Customer Service in Stadium Operations
by Alan patching
Just how important is customer service in the stadium business?
Why not compare the following true stories, then decide.
Scene 1 Major stadium, major event, just prior to 'gates open'. The crowd has been quietly queuing in very warm weather for a couple of hours. Excitement prevails and spirits are high. It looks like being a great day for spectator and staff alike.
One frail looking woman, clearly feeling the heat, approaches an usher. He looks at her ticket and tells her she is at the wrong gate. So far, so good. In the nicest of voices he then walks her to the exit gate and explains that she must go back outside, where the crowds are now swelling under an increasingly hot sun, and walk to the other side of the venue, line up in the correct queue and endure the entire entry experience again.
Amazing!
Even more so because it would have been possible to direct her to walk around the lower concourse in the cool shade of the concrete structure.
This was not a person demonstrating good customer service. This was either an idiot with a friendly voice, or an automaton with a friendly voice who had been instructed by an idiot. Fortunately, someone intervened and escorted the woman via the shorter and more comfortable route to her seat.
Scene 2 Aboard cruise liner Crystal Symphony. For this cruise, which is taking place as the Salt Lake City Olympics are in full swing, Crystal Symphony resembles a veritable floating stadium. The crew are preparing for the on-board 'Olympics'. There will be a parade of national flags, a torch lighting, nine events (bridge and deck quoits may not rival discus and hurdles, but the enthusiasm on this floating arena tells us the crowd don't care. And consider the risk of a hurdler mistaking the deck rail for a well you get my drift).
Not to be taken lightly, this event will be attended by five former Olympians including the gymnast who will always be a '10', Nadia Comaneche. It is fifteen minutes prior to a mandatory lifeboat drill. The captain announces all must attend the drill but, as it is blowing 30 knots outside he will turn the ship prior to commencing the drill. By positioning with the wind behind, the ship's 19 knot speed will effectively reduce the wind speed to around 11 knots, 'and that will prevent the ladies having their hair messed up'. And some of the men's, it occurred to me.
Over the top? Perhaps. More so typical of the detailed attention to customer service by Crystal Cruises in absolutely everything they do. One simply must think of these things when one is responsible for the care and comfort of a boatload of bountiful bouffants!
Let's return to my initial question – just how important is customer service in the stadium business? Any intelligent operator would agree great customer experience is a crucial factor in crowd growth, and customer service is a key factor in customer experience.
A key problem resides in the fact a venue visit involves so many factors controlled by others. If food and beverage queues progress too slowly the entire evening gets a pasting. Ditto if the beer is too warm, flat, frothy or anything the consumer does not like. It gets worse if patrons cannot find a park, or the public transport is overcrowded, late, uncomfortable, smelly or anything else the consumer does not like. In other words, if someone else associated with the entire experience fails in their job, some flying mud sticks to the stadium and its owners and operators as well.
Stadium owners and operators seeking superlative levels of customer service must endeavour to control or have a major impact on as much of what contributes to the entire customer experience as possible. Close collaboration with caterers and transport and security authorities is the absolute minimum requirement. Entertainment in near stadium plaza areas while arrival queues get in and departure queues disappear into trains and buses might be the go providing the noise doesn't impact negatively on any surrounding community. Combined public transport and event ticketing has proved successful for a number of major events around the world.
Having trained stadium staff deal with potential security issues with uniformed police in support but remaining behind the scenes until it is necessary for them to take the lead role in a situation has proven successful in the eyes of police, owners and public alike at many venues. The train breakdown at Cardiff following the last Rugby World Cup final resulted in crowds of 10,000 and more in the area around the train station serving Millennium Stadium . The manner in which the police, station staff and the patrons handled the situation was exemplary. Definitely a winning experience for all, including the venue which probably had nothing first hand to do with that part of the patron experience.
Crystal Cruises collaborates with dock administration, customs and immigration, and local tour operators and shops to ensure a superlative cruise experience. Leading venue operators would do no less with those who contribute to the stadium experience of their patrons. Many rate the Crystal Cruises ships' restaurants as among the best they've ever experienced, either afloat or ashore. Why would venue operators not seek to establish such a reputation in their eateries? It's as much a matter of staff quality and training as it is about food quality and presentation. "Why train them, they just leave?' some might stay. Think of the alternative, folks. What if you don't train them, and they stay!
Southwest Airlines of the US are reputed to have shortened their turn around time sufficiently to enable them to compete with larger aircraft equipped airlines not by studying other airlines but by studying the pit crews at formula one racing.
I encourage all owners and operators to grow attendances by earning the best possible customer service reputation. Here are my two tips for getting the ball rolling:
- Regularly visit the very hot hospitality industry web site www.thehospitalitydoctor.com. Great tips for every F and B outlet in your venue. Better still, email and get Max Hitchins to put you on his free email list.
- Send your customer service people for a couple of days Crystal Cruises experience. If they can't learn a customer services tip or several there, cremate them, because they are probably already dead.
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