study conducted by TARP is of great significance to both the fields of marketing and consumer affairs. It is one of the few studies that quantifies the phenomenon of word-of-mouth communications. While the study only measures the extent of word-of-mouth in the consumers complaining or inquiring interaction with business, it does provide a point of reference upon which to base further research. More significantly, it demonstrates the importance of an aggressive consumer response system that is responsive to consumer needs. Forward looking management can turn the corporate consumer response system into a high performance profit center. This study also illustrates the marketing-related pitfalls of being unresponsive to consumer complaints/inquiries.

[ Conducted for the Corporate Consumer Affairs Department of The Coca-Cola Company by Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc. ]

Download Report: https://customerworld.typepad.com/swami_weblog/files/coke_wom.pdf

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“The Kano Model”

The Kano model is a method for evaluating product features and was developed by Noriaki Kano, a professor at the University of Tokyo. The Kano model categorizes the features or properties of a product into two dimensions: customer satisfaction on the y-axis and expectations on the x-axis (Fig. 1). [more…]

[ Lean BD ]

Article: https://www.lean-bd.de/das-kano-modell/

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“3 Minute Product Manager: Kano Model”

Using the Kano model to analyze customer needs and guide product requirements

[ Kevolve Product Management ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuOrEIBVQX4

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“How To Use The Kano Model For Greater Customer-Centricity”

The Kano Model is a Six Sigma tool that prioritizes the features of a product or service based on how customers view them. Product development teams can weigh the advantages of putting money and time into a certain attribute based on how well it will satisfy customers in three areas: basic needs, performance and excitement.

It is a valuable tool for keeping a business focused on prioritizing what customers need. Managers can use the Kano Model to group proposed elements of a new product or service into categories and determine whether customers would find them useful, satisfying or even exciting. [more…]

Article: https://www.sixsigmadaily.com/kano-model-drive-greater-customer-centricity/

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“KANO Model: Detailed illustration With Practical Examples”

In this video, you will understand the KANO Model with the help of Practical Examples. This KANO model relates to customer satisfaction with product characteristics. The Product characteristics are features or capabilities of the products.

[ LEARN & APPLY : Lean and Six Sigma ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_LkqbyZxpg

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“The Kano Model Explained”

The Kano Model (pronounced “kah-no”) is a unique approach to prioritizing new product features.

In this video, we look at the theory behind the Kano model and show an example of how to actually use it to prioritize your features.

The model works by asking your customers how they would feel about a feature it was present within your product, and also how they would feel if the feature was absent.

From this, it is possible to categorize your proposed features into the following categories: must-have features, performance features, delight (sometimes called delighter) features, indifferent features, reverse features, and questionable features.

[ EPM ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcnw5ohg8to

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“The Kano Model – How It Works and How To Use It”

This is a quick explanation of how the Kano Model method works, who created it, and how to use it.

The Kano model is a framework used to prioritize features on a roadmap based on how likely they will satisfy or delight users.

Your team should pull together a list of features to be considered, and plot them on a chart that visualizes satisfaction versus functionality.

This shows how desired or needed a feature can be, or if users are simply indifferent to it.

The Kano model of product development and customer satisfaction was published in Japan in 1984 by Noriaki Kano, Tokyo University of Science’s professor of quality management.

[ Airfocus ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3Zw6LPggQQ

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“The Complete Guide to the Kano Model”

A step-by-step, in-depth guide to using the Kano Model to prioritize your backlog for customer satisfaction and delight.

[ Daniel Zacarias ]

Article: https://www.career.pm/briefings/kano-model

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“A Product Manager’s Guide to the Kano Model”

Kano Model Overview

The Kano Model is a theory developed in the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano to categorize customer satisfaction of product benefits into different categories. The key concepts include:

Customers will categorize the features / benefits of a product into 3 buckets:

Must Haves. These are the features / benefits the product must have in order to remain a viable contender for my business. For example, a personal must have when it comes to cars is a 5-star IIHS safety rating given we have young kids.

Performance. These are features where customer satisfaction scales linearly with the amount of feature sophistication. For example, a personal performance benefit when it comes to cars is fuel efficiency. I’ll be 10% more satisfied if a car provides 10% more miles per gallon than my current car.

Delighters. These are features where customer satisfaction scales exponentially with feature sophistication. For example, remote start is a personal delighter for me with cars because I can get the air conditioning going in the Texas heat and get the kids into the car seats while the AC is running, so they don’t get sweaty and cranky.

Over time, delighters become performance factors and performance factors become must haves. As customer expectations change, there are diminishing returns on performance factors (at some point, they become “good enough” and therefore a binary yes/no factor). For example, with cars, I know at some point I’ll think of mileage as a must have and expect something on the order of 32 mpg with my next car (also influenced by the regulations around fuel efficiency). I also know that the remote start will become a performance factor for our next car (honestly, probably a must have – I can’t imagine life without it now!).

[ Rajesh Nerlikar ]

Article: https://www.prodify.group/blog/a-product-managers-guide-to-the-kano-model

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“THE KANO MODEL FOR PRIORITIZATION”

The Kano model is a theory of customer satisfaction and product development created in the 80’s by Professor Noriaki Kano. It classifies customer preferences into four categories: Performance, Attractive, Must-Be, and Indifferent. It provides techniques to help understand customers’ perspectives on product features by assessing two measures for each feature: the satisfaction and sentiment, and the responses to the two measures will fall into one of the four categories.

SATISFACTION AND SENTIMENT – THE TWO MEASURES

Kano proposes two dimensions to represent how customers feel about our products:

– one that goes from total satisfaction (also called Delight and Excitement) to total dissatisfaction (or Frustration);

– and another called Investment, Sophistication or Implementation, which represents how much of a given feature the customer gets, how well we’ve implemented it, or how much we’ve invested in its development.

THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF FEATURES

Performance

Some product features behave as what we might intuitively think that Satisfaction works: the more we provide, the more satisfied our customers become.

Must-be

Other product features are simply expected by customers. If the product doesn’t have them, it will be considered to be incomplete or just plain bad. This type of features is usually called Must-be or Basic Expectations.

Attractive

There are unexpected features which, when presented, cause a positive reaction. These are usually called Attractive, Exciters or Delighters.

Indifferent

Naturally, there are also features towards which we feel indifferent. Those which their presence (or absence) doesn’t make a real difference in our reaction towards the product.

THE KANO QUESTIONNAIRE

In order to uncover our customer’s perceptions towards the product’s attributes, we need to use the Kano questionnaire. It consists of a pair of questions for each feature we want to evaluate:

One asks our customers how they feel if they have the feature;

The other asks how they feel if they did not have the feature.

The first and second questions are respectively called the functional and dysfunctional forms. To each “how do you feel if you had / did not have this feature”, the possible answers are:

HOW TO USE IT

Craft a questionnaire with each feature listed separately. For each feature, ideally you demonstrate the what the feature can do through a prototype or interactive wireframe, when possible. Don’t spend much time prototyping for this: it’s just a prototype to get the idea across. Some people can get really tied up in the details even in prototypes, because they may like the idea, but not how it was implemented.

The questionnaire consists of a pair of questions for each feature we want to evaluate:

One asks our customers how they feel if they have the feature;

The other asks how they feel if they did not have the feature.

The first and second questions are respectively called the functional and dysfunctional forms. To each “how do you feel if you had / did not have this feature”, the possible answers are:

I like it

I expect it

I am neutral

I can tolerate it

I dislike it

For each answer-pair, we use this table to determine the category where the respondents falls, letting us know how he or she feels about the feature.

From the individual responses and resulting categories you can go into two levels of analysis:

Discrete: each answer-pair is classified using the table above and feature’s category will be the most frequent across all respondents;

Continuous: each functional and dysfunctional answer gets a numerical score, which can then be averaged over all respondents and plotted on a 2D graph.As a general rule of thumb, features should be prioritized such that this order is followed: Must-Be > Performance > Attractive > Indifferent.

CONCLUSION: WHAT DELIGHTS TODAY…

Here is the Kano analysis in summary:

The Kano analysis helps to identify unspoken needs before prioritization.

It is intended to help prioritize customer needs.

It should be linked to a company’s multi-generational project plan.

Generation 1 has to cover the “must be’s.”

The company must realize that customers’ expectations and/or needs vary over time.

There is an extensive, in-depth guide to the Kano model that explains the entire process and gives you a step-by-step guide on how to use it. But if you are looking for a customer-centric and needs-based approach to prioritization, give the Kano Model a try.

[ AgilityIQ ]

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“Kano Analysis”

Explore, measure and prioritize customer needs. Identify areas for the most important remedial action.

Introduction to Kano

The Kano Model is an analysis tool to explore and measure customer needs. It’s a way to identify the basic needs of customers, as well as performance and excitement requirements. This model is based on the view that functionality is not the only measure of how ‘good’ a product is, rather customer emotions should also be taken into account.

The idea is that, as important as the basic functions of products or services are, adding new attractive features will help with customer satisfaction. For instance, when buying a new car, you’d expect the car to go faster when you accelerate. However, if you add a virtual assistant feature, that would add to customer satisfaction and make you stand out from competitors. [more…]

Article: https://sapioresearch.com/kano-analysis

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“Kano Model”

What is the Kano Model?

The Kano Model (pronounced “Kah-no”) is an approach to prioritizing features on a product roadmap based on the degree to which they are likely to satisfy customers. Product teams can weigh a high-satisfaction feature against its costs to implement to determine whether or not adding it to the roadmap is a strategically sound decision.

The Kano Model is one of many prioritization frameworks designed to help product teams prioritize initiatives. For example, Kano can help teams determine which features will satisfy and even delight customers. Product managers often use the Kano Model to prioritize potential new features by grouping them into categories. These feature categories can range from those that could disappoint customers to those likely to satisfy or even delight customers.[more…]

[ ProductPlan ]

Article: https://www.productplan.com/glossary/kano-model/

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“Shackleton’s Return”

A hundred years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition, Patrick Bergel, the great-grandson of Shackleton, along with Hyundai, takes on Shackleton’s unfinished dream.

[ Hyundai UK ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNsSsM9aUhc

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“Shackleton’s Return” (Making of the film)

This film is dedicated to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer, who led what is considered last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration as well as the most glorious failure.

[ Hyundai Ireland ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSgXdQONcxQ

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“Ernest Shackleton and Endurance”

Shackleton’s desperate 800-mile journey with five others from desolate Elephant Island to South Georgia Island aboard a tiny 22-foot whaleboat is hands-down one of the most noteworthy small-boat passages in maritime history.

[ Soundings Magazine ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5vVl37epoI

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“Shackleton’s final expedition: Reuniting Quest’s collection 100 years later”

A century ago, the era of ‘heroic’ Antarctic endeavours came to an end as the Quest expedition made its way home.

While it is sometimes overlooked, the mission’s centenary has inspired a drive to reunite its scientific artefacts, and tell the stories of this last voyage of discovery.

One hundred years ago today, the explorer Ernest Shackleton died onboard his ship the Quest, while it was docked at the remote Antarctic island of South Georgia.

Shackleton’s death cut short this final voyage of discovery, known as the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition. On the ship’s return, the vast natural history specimens collected during this expedition were dispersed across the Museum’s collections, while additional documents disappeared into other archives.

Now there are hopes that these specimens can be reunited and the story of Quest’s discovery told.

Mary Spencer Jones, Senior Curator of bryozoans at the Museum, says, ‘We have a reasonable amount of Quest material in the collections, but it’s all spread out.

‘Specimens from expeditions such as this tend to go into different collections at different times, which separates them. This is because they would have been sent to different scientific authorities at the time, and after they had been worked on they were then returned to the Museum.

‘As a result the specimens have come in and out of the collections at different periods making them harder to track, and no one ever seems to have seriously written them up. One hundred years later, now is the right time to start putting together a full list of what came out of the expedition.’ [more…]

[ James Ashworth ]

Article: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2022/january/shackletons-final-expedition-reuniting-quests-collection-100-years-later.html

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“Retracing Shackleton’s Epic Journey of Survival”

This film tells the story of the expedition led by Tim Jarvis to authentically recreate the perilous journey of survival that Sir Ernest Shackleton had to take in 1916 when his polar expedition was thwarted after his boat was trapped in the ice. Tim Jarvis and his team of 5 saled the 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a replica of Shackleton’s keel-less whaling boat and then climbed for three days over the dangerous mountains using the same inadequate equipment that Shackleton and his men had to use.

