Mr Gale Gan was formerly the Marketing and Media Executive of Tanjong Pagar United (TPUFC). He started his S.League involvement as a photographer with KallangRoar in 2007 and joined Geylang United in 2011. The following post is a contribution by him on the topic of CRM (Customer Relationship Management), which in his opinion is something has yet to make its presence in the local football industry.
If you see happy customers returning to consume your product no matter how much it costs, it will mean your business is successful one way or another. Of course, the best combination will be having a good product and good customer relations management.
Sad to say that in terms of football here, we are still very backward in that mindset. Supporters are basically the customers in football as they pay to support their clubs.
Here, the people in charge seem to have totally missed that open goal and have been trying to herd supporters around like they were a flock of sheep.
The people in charge of the league here have not only failed to offer the league as a product, but also failed to provide proper customer engagement to the paying supporters. By that I certainly do not mean giving them freebies just like that.
If we have an argument that the 'standard of play' is not good enough to attract, then the other best way, as non-technical people, is to ensure that the well being and interests of the paying supporters are well taken care of.
In my two and a half years at TPUFC, there have been several cases where first time visitors were impressed even when we are not doing well on the pitch.
These visitors, who paid for their own tickets, then proceeded to consume matchday products, like F&B and official club merchandise. This is the first step of their investment into the club. That is what will turn them into supporters.
When they invest their emotions and money into the club, they will then automatically become unofficial ambassadors for the club.
This will then see them, as new supporters of the club, to try to recommend the club to their peers to attend games.
This will translate into gradual revenue increment for the club and most importantly, boosting of the image, since the image here is pretty bad thanks to some administrators.
Yes, we need businessmen to get involved in football. But what we need are not simply businessmen. We need businessmen who know their football, who understands what supporters want.
If first time visitors come to you and gets turned off, they will not come back anymore. If you think it is only loss of revenue from 'a few people', then please re-read my entire post.
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| Fans are always a crucial part of the game (file picture) |
Sad to say that in terms of football here, we are still very backward in that mindset. Supporters are basically the customers in football as they pay to support their clubs.
Here, the people in charge seem to have totally missed that open goal and have been trying to herd supporters around like they were a flock of sheep.
 |
| One of the freebies given out is now my bookmark |
If we have an argument that the 'standard of play' is not good enough to attract, then the other best way, as non-technical people, is to ensure that the well being and interests of the paying supporters are well taken care of.
In my two and a half years at TPUFC, there have been several cases where first time visitors were impressed even when we are not doing well on the pitch.
 |
| One of the merchandise by the Jaguars (file picture) |
 |
| I stacked up some stuff each time I visited Taipei to watch baseball |
When they invest their emotions and money into the club, they will then automatically become unofficial ambassadors for the club.
This will then see them, as new supporters of the club, to try to recommend the club to their peers to attend games.
This will translate into gradual revenue increment for the club and most importantly, boosting of the image, since the image here is pretty bad thanks to some administrators.
Yes, we need businessmen to get involved in football. But what we need are not simply businessmen. We need businessmen who know their football, who understands what supporters want.
If first time visitors come to you and gets turned off, they will not come back anymore. If you think it is only loss of revenue from 'a few people', then please re-read my entire post.
- Views expressed may not necessarily be that of the blog owner
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