which probably contributes to their excellant attendances. NC has been brilliant for Saints but I do believe the club got the ticket pricing for this season wrong. In the current econmical climate we should of shown more initiative to get more fans through the turnstiles, a shame especially as the team are serving up tremendous entertainment and results. http://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/Membership/0,,10270,00.html
We were going to have one this year but for some reason they axed it, and are waiting till we get into the prem. Used to be a great idea though, loads of clubs have them except us!
Can't see any advantage at the moment. I had one once at Saints..it gave you priority buying tickets at a time when matches were often sell outs, so why would you buy one now unless we get to league and fa cup finals. It will probably be reintroduced in the PL.
Like you, fran, I struggle to see the advantage. Also like you I used to be a member, and as you say it was handy when tickets were harder to get. I'm surprised that some bright spark in the membership department hasn't thought of other advantages to attract membership - it is easy income after all. One of my mates is a Liverpool member and seems to get all manner of special offers and discounts. Because of work commitments he gets to very few games, but is still regularly spending money at LFC to justify the cost of his membership. Seems to me everyone is a winner. The 10% off in the shop for using the credit card is the only benefit of which I am aware - well apart from supporting a better team of course!
This is something the club are looking into at the moment and they definately want to re-introduce a membership scheme. They are currently restructuring the business side of the football club in terms of recruitment as the current set up is not big enough for a club our size. The other benefits to the club as well as the revenue gained is by having members of the club, it signifcantly increases the clubs database size. As a result, they can contact so many more supporters by having up to date email addresses and can use this to provoke a sale wether it be a ticket or something from the shop. The problem is, saints are rubbish at interacting with its customers. You buy a season ticket and dont hear from the club all year, no letter, no emails, nothing. The restructuring of the club takes years but they are doing it and we will see membership back sooner rather than later.
I'm not a season ticket holder but I get occasional e-mails from Saints...perhaps they do need to sort things out to make ST holders feel special.
Getting the balance right is crucial. I used to work for a big multi-national that prided itself on its customer contact. We once did a satisfaction survey and and one of the major comments was could we stop sending out so many glossy bits of stuff that ended up in the bin! Saints are not alone, I think, in being poor at customer contact. Recruitment is important, but keeping people happy once they are "on the bus" is equally important. Ultimately, though, this is achieved by the product being right. If Saints keep their present form going I'll forgive their absence in my e-mail inbox!
