How not to lose fans and alienate people
Chicago Red Stars meet their fans
Editor’s Note: Chicago Red Stars President and CEO Peter Wilt returns for his second column on Pitch Invasion, considering the critical role good customer service plays in winning fans in American soccer.
One of the basic tenets of the soccer management philosophy I discussed last week was the importance of providing good customer service. It seems rather self evident, but surprisingly few businesses in general and few soccer teams in particular seem to properly navigate the intricate world of customer service to the point that they create an organizational culture of it.
Responsiveness to fan complaints and over delivering on fan experience is an inexpensive way to build fan loyalty and turn fans into advocates who will advertise your team for you. Advertising budgets for American soccer teams are never sufficient to provide the necessary depth and breadth to reach and retain the potential audience in a meaningful way. Good customer service not only retains existing support, it also builds the fan base virally via positive testimonials from the fans themselves.
There are two general categories of good customer service: 1) providing proper response to the inevitable negative fan experience and 2) exceeding fan expectations when interacting with the organization.
Recently I happened to experience both with the Chicago Red Stars.
An unfortunate reality of any business that deals with the public is the likelihood that from time to time, your customers will have negative issues with their experience. The team’s response is an opportunity to win over a fan. . .or lose one for good. Being a tenant at Toyota Park, the Red Stars are once or even twice removed from issues involving parking, concessions, merchandise, security and guest services. This indirect relationship to the fan experience is problematic, because we have less than regular communication with these contracted employees and thus have less influence on their actions and treatment of our fans.
I’ve experienced this dynamic both at Soldier Field (as President and GM of the Chicago Fire) and Toyota Park. At Soldier Field, Fire fans reported countless incidents of verbal and even physical abuse by stadium security and ushers. Our tenant relationship with the stadium was further distanced by the contracted manager who then contracted with separate security and usher firms. Unlike Toyota Park management, Soldier Field management did not have a soccer culture and had a difficult time understanding or accepting soccer fan behavior and expectations.
It took years, but through the Fire’s sympathetic direct response to its fans and brokering enough meetings and relationships with supporter group leadership, security and stadium personnel, we created better understanding, albeit tenuous, with the various parties, which ultimately minimized the negative experiences for Fire fans.
Cardinal Stadium, Naperville
I’ve also had the opportunity of the preferable situation of operating a facility directly when the Chicago Fire played two seasons at Cardinal Stadium in Naperville. Not coincidentally, I believe the best customer service our fans ever experienced was during those two seasons.
Positive and negative fan experiences
The first example I’d like to provide is the Red Stars final home game on August 2nd, which resulted in our largest crowd of the season (7,959) at Toyota Park. Unfortunately, the larger than usual crowd led to a seating problem. It forced us to open additional seating sections on the day of the game and several of our staff members gave mixed messages to Toyota Park Security and Guest Services. As a result, at least one fan was rudely told by a security guard to leave the newly opened section he and his family were ticketed for, because our staff had mistakenly told the security guard that the section was closed. When the fan went to the guest services booth, they were less than sympathetic and told him to go sit anywhere.
Fortunately, I found out about the incident via this Big Soccer thread and was able to take action to both make the fan feel better about the Red Stars and reduce the possibility of similar incidents in the future. This type of online intervention is somewhat risky for sports executives as it opens them up for online wars or criticism if not handled properly. But the risk of not intervening was greater. We could have lost not only the fan’s support, but also that of his family, their friends and colleagues who would hear about his experience.
Internally, we made a point of addressing the issue directly and immediately, which turned a potentially negative message about the Chicago Red Stars into a positive one. I’ve found over the years that posting on Big Soccer or other soccer forums can effectively resolve contentious issues, clear up public misunderstandings and answer legitimate questions by our most engaged fans.
The second customer service example is quite self serving, but I believe this fan’s email accurately describes the work the Red Stars put into creating a fan friendly culture and shows the tangible benefits of treating fans with courtesy and respect:
Dear Peter,
I wanted to write to you to share our experience with the Red Stars this year. Having grown up playing soccer, I have always loved the game. When my oldest daughter began playing at age four and I began coaching my appreciation for the sport grew even greater.
