Wycombe Wanderers - News Item by Chairboys on the Net

GETTING TO KNOW YOU
(Thursday 21st July 2005)
Say goodbye to the dot matrix printer

If you haven't heard of CRM before now then it is sure to become more familiar as Wanderers' latest marketing scheme is rolled out to the unforgiving general public. CRM stands for 'Customer Relationship Management' and will become the latest buzzword behind the scenes at the Club as an attempt is made to understand the fanbase and use this to maximise marketing possibilities. Wanderers are also set to introduce a new ticketing system as part of the software implementation of CRM that will aim to allow closer monitoring of supporter trends.
Wanderers' Managing Director Steve Hayes has been talking up the proposal since he took over the MD role at the Club back in April. He hopes to have a CRM system in place during August and estimates that the Club will begin see benefits before the end of the year.
Speaking at his meeting with the media back on 15th June, Hayes commented, "We cannot move this Club forward unless we get proper data on people. And I don't just mean name and address. We need to know who they are. It is no good just putting people into a category saying they are a season ticket holder. That doesn't mean anything. We need to know their ages, what sort of things they like, where they sit and gather information from speaking to them."
The plan is to eventually couple the CRM system with a call-centre based at the Club. Meanwhile, the initial phase will see a more advanced online ticketing system that will allow seating plans to be shown in detail and tickets to be selected for specific seats in the stadium subject to availability. Chairboys.co.uk understands that Wanderers will use a system similar to that implemented in the past 12 months by both AFC Bournemouth and Brentford. Providing the system will be AudienceView who are a company that specialise in dealing with sports, arts and entertainment companies and the way they interact with their customers. The system will ultimately allow club officials and supporters alike to communicate through a secure web based interface. The new ticketing system at Wycombe is planned to be launched in August and it's understood that staff at the Club are currently undergoing training on the new interface.
However, with the gathering of data comes the fear from some people that the information will be put to inappropriate use. It's a fear that Hayes is keen to put to rest. The Chief Executive of Wanderers' shirt sponsors said, "All the data that we gather will stay within the Club, it's not going outside and it's not going to loans.co.uk." Hayes admits that loans.co.uk did originally have an agreement to use data held by the Club but since he joined the plc Board in August 2004 he has insisted it will not be used for any purpose other than for Wycombe Wanderers. Hayes says that short of signing an affidavit he can do little more than try to allay the conspiracy theories, adding "The only thing I can do is prove over a period of time that if I do say something then I mean it. If somebody catches me out with that, then I will have to stand up."
But acceptence of such systems at clubs the size of Wycombe may prove difficult. There is not the sell-out culture like in the heady heights of the Premiership and many fans will pick and choose games at the last moment knowing there is little need to purchase a ticket. Wanderers have already attempted to force the hands of supporters by repeatedly asking for personal data when buying tickets for the coming season.
The trend nationally is that many people do not want reveal personel details without good reason and are resisting telephone marketing techniques. Figures taken more than a year ago revealed that in excess of a 1/3rd of households in the UK have signed up to the 'Telephone Preference Service' in an effort to block 'cold' marketing calls and that figure is constantly rising. Again Hayes is aware of the issues relating to Wycombe but added "I think we could lose people but we are not taking this information for the wrong reasons. We are taking it for the right reasons. And if people don't want to give the information then they are not allowed to complain if they are not given a good service because they are not including themselves."
Hayes views supporters as customers but interestingly they are not top of his priorities, adding "The most important people to me are the people that work in the Club and the shareholders and then it moves down the line." It is perhaps significant too that Hayes' company has been ranked highly in national awards as voted by its own employees. However, in the vastly different world of the football business the emphasis comes very much back on the supporter as a key player to its success. Hayes has realised the differences and it could be that he begins to take on a different philosophy at Wycombe, adding "Every business out there, the owners or Directors want to do well and want to make it successful. Where as of course with this 'business' it is not only that but there are thousands of other people who want it to do well, as well." He'll be hoping that those thousands of people will take on board this latest marketing strategy, otherwise it will become the latest in long line of Football Club Board room pipe dreams that aim to give improved customer service.
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