For more information, visit http://www.arup.com/Homepage_Shacklet… or http://www.shackletonepic.com/

The film footage and photographs contained within this film were provided by The Shackleton Epic team and remain the copyright of the respective copyright holders. The interviews with Tim Jarvis were produced and edited by Ben Richardson and filmed by Adam Thorpe, Chris Wanklyn and Kelsey Eichhorn.

[ Tim Jarvis ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXU1ck7Eez0

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“The Endurance: A Legendary Story Of Survival | Shackleton’s Captain”

Captain Frank Worsley signs on as Captain of the Endurance to navigate Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew to Antarctica. Learn how when the expedition ship is crushed; Worsley’s seamanship and navigational skills saves them all.

[ Timeline ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBsHnS5S4U

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“Why Must Jesus Return to Earth?”

[ John MacArthur ]

Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WCurS8nZFI

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“He May Come Back Today”

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” [ Titus 2:13 ].

I have loved the story of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton since I first heard about him many years ago. Once, while he was on an expedition to the South Pole, he and his men were helplessly stranded when their ship was crushed by the enclosing ice. He decided he must go for help, so he left a few men on Elephant Island with the promise that he would return to rescue them. After securing a boat large enough to hold his men, he made his way back to the island, only to be rebuffed over and over by the huge icebergs in his path. Suddenly, as if by a miracle, a lane opened in the ice and he was able to get through. His men, haggard but ready, quickly climbed aboard. The ship cleared the ice just before it crashed together behind them once again. Once they knew they were safe, the crew began to contemplate their escape. Shackleton spoke to his men. “It was fortunate that you were all packed and ready to go.” Their reply was one of utmost confidence in their leader: “We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ‘He may come today.’”

What a great statement that we, as Christians, should be reminding ourselves of every day. He may come back today! Do you really believe that? The way you are living your life proves whether you really believe it or not.

Ask any Christian, and they will more than likely say they believe that Christ could come back today. But here’s what happens. We may not say it out loud, but this becomes our mindset: “I want Christ to come back, but I want to see what it is like to graduate high school and go to college. Then He can come back.” That turns into “I want Christ to come back, but I want to see what it is like to graduate college and get married. Once I experience that, then He can come.” Marriage happens, and that becomes “I want Christ to come back, but I want to become a parent and see what a wonderful experience it is to have kids.” And on and on it goes. There is nothing wrong with any of those things, but they end up taking the place of Christ in our desire for them to come. According to 2 Timothy 4:8, there is a crown waiting for those who are looking for the coming of Christ. Are you really looking for His coming, or are you allowing other things to take His place?

Steve Boots ]

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“The Two Comings of Jesus Christ”

Our great friend, Don Perkins of According to Prophecy, taught a fantastic message on the Two Comings of Jesus Christ. Are the Rapture and the Second Coming the same? What does the Bible say about the Rapture? Who will go in the Rapture? This message is one that you will want to share with your family and friends!

[ Don Perkins ]

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwxzxg–pzk

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“Return To Jesus | 2 Chronicles 30-31:1”

The people of Judah and Israel have walked away from the Lord and are living in a sinful state. However, when King Hezekiah comes into power in 2 Chronicles 30-31:1 he leads them into repentance and back to God showing us we can never be too far gone to return to Him and accept His forgiveness.

[ Brett Meador ]

Sermon: https://vimeo.com/250361435

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“What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord (Psalm 37:4)?”

What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord (Psalm 37:4)? How can I find delight in the Lord? Why will God give us the desires of our heart if we delight in Him?

[ Got Questions ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIiZmZljUmU

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“How Do I Delight Myself in the Lord?”

Audio Transcript

Tandy in Alabama writes in to ask, “In your book Desiring God you quote Psalm 37:4 many times. Most of these references are to support the idea that joy is a command. What does ‘delight yourself in the Lord’ mean, practically?”

1. Delight in God as the most admirable.

It means, first, seeing him as the most admirable person and reality in the universe. Ironically Ayn Rand who was an Atheist and wrote Atlas Shrugged said something I think stunningly true. She said, “Admiration is the rarest of pleasures.” Now in her mouth I think that was pure cynicism, meaning she has already rejected God, the source of all admiration and all admirability and she can’t see many people that she admires — and so she is a cynic. But how right she is that admiration is one of our greatest pleasures. We love to admire sports figures and music figures and acting figures and admire beauty and admire sunsets and sunrises and mountains and rivers. We are admiring creatures to the core and I think we are wired to be satisfied by admiring the most admirable and the most admirable is God. Therefore, “delight yourself in the Lord” means delight yourself in seeing his infinite admirableness.

“Delighting in God means savoring the diverse excellencies of God, especially as they are manifest in Christ.”

For me, Jonathan Edwards has been a huge help here. He has observed that the beauty of Christ — the excellencies of Christ that satisfy the human longing for ultimate excellence and ultimate beauty and in them ultimate satisfaction — is seen most clearly when you observe the diverse excellencies or the surprising juxtaposition of seeming opposites in Christ.

So I jotted down a little section from his sermon, “The Excellencies of Christ,” to give a flavor of what I see when I am delighting in Jesus:

The person of Christ brings together infinite highness and infinite condescension, infinite justice and infinite grace, infinite glory and lowest humility, infinite majesty and transcendent meekness, deepest reverence towards God and equality with God, infinite worthiness of good and greatest patience under suffering evil, exceeding spirit of obedience with supreme dominion over heaven and earth, absolute sovereignty and perfect resignation, self-sufficiency and entire trust and reliance upon God.

And Edwards is right. When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, the devil keeps us “from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,” he means the devil is in the business of killing our enjoyment of the beauty of Christ in the gospel and the gospel is the place where the cross brings those diverse excellencies together most clearly. So that is number one: delighting in God practically means seeing and savoring the diverse excellencies of God, especially as they are manifest in Christ, especially as he brings them to fulfillment at the cross.

2. Delight in God as your intimate Savior and friend.

But here is the second thing I would say and I think I only have two more. Know this God as your intimate, caring Savior and friend. And here is why I say that. I have often said in many contexts, “No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase his self-esteem.” We go to the Grand Canyon why? People do. They go to the Grand Canyon. And if they can’t go there, they buy a big, glossy book and put it on their coffee table. Why? Because standing at the Grand Canyon and watching this vast cavernous, open space that goes down a mile into the ground with a tiny little river down there at the bottom which is a massive river — it does something to our souls, because God made us to know him as the great Grand Canyon.

“Delight in his love, his care, his protection, and his desire to have that kind of intimate personal relationship with you.”

What happened when I told that story, a woman said to me one time that was so illuminating to me. She said, “Well, yes, but it is hard to enjoy the Grand Canyon if you feel you might fall over the edge and be killed by the Grand Canyon.”

And I thought, that is right. She is absolutely right. If we don’t have in addition to seeing and savoring the Grand Canyon, a sweet sense that the canyon is not going to kill us, I will shift my metaphor off of the canyon onto Jesus. If God and Jesus are not for us, if they are not in love with us, if they are not our friend, if they are not our Savior, if they are not kind to us and caring for us and protecting us, we won’t have the capacity to see the Grand Canyon as beautiful. We will just be terrified. We will be locked up inside our fears and we won’t be able to know him and enjoy him.

And so from the time I was a sophomore in college, Galatians 2:20 has served me like that: “I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” And then I pause. I take a deep breath: “Who loved me, who loved me.” It is one of the few places where Paul uses the singular, personal pronoun for how Jesus relates to him and not just us. He “loved me and gave himself for me.” That is what Paul said. So I just transfer that over onto me.

And just recently, in my devotions, maybe nine days ago, I read Revelation 2:17, where Jesus says, “I will give him.” I am reading “John Piper” into that. He says, “John, I will give you a white stone some day with a new name written on it ‘that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”

“All through the day, every good thing that gives us pleasure should be an instance of delighting in God.”

Why does he say that? He says it because he wants to assure me. You are not a number in the system. You are not a cog in the great wheel of providence. I have you in mind, I have a name for you, and I want you and me to have the kind of relationship that there are things about it nobody else knows. That is simply breathtaking! My second thing is to say that delighting in God means delighting in his love for me and delighting in the fact that he cares for me and will protect me and means to have that kind of intimate personal relationship with me.

3. Delight in God through his gifts.

And I suppose I shouldn’t stop without saying we delight in God through what he has made. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). And we did a podcast about food and sex and said they are really God’s gifts and we are supposed to receive them with thanksgiving and turn them into an occasion of worship. And so all through the day, every good thing that gives us pleasure should be an instance of delighting in God.

Let me say those three again: seeing and savoring him as infinitely admirable, embracing him as your dearest friend, Savior, caring protector, provider, and thirdly, receiving with thanks and worship everything he gives you.

[ John Piper ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCuSmQ1okR8

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“What Is It Like to Enjoy God?”

“If you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

These are the words of Eliphaz in Job 22:24–26, spoken to his friend Job. Job had lost all ten of his children in one night. All of his livestock was dead or stolen. His wife had turned against God. And he was covered with boils. His friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, had sat with him for seven days in silence (Job 2:13). But now they were speaking. “If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

When Job’s trial was over we read this: “The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: ‘My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has’” (Job 42:7). And yet, what could be more right, or more beautiful, than to say to someone, “If you lay gold in the dust, the Almighty will be your gold, and you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God”?

Words Not Fitly Spoken

I regard that sentence as true and beautiful and right. Because you can find that truth all over the Scriptures. Compared to God and his infinite value and preciousness, all the gold in the world is like dust. That is true. And therefore, in him, you can have more delight, more enjoyment, more pleasure than you can find in all the gold at Fort Knox or in all that it can buy.

And yet when Eliphaz spoke these words to Job God was angry. Why? Because he used them as an indictment against Job. In the preceding verse Eliphaz said, “If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents . . .” (Job 22:23). Eliphaz and his friends could not conceive that Job was a man of justice and that he loved God more than he loved gold, because if he had been a man of justice and a man who loved God supremely, he would not be suffering this much.

And in that, they were dead wrong. And God was angry with them, because they took truth and turned it into a cruel indictment against a good man because they did not think that such suffering and such goodness could be in the same person. And they were wrong. And God was angry.

Beware of Half-Truths

The reason I am beginning here with these words of Eliphaz is that I want to talk about the truth that he spoke, and I want you to be aware that it is possible for me to speak about this truth in a way that would make God angry. I want to heighten your vigilance as you listen. I want you to realize that every time you hear someone speak, the true things they speak may be mingled with false things. True things may be spoken along with half-truths. True things may be spoken from a proud, unloving heart. True things may be spoken in cruel ways. True things may be spoken that are out of balance with other truths. It is possible for a Christian preacher to be like Eliphaz.

“If God is your gold, he will be your gladness. If God is your treasure, he will be your pleasure.”

I have alerted myself, and I am alerting you: it is possible to speak truth about the preciousness of God and about delighting in God in ways that make God angry. I am putting your minds on high alert, lest you remove every biblical filter from your brain and become like a mere sponge to everything you hear.

When you lift your hands in passionate praise at this gathering, you are not being asked to turn off your brains. You are being summoned to think clearly about the truth of the lyrics you sing, and you are being summoned to feel deeply about the beauties of Jesus Christ. And that is true of this message as well. I want you to think carefully and feel deeply.

So even though Eliphaz made God angry by the way he used his true words in Job 22:24–26, those are the very words I want to talk about, in the hopes, not of angering God, but of glorifying him and making you glad. “If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.” I want to pose two questions with you, and try to answer them from the Scriptures.

What is it like to delight in God?

Is this delight your highest duty?

Or to ask them another way:

What is the actual experience of enjoying God, finding pleasure in God, being satisfied in God?

And, is that enjoyment — that pleasure, that satisfaction — your ultimate, God-given obligation?

Love the Gifts or the Giver?

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

If God is your gold, he will be your gladness. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If God is your treasure, he will be your pleasure.