This spring we were invited by a friend to join his daughter and go to a Red Stars game. We had been to Toyota Park for a few Fire games and watched the USA Women play China a couple years ago. However, watching a team representing Chicago was even more exciting. This year we went to four games and our daughters loved them all.
The primary reason for writing though is to commend your staff on two specific experiences we had this year:
1) After one game, I noticed that the Red Stars were having a number of camps. However, none were near our home on the North Shore. So I called and talked with Kate Westfall. She could not have been more professional and nice. She suggested doing a private camp with a couple players and our daughter’s travel team. In a matter of two weeks she was able to organize the best sports camp I have seen (and I used to organize these types of camps in a prior life!). Every girl and parent that attended the camp was amazed the quality of coaching, the character of the players and had most importantly had such fun. Kate was able to get Frida, Caroline, Natalie and Karen to come on various days. These five women (including Kate who filled at the beginning of one of the days) were incredible ambassadors for your organization. I would expect every person they meet will soon be going to games!
2) I had heard that the Wilmette Wings U11 girls played on the field and one of the parents on our daughter’s team asked if I would make a call and see if our girls could play on the field. I was referred to David Quinn. Working with him was also great – he was responsive and very helpful. The girls got to play on the field before the game last week and the look on their faces when we walked down the ramp to the field was priceless.
These two members of your staff are true professionals in my experience and definitely went above and beyond my expectations.
Finally, the players attention to the girls after the games has made the entire Red Stars experience an incredible summer for our daughters. After the last game Natalie came over and gave our daughter a hug and said “Julia I saw you cheering for us and I had to come over and say thanks.” That is what sport is all about! Julia also wrote a birthday note to Frida but when she learned it was not her birthday she was embarrassed and did not give it to her – but it too was so cute and full of innocent adoration.
Sorry for the long email, but I thought you might like to hear about one fan’s experience this year. If I can ever be of assistance please do not hesitate to ask.
Regards,
Robert J. Birdsell
President & CEO
Cristo Rey Network
Importantly, Rob mentions that “I would expect every person they meet will soon be going to games!”
Gaining a reputation as a responsive organization that truly cares about its fans doesn’t happen over night or with a single effort or event. It doesn’t ever “end” either. It’s a process and a culture that develops over time through consistent, honest and fair actions and communication with all team stake holders. It grows with good experiences for fans and importantly with organizational response to bad experiences.
The result is a team and organization that fans, sponsors, media and observers all feel good about and willing to support and even evangelize. And that is something that no advertising budget can buy.
I received much positive feedback last week from fans and soccer administrators alike on my first column. If you would care to read more on the subject of sports management philosophy and find out the genesis of many of my core beliefs, I’d encourage you to read the Pat Williams book “Marketing Your Dreams: Business and Life Lessons from Bill Veeck Baseball’s Marketing Genius”. Bill Veeck was a hero of mine growing up and his influence on me is tremendous.
I’d like to finish this week’s column with a link to Ryan Stephens’ tremendous article on fan relations. Ryan does a great job contrasting the traditional management philosophy of trying to control a team’s fans versus the idea of influencing, facilitating and protecting a team’s brand. The column seems to embrace several of the ideas of my management philosophy including tenet #1: The Fans are in Charge.
About the Author
Peter Wilt is the President and CEO of the Milwaukee Wave, and writes weekly for Pitch Invasion. Follow Peter on twitter @PeterWilt1.
Email this author | All posts by Peter Wilt
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- Grading WPS in Year One | Pitch Invasion
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Just like the first column, this stuff is golden.
I have printed both and filed them away for future reference. Thank you for giving those of us out there that want to work in soccer someday some additional insight into the business. Next on my to-do list is to read the Veeck book you recommended. Any other books/resources you can point me towards?
Can’t wait for the next column.
Thank you Andrew.
i’m a Veeck-aholic, so i’d recommend his own books: “The Hustler’s Handbook”, “Veeck as in Wreck” and “Thirty Tons a Day: The Rough-Riding Education of a Neophyte Racetrack Operator”.
