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2025 Holiday Poem - 12/23/25


We hear the word change And that change can be good, But we like things to stay same, And sometimes they should.   The weather can be wet And then dry as a bone. We know things will change, Even if all left alone.   Our customers change. Our co-workers do, too. It seems like our resources Are often too few.   The technology Read more

Make the Long Wait Feel Shorter - 12/16/25


When Greg entered the Tax Office, he was thinking only about two things: (1) How he was going to get the tax value on his home reduced, and (2) Whether the wait would be 1 hour or 2.  He checked in with the navigator who asked a few questions, Read more

When Kindness Means More in Customer Service - 12/9/25


Since a large part of the work we do at CSS includes customer research, we have seen tens of thousands of comments over the years about staff, and it is great to hear the positives that customers, fans, and account holders say about our clients’ team members. One word that Read more

Don’t Create the Second Complaint - 12/2/25


Maria was upset.  Rightfully so.  The product delivery was delayed, she couldn’t get anybody on the phone, and nobody would reply to her e-mails.  So, she went down to the store, and she found a customer service representative. After the initial greeting, the employee listened to Maria’s complaint.  While Maria Read more

Refresh on the Reasons to Appreciate the Customer - 11/25/25


This is a great time of year to give thanks, not just because it’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, but also because – with 2025 coming to a close - it gives us the opportunity to do some reflecting on the recent past. The idea of reflecting on reasons Read more

Confirm the Customer is Cleared for Takeoff - 11/18/25


An airplane pilot is told when they’re “cleared for takeoff” before they begin to accelerate down the runway.  The air traffic controller (ATC) has looked at everything in front of the pilot, on the runway and in the air space, and checked to ensure the pilot is good to Read more

Build Relationships with First-timers - 11/11/25


We’ve worked with one of our sports clients for over 10 years, and although the main focus of our work is research with their fan base, we also provide informal consulting advice and guidance whenever possible.  One approach we’ve talked about on and off for years is the need Read more

Last Impression Faux Pas - 11/4/25


Rightfully so, many customer service experts harp on the importance of the first impression.  It happens quickly, and it can impact the individual’s perception of you and the organization.  We even wrote a Tip of the Week on this years ago called First Impression Faux Pas. What many people tend Read more

Familying with Customers - 10/28/25


In our transactional society, it’s hard to think about customers in the long-term.  But if we want to be as successful as we can as an individual or as a business, we need to view customers through a relationship lens. What do we need to know about them to Read more

Avoid These Techniques - 10/21/25


We had a Customer Service Tip of the Week recently that addressed gaining control of the conversation.  One of the key points was that the focus should be on gaining control of conversations in various circumstances, but trying to avoid making it your goal to gain control of the 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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