We are not talking here about the enjoyment of God’s gifts, but of God himself. This was the great issue between God and Satan in the book of Job. Did Job love God only for his gifts, or did Job love God because of the value of God himself? Listen to Satan’s argument against Job in Job 1:9–11:

Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

In other words, “Job only fears you and loves you because you have given him so many good things.” He was wrong about Job. When all his children were dead, and all his livestock was gone, here is what Job did:

Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:20–21)

Better Than Health and Wealth

But Satan would not give up his argument. “No, God, Job only loves you because you have given him health.”

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 2:4–5)

He was wrong again. But you see what is going on in this book. Is God Job’s gold? Is God himself, not his gifts, Job’s supreme treasure? Does Job say with the psalmist in Psalm 63:3, “Your steadfast love is better than life”? Better than life, and all that this life has to give? Does Job say with the prophet Habakkuk:

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17–18)

When there is no food! “Yet will I rejoice in God!” Not food! God! Job’s responses to all this were not perfect. But he never cursed God. He had to be rebuked for some of his words. But there is no doubt what Satan aimed to destroy and what God aimed to exalt. Namely, that God is to be treasured and enjoyed above all his gifts, in prosperity and poverty, in health and disease, in life and death.

What Is It Like to Delight in God?

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

So my first question is: What is it like to delight in God? What is the experience of enjoying God, finding pleasure in God, being satisfied in God?

Enjoy the Person

The first and most fundamental thing to say is that the enjoyment of God is the enjoyment of a Person. Not just the enjoyment of a thing, or an idea, or a pattern of actions.

God is a Person. I wonder if you have ever pondered that for all eternity past there has always been some reality. Because nothingness cannot do or create anything. By definition, it is not a doer or a creator. It is not. Period. That is the meaning of nothingness. From all eternity, there has been some reality, which is enough, in itself, to take our breath away. Something is absolutely there with no beginning!

And have you ever considered that there was no time before this reality, no set of circumstances, no conditions, no influences that could make this reality any more likely one thing than another thing? From the standpoint of prior probability, so to speak, the likelihood that ultimate reality would be a Person is just as great as the likelihood that it would be a gas, or energy, or anything else.

Therefore, when the Bible reveals ultimate reality to be a Person, it’s not affirming anything impossible or even improbable. God is a Person. Eternal, ultimate reality is a Person. And therefore eternal, ultimate joy is the joy of a Person — God’s joy. And the ultimate joy of his creatures is joy in a Person — joy in God.

But you don’t have to reason it out. We have a more sure word. Over and over again in God’s word, our great job is joy in the ultimate Person:

Rejoice in the Lord always. (Philippians 4:4)

Delight yourself in the Lord. (Psalm 37:4)

Be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 32:11)

In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. (Psalm 16:5)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:1–2)

I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. (Psalm 143:6)

We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)

Enjoy the Savior

This is why Jesus died! In our selves, we are sinners and have no hope of everlasting joy in God. We can’t even get near him without being incinerated by his holiness. But God is utterly committed to being enjoyed forever by a redeemed people.

Therefore, the apostle Peter says (1 Peter 3:18), “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” To God. To God! The Person. Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they know you [Father], the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). What makes eternal life desirable is not just that it lasts forever, but that it is knowing and enjoying an infinitely satisfying Person, and who is also a Person who died so that they could be known and enjoyed.

Enjoy His Gifts

I said a moment ago that the enjoyment of God is the enjoyment of a Person, not the enjoyment of a thing, or an idea, or a pattern of actions. And yet that is how we come to know the Person: his actions, his ideas revealed in his word — things that he has made as pointers and foretastes of himself.

“The heart is not the organ of performance. It is the organ of preference.”

Consider these Person-revealing actions. “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). We know the love of the Person by the action of the Person. We know the power of the Person by the action of his creation of the universe (Romans 1:18–20). We know the wisdom of the Person by his purposeful providence in history (Romans 11:33–36). We know the justice and righteousness of the Person by the punishment of sin in the death of Jesus (Romans 3:24–26). We know the faithfulness of the Person by the keeping of his promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). We know the compassion and patience of the Person because we know Jesus Christ who said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

EXPERIENCES POINT US TO GOD

And the same is true with things and human experiences. They are given to show us God. We know something of the sweetness of his friendship because we have tasted honey. We know something of his sustaining richness because we have eaten bread. We know something of the refreshment of his fellowship because we have drunk water when we are thirsty. We know something of the personal depths and exquisite intensity of person-to-person pleasure because we have felt sexual desire. We know something of the warmth of his affection because we remember being held securely by our mother. And we know something of his worth because we have coveted gold. Even our sins witness to his worth.

Whatever action is good in this life, whatever idea is good and true, whatever thing we see or hear or smell or taste or touch of all God’s creation — all of it is designed by God as a sign and taste of what it is like to enjoy God himself. Crucifixion, creation, providence, covenant, honey, bread, water, sex, mothers, gold — these are not God. They are his good gifts. And if our enjoyment terminates on them, we are idolaters and not worshipers, no matter how much we thank God for them. Thanking God for something you love more than God doesn’t make you into a worshiper. We are created to know and enjoy a Person, not just his gifts.

PEOPLE POINT US TO GOD

One of the best pointers and tastes of the experience of enjoying God as a Person is the enjoyment of the human persons we know, not just their gifts. So, when you have some quiet moments, think of the kindest person you know, the most loving person, the wisest person, the most patient person, the most intelligent person, the strongest person, the most tenderhearted person, the happiest person, the most peaceful person, the most optimistic person, the meekest person, the most courageous person, the most articulate person, the person with the best sense of humor, and the most generous person. Think about what it is like to enjoy these persons when their personalities are at their best.

Then combine all the good traits of all those persons in one person. And then increase those traits to perfection in quality, and to infinite beauty in how they are proportioned and exercised. And then let all the enjoyment of all those persons for all those personal excellencies, raised to that perfection and that beauty, give you some hint of what it will be like to enjoy God fully. And then pray that the Holy Spirit would grant this miracle to happen.

That is my answer to question one: What is it like to delight in God — to enjoy God?

Is Delight Our Highest Duty?

And now my second question is: Is this delight your highest duty? Is this enjoyment your ultimate, God-given obligation?

My answer is yes. And I will give you three reasons from God’s word. And as I give you these three reasons, my prayer is that you will experience them not as a heavy load, but as a light burden and an easy yoke (Matthew 11:28–30). What could be more liberating, more thrilling, more amazing than that the God who made the universe would come to you, a hopeless sinner, and point you to the death of his Son where sins are paid for, and then say to you, “Your first and greatest obligation is that you enjoy supremely what is supremely enjoyable? Namely, me and my Son in the power of my Spirit.”

Love God with All Your Heart

Here’s my first reason that your supreme happiness in God is your highest obligation — and that your delight in God is your greatest duty. When Jesus was asked, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:35–38).

The great and first commandment is that we love God. And the essence of loving God is that we delight in God, that we enjoy God, that we find God to be our all-satisfying treasure — our gold.

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

Loving God is not first working for God. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He did not say loving me is keeping my commandments. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Love is first. Commandment-keeping follows. Doing is fruit. Loving is root.

This is probably why Jesus put the heart first in this highest duty: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.” The heart is not the organ of performance. It’s the organ of preference. It’s not the organ of doing for God. It’s the organ of delighting in God. Therefore, the great and first commandment is: Delight yourself in the Lord! Enjoy this Person above all persons. Treasure him above all treasures. Lay your gold in the dust. Treasure the Almighty as your gold. Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.

Love Others Because You Love God

Now for the second reason that the enjoyment of God is your highest obligation — and that your delight in God is your greatest duty: Genuine, Christ-exalting love for people is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others. In other words, if there is no blood-bought joy in God, there can be no Christ-exalting love for people. The first commandment precedes the second commandment. And Jesus says they are both essential!

Here is one of the most amazing descriptions of love in the Bible. It’s 2 Corinthians 8:1–2. Paul is describing the love that the Macedonian Christians showed for the poor believers in Jerusalem when he was taking up an offering for them.

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

“Enjoying God is the root of all Christ-exalting love and all God-exalting worship. It is our first and greatest duty. ”

Joy overflowed in generosity to other people. And this joy was not in prosperity because it says they were in extreme poverty. And this joy was not in comforts because it says they were in severe affliction. This was a miraculous, blood-bought, Spirit-wrought joy in the God of the gospel that overflowed in the midst of affliction and poverty for the good of others. That is Christ-exalting love. Love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others.

Therefore, joy in God is our first obligation. Delighting in God is our highest duty. Because loving God and loving people ae the two great commandments, and joy in God is the essence of one and the spring of the other.

Do It All to the Glory of God

Finally, the third reason you should make the duty of delight in God your highest priority is that God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him. The glory of God, the greatness of God, the beauty of this all-satisfying Person is the most important reality in the universe. God has made it plain that we exist to magnify that beauty. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

And my final argument that your chief duty is to be satisfied in God is that, without this, you cannot glorify God from your heart. If we had time, I would take you to Philippians 1:20 and show that the way Paul magnified the glory of Christ is by being satisfied in him in life and death. But instead, I’ll try to make this point clear with an illustration that I think virtually all of you will understand.

Delight Is Your Duty

Two weeks ago, Noël and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary. Which means we are in our 50th year of marriage. Now let’s suppose that I buy fifty long-stem, red roses. That’s almost $200. And I make a plan for the evening, and I want to surprise her with the roses at the door when I come home from work. Ordinarily, I would just walk in. But I ring the doorbell. And she opens the door and looks puzzled — until I present the roses from behind my back, and say, “Happy anniversary, Noël.”

And she says, “Johnny, they’re beautiful. Why did you go to such an expense?” And suppose I say, “It’s my duty. I read it in a good marriage manual.” How would she feel? I’ve done my duty. What’s wrong with doing your duty?

I’ll show you what’s wrong. Let’s rewind this scene and do it over. I ring the doorbell. And she opens the door and looks puzzled — until I present the roses from behind my back, and say, “Happy anniversary, Noël.”

And she says, “Johnny, they’re beautiful. Why did you go to such an expense?” And this time, I say, “I couldn’t help myself! And I’ve got a plan for this evening. So why don’t you go put on something nice, because we’re going out, and nothing makes me happier than to spend the evening with you.”

Do you think she would say, “Nothing makes you happier! All you think about is what makes you happy!”? No. She wouldn’t. Why? Because finding my happiness in her as a person honors her, and she feels it. Spending an evening with her, because that’s what good husbands are supposed to, dishonors her. But spending an evening with her because she, as a person, is my joy — that honors her. Her worth is magnified because I am satisfied in her.

It’s the same as when Edward Carnell asked his wife, “Must I kiss you good night?” Her answer was, “Yes. But not that kind of must.” The duty is the delight. Or it’s not done.

And so it is with God. Enjoying God as an all-satisfying Person is our greatest “Yes, you must! But not that kind of must.” It is not optional. It is not peripheral. It is not secondary. It is the root of all Christ-exalting love for people, and all Christ-exalting worship of God. It is our first and greatest duty.

“If you lay gold in the dust, then the Almighty will be your gold. For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.” And this delight will be in an infinitely beautiful, all-satisfying Person! And it will be your first and highest duty.

Words Not Fitly Spoken

Beware of Half-Truths

“If God is your gold, he will be your gladness. If God is your treasure, he will be your pleasure.”

What is it like to delight in God?

Is this delight your highest duty?

Or to ask them another way:

What is the actual experience of enjoying God, finding pleasure in God, being satisfied in God?

And, is that enjoyment — that pleasure, that satisfaction — your ultimate, God-given obligation?

Love the Gifts or the Giver?

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

If God is your gold, he will be your gladness. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If God is your treasure, he will be your pleasure.

Better Than Health and Wealth

But Satan would not give up his argument. “No, God, Job only loves you because you have given him health.”

What Is It Like to Delight in God?

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

So my first question is: What is it like to delight in God? What is the experience of enjoying God, finding pleasure in God, being satisfied in God?

Enjoy the Person

The first and most fundamental thing to say is that the enjoyment of God is the enjoyment of a Person. Not just the enjoyment of a thing, or an idea, or a pattern of actions.