Jon Spoelstra’s good, too: His classic “Ice to the Eskimos: How to Market a Product Nobody Wants” and “Marketing Outrageously: How to Crank Up Your Revenue by Staggering Amounts”
Peter,
I would have been more of a Veeck fan if he hadn’t traded away all the Sox young talent after the ‘59 season, to try and win it again in ‘60 with older players. As a result, the Sox had to face many of those guys over the next several years.
The columns are great and we can’t get enough talk about the game and getting more people to come see the Red Stars…and the Fire.
Keep it up…since our Sox are not!!
Fred
Thx Fred. Yeah, Bill was loyal to a fault….i mean really, Paul Richards!?! Larry Doby!?! And don’t get me strated on Don Kessinger!!! i wrote Veeck about Kessinger…that really angered me…but you know what? He wrote me back personally to try to justify Kessinger’s hiring. i still didn’t agree with him, but i respected him for not ignoring me as i’m sure every other MLB owner would’ve done. That’s why i respond to every fan inquiry i get.
I had an experience at Soldier Field earlier this year during a soccer match that makes me believe that what you describe as experience during Fire matches really has not changed–there still is not a soccer culture at Soldier Field, and I’m wondering if that ever would have changed had the Fire stayed there. Every other stadium I’ve ever been to that has hosted soccer has not had this issue, whether it was a soccer-specific stadium or not, so I was quite surprised at the gung-ho to-the-letter attitude of security at Soldier Field.
However, what you have created at Toyota Park for the Red Stars is amazing. Creating a culture specific to your business is a very important part of any endeavor, and I believe that with professional soccer in the USA, this is most important, considering the odds against it. For any pro soccer, positive customer service creates word-of-mouth, and this leads to a greater fan base, which increases both “bums in the seats” and revenue. I work behind the scenes in retail (for the moment) and even at the back of the house, we are made to believe that the culture we create behind the scenes greatly influences what happens on the floor, and what happens on the floor influences what happens in back. This is exactly what you describe. It is the same at summer camp–the teenage cook’s assistant in the kitchen has as much of a role to play in the child’s experience (and, consequently, the parent(s)) as the director and the counselor. It doesn’t all happen on the field/floor…it is every bit of the organization working together to create a positive experience for the client.
This is fantastic — a partial illustration of why I consider myself lucky to know Peter.
Here in the United States, Peter is nothing short of an absolute pioneer — and a loyal and humble one at that.
Over a hundred times, maybe more, during the last couple of years, I’ve heard someone in the Section 8 parking lot mention the following: “if Peter were still here, we wouldn’t be having these problems.”
And they’re right.
I believe that such a statement, together with its myriad variations I’ve heard, is a phenomenal testament to the lasting affections that Peter provokes from those he comes into contact with. Watching him work — no, “work” isn’t the word. Watching him weave his way through the Section 8 parking lot, anyone can witness such testaments take human form.
What Peter has dedicated himself to manifesting and to sustaining and to growing — PURELY the sport of soccer here in the US — provides us with so much joy, with vital, even affirming outlets for our frustrations, our needs to just be around others, to make memories.
Peter is the antithesis of the AEGs that pollute our league.
When I moved here a few years ago, I knew no one. Now though — thanks in huge part to the club Peter envisioned and the social network he helped to weave around that club — I have nothing short of a big family. Peter was among the first to welcome me.
He deserves thanks from all us, thanks he neither expects nor will ever solicit.
Thanks, Peter — keep the great articles coming!!!!!
Peter,
Thanks for the enjoyable reading.
I lived in Chicago and Elgin for years and supported the Fire before moving back to my hometown of Tulsa about three years ago.
When you were putting together an effort to get MLS in Milwaukee, you had an agreement with Wisconsin youth soccer that generated thousands of season tickets.
How did you approach putting that together?
Were there egos involved?
Seemed like a tough/risky thing to try to do at the time.
As a Wilt apprentice, I must say that there is another side to Peter. 10 pillars are accurate but only a part of success.
The core is that people need to be entertained or get satisfaction. They need to have fun, leave with a smile. Creativity shouldn’t be downplayed as much as it is in the first two articles.
