The Role of Cross-Pollination in Customer and Member Retention

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. ESPRESSO! where we do all we can to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.

I’m Shawn McCraneyFounder of TGNN and developer of the fulfilled perspective—calling people to faith outside of religion., your host.

PRAYER

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Feedback on the Walhquists show last week:

Show 36 565 Mark Payzant September 5th 2017

When I worked for a large national bank years ago they would teach and motivate their employees to cross pollinate all customers by getting them to accept a number of different proprietary accounts and services the bank offered. Their justification for this was not only to increase revenues for selling these products and services but after a number of studies, they learned that the more products and services a person had with the bank the more likely they would remain customers and not change banks. And they illustrated this by teaching employees things like:

The Importance of Having Multiple Accounts

When a person only has a checking account only 1 in 10 will remain with the bank. When they have checking AND savings, 3 out of 10 will remain. When they have checking, savings and an investment account 6 of 10 will stay. And if they have checking, savings, investments and a mortgage 9 out of 10 will stay loyal to the bank.

So it is with religion – especially Mormonism. In other words, member retention is increased by deeper and deeper roots into the faith and its products and services. An adult new member with no history or relatives in the church, perhaps 1 in 10. A person born into the faith, with a part-member family, 3 in 10? A person with pioneer heritage, who was raised in total activity, baptized, served a mission, temple marriage, tithe-paying, perhaps 7 out of 10. And then a person with all of the above but also a job in an LDS owned corporation, a high ranking leadership position, and decades of time and money into the church? Maybe 10 out of 10? Right?

The Choice to Leave

We saw this last week in our friends the Wahlquist’s. They were a multi-product LDS family. So it takes a tremendous amount of courage for people like them to walk from the church. Let me go to the board before we get to our VIP guest tonight. Rick and Kari, born in the church, possessors of most of its products, built their lives upon the religion. They accepted it and rather enjoyed it, right?

The Wahlquist lives

MORMONISM

• Joseph Smith and the hat
• First Vision accounts
• Book of Mormon issues
• Book of Abraham
• Priesthood myth
• Prophet and Apostle myth
• Blah blah blah

And they have to CHOOSE to EITHER leave all of that stuff where it is, supporting their whole lives (friends, ward, family, etc) OR they have to start mining, removing that stuff from their foundation, the result of which would cause their lives to become very unstable! MOST PEOPLE LOVE THEIR LIVES TOO MUCH to do it. And like the bank customer, stay.

Now stay with me. Last week Rick made an analogy and it was to the effect that once you leave many people need to slowly detox from all that Mormonism lied to them about. They need community, friends, an ability to talk (even purge) and to replace their faith that was once Mormon based on something else – in some cases anything else – which ALL come with already poured and set foundations, right?

ANGER PARTY ACADEMIA GOD AND REVENGE IN THE PIT!

• Often there is a combination of these things

Landing on a New Foundation

Our interests, without anything but sadness and sorrow for those who reject and walk from God, is on and about those who elect to seek Him in other venues. The Wahlquist’s happen to land on the established foundation of a local denomination – and stood on that foundation and all that it represented, for a couple years. Note that the Wahlquist’s house was not.

Exploring Spiritual Foundations

So towering this second time around. Not so invested yet. (scorched earth) But they did TRY and accept the way of Local Evangelical Church the Evangelical church they tapped into. But in time they heard the exact same MAN-ipulations – and walked. What they didn’t realize when they signed up was that THAT foundation was laid over unstable material as well. And it didn’t take too long for them to read between the lines and realize they were just drinking another flavor of Koolaid.

Now here’s the deal and point, for those who are exiting Mormonism AND – listen – AND continue to search for God, there are all sorts of invitations awaiting them.

Diverse Spiritual Paths

Pseudo Mormon Groups Evangelicals Catholics Orthodoxy Other Denver Snuffer Community of Christ FLDS Countless offshoots

And LDS people are free to flock to whatever established foundation that they want or choose, and can begin to openly rebuild their religious or spiritual lives upon the set foundation. And they do. And many people find happiness and contentment and a home.

NOW LISTEN –

No matter what “poured and set” foundation a person chooses to build their spiritual life upon, if they LOOK close enough, dig just a bit below the surface (and then keep digging) they will all be faced with the same decision they faced when they left Mormonism – all over again – either accepting what is hidden below and supporting the new foundation OR choosing to unearth it, and cause their house to fall all over again.

The Unstable Nature of Religious Foundations

I don’t care what foundation we are talking about that a person trusts and believes. It will be a historic, doctrinal or practical fail for them to some extent or another. This includes CAMPUS. In fact, I can’t tell you how many people have come and gone from CAMPUS who did not appreciate what we are founded upon. In their case they typically wanted or needed much more.

The point being there is NO foundation out there upon which a person should trust or stand. None. Except Christ Jesus directly. And I guarantee every single human being on earth, IF they are a seeker (and that is a huge caveat to all that I am saying here because if you are just looking to build upon an established foundation and do not care about its stability or truth this does not apply to you) but IF you are a seeker I guarantee you that who will never rest or find a home until you have your feet firmly planted on the only stable substrate in the Universe – God through Jesus Christ – you will NEVER, EVER find it in ANY church, any denomination, any ism or ist that will suffice – NEVER. Even the Bible itself can do it – dig deep enough and your foundation will become uneven.

So the point is stop trying. You will only spend your life and time digging, finding, exposing and moving on to another faulty promise. The point is, seekers of the world, to choose NOW to build upon Him directly – and never confuse religious promises of any kind with what He can give you.

Having said this, we come to our only never LDS guest during these interviews. He is my brother and friend Mark Payzant. I have asked Mark to come on the show because he brings something to the table that FEW, FEW, FEW people bring – a mind, perhaps a will – that does NOT allow religious influences hold him in place when the facts of a matter go contrary to what He is being told.

If you listen closely you will not only hear the heart of a seeker but you will discover a man who, amidst biblical fact, does NOT war against those who won’t hear him. I think we can learn something from him in this, and many other ways tonight.

Brother Mark