But you don’t have to reason it out. We have a more sure word. Over and over again in God’s word, our great job is joy in the ultimate Person:

Rejoice in the Lord always. (Philippians 4:4)

Delight yourself in the Lord. (Psalm 37:4)

Be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 32:11)

In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. (Psalm 16:5)

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:1–2)

I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. (Psalm 143:6)

We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)

Enjoy the Savior

Enjoy His Gifts

“The heart is not the organ of performance. It is the organ of preference.”

EXPERIENCES POINT US TO GOD

PEOPLE POINT US TO GOD

That is my answer to question one: What is it like to delight in God — to enjoy God?

Is Delight Our Highest Duty?

And now my second question is: Is this delight your highest duty? Is this enjoyment your ultimate, God-given obligation?

Love God with All Your Heart

The great and first commandment is that we love God. And the essence of loving God is that we delight in God, that we enjoy God, that we find God to be our all-satisfying treasure — our gold.

“If you lay gold in the dust . . . the Almighty will be your gold. . . . Then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.”

Love Others Because You Love God

“Enjoying God is the root of all Christ-exalting love and all God-exalting worship. It is our first and greatest duty. ”

Do It All to the Glory of God

Delight Is Your Duty

It’s the same as when Edward Carnell asked his wife, “Must I kiss you good night?” Her answer was, “Yes. But not that kind of must.” The duty is the delight. Or it’s not done.

[ John Piper ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkSAMTp5leQ

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“The Full Surrender”

Now That I Am Saved, What Do I Do Next? What Is The Next Step In My New Walk With The Lord?

If there is one theme that you will see repeated over and over again in many of our articles is the extreme importance that each and every Christian turn their entire lives over to God the Father for Him to fully handle.

You have now just made Jesus your Savior. However, there is now one more big thing you must do. You must now make Jesus the Lord over your life. Jesus must now become both your Lord and Savior, not just your Savior.

You must now make the second biggest decision that you will ever make in this life. The first biggest decision is whether or not you will accept Jesus as your personal Savior through His sacrificial death on the cross.

Now that you have done that, you have become truly saved and born again. [more…]

[ Michael Bradley ]

Article: https://www.bible-knowledge.com/the-full-surrender/

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“Backsliding God Will Take You Back”

One of the most frequently asked questions we get coming through our site is whether or not God will take you back if you have really backslid from Him to any appreciable degree in this life.

We have many people who were saved earlier on in their lives, and then over the years grew further and further away from God as a result of chasing after their own fleshly pursuits and/or falling into various types of sins they knew were going against the will and ways of God.

Now many of them are at the end of their ropes. They have no where else to go and no one else to turn to. They know the ways they were following in this life were not the ways of God. They had made some serious mistakes with the way they were running and handling their own personal lives.

They know now that they should have turned the reigns of their lives over to the Lord the minute they got saved and from there, should have followed the leadings of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis so God could have led them into the perfect divine plan that He had already set up for their lives.

Now they look back and see how they have really blown it. Many of these people’s lives are now in total shambles, with many of them now being flat broke, along with all of their marriages ending up in divorce.

Some of them are now in deep pits of despair and depression, feeling that there is no more hope for any of them due to the desperate straits they now found themselves in.

God seems so far and so distant to many of them, that they feel there is no way that He would ever take any of them back again because they have simply pushed the envelope too far with Him with how they have handled and run their lives over the years.

To any of you who are now in this state, I am here to tell you, that no matter how far you have backslid from the Lord, no matter how many bad and evil sins you may have committed against Him, He can still take you back and start all over again – no matter what your age, and no matter how bad your current condition is right now.

Not only is our God a God of big miracles, but He is also a God of second chances. God loves to take His people back when they have backslid from Him, build them up and fully restore them again, and then place them on the path of His perfect will for their lives. It is never too late to start your show all over again with the Lord. [more…]

[ Michael Bradley ]

Article: https://www.bible-knowledge.com/backsliding-god-will-take-you-back/

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“Martha and Mary”

Scripture(s): Luke 10:38-42

Description: IT is not an easy thing to maintain the balance of our spiritual life. No man can be spiritually healthy who does not meditate and commune; no man, on the other hand, is as he should be unless he is active and diligent in holy service. David sweetly sang, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;” there was the contemplative, “he leadeth me beside the still waters;” there was the active and progressive: the difficulty is to maintain the two, and to keep each in its relative proportion to the other. We must not be so active as to neglect communion, nor so contemplative as to become unpractical. In the chapter from which our text is taken, we have several lessons on this subject…

[ Charles Spurgeon ]

Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JfW6x04phc

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“Who was Mary of Bethany in the Bible?”

Mary of Bethany is one of the most beautiful characters in all of Scripture, and we can learn valuable lessons from studying her life. Mary was the sister of Martha, and her brother was Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. We see Mary three different times in the Bible, beginning with the incident in the home of her sister, Martha (Luke 10:38-42), where Jesus, and presumably the disciples who travelled with Him, were being entertained. Martha was so distressed and “distracted with much serving” and frustrated that her sister wasn’t helping that she actually rebuked Jesus, accusing Him of not caring that Mary sat at His feet while she did all the work. Jesus’ response gives us our first insight into Mary of Bethany. Jesus commended her for “choosing the better,” meaning that Mary’s desire to be near her Lord and hang onto His every word was far more beneficial than running herself ragged with preparations for a meal. Jesus further said that choosing the better thing, learning of the Lord, would not be taken away from Mary.

By “choosing the better,” Jesus meant that those whose priority in life is Christ, the knowledge of Him, and nearness to Him have chosen what will last through eternity, such as the “gold, silver and costly stones” referred to in 1 Corinthians 3:11-12. From this incident, we learn that those who are distracted with the mundane and earthly are building upon the foundation which is Christ with “wood, hay and straw,” materials which will not stand the fires that come to us in times of testing, nor will they be remembered in eternity. Martha’s rebuke of Jesus gives us insight into her heart and mind as she tried to make everything perfect and was so distracted that she lost sight of whom she was speaking to. Mary’s silence, which we will see again in another incident, indicates a lack of concern for herself, especially for defending herself. When we focus on Christ, He becomes our greatest passion and our tendency to self-absorption dims and fades.

The second incident in which Mary and Martha appear occurs in John 11 with the raising of their brother, Lazarus, from the dead. When Mary hears that Jesus has come and is calling for her, she immediately leaves the assembly of mourners in her home and rushes to meet Jesus. So great is her love for Him and her desire to please and obey Him that she leaves those who had come to comfort her to place herself in the arms of the greatest Comforter mankind has ever known. Jesus sees her great sorrow and weeps along with her, even though He knows her sadness is going to be short-lived and that her brother will be restored to her momentarily. In the same way, when we sorrow and grieve, our greatest comfort is found in Jesus, whose compassion is boundless. When we place our hand in the nail-scarred hand, we find comfort, peace and security, and we learn the truth of Psalm 30:5b: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

The third and final time we see Mary of Bethany is just days before Christ’s crucifixion (John 12:1–8). A meal had been prepared, Martha was again serving while the resurrected Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus and the disciples. At some point, Mary poured a pint of very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. In spite of criticism from Judas Iscariot about the waste of the costly substance, Mary said nothing. Rather, Mary allowed Jesus to defend her, which He does, saying that she has kept this perfume for His burial and has done a beautiful act of service to Him.

We see two amazing things about Mary here from which we can take our example. First, she seems to know that the time of Jesus’ death on the cross was at hand, a fact that had escaped the disciples in spite of Jesus’ clear declaration of this truth. No doubt Mary contented herself with listening to her Lord and meditating on His words, while the disciples bickered about who would be greatest among them in the kingdom. By doing so, they missed the important truths Jesus was teaching them about His upcoming death and resurrection (Mark 9:30-35). How often do we miss spiritual truths because we are self-focused and overly concerned for our rewards, our status and our reputation among men?

Second, we see in Mary a settled conviction and confidence in her Lord, so much so that she is not compelled to defend herself in the face of criticism. How often do we jump at the chance to justify ourselves in the eyes of others who criticize and mock us, particularly where our faith is concerned? But if we, like Mary, make sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him our priority, we will have her depth of understanding, her passion for Christ, and her complete faith in His plan for our lives. We may not have Jesus sitting in our living rooms in person, but we have His Word, the Bible, and from it we have all the knowledge and understanding we need to live a life of secure and confident faith like Mary of Bethany.

[ Got Questions ]

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“Only One Thing Is Necessary”

God is too easily forgotten in all of the madness of our busy lives. Who has time to pay attention to spiritual things? We can sometimes be too busy, too tired, too entertained, or too overwhelmed to care.

Or maybe in our deepest heart, we do care, but we don’t even know what to do about it. On the one hand, we have all these tasks and duties and responsibilities weighing us down; on the other hand, we have God—the very God who says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Being still sounds nice. But we live in a squeeze of pressing demands. Does God really expect this of us?

One Thing Necessary

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus gives one of the most poignant answers:

Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Many of us have felt like coming to Martha’s defense when we’ve read this. Poor soul. She only wanted to serve. We can’t all be like Mary, can we? But Jesus’s words ring in my ear every time I read this account: “one thing is necessary.” I have to ask myself, Do I actually believe that? Is it reflected in the way that I view my time?

I’m not used to thinking about what’s necessary. When I look at my time management, I usually break it down into three categories: (1) things I must do, such as paying bills or feeding my kids; (2) things I should do, such as exercising or cleaning out the creepy refrigerator; and (3) things I want to do, such as going out to dinner or shopping with my girls.

But Jesus, our Lord, said only one thing is necessary. If this were a suggestion from a friend or an idea from a great book, I might be able to dismiss it as simplistic. But this is Jesus. He’s not simplistic. He’s speaking to a woman’s heart and cutting right through her every defense.

Don’t Scrounge for Crumbs

Imagine that God invited you to a great banquet. You see a magnificent table overflowing with spiritual food. Everything you really need is on that table: comfort, wisdom, peace, love, worth, joy, victory, forgiveness, truth, patience, and the list goes on. God’s heart is that you would sit down at the table with him and eat as much as you need to walk away deeply satisfied (Psalm 107:9) and equipped “with everything good that you may do his will” (Hebrews 13:21).

But so many of us don’t sit and eat. We may dash in for a quick bite, but the little burst of energy fizzles out pretty quickly. We may stand outside the door, waiting for others who have had their fill to come and bring us some leftovers. This is not only lazy; it makes no sense when we are given a personal invitation. Sadly, I picture many of us crawling around under the table picking up crumbs, wondering why we feel so spiritually empty and weak.

Come to the bountiful table. Sit with your generous Lord and feed your starving soul.

Choose the Good Portion

What else did Jesus say about Mary? Not only was she doing the one necessary thing, but she had chosen the good portion. The good portion was necessary, but it also was a choice.

Our bodies won’t survive more than a few days without water. It is necessary for life. But you and I still make the choice every day to drink from a cup that literally sustains our life. The same is true of your spiritual cup: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26).

Jesus was Mary’s portion. Is he yours? Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Is your hunger and thirst satisfied in Christ? Do you love being in his presence? If you are binging on junk food, you will not have an appetite for a fresh, healthy meal. And in the same way, your soul cannot crave the bread of life if, like Martha, you are “distracted with much serving” or “anxious and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:40–41).

Jesus comes to us in love and authority. Don’t discount his authority because of his love for you. It is Christ himself who tells us what is truly necessary. The next time you are tempted to think that there are many earthly things that you must do, remember what he said.

As the world careens on in all its frenetic madness, and many demands insist on our attention, we can become people who choose to be still, sit at the Lord’s feet, and listen to his voice. For it’s in his word that we will receive the good portion we need most.

[ Lisa Chan ]

*****************************

“Whom Are You Really Serving?”

When Martha welcomed Jesus and his contingent into her home in Bethany (Luke 10:38–42) there could have been a hundred or more people. The seventy-two had just rejoined Jesus after their itinerant ministry tours. And considering his fame at this point, no doubt his visit attracted a number of locals.

And when the group had packed inside, Jesus taught them. But Martha wasn’t one of “them” because she was too busy to listen. Luke describes her as “distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40).

Now, removed from the situation it’s tempting to be condescending. Oh for goodness’ sake, Martha! Jesus is in your house and you’re too busy to listen to him?

