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by Jerry Thacker
In our last column we presumed that your center would know what to do with a woman in crisis who walked in the door. But getting those in crisis to come through the door takes much more than just rendering quality services.
When it comes to the location of your center, there are three criteria for success: Location, Location, and Location!
It never ceases to amaze me that those who want to conduct a quality ministry often seem to lose their way when choosing where their center should be located.
As with all things marketing, the selection of a location starts with the consumer. If you feel your ministry is primarily targeted to a particular socio-economic group, you need to find out where they go and what services they use in your community. For example, many cities along the East Coast have high Hispanic or African-American populations living in the downtown areas. Choosing the location for a center should take into account where the clients are, what modes of transportation are available, and whether or not there are any geographical boundaries that they will not cross regularly.
If your target is the abortion-minded professional woman, perhaps the best location is a strip mall or a doctor's office building.
Some centers have a teen clientele, so they have elected to locate as near as possible to high schools. Others, with a clientele comprised primarily of students from a particular college, choose to locate near that campus.
Unfortunately, many budget-conscious folks locate where the rent is the cheapest. That decision may be shortsighted. It may also be shortsighted to move into an inner-city area that suburbanites will not enter. For example, in our town of Reading, Pennsylvania, there are 60,000 people in the city but nearly 600,000 in the county. Most county-dwellers do not go downtown unless they must. This is not to reflect poorly on the city; however, there are few products and services that cannot be acquired without going downtown.
When choosing a location, keep these things in mind: Is the main entrance private? Is there ample nearby parking for clients and staff? Are the parking lot and surrounding areas well lit? Would a client or volunteer feel safe walking from her car to the center? Will she feel that her car is safe while she is at the center? Is the center located near a main street or highway so that clients arriving from some distance can find it easily? When approaching the center from the highway, will a client or volunteer have enough time to read what is on directional signs? Are entrances clearly marked? Once inside the building, are directional signs easy to find and read? If your target clientele is primarily Hispanic, do you need signage in el Espanol?
Approach the marketing of your location-bound services from the standpoint of someone who has never been to your center. Make sure your yellow pages ad and all your printed promotional material have a map showing your exact location.
To assess your current location, ask questions of your clientele. How did you get here? Was our office easy to find? How could we make it easier for you to find us?
Your ministry to people in crisis starts with making your center easy to get to. Make every aspect of finding and accessing your services as easy as possible.
Jerry Thacker, B.A., M.A. heads Marketing Partners, Inc., a marketing communications company that publishes Today's Christian Teen, Today's Christian Preacher, and Today's Christian Senior magazines. He is a competent researcher, writer, publisher, presenter, broadcaster, teacher, and public speaker. Jerry has made appearances on the Janet Parshal and Oliver North radio programs, Focus on the Family, cable TV networks, and local network affiliates. He can be reached at (800) 588-7744.
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