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A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

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Don’t Just Create Raving Fans…Keep Them

Posted on April 13, 2011 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

I love hearing ticket sales executives talking fan relations, promoting season ticket holder (STH) retention. Maybe 15-20 years ago in most major sports, fan relations was simply customer service or a function of the box office. Retention didn’t matter so much because for every STH lost there was one on the waiting list. Or even if there wasn’t one on the waiting list, the bonuses to the sales reps were better if they got a new account than if they renewed the one they already had; seem backward? Welcome to professional sports – we want to ring the bell, make the sale, close the deal. Marketing and Sales are sexy. Customer service is…well…serving others. Not so sexy.

Now fast forward to today. In a recent Sports Business Daily article, Todd Taylor of the Texas Rangers is highlighted as one of the “40 Under 40.” He’s the new executive vice president of ticket sales and marketing for the team. He is interviewed about his successes previously with the Milwaukee Brewers, and this modern day ticket sales exec talks about what? He says “The important thing was to stay very fan-focused and put a big emphasis on fan retention. We knew early on, for example, that we were not going to have a big bump in new sales after we got CC Sabathia and went to the playoffs [in 2008]. So we put our energies very strongly into retention and fan experience.”

Nice. And the decision is based on simple math. If you have $50 million of ticket sales revenue each year, if you can retain 90% v. 80% of that revenue, that’s 10% additional (or $5 million) saved from last year’s STHs that your Sales/Marketing gurus don’t have to find in new business just to offset the losses.

So how much revenue is your customer worth in one year? How much more revenue could your organization earn by retaining 1%, 5%, 10%, 20% more of that revenue year-to-year?

Put a number on it. Put that number in front of your Marketing, Sales, Financial, and Operational Executives.

Then tell them that it’s not just about making raving fans…it’s about keeping them.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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