What About You?

But put yourself in Martha’s place for a moment. How distracted would you be if a hundred people crowded into your home? Add to this your high cultural value of Near-Eastern hospitality with its keen fear of dishonoring guests, especially important ones. Then remember that it’s Jesus in your home. He’s the Messiah, the most important person in your nation’s history, and, in fact, human history.

Would you be distracted by how your place looked or how you would feed this crowd or how many trips must be made to the well (no pre-packaged food or running water to help)?

It seems to me that Martha isn’t the strange person in this story. Mary is. What’s remarkable is that Mary wasn’t distracted. She ignored the insistent to-do lists so she could listen to Jesus.

And this irritated Martha. She was working like crazy while Mary just sat there. Martha considered this either laziness or negligence. Exasperated, she finally appealed to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (Luke 10:40).

How Jesus Called It

Now, Jesus loves to commend diligent servants:

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. (Matthew 24:45–46)

But in this case Jesus didn’t commend Martha. He reproved her:

Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:41–42)

To just about everyone else present, Martha’s serving probably appeared to flow from a gracious servant heart. But Jesus discerned differently. He saw that Martha was serving out of anxiety, not grace.

Subtle and Deceptive

What was making Martha anxious? We know she was anxious about “many things.” But we need only examine our own similar anxieties to guess the likely root. I think Martha was anxious over how she pleased or impressed Jesus and her guests. She was troubled at the thought that her home and serving might reflect poorly on her and her family. And this anxiety blinded her to the “one thing necessary” — listening to Jesus — and made many unnecessary tasks feel compulsively urgent.

This kind of anxiety is very subtle. It has a selfish root but its fruit looks deceptively like unselfishness. It’s the desire for approval dressed up to look like the desire to serve. It’s my caring what you think of me dressed up to look like my caring for you. It can be so subtle that we don’t see it clearly. It looks so much like the right thing that we believe it is the right thing. That’s why Martha was confident that Jesus would agree with her about Mary.

But Mary had chosen the “one thing necessary,” the “good portion.” At that moment, Mary was more enthralled with Jesus than with Mary. She cared more about what Jesus said than what others thought of her or her home. And because of this Jesus commended her choice not to serve.

Stop, Rest, Listen

Jesus’ gentle rebuke of Martha was an act of love — to her and to us. We are all Marthas at times. And through this correction Jesus is asking us: whom are we serving in our serving? No one’s motives are ever completely pure. But when we feel compelled to “serve” out of a self-conscious anxiety over what others think, it’s likely we are serving our own glory and not Jesus’ glory.

And Jesus seeks to free us from this slavery by inviting us to stop working, rest at his feet, and listen to him.

[ Jon Bloom ]

*****************************

“What does it mean to backslide?”

What does the Bible say about Backsliding? How can you tell if you are backsliding? Is a backslidden Christian still saved? In this video, Pastor Nelson with Bible Munch answers the question, “What does it mean to backslide?”.

[ GotQuestions ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mloC5fUGI24

*****************************

“S5E2: WHY HASN’T THE LORD COME YET?”

With all that’s going on in the world today, it seems like the stage is being set for Jesus Christ. The big question is, what in the world is He waiting on?

[ Prophecy Pros ]

Podcast: https://prophecyprospodcast.com/s5e2-why-hasnt-the-lord-come-yet/

*****************************

“The Rapture”

A documentary.

[ Jeff Kinley ]

Video: https://hischannel.com/movies/9039

*****************************

“Earth’s Final Hours”

Jan Markell welcomes authors Jeff Kinley and Todd Hampson. Final day events are now escalating so rapidly, watchmen cannot keep up with them. The stage is being set for the Tribulation outlined in the Bible. Even the vaccine agenda is a part of this drama.

[ Jan Markell interviews Jeff Kinley and Todd Hampson ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM2kbxDl3Hw

*****************************

“Your Destiny – Part 11”

[ I Am A Watchman ]

Teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOus0XmLY8s

*****************************

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SONGS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’ll Be Back”

One day up in heaven, the Savior said goodbye
As he started on His journey
The Holy Angels cried, He turned to face his father & this they heard him say
Mankind owes a debt below, that only I can pay, but

Chorus
I’ll be back, I’ll be back
I’ll be gone for a little while, but one day I’m coming back, I’ll be back

On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus told his men –
You’ll see the son betrayed there; there I’ll be condemned
You’ll see them mock me and curse me, you’ll see me crucified
You’ll see me suffer in agony and there you’ll see me die
Oh, but

I’ll be back
I’ll be back, just a few short days and I’ll be back

But after they laid my sweet Jesus in the tomb, He got up and took a trip down below. Showed the Devil that he had lost the battle for mans soul.
But I believe that as he took the keys he looked the devil right in the eye.
He said the grave could not hold Me, I’m headed back for glory, so Devil just keep this in mind

I’ll be back
I’ll be back
I’ll be gone for a season, oh boy, one day I’m coming back,
I’ll be back

One day on a hillside as Jesus rose up in the clouds, the words he spoke came flooding back, to some young men in the crowd. He said I go to prepare a place, but I’ll be back again.
I’m gonna take my people to a land, where joy shall never end

So, I’ll be back, I’ll be back
I’ll just be gone for a little while, but one day I’m coming back
Oh, I’ll be back. I’ll be back.
Oh I hope your ready to meek me, cause one day I’m coming back
And, I’ll be back
Christians don’t lose faith
‘Cause I’ll be back.

[ Michael Combs – “The Glory Train’s a Comin’” album ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUQCo5cJ_E8

*****************************
“I’ll Be Back”

You know
If you break my heart, I’ll go
But I’ll be back again

‘Cause I
Told you once before goodbye
But I came back again

I love you so
I’m the one who wants you
Yes, I’m the one who wants you
Oh-oh, oh-oh

You
Could find better things to do
Than to break my heart again

This time
I will try to show that I’m
Not trying to pretend

I thought that you would realize
That if I ran away from you
That you would want me too
But I got a big surprise
Oh-oh, oh-oh

You
Could find better things to do
Than to break my heart again

This time
I will try to show that I’m
Not trying to pretend

I wanna go
But I hate to leave you
You know I hate to leave you
Oh-oh, oh-oh

You
If you break my heart, I’ll go
But I’ll be back again

[ The Beatles ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJSTBNTac6k

*****************************
“Even So Come”

All of creation
All of the earth
Make straight a highway
A path for the Lord
Jesus is coming soon

Call back the sinner
Wake up the saint
Let every nation
Shout of Your fame
Jesus is coming soon

Like a bride
Waiting for her groom
We’ll be a church
Ready for You
Every heart longing for our King
We sing
Even so come
Lord Jesus come

There will be justice
All will be new
Your name forever
Faithful and true
Jesus is coming soon

So we wait
We wait for You
God we wait
You’re coming soon

[ Kristian Stanfill – “Passion: Even So Come” album ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBHcvJhc6Pk

*****************************
“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessings”

Come Thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise

Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
(Precious blood)

Oh, that day when freed from sinning
I shall see Thy lovely face
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace

Come my Lord, no longer tarry
Take my ransomed soul away
Send Thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless days

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

Here’s my heart
Oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

[ Chris Rice – “Never Lose Sight” album ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax_NMWLEb6U

*****************************
“Take My Life”

Take my life and let it be consecrated to Thee
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold, not a might would I withhold
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose

Here am I, all of me, take my life, it’s all for Thee

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love, my Lord I pour at Your feet, it’s treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee

Here am I, all of me, take my life, it’s all for Thee
Here am I, all of me, take my life, it’s all for Thee
Here am I, all of me, take my life, it’s all for Thee
(Take my life, Lord, take my life, take all of me)
Here am I, all of me, take my life, it’s all for Thee

[ Written by Frances Havergal; Arranged/Sung by Chris Tomlin ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agROj9nTQP4

*****************************
“The Heart of Worship”

[Verse 1]
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart

[Pre-Chorus]
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

[Verse 2]
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath!

[Pre-Chorus]
I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart, yeah

[Chorus]
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus

[Outro]
All about you

I’ll bring you more than a song
I’ll bring you more than a song
More than a song
I’ll bring you more than a song
I’ll bring you more than a song
(than a song)
You’re looking into my heart, looking into my heart
You’re looking into my heart

I’ll bring You more than a song
I’ll bring You more than a song, yeeeah
I’ll bring You more than a song
I’ll bring You more than a song

[ Matt Redman – “Sing Like Never Before” album ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0a9T0UtJBQ

*****************************
“Returning To The Heart Of Worship”

[Verse]
I come into Your presence O Lord
Because it’s in Your presence where I feel belong
Pouring out my heart to You Lord
Early in the morning I seek Your face
I come into Your presence O Lord
Because it’s in Your presence where I feel belong
Pouring out my heart to You Lord
Early in the morning I seek Your face

[Chorus]
Returning to the heart of worship
As a living sacrifice to You Lord
Set apart for You
As an offering to You
Bringing back my heart of worship to You

[Ayat]
Datang ke hadiratMu Tuhan
Karna di dalamNya ku jadi milikMu
Curahkan hatiku padaMu
Di waktu pagi cari wajahMu

[Paduan Suara]
Kembali ke hati yang menyembah
Sеbagai korban penyembahanku
Telah dipisahkan sеbagai korban bagiMu
Kembali ke hati yang menyembahMu
Kembali ke hati yang menyembah
Sebagai korban penyembahanku
Telah dipisahkan sebagai korban bagiMu
Kembali ke hati yang menyembahMu

[ Gracia Victorious ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF04H8oHaXg

*****************************
“I Delight In You Lord”

I delight in You Lord
I delight in Your presence
There’s nothing as sweet
As to sit at Your feet
Nothing that I’d rather do
Than delight myself
I delight myself in You

[ David Baroni ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8bDHs9WYTM

*****************************
“Delight In The Lord” (Psalm 37:1-26)

Don’t worry because of wicked people’
Nor envious of those who do wrong,
For they will soon fade like the grass,
And wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you’ll
Live in the land, and enjoy peace.
Delight in the Lord, and he will give you
The desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; and trust him,
He will make your vindication shine
Shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

Be still before the Lord, wait patiently;
Do not fret those scheming men.
Abandon anger, and frustration,
They lead to evil deeds.

The wicked shall be cut off, but those who
Wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
Just for a time, then the wicked are gone;
They will just not be there.

The meek shall inherit the land, and delight
In abundant prosperity.

Instrumental

The wicked ones plot against the righteous,
God laughs at them for he sees their end.
They draw the sword on the poor and the needy,
But it shall pierce their hearts.

Better a little has the righteous
Than the abundance of wicked ones.
Arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But God helps the righteous ones.

God knows the days of the blameless,
And their heritage, well, it will never end.
They’ll not be shamed in the evil times,
In famine or abundance.

The wicked will perish, vanish like smoke.
The wicked borrow, and do not pay back.
The righteous inherit the land, but those cursed
By him shall be cut off.

Steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights
In our way; we may stumble, not fall
We will not fall, for the Lord still holds us;
He holds us by the hand.

I have been young, now I’m old, yet I’ve not
Not seen the righteous forsaken, nor
Their children beg. They give liberally and
Become a blessing.