Peter, please share your “entertainment” package, some call promotion, others call it bang for your buck. I am not talking about over-delivery of fan experience, but the ability for people to laugh, enjoy, feel, and care. These are things that people smile about and share at the water cooler the following day. I label as: The Visceral, The Brag, and The Status: Crazy halftime promotion, Getting people to see their kids on the pros field, Season ticket VIP party. I know you’ve got more.
What I learned most from Peter (which I think he learned from David Letterman Top 10 Lists): Sell what’s hot and in the mass market. If it’s tweets, then you buy parakeets and implement a halftime promotion. If it’s Kate & Jon Gosselin, you do an impromtu look alike contest for 8 kids.
Peter, your commandments are now out. Share your fun, too.
thanks Pete for the article and sharing the letter..
Really great article. Now, can your staff move the city of Chicago a little closer to LA? I’d love to be one of your season ticket holders!
Thx all for the kind words…Menker, you’re right, I should write about the importance of fun in the game experience. Jeff, the WYSA deal required a ton of lobbying, deal making and using egos (not setting them aside) to help sell the concept. We ended up doing a ‘light’ version of it with the Red Stars and the IWSL, but it has not panned out nearly as well as we had envisioned – those two deals are worthy of a future column, thank you…and Jen…we have season ticket holders in more than a dozen states INCLUDING CALIFORNIA!
you could buy a single season ticket, combine all the ‘unused’ tickets and redeem them for additional tickets to a single game in Chi you can make and then donate the rest to the Chicago Red Stars Charitable Foundation! Contact us at http://www.chicagoredstars.com or 866-WPS-2009 for details! 
Peter,
As a Fire fan from day one (literally) I truly was proud to have you manage the Fire organization. Throughout the years the Fire had some of the most fantastic service of any organization I have seen. From the sales reps to the General Manager himself, the Fire was the most professional and fan friendly organization around (and all of you were rightly recognized for it). That said, it saddens me that since you departure every aspect of the fan experience (especially ticket sales and ticket reps) has taken what only can be described as a nose dive.
As a former season ticket holder who brought family and friends to games regularly for the last decade, the experience always left them impressed and often times they returned on their own. Largely because issues I have with the organization I have attended a single game and I brought only one other person. Neither of us have returned, not necessarily because we don’t want to, but because the Fire organization has made it quite difficult to do so. I was unable to attend any Red Stars games this season due to scheduling conflicts, but the praise I have heard heaped on your organization has inspired me to make an effort next season to get to at least one game and experience the same fan friendly experience I so dearly miss having when going to Fire games.
Sincerely,
Ben K.
I’m presently taking on-line business courses with content provide by the Harvard Business Publishing and everything Peter says is echoed in their material, i.e., an organization must be customer-focused from top to bottom. Use bad experiences as opportunities to show how you really do care about customers. Make sure your staff is motivated. A happy staff with the ability to make customers happy will succeed. Bad word-of-mouth spreads further and faster than good word-of-mouth. It’s cheaper and more profitable to retain customers than to seek new ones.
“A successful organization must concentrate on satisfying a targeted group of customers who place the highest value on the goods or services it offers. The company that does not make additional efforts to please these customers can stumble badly. Busy chasing the wrong customers, the company strays from what it does best, is more likely to encounter failure, and, in the process, alienates its most profitable customers.”
We see this happening with Peter’s former team, the Fire. Season ticket holders are angy, based on what they write at Big Soccer, due to their belief of the perceived diminishing value of their entertainment investment.
The team, tellingly, has suffered high employee turnover, particularly in the critical season ticket and group sales department.
“Low employee job satisfaction and high employee turnover can create a downward spiral that causes sales and profits to plummet. ”
Only in the last few games, near the end of the season, has Toyota Park begun to fill up with fans. Which is surprising considering the team’s woeful home record.
The team is run by an absentee owner, who hired a former American football executive (of a team that has no problems attracting season ticket holders or pleasing fans) as general manager. So he has two strikes against him: unfamiliarity with the sport and no real experience in dealing with customers and need to be stroked.
And when you consider the mixed target audience for the Fire — the diehards/knowledgeable fans and familes attending with their kids’ teams’ group outings — the complexities of pleasing everyone seem to create a recipe for unhappiness all around.
I only wish Peter was back. But since that’s not going to happen, I wish him success with the Red Stars.