I thought I was just buying some peace of mind when I recently ordered my Road ID bracelet, but I ended up finding a company that is refreshingly fun to interact with. I received my bracelet in the mail today, but that was almost anti-climatic after getting emails through the whole process that start like this:

Hello Bryan:
Thank you, again, for your recent Road ID Order (Order #########). You have made a very wise investment in your safety and peace of mind – it’s quite obvious that you are a highly intelligent individual.

or this:

Hello Bryan:
I have some fantastic news! No…you didn’t win the lottery; but, your Road ID order was shipped today (date). Per your request, it was shipped via USPS First Class Mail.

They believe in their product so much, and believed that I would love it as well, they created incentives to get me telling others like this example:

We are thrilled to have you as a customer and hope that we can count on you to spread the word about Road ID. In fact, to make it fun to spread the word, we created a unique coupon for you to pass along to your friends! Here’s the coupon number:

Coupon Number: ThanksBryan744540

This coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order. It can be used up to 20 times in the next 30 days. Feel free to send this coupon via email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, town crier, or good ole fashion smoke signal.

To make your life even easier, we wrote a sample email that you can forward to your buddies. You can find the sample email (and a sample Tweet) below.

And yes, I copied and sent the tweet… why wouldn’t I? It was an easy, relevant and fun experience.

Now, I know “Edward from Road ID” did not personally craft each and every one of my emails- I am sure they were most probably written months ago, and information fields populated automatically… but I don’t care. Every email made me smile and gave me the confidence that I would be getting more than I expected. And I did.

So when it comes to Guest Services at church, my Road ID experience has gotten me thinking… How are we creating unexpected, refreshing, and accessible experiences each week. And when we get the chance to communicate with our guests, are we reflecting the creativity and inspiration of a creator-God or just checking off our “follow-up” tasks each week?

Who knew that being safe could be so engaging and fun? Maybe visiting a church could be as well.