[ Jason Silver – “Love The Psalms, Volume 3” album ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGCZsZMgrXE

*****************************
“Delight Yourself in the Lord”
(Psalm 37:4-6)

[ Seeds Family Worship ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izM1qjpJdGw

*****************************
“The Lord Is My Delight”

1 The Lord is my delight!
To serve my Sov’reign King;
My life poured out to do His will,
A joyful offering!

2. As I arise this day,
May I count all things loss,
To the know the joy of life in Christ
By taking up my cross.

3. I long to be like Christ,
His will my meat and drink,
Delighting in obedience
In all I do and think.

4. This day the Lord has giv’n
Belongs to Him, not me,
To be lived out in faith and love,
And not spent selfishly.

5. Each person that I meet,
Each circumstance I face,
Is an occasion to make known
The riches of His grace.

6. My joy is in the Lord,
To serve Him all my days;
My life poured out for all to see,
A sacrifice of praise.

[ Ken Puls and Robert Jackson ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1ENCWK0PSQ

*****************************
“I Delight In The Lord”

[ Maranatha Music ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YaJKp1pB0

*****************************
“All My Delight”

Your blood has my future written
Your heart loves with no condition
I’m invited into freedom, forgiven
Whiter than the snow

[Chorus]
There’s a living fount I know
Where grace and mercy overflow
Love has come to set me free
I’ve got this joy inside of me
All my delight, all my delight is found in You
All my delight, all my delight is found in You

[Verse 2]
Your joy is a force that can’t be broken
Your hope is a gift that won’t be stolen
Oh, it’s contagious, infectious
And it’s burning in my soul

[Bridge]
Find me in the flood
Find me in the living water
Death is overcome
We’re full of resurrection power
Can you feel it now?
This holy rush of perfect love
Can you feel it now?
Feel it crashing down on us

[Chorus]
There’s a living fount I know
Where grace and mercy overflow
Love has come to set me free
I’ve got this joy inside of me
Oh, there’s a living fount I know
Where grace and mercy overflow
Love has come to set me free
I’ve got this joy inside of me
All my delight, all my delight is found in You
All my delight, all my delight is found in You

[ Cody Carnes ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_AXkis4Ao

*****************************
“I Delight In You”

I delight in You
I delight in You
I delight in You
Lord You make my heart jump

I feel Your spirit pouring out every blessing
I just can’t contain
The joy I feel in my heart, it’s overflowing
You’re my glorious King
And my heart just sings to You

I delight, I delight in You
I delight, I delight in You
I delight, I delight in You

[ Vineyard Music ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPL3P-IZikI

*****************************
“I Delight In You”

[ KICC Music ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS6aljIg0J4

*****************************
“I Delight In You”

I delight in you forever
You’re my joy and peace forever
In you I’m satisfied forever
Lord you are my all
Lord you are my all
I delight in you forever
You’re my joy and peace forever
In you I’m satisfied forever
Lord you are my all
Yes you are my all

You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
I delight in you
Forever delight in you

You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
I delight in you
Forever delight in you
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
I delight in you
Forever delight in you

Only you can truly satisfy
All I’ve ever wanted, I’ve found in you
My peace in the midst of the storm
My shelter from the rain oh
How great thou art, shepherd of my soul
Only you are worthy of my praise
My Lord and King, you are… you are…

(You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
You are my all
I delight in you
Forever delight in you
I delight in you
Forever delight in you
I delight in you
Forever delight in you)

I delight in you forever
You’re my joy and peace forever
In you I’m satisfied forever
Lord you are my all
Lord you are my all

[ Chris Shalom ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwhPLGzH9XY

*****************************
“My Delight”

Father You are my portion in this life
And You are my hope and my delight
And I love You yes I love You
Lord I love You my delight

Jesus You are my treasure in this life
And You are so pure and so kind
And I love You yes I love You
Lord I love You my delight

[ Vineyard Music ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73LjR5uNY4E

*****************************
“My Delight”

Break through the voices of this world
I cast these burdens aside
Tune now my ear to Your whisper
Speak to this trembling inside
Calm my anxious heart now
Breathe in me breath of new life
Holy Spirit, rain down
My soul is thirsty and dry

Be my Delight
Be the song that I sing in the morning
Be the bright ray of hope through the night
Be my Delight
Be the rest for the worn and the weary
Be the peace, O, sweet Giver of life
Be my Delight

Break through the lies that have held me
I hide Your Word in my heart
Come now, revive and restore me
Show me the treasure You are
Calm my anxious heart now
Breathe in me, Spirit of God
Pull me to Your side now
Captured by all that You are

[ Shannon Wexelberg ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3dGq9s-3c

*****************************
“You Delight in Me”

Why do I ever doubt
Why is it hard for me to see
Your goodness knows no bounds
O father help my unbelief

Cause even in the desolate lands
Your goodness finds a way to me
I see your hand
You have given more than I’ll ever need

You delight in me
Oh, you delight in me
You delight in me
Oh, you delight in me

You’ll part the seas for me
And scatter all my enemies
Fear has no place inside my head
You are the perfect place to rest

Cause even in the desolate lands
Your goodness finds a way to me
I see your hands
You have given more than I’ll ever need

You delight in me
Oh, you delight in me
You delight in me
Oh, you delight in me

And you are the song
Awakening love in my heart
In my heart
With joy in your eyes
I see your delight
You know me
And you love me oh

I’ll dance through the night
And you are the light that guides me
You’re beside me
You’re more than enough
I’ll ever need forever
And ever

Oh, you delight in me
Oh, you delight in me
Oh, you delight in me
Oh, you delight in me

[ Life Center Worship ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmDYDQh_bEE

*****************************
“I Delight”

[Verse: Nicole Binion]
Only You can satisfy my soul
Only You can love me till I’m whole
You are the greatest love I know, Jesus

[Chorus: Nicole Binion]
I delight, I delight in You
All that I want is found in You

[Verse: Nicole Binion]
Only You can satisfy my soul
Only You can love me till I’m whole
‘Cause You are the greatest love I know, Jesus, Jesus

[Chorus: Nicole Binion]
I delight, I delight in You
All that I want is found in You
Sing, I delight
I delight, I delight in You
All that I want is found in You

[Bridge 1: Nicole Binion]
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus
Oh, sing His name
Jesus, Jesus
Oh, we lift You up
Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus (No one like You)
Jesus, Jesus

[ David & Nicole Binion ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzksuu90E54

*****************************
“God Delights in You”

Calling every daughter
Calling every son
All who’ve been adopted
Through a sacrifice of love
There’s no need for you to fear
Your debts have all been cleared

Calling all the downcast
Who feel like they’re alone
Anyone who’s longing
For a family of their own
God’s prepared a place for you
He’s calling you to

[ CHORUS ]
Come and sing, come and dance
The Father’s singing over you
Come rejoice and be glad
For God delights in you, in you

Calling all who’ve wandered
Gone off on their own
Anyone who wonders
If they’re welcome back at home
The God of grace makes all things new
He’s calling you to

You chose us to be the objects of Your love
In spite of all we have done
You gave Your beloved Son to die for us
To make us daughters and sons

[ Sovereign Grace Music ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw2RafIuRdw

*****************************
“Better Is One Day”

How lovely is your dwelling place
Oh, Lord Almighty
For my soul longs and even faints for You
For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seek
To see Your beauty
To find You in the place Your glory dwells
One thing I ask and I would seek
To see Your beauty
To find You in the place Your glory dwells

My heart and flesh cry out
For You, the living God
Your Spirit’s water to my soul
I’ve tasted and I’ve seen
Come once again to me
I will draw near to You
I will draw near to You

[ Matt Redman ]

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Fj9bbEmVk

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

APOLOGETIX SONGS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I Can’t Go Back”
(Parody of “I Can’t Hold Back” performed by Survivor)

There’s a story on my mind
Turn the page to John, you’ll find
Now in chapter 6, go read
Verse 61-69

I can see the temple when He talks
His appeal demands our faith
Preachin’ how we broke God’s laws

I’ve been told about the Christ
I’ve been searchin’ for Him, too — have you?
I’ve known the Bible all my life
Today the stories all came true

Can you hear them grumble when He talks
Can you feel the friends of hate
Even now they throw some rocks
Give God a fair chance, wait

I can’t go back — I won’t renege (I can’t go back!)
Your choice is yours — but mine I’ve made
I can’t go back — I want that crown
‘Cause it’s foolish to turn that down

I’ve known a few that stopped — no lie
But then a guy named Simon speaks for you and I
And now that Simon’s turn has past
Don’t waste your own — be strong, hold fast

I can feel a trend that scares me much
Can I be a man of faith
If the crowd opposes us?

There’s assurance in my mind
Turned to faith that God designed
Now it’s time to make folks see
Though a rugged path I’ll find

I can’t go back — I won’t renege (I can’t go back!)
The choice is plain — in spite of death
I can’t go back — I want that crown
‘Cause it’s foolish to turn that down

I could be a criminal and be crushed
Ooh … yet I feel a stand-up faith
Reachin’ out to bolster us
There’s stuff the world can’t take

(I can’t go back!)
(I can’t go back!)
(I can’t go back!)
(I can’t go back!)

[ ApologetiX – “Apolo80s: Back from the Future” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4NdaV9nSeo

“To Wait for the Lord”
(Parody of “Too Late for Goodbyes” by Julian Lennon)

Oh ohh-ohh

Oh-oh-ohhh oh-ohhhh ohh ohh-oh
Ohhh-ohh-oh ohhh-ohh-oh-ohh

Ever since you believed in Him
You’ve been longing for Christ
Now you know how He feels for you
Like you’re one of a kind
But He wants to wait for the Bride
Yes, He wants to wait for the Bride

Time has flown since Christ bid adieu
And Christians started to die
Now we seek Him so prayerfully
Some guys don’t understand why
But He wants to wait for the Bride
Yes, He wants to wait for the Bride

As I sense He’s not far away
I’ll be watching the skies
‘Cause He’ll show up eventually
I don’t want a surprise

But He wants to wait for the Bride
Yes, He wants to wait for the Bride

Ever since He was leavin’ here
We’ve been wanting to fly
Now, I know that appeals to you
‘Cause we won’t have to die
But He wants to wait for the Bride
Yes, He wants to wait for the Bride

Ooh-ooh-ooh ohh-ohh-ohh

Doo-doo doo-doo doo-oo
Ba-da ba-da ba-dum bum-bumm
Bum-bum-bum bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bu-umm

[ ApologetiX – “Apolo80s: Back from the Future” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1PAHt9Mw6s

“Bathwater”
(Parody of “Backwater” by Meat Puppets)

When will you wake up to the warning
‘Cause Jesus may come back today
Like the flood of Noah, His appearing
Will surprise the world and happen suddenly

Some think He never came
And they say He won’t come back here but He’s going to just the same
The date’s been prearranged
He’ll be back in a hurry — there are some people who’d better change

And when they say He’s been gone a long time
They laugh and say He’s kinda late
Just when they say there’s peace and safety
Destruction comes on them suddenly

Some think He never came
And they say He won’t come back here but He’s going to just the same
I maybe see a drain
With the bathwater circling — there are some people who’d better change

They are blind to the signs
Now’s the time for you to decide

You’d better wake up to the warning
‘Cause Jesus may be on His way
Though we might not know the day or evening
We’re still one day closer now than yesterday

Some think He never came
And they say He won’t come back here but He’s going to just the same
I maybe see a drain
With the bathwater circling — there are some people who’d better change

[ ApologetiX – “Apoplectic” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdR0OmDgrjA

“Gimme Pre-Trib”
(Parody of “Gimme Three Steps” by Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Our Lord’s comin’ for us
And there’s a day called the Judgment
But the world ain’t in the mood
Then in walks a man with an un-Christian plan
And he’s a-workin’ for you-know-who
He’s a hateful fellow if you dare to rebel though
‘Cause you’ll die if you do
So it’s a time to prepare if you’re a man who’s scared There just might be an out for you … to say excuse me! Well, there’s several theories for that time
Our Lord takes us like a thief on a spree
‘Cause there’s a pre- and mid- and post-trib Rapture
And folks who like none of these
Oh, take a minute, Christians, and look at First Corinthians In verse 15:52
And then both Thessalonians and in Matthew twenty- Four and Revelation for clues
But won’t you gimme pre-trib, gimme pre-trib Rapture Gimme pre-trib or before
Gimme pre-trib, gimme pre-trib Rapture
And they’ll never see me no more
For sure

LEAD
Well, it’s not clear today when those events take place And we oughta dwell on the Lord
And I tell you: for some, to debate’s more fun
Than to wait for the Lord’s reward
He’ll return for me and them and you
That’s the day I’ll be looking for
And you’ll be hearin’ me singin’ the highest praise
As I’m heading up toward the Lord
But won’t you gimme pre-trib, gimme pre-trib Rapture Gimme pre-trib or before
Gimme pre-trib, gimme pre-trib Rapture
Don’t know when we’re gonna see the Lord
Don’t even act sure

[ ApologetiX – “Hot Potato Soup” album]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-WNlR8_PsY

“Casket Place”
(Parody of “Basket Case” performed by Green Day)

Do we have much time to live until we find
A lot of things are happening all at once?
Violent crime explodes – the Lord has many foes
Morality is low – they’re proud about it

Sometimes I think this world’s asleep
Soon we just might be history
It all keeps adding up — I think I’m waking up
I’m not just paranoid — I’m not alone

I went to great lengths – to analyze these things
It’s just like back in Second Timothy now
I read through some more in Matthew 24
To get some signs when God will bring the first round

Sometimes I think this world’s asleep
3:1 through 5, Second Timothy
It all seems bad enough – I think I’m packin’ up
He might just tarry more – He might just come

Oh oh
Last days soon unfold – so you better know God
LEAD

Sometimes I think this world’s asleep
Keep your eyes on the Middle East
The whole scene’s getting rough – I think that backs it up
And I just can’t ignore – the signs I’m shown

[ ApologetiX – “I Know You Are, but What Am I?” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS5JzHdnonI

“Bible in Hand”
(Parody of “Travelin’ Band” by Creedence Clearwater Revival)

See the Lord in Heaven’s comin’ out of the sky
Well, He said He’d come to get us and He did not lie
You gotta move
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand, yeah
Well, it’s time for Christ to land
Find Him while you can
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand

Let me do a show and tell
I ain’t gonna go to hell
C’mon, c’mon, won’t you let me tell the truth
You gotta move
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand, yeah
Well, it’s time for Christ to land
Try to understand
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand

Listen’ to the way to go
Talkin’ to all the lost souls
Come to God through Christ — you gotta call His name and listen
Gotta move
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand, yeah
Well, it’s time for Christ to land
Try to understand
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Whoa!

