In Part 1 of this article, I discussed the issues facing Lincoln City FC, a small non-league football (soccer) club based in the English midlands. The club has spent the last five years in decline, both on the field of play (the Club lost its Football League status in 2011) and also behind the scenes, where financial problems has resulted in the Club’s bank demanding repayment of debts and refusal to continue offering banking facilities.
However, over the last nine months
there has been an amazing turnaround in fortunes. A new management team was
appointed that has taken the team to the top of its division, with the very
real prospect of promotion back into the Football League.
The Club also made English footballing
history by becoming the first non-league team to reach the Quarter Finals of
the FA Cup in over 100 years. When gate
receipts and television fees are taken into account, the Club has made a profit
of £2.5 million from the Cup competition alone - enough to clear the debts and
leave a stockpile of financial reserves for the next few seasons.
But this new-found success has raised
problems. There has been a vast increase in demand for tickets (especially for FA Cup games) and the Club has been unable to satisfy this demand.
This has upset some long-standing
loyal supporters who have complained bitterly on social media that they have
been unable to obtain tickets for Cup games, at the expense of newer supporters of the Club.
In Part 1 of this article I posed the
question of how the Club can solve this problem in the future, so that it is
able to keep its existing loyal customer base happy, while at the same time
satisfying the increased demand coming from new customers, and indeed to
convert these new customers into long-term loyal supporters.
If you would like to read the full
text of Part 1 please click here.
A PLAN FOR LINCOLN CITY FC
The Club has faced criticism from a group
of loyal existing customers who feel they have missed out on seeing their team
play in historic FA Cup matches. But hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in
fairness to the football club, there is no way they could have predicted such
an amazing turnaround in fortunes over such a short space of time.
The question now is how to manage
the longer-term increase in demand.
I personally believe the way forward
is for the Club to implement a membership scheme for supporters. The scheme
would encompass four levels of Club membership, and all supporters of the Club
would be encouraged to join up, regardless of their level of ’loyalty’. I have
outlined below how this would work.
LEVEL
|
ANNUAL FEE
|
BENEFITS
|
Bronze
Membership |
£25 adults
£10 children £10 OAPs |
One free ticket for any home game
£1 discount off all home game tickets 5% discount in Club shop Monthly email newsletter Membership card Priority B for 'all-ticket' games |
Silver
Membership |
Free with purchase of season ticket
|
Attendance at all home games
One free ‘bring a friend’ ticket 10% discount in Club shop 10% discount on away coach travel Monthly email newsletter Membership card Priority A for 'all-ticket' games |
Gold
Membership |
Price of season ticket plus £25
|
All the benefits of Silver membership
PLUS Members Xmas Party with players Invitations to other special events during the season |
Platinum
Membership |
Price of season ticket plus £100
|
All the benefits of Gold membership
PLUS VIP attendance at one game in the Director’s Box Free coach trip to one away game Name listed in the Club programme Entry into lottery for season ticket the following year |
This system would encourage virtually
every supporter to join the membership scheme, because even at the basic ‘Bronze’
level, the cost of membership pays for itself just by attending one free game.
So no supporter would have any excuse for not joining the membership scheme, even if they only join at the Bronze level.
This would enable the Club to get the
vast majority of its supporters onto the database, providing a very
valuable marketing resource. For example, the database could be used to email
special offers on merchandise, or special ticket discounts to members for
winter midweek games where the attendance is expected to be low.
The database could also be used (assuming relevant opt-in customer consent is obtained within the Data Protection Act 1998) for the Club to send out relevant third-party offers. Local businesses might want to give special discounts to supporters on a whole range of goods and services. For example local restaurants and takeaways may offer a match-day discount to Club members.
The database could also be used (assuming relevant opt-in customer consent is obtained within the Data Protection Act 1998) for the Club to send out relevant third-party offers. Local businesses might want to give special discounts to supporters on a whole range of goods and services. For example local restaurants and takeaways may offer a match-day discount to Club members.
This would generate more revenue for
the Club because the third-party suppliers would pay a fee to be able to make
this offer to Club members.
But more importantly, instituting a
membership scheme as outlined above would have the advantage of creating a sense
of ‘belonging’ to the Club for all its supporters. It would enhance the
community spirit of the football club, and make all supporters feel like
stakeholders with a sense of ownership in the Club.
It would also make it very clear (in
advance) of who will get priority for future big matches where tickets are in
short supply. There could be no complaints from aggrieved supporters about not
being able to obtain tickets, because everyone would know in advance what
system is going to be used to prioritise ticket allocation.
I believe this membership system would
greatly increase customer loyalty for Lincoln City FC, plus add numerous additional marketing and income-generation benefits.
This is just a brief outline of my plan. I would be very happy to speak to any Director of the Club if they wish to discuss my ideas in more detail.
This is just a brief outline of my plan. I would be very happy to speak to any Director of the Club if they wish to discuss my ideas in more detail.
………………………………………...………
Darren Bugg is a marketing and
customer service expert with 30 years’ experience working in this field. He
holds a Masters Degree in Marketing and Innovation, in which he specialised in
the subject of customer loyalty. His new book ‘The Loyalty Gap - the 7 Secrets
of Customer Loyalty’ will be published later this year.
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