I feel that many that look into the world of sports think that the customer journey is simple. After all, you like a team or you happen to be in town when a team is playing and you go over to check it out, right? While many times that is the case, the customer journey is so much more.
For many sports teams, the main customer that is focused on is not the one that is coming to a single game. The money is actually coming from the season ticket members and while purchases sometimes have to do with factors we can’t control, like how good a team is performing there are other parts that are at least manageable. Those tend to be the parts that get overlooked, now it’s not typical for someone to just buy season tickets for a team they’ve never seen. So for potential season ticket holders, the part of the customer experience that matters the most tends to happen at those games they go before becoming season ticket holders.
It’s the troubleshooting, the customer service, and the way innovation is going with the building. No one wants to have an issue when they go anywhere, but if that issue is troubleshooted and resolved in a timely manner they are more likely to come back. The same way if they get treated correctly not only when a customer is walking through the door, but when they are guided to their seats or when they get up to buy food. While those often get overlooked as many just see the sports experience as the game the main one people tend to forget about is innovation. In what ways is the arena and the experience inside innovating in order to keep up to date with trends and just the way life moves. If I buy season tickets, am I going to walk into an arena with the same food spots and out of game options every year? Or am I going to have new food options and even a new activity available for halftime, maybe even a new way of getting into the arena?
The customer experience in sports is so much more than just the game. Every step of the way from before entering the doors, to when you finally get in, to when you leave counts. If you want a customer to upgrade to season ticket members or at least come to more games there has to be an elevated service beyond what’s on the court or field.
Written by Adialis Garcia
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