He will come again like a thief in the night
Will you finally recognize Him — will you get that we were right?
You gotta move
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Well, it’s time for Christ to land
Find Him while you can
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Whoa!

Whoa! Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Find Him while you’ve still got a chance
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Well, the time is close at hand
Find Him while you can
Prayin’ with a Bible in hand
Whoa!

[ ApologetiX – “The Boys Aren’t Backin’ Down” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N36eBvqKbd0

“L.S.F.”
(Parody of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” performed by Elton John)

Picture yourself on the Mount called Olivet
You’re standin’ with Jesus … a marvelous time
Then while you talk He begins to rise slowly
And gives you His final goodbyes
Aeroplane flyers are seldomly seen down in Jerusalem then
Look for the Lord with the sun in your eyes and He’s gone!

Lookee, in the sky, He’s flyin’!
Lookee, in the sky, He’s flyin’!
Lookee, in the sky, He’s flyin’!
Ohhhhh

Following that there appear on the mountain
A couple of angels in garments so white
“Ye men of Galilee,” they say, “please tell us
“How come you still stare at the sky?
“Soon He’ll be back, He’ll appear as before
“Where He was taken away
“When He comes back, He’ll descend through the clouds.”
Then they’re gone!

Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find Him!
Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find Him!
Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find Him!
Ohhhhh

LEAD

“Soon He’ll be back, He’ll appear as before
“Where He was taken away
“When He comes back, He’ll descend through the clouds.”
Then they’re gone!

Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find … huh?
Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find … huh?
Lookee, in the sky, you’ll find … huh!
Ohhhhh ohh

Scriptures foretell of a day we’ll be taken
“The Rapture,” we call it — it’s looking past time
Suddenly trumpets declare His return while
The church will arise to go with Christ

Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’!
Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’!
Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’!
Ohhhhh ohh

Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’! (Oh oh, just lookee-ee!)
Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’! (Oh oh, just lookee-ee!)
Lookee, in the sky, we’re flyin’! (Oh oh, just lookee-ee!)
Ohhhhh ohh

[ ApologetiX – “Jesus Christ Morningstar” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46qr7GjaUBQ

“I’ll Prepare for You”
(Parody of “I’ll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts)

So Jesus told His disciples,
I’m gonna go away
But where I go you know.
They all cried, Please explain.
He said, You’ve all been stuck in second grade
If you haven’t seen the Way, the Truth, the Life
Is here in your face … but

I’ll prepare for you … prepare a place up above
I’ll prepare for you … ’cause I’ve been there before
I’ll prepare for you … and you prepare for me, too.

I’ll send another friend
To help you on your way
You’ll learn from Him, you’ll go far.
Please don’t be afraid
The Father helped me do the things I did
But you even will do greater works than that
If you believe — that

I’ll prepare for you … prepare a place up above
I’ll prepare for you … ’cause I’ve been there before
I’ll prepare for you … and you prepare for me, too.

The world could never know Him
The world could not receive Him
So you’re the only ones who know
What it’s like to know Him
There’ll come a place and day when
He’ll come to live inside you
Soon when all of this happens
You will know the words I said were true.

Seems like you’ve all been stuck in second grade
If you haven’t seen the Way, the Truth, the Life
Is here in your face, but

I’ll prepare for you … prepare a place up above
I’ll prepare for you … ’cause I’ve been there before
I’ll prepare for you … and you prepare for me, too.

I’ll prepare for you
I’ll prepare for you
I’ll prepare for you — and you prepare for Me, too

[ ApologetiX – “Easter Standard Time” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pa-TworQD4

“Taken Up”
(Parody of “Shake It Up” performed by The Cars)

Uh, well, a man called Elijah prayed one day
That the Lord would take Him away
Stand tall, Elijah — keep your feet
Don’t you worry, now – soon you’ll be
Taken up
Taken up — Ooh yeah
Taken up
Taken up

Well, men don’t fly – Israel knew
But you know Enoch did it, too
In Genesis 5, verse 24
Don’t you know why? He pleased the Lord

Taken up – ooh ooh
Taken up – yeah yeah
Taken up – ooh ooh
Taken up

That’s right, I said
Men don’t fly
(No, no, no)
And yet those guys
(Would get real close)
No one died
(Definitely not)
They were
(Ahh ahh ahh)
Taken up, yeah, home with God, woo! Yes!

LEAD
Oooh yes!

Uh, well, His friends know Christ will prepare
To take us right back up to there
Just hold tight – go to work
Let’s spread the news that the earth needs first

Just take it up – ooh ooh
Take it up – ooh yeah
Take it up – that’s right
Take it up

Uh well, shed some light
(Go, go, go)
Spread worldwide
(Let them know)
Stand for Christ
(Spread real love)
And we’ll
(Ahh ahh ahh)
Take ’em all – home with us, woo

Taken up – hey, have you seen
First Thess-a-lon-i-ans 4:17
Just stand tall in Christ — keep your feet
Don’t you worry, now – soon you’ll be

Taken up — ooh ooh
Taken up – ooh ooh yeah
Taken up — ooh ooh
Taken up – ohhh yeah
Taken up – taken up, taken up, baby
Taken up – taken up — ooh ooh
Taken up — taken up, taken up, baby
Taken up – taken up — ooh ooh
Taken up — ooh
Taken up – ooh yeah, yeah
Taken up – hoo hoo
Taken up – taken up
Oh Taken up – look it up — in Second Kings, baby
Taken up – check in – chapter 2, ooh!
Taken up – mm mm hmm
Taken up – oh yeah — yeah
Taken up – oh here He comes
Taken up – oh here He comes

[ ApologetiX – “Double Take” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrKA6UwZvgg

“In Armageddon Valley (Someday)”
(Parody of “Pleasant Valley Sunday” by The Monkees)

The global clock moves down to zero while the armies march along
They surround Israel’s weakened sides; They’re just about to throw their bombs

In Armageddon Valley someday (someday)
Christ’s returning in the air
Rows of thousands that have that have called His name
And no one seems too scared

Jesus displays his power today. He’s got His soldiers on platoon.
They met the Beast who can’t believe he got defeated there so soon

In Armageddon Valley someday (someday)
Fiercest battle in the land
Bible explains about a war like this
And the simple don’t understand

The future comforts those
who know He won their souls
They’re lookin’ forward to this scene
Armageddon day
It isn’t so far away
You need to change your loyalty

Da da ta ta…

In Armageddon Valley someday (someday)
Christ’s returning in the air
In Armageddon Valley someday
Fiercest battle in the land

In Armageddon Valley someday (Armageddon Valley someday)…

[ ApologetiX – “Biblical Graffiti” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK75BbqY6aQ

“Lightning Flashes”
(Parody of “Lightning Crashes” by Live)

Lightning flashes all over the sky
Weather center calls for a storm
This ain’t no ordinary sky
The invasion begins
Who thought that God would step in and stop the war?

Lightning flashes — an old book of mine
Clearly mentioned all this before
We ain’t supposed to be surprised
But the few who prepared
Are gone now as we face the wrath of God

Ooh, I see Him comin’ back again
Like the lightning comes from east to the west
Faces fallin’ as the Son returns to earth again — I can see Him

Lightning flashes— the moment of Christ
This moment He’s been waitin’ for
The angel hosts have arrived!
Pale and paralyzed, we face the Son
But the glory is too bright! Bright!

Ooh, I see Him comin’ back again
Like the lightning comes from east to the west
Voices callin’ out as sinners on the earth confess, “I believe it!”
Ooh, I see Him comin’ back again
Like the lightning comes from east to the west
We’re so sorry, but repentence doesn’t work right then, I can see it
Ooh, I see Him comin’ back again
Like He told in Matthew’s Gospel back then
Chapter 24 the 27th verse, amen … I believe it

[ ApologetiX – “Ticked” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOpzUnPlMBU

“Miss Martha”
(Parody of “Miss Murder” by AFI)

Hey, Miss Martha, can I
Hey, Miss Martha, can I
Beg you to make some time for Jesus Christ
Whoa-o-oh

With angry looks she cooked
And set food down before Him
She never took a break at all
Then Martha said to Christ
I’m left to wash and dry
My sister pays no mind
She sits on her … behind

CHORUS

She was aghast perhaps
At how the Lord responded
He said relax and settle down
You’ve mopped and swept and wiped
It kept you occupied
And while it killed some time
You left the best behind

CHORUS

Martha looked as if she was a very busy bee
But she had a bee inside her bonnet
As the custom was she ran the house with guests around
Without help
Well, these dishes ain’t just gonna go do themselves
And the silverware it needs some polish
Really, Lord, if I don’t clean it never gets done
No-one ever helps me, Lord, it’s filthy — that’s the problem

Hey, Miss Martha, can I
Hey, Miss Martha, can I
Beg you to make some time for Jesus Christ

REPEAT

[ ApologetiX – “Future Tense” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9O9YtnJcNc

“You Gotta Go”
(Parody of “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette)

I want you to know that I have prayed for you
I wish nothing but the best for your soul
I know you’re worried prob’ly — you’ll get converted like me
When it comes down to it there’s a fear there
Cause you say, “Hell — it can’t be”
You should play poker, baby
You sure do make a really excellent bluffer

Those who call on His name will be saved by His grace
Cause He paid quite enough for you when, you know, He died
And every time you speak His name it’s in vain, what a shame
Cause His arms are still open wide — open wide — while you’re still alive

But I’m here — to remind you of the mess you’re in if you turn away
It’s not fair — to deny Him
And the cross and just think you’ll get away
You, you, you — gotta go

You say there’s no Hell — you’re not evil
I’m not nice to tell you that you could go
If you forget about me — you can do as you please
I ain’t above you — I’m a miserable sinner
But there’s a path we must take
Now if we wanna be saved
And if you think it’s a joke — then you’ll suffer

But I’m here — to remind you of the mess you’re in if you turn away
It’s not fair — to deny Him
And the cross and just think you’ll get away
You, you, you — gotta go

There’s no one who can say that He sent them away
Cause an offer was made to you and you closed your eyes — and you knew it
And everyone says that’s not fair, that’s someone else’s fault
That’s not appealing — I hurt your feelings

But I’m here — to remind you of the mess you’re in if you turn away
It’s not fair — to deny Him
And the cross and just think you’ll get away
You, you, you — gotta go

I-I’m here — to remind you of the mess you’re in if you turn away
It’s not fair — to deny Him
And the cross and just think you’ll get away
You, you, you — gotta go

[ ApologetiX – “I Know You Are, but What Am I?” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6G2dwoKxFA&t=27s

“Child of God”
(Parody of “Shining Star” performed by Earth, Wind & Fire)

