Hints for effective visitation
1. Have regular visitation patterns. This teaches faithfulness.
The best time to visit is on Saturday. I have had routes that I visited on Friday, but they were not as successful. Be regular. The kids will look forward to your visit if they know that you are going to be there on Satruday. I have kids that will not leave the house until I come.
2. Visit every person that rides your bus.
Some are critical of the bus ministry because we visit every rider every Saturday. In a way, I wish we did not have to do this, but since we are mostly working with kids that don't get much encouragement from their parents, it is the only way.
3. Concentrate on those that have slackened off.
Really work on those that are slipping away. Whether you realize it or not, you are ALWAYS losing riders. Some are getting away from the Lord. or family problems are keeping the kids out, etc. Spend some extra time with them. Ask the parents if there is a problem why the kids haven't been on the bus. Maybe something is going on that you don't know about.
4. Dont give up too easily on kids. You may not know their problems. Keep going back until they tell you not to come any more or they are not going to ride. Even then, I would give them time to work on the problem for a couple of weeks until I finally give up on them.
5. Visit quickly, dont get snagged. The devil will try to stop you. I usually will visit about 3 minutes in each house. That doesn't seem long, but if you have 30 or 40 house plus driving, it is a long time. Move quickly from house to house.
6. Try to keep from taking care of personal things that may get you off track. The later the day gets, the more tired I become. I will usually not stop, or shop, or anything until I am through, then I can relax.
7. Get commitments from riders. Make them promise. I will ask the if they are riding. Encourage them that you will be by and look for them to be on the bus.
8. Get the parents involved. This is very important with smaller kids. You will need to get them on your side because they will have to get them up, dressed, fed and ready.
9. Let people see that you mean business. Let them know that it is important that they ride and if they miss the bus, you notice that.
10. Call all riders you do not personally see on visitation. This will accomplish several things:
a. It will reinforce the fact that you came by. I left a flyer, did you get it? Sometimes someone will take it off the door and the wont get it.
b. They may have a question for you.
c. You can get the commitment from them.
d. You will know whether to stop at that house or not. You wont waste time going there.
e. It shows you really care and are thorough.
GETTING NEW RIDERS
You will always be replacing riders on your bus route. You are constantly losing riders whether you realize it or not. Some are moving away, some may become discouraged, or some will just become lazy and drop out. You must gain new riders faster than you are losing the. Here are some ideas on how to get new riders on your bus.
A. Get the riders on your bus to bring their friends.
This is the best method
1. Ask the riders
2. Get them to go with you to visit their house.
3. Give prizes for every visitor and kids that bring visitors.
4. Have a treasure chest on the bus.
B. New families move into your area.
1. Keep a list of vacant units and knock on the door when you notice someone moves in.
2. Have the kids on your route be your spy so they can get a visitor prize.
3. Use property sales list or utility turn on list.
C. Use the visitation program of the church.
1. Give prospect out for visitation
2. Go out door to door canvassing
3. Use teen dept. to help get kids
D. Stop and visit kids you see on the route.
1. Be careful when approaching children when there are no adults around
2. You might go to the door first
E. Use something that gets attention
1. Puppet bus
2. Costumed character to visit with
a. Gorilla
b. Clown
c. Chicken
F. Follow the school bus to find out where lots of kids live
1. Talk to parents as they are waiting on their children to get off school bus
