Dec. 7, 2011

By Jim Hermann, Associate Athletic Director - Business Development (Niagara University)

NACMA Online Library Blog - As marketers and sellers, understanding our marketplace and fan base is instrumental in achieving our goals. We devise marketing plans, strategize advertising and direct mail campaigns, update sales reports and projections, tweak budgets and explore promotional giveaways in an effort to maximize our return on investments and sell tickets. All of that helps us reach our goals however, there is a much less expensive way to drive ticket sales and increase attendance -- and we all have it already.

The Athletic Ticket Office is instrumental in our success yet so many marketers pay it little or no attention.

We focus so much time and strategizing on "fan experience" within the day of game extravaganza. But the fan experience starts at the ticket office. We should focus just as much time on the fan ticket-buying experience as we do the game day experience. And be honest, how many of us look at what happens when someone buys a ticket?

The first step is to watch how your fans buy tickets and what occurs from start to finish. The challenge is to remove yourself from the familiar and put yourself within the mind of the ticket buyer and try to understand the experience from his or her perspective. A positive experience when purchasing tickets is the powerful first impression of the athletics program. Taking conscious steps to seeing what the buyer sees can allow you to form a true image of their first impression as well.

When you step back and observe, ask yourself some questions.

1 - Are the work areas in front of and behind the Customer Service Representative in the ticket window presented properly?
Fans need to feel that your operation is a well-oiled machine. Ticket-buyers must feel comfortable leaving their credit card and contact information with you. They must feel confident that you will protect personal information and not be careless with it. Therefore, all areas within view from the ticket window should be tidy, organized and clean (no dust, dirt or food). It is imperative that the window area be stocked with the tools to service a client - pens, seating charts, change, credit card processing and schedules. The walls should be painted and the logos presented strongly. Also, invest in a bottle of Windex; a clean ticket window itself is a must.

2 - Does the CSR look professional?
Ask yourself if the staff member at the window seems credible. When he says that these are the best seats he has, will customers believe him? He or she should be put together and professional. There should be no baseball caps, hoodies, backpacks, logoed t-shirts, knotted hair or messy clothes. You need to dress the stage so that the first impression is positive. Fans buy from people they trust. If your CSR looks like he just rolled out of bed after a late party at the frat house, you are already starting at a disadvantage.

3 - How does the CSR behave?
Does the CSR look the customer in the eye? Does he or she know the software inside and out? Does the CSR know what is on the menu in the Club level? Does he know all of the promotions that are being offered at that time? Does the CSR answer the phone with a smile? Is the CSR familiar with how the arena is laid out knowing the nuances of each section? Does the CSR know all of the ticket options?

If any of these questions are answered with a "no", then your ticket buyer may feel that the CSR is not credible and the buyer ignores his or her suggestions or recommendations eliminating the opportunity to upsell.

4 - The answer to this question is a real insight into where you stand. What do your CSRs say when they don't know the answer to a fan's question?
Does he or she say "I don't know" and give excuses as to why he or she doesn't know? Or does he or she apologize for not knowing and offer to find someone who does know? After the question-asking fan steps away, does your CSR turn to co-workers and discuss the fan and the question in a derogatory fashion? You'd be surprised how many other fans see and hear that.

5 - Do the CSRs have separate conversations going on while they are processing the orders of the customer at the window or on the phone?
CSRs should never hold a conversation with anyone but the ticket-buyer during a transaction. Talking with the CSR next to you while you are working with a customer makes the customer feel disengaged when you want them to feel the opposite - engaged, appreciated and excited. Also, the CSR should instigate conversation with the fan while processing the order....."Is this your first game here?", "What is your favorite part of the games here?", "That's a great cap, where is it from?", "Are you an alum? What were the games like here when you were in school? Talk to your customers and get them talking. The fan will leave the transaction feeling great.

6 - Do your CSRs always go to the lowest priced ticket rather than a higher one?
If so, this means that the CSR is not knowledgeable of all of the ticket options and benefits and is simply offering the easiest sale. This CSR needs more training and understanding on how to present your products, their benefits and their value to the prospective buyer.

7- How are the ticket queues laid out? Do they move quickly during peak selling times? Is there a wait during slow selling times?
Fans standing idle in a ticket line waiting to get to the window to get their ticket for too long are dangerous. Everybody hates to wait. They tend to look disgusted and annoyed and tell EVERYONE how long they've been waiting. Excessive waiting makes the customer feel ignored, uncared for, used and taken for granted and much less likely to return. We spend so much time getting fans excited to come to games and if they have to stand in the Will Call line for a long time, we've turned a positive into a negative.

Fan experience is crucial to holding and growing your fan base and growing it. If it is fun, they will come back. That's why winning is so important to ticket sales - It is FUN to win! Unfortunately, we ticket sellers cannot impact the score and the team's performance on the field. We'll leave that up to the coaches. What we can impact is everything else.

We all purchase advertising and send out mass emails and post contests on Facebook. The purpose of all of these marketing tools is to make the phone ring, get more people to walk in or increase hits on your website. But, what happens next? The fan experience in the ticket-buying process at this point will make or break those revenue projections. Making sure that the ticket-buying experience is fun and enjoyable is paramount to success.

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About NACMA: NACMA is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics marketing administrators. For more information about NACMA, please visit www.nacma.com. NACMA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 47th year. For more information on NACDA and the 12 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.