Yeah, yeah – hey – huh
Bet you wish you were a star
You dream of fame and fancy cars, yeah
But when you’re with the Nazarene
Life ain’t always such a dream, oh yeah
What you’ll be now’s not so clear, hey
Yet to Christ you’re very dear, yeah

You’re a child of God – don’t matter who you’re not
We’re the bride to be – of Jesus, you and me – His church in unity
LEAD

Child, what’s gotten into you?
Child it’s not quite “what” — it’s “who”? Yeah!
It’s His Spirit there along, yeah
Yeah, makes His Body quick and strong, yeah
We’re goin’ to mansions of the Son — yeah
Yeah, sowin’ God’s Word to everyone
Yeah, God will help, His Spirit will move, yeah
Well, yes, He will, I got my proof, oh yeah, oh yeah
So edify yourself and read
I know you’re facin’ some adversity
Jesus Christ is greater than
Are you His? Say, yes, I am

You’re a child of God – don’t matter who you’re not
We’re the bride to be – of Jesus, you and me
You’re a child of God – don’t matter who you’re not
We’re the bride to be – of Jesus, you and me
You’re a child of God – don’t matter who you’re not
We’re the bride to be – of Jesus, you and me

Child of God, though you can’t see what you’re like and soon will be
Child of God, though you can’t see what you’re like and soon will be
Find First John 3:2 and read — and Philippians 2:15

[ ApologetiX – “Very Vicarious” album ]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChjTfuFEUGQ

“Already Goin’”
(Parody of “Already Gone” by The Eagles)

Well, I read First Thessalonians just the other day
Chapter four verse 17 upon your shelf
First Corinthians 15:52, and when you find out it’s true
Then you’ll have to eat your words all by yourself

‘Cause I’m all ready goin’ — and when Jesus comes I will sing this victory song
Hallelu-jah-hah Hallelu

The letters that Paul wrote me made me stop and want to smile
‘Cause he said we’ll all be changed but some won’t die
Someday soon our Lord will come, maybe just a little while
And we’ll be caught up to meet Jesus in the sky

Me, I’m all ready goin’ — and when Jesus comes
I will sing this victory song
Hallelu-jah-hah Hallelu

When He comes a lot of folks may stand around
When He goes a lot of folks may stay behind
What if He decides to come on the day before you choose
You’d better give your heart to Jesus while there’s time

Me, I’m all ready goin’ — and when Jesus comes
I will sing this victory song
Hallelu-jah-hah Hallelu

[ ApologetiX – “Rare, Not Well Done” album ]

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DEEP THOUGHTS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“This may seem simple but you need to give customers what they want, not what you think they want. And if you do this, people will keep coming back.”

[ John Illhan ]

“Customer loyalty is a strong personal investment in a relationship with a company.”

[ Shep Hyken ]

“If you’re serious about getting customers to decide to come back and do business with you again, be nice to them!”

[ Shep Hyken ]

“Many companies have come to the conclusion that creating powerful, effective, self-service applications that customers can to play from their phones is a powerful way to improve repeat-purchase numbers.”

[ Shep Hyken ]

“Well, when everything else is equal, the company that becomes steadily more convenient how’s the edge in the never ending battle for repeat business and customer loyalty.”

[ Shep Hyken ]

“Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you in the game. Service wins the game.

[ Dr. Tony Alessandra ]

“A sale is not something you pursue, it is something that happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer.”

[ Author unknown ]

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”

[ Walt Disney ]

“Be everywhere, do everything, and never fail to astonish the customer.”

[ Macy’s motto ]

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your product or service and then bring friends back with them.”

[ W. Edward Deming ]

“I think when we truly love something, we get the same true love in return.”

[ Diljit Dosanjh ]

“I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.”

[ Anne Frank ]

“No one is a friend to his friend who does not love in return.”

[ Plato ]

“Be ready, servant of Christ, for your Master comes suddenly, when an ungodly world least expects Him.”

[ Charles Spurgeon ]

“Unless men see a beauty and delight in the worship of God, they will not do it willingly.”

[ John Owen ]

“When He returns is not as important as the fact that we are ready for Him when He does return.”

[ A.W. Tozer ]

“Christ, you who were crucified! Now I have given up everything that could bind me. And I have placed myself in your hands, if you would find my life worthy enough to be freed from its servitude to Satan. Take me so that I may feel that I am your slave, for then I will possess you in return.”

[ Sigrid Undset ]

“I ask God most often that we would be an unbroken line of Christians until Christ shall return.”

[ Philip Yancey ]

“Christ came to save us. If we have taken a wrong course, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us the assurance that sin is not a point of no return. A safe return is possible if we will follow God’s plan for our salvation.”

[ Dieter F. Uchtdorf ]

“The promised return of Christ should motivate you toward daily holy living.”

[ Jim George ]

“In reading our newspapers today, we can see how God is setting the table, getting everything in order, preparing the way for Christ to return.”

[ David Jeremiah ]

“The Next Big Thing is not another Pentecost or another apostle or another political or social cause. It is Christ’s return.”

[ Michael S. Horton ]

“Staying where you now are, you must perish; coming to Christ, you can but perish; coming to Christ, no one ever did perish; while you sit still and starve, there is bread enough and to spare in your Father’s house. Will you return?”

[ Samuel I. Prime ]

“At the return of Christ the resurrection of believers will take place. It will take the unbelieving world by surprise.”

[ Billy Graham ]

“Do Christians in fact eagerly long for Christ’s return? The more Christians are caught up in enjoying the good things of this life, and the more they neglect genuine Christian fellowship and their personal relationship with Christ, the less they will long for his return.”

[ Wayne A. Grudem ]

“The real preparation for [Christ’s] return is not to act like we know it’s coming right now and do something different. It’s to do what we should have been doing all along.”

[ Mike Huckabee ]

“The end will come with the return of Jesus Christ … That is why a Christian can be an optimist. That is why a Christian can smile in the midst of all that is happening … We know what the end will be: the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ!”

[ Billy Graham ]

“The currency of this world will be worthless at our death or at Christ’s return, both of which are imminent.”

[ Randy Alcorn ]

“Before we return to Heaven, our real home, we have an incredible opportunity on Earth to face challenges that will help us learn, grow and to become more Christ-like in the fruits of our spirit.”

[ Mary C. Neal ]

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RELATED SCRIPTURE VERSES:

THE RETURN OF JESUS

Matthew 24:36

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Matthew 23:39

For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

John 6:50-71

This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. …

Matthew 9:6-8

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

1 Corinthians 7:10-11

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

John 6:47-50

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

John 6:55-59

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

Matthew 24:1-51

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. …

Revelation 20:7

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison

Jude 1:7

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Romans 11:19-22

Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

Revelation 6:8

And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

2 Peter 3:5-7

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Thessalonians 4:17

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 s

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Mark 16:2

And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

Revelation 17:8

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

Revelation 9:5

They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

John 6:67-71

So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Luke 23:43

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Revelation 13:8

And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Revelation 11:15

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 1:7

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

2 Peter 3:10

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

2 Timothy 3:2

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

1 Timothy 4:1

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

1 Corinthians 15:51

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

Romans 10:13

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Acts 17:31

Because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

John 20:17

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

John 14:28

You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

Luke 16:19-31

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. …

Mark 16:16

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Mark 13:26-27

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

Matthew 28:20

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Daniel 12:4

But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Daniel 2:44

And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

Revelation 11:7

And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,

1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Romans 14:11

For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

Romans 9:27

And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,

Acts 26:11

And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Acts 17:24

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

Acts 10:34

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,

Acts 8:1-40

And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. …

Acts 4:24

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

Acts 2:38

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1-47

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. …

Luke 23:34

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

1 Corinthians 11:20

When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.

Acts 3:1

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

Acts 2:32

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

Acts 1:1

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

John 21:25

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

John 8:44

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 7:1-53

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. …

John 5:30

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-3

John 1:1-51

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. …

Luke 14:26

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Mark 13:20

And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.

Mark 13:10

And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Mark 3:28

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,

DELIGHTING IN THE LORD

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; …

Psalm 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 138:3

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.

Psalm 119:33-40

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. …

Psalm 43:4

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 34:4

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Proverbs 29:25

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Psalm 16:11

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm 84:5

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Psalm 37:1-40

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. …

Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Isaiah 30:15

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling,

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, Destroy.

Isaiah 58:13-14

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Isaiah 30:21

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Psalm 112:1-10

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. …

Psalm 43:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Exodus 33:14

And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Luke 11:1

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Psalm 42:5

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

John 15:10

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Isaiah 58:1-14

“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? …

Ephesians 5:1-33

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

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“A quick summary of the Christian “Gospel”:

JESUS’ PROPITIATION made our SINS FORGIVEN and IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS to us so that we have GOD’S ACCEPTANCE into His Heaven and receive ETERNAL LIFE.”

[ Mark Besh ]

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Hope you enjoyed some of these insights—share them with your friends and colleagues—so we can have a larger ’pool’ to receive from, and more to share with! Also, remember to include your name as the “source,” if some of this wisdom is of your doing. I would like to give credit where credit is due!

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FOCUS VERSES
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“I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
[ Psalm 23:6 ]

“One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”
[ Psalm 27:4 ]

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
[ Psalm 37:4 ]

“Better is one day in God’s house than a thousand elsewhere.”
[ Psalm 84:10 ]
“And the government shall be upon His shoulder.”
[ Isaiah 9:6b ]

“Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David.”
[ Isaiah 9:7a ]

“I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
[ Hosea 5:15 ]

“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get down, for the press is full, the vats overflow, their wickedness is great.”
[ Joel 3:13 ]

“On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.”
[ Zechariah 14:4 ]

“But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [the ‘necessities’ of life] will be given to you as well.”
[ Matthew 6:33 ]

“I came not to bring peace, but a sword.”
[ Matthew 10:34 ]

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
[ Matthew 24:21 ]

“But, for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
[ Matthew 24:22 ]

“For as the lightning comes from the East and shines as far as the West, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
[ Matthew 24:27 ]

“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
[ Matthew 24:30-31 ]

“Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master!”
[ Matthew 25:21 ]

“When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all the nations, and I’m going to separate them one from the other as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats.”
[ Matthew 25:31-32 ]

“‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels,’”
[ Matthew 25:41 ]

“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”
[ Matthew 25:46 ]

“And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.”
[ Matthew 28:20b ]

“If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
[ Mark 8:34 ]

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive Him.”
[ John 1:11 ]

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
[ John 14:2-4 ]

“This same Jesus who is taken up from you shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go.”
[ Acts 1:11 ]

“Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
[ Acts 3:19-21 ]

“Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
[ Romans 11:25 ]

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
[ Romans 12:1-2 ]

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
[ 2 Corinthians 4:4 ]

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
[ 2 Corinthians 13:5 ]

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
[ Galatians 5:22-23 ]

“For our citizenship is in heaven from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
[ Philippians 3:20 ]

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
[ 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ]

“In the last days, there will be people who will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.”
[ 1 Timothy 4:1 ]

“Know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.”
[ 2 Timothy 3:1 ]

“So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”
[ Hebrews 9:28 ]

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
[ James 4:4 ]

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
[ James 4:8a ]

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
[ James 5:7-8 ]

“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
[ James 5:19-20 ]

“Beloved, now are we the children of God. But we know one thing; when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
[ 1 John 3:2 ]

“The whole world lies in the arms of the evil one.”
[ 1 John 5:19 ]

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”
[ 2 Peter 2:1 ]

“That scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’”
[ 2 Peter 3:3-4 ]

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
[ 2 Peter 3:9 ]

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him.”
[ Revelation 1:7 ]

“But I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
[ Revelation 2:4 ]

“The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged.”
[ Revelation 11:18a-c ]

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time” [ Revelation 20:1-3 ]

Mark

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If you have a ‘neat’ story or some thoughts about an issue or current event that you would like me to try to respond to, I would be glad to give it a try…so, send them to me at: mbesh@comcast.net

Disclaimer: All the above jokes & inspirations are obtained from various sources and copyright are used when known. Other than our name and headers, we do not own the copyright to any of the materials sent to this list. We just want to spread the ministry of God’s love and cheerfulness throughout the world.

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