As part of an assignment at Uni I'm looking into the customer (fan) experience at City, and need opinions on what it's like other than my own! What I'm especially interested in is things like: Parking - especially in the Walton Street car park, value for money, how easy it is to get out etc. Pre match and half time; do the club do enough to get you to go early/ keep you entertained at half time - especially with kids Smokers - Could we benefit from a smoking area? Turnstiles - Would it be easier with a bar code system or leave it as it is Premier Club - What's it like in there? Improvements etc Disabled supporters - anything you'd like to see improved. Food and drink - Apart from the prices is there anything that you'd change? New products etc And anything else the club can do to improve your match day experience I will be e-mailing a copy of this to the club when it's finished, so any ideas put forward in it will be seen and might be acted on! Cheers!
Perhaps we can have season pass only turnstiles and do what brighton do and have their season pass as a card and just scan it on the machine. The only negative is, that people would loose their turnstile jobs but hay ho
Parking - Getting into Walton Street isn't an issue, getting out is worse than watching Lee Evans' stand up. People say they leave games early to avoid the attrition in the parking lot, so surely it's better to just improve it. They could improve it by more strategic use of stewards, people are impatient so maybe letting a few more cars out at a time, or even having temporary traffic lights (bit extreme I know). Pre match and half time - The music is looped all season, to the point where you know how long you have to wait till kick off by which songs come on. Something fresh or relevent? Bin the embarrassing Discotheque 3000 German Homo anthem that for some reason makes people clap. And 'Can't Help Falling in Love with You' is ok, but when the away fans join in it kinda takes the edge off. Plus nobody joins in until later on, it's like...nur nur nuh nuh..... FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU! I mean the words are on the screen but if people can't be even be arsed to learn the lyrics, then get rid and get something else in. Smokers - At Leicester, they used to open the gates at half time and let people out, they no longer do this, perhaps because the refreshment vans outside at half time were so much better than the dross they served in the concourse. I can't see the harm in opening one gate per game for smokers (2 in the west and east stands) at half time. Turnstiles - It's not really that bad at the minute, you get your ticket out and hand it in, no big deal. Perhaps some notice of which ticket we will need before we get to the gate, that can cause hold ups as people shuffle through their pass. Premier Club - I'm not really well placed to comment, only been in twice but it's nice enough, perhaps not great price wise but the seats you get are good and the atmosphere is decent. My friend presented Josh King with the man of the match award last week but it turns out he doesn't drink, so he got a signed bottle of champagne! Guess that's a good perk! Disabled supporters - Complimentary blankets when it gets cold? Again not in a great position to comment as not disabled myself. Food and drink - This is a major issue. The pies are ok at best, but the burgers are like cardboard and they're cold. Always. Every week. The hotdogs are average, but you have to munch through inches of rock hard, crunchy baguette before you actually get to the meat. The staff turnover there means that every week there is somebody new learning the tills or working in the BOH, so it takes forever. Get the staff trained in the off season, get some good quality pies and burgers and stop dicking about! And anything else the club can do to improve your match day experience:- Drop the ticket prices ever so slightly. If we are averaging around 18k per game, we could easily fit another 5,000 in, which would generate around £130,000 a game extra for the club. If attendences are dropping, that'd be the first thing I'd address.
On the subject of pre-match half time music, City could learn a lot from the old Ninian Park experience. I dont know if it`s changed at the new set up?
I don't think the club has any control over the food and drink do they ? Are far as i know it's just contracted to an outside company for a fee and they do whatever they want .
It is outsourced, but I think there is a certain level of control for the club. I suspect the deal will change when the contract is up at the end of next season anyway.
Almost all clubs outsource their concourse kiosks, my daughter manages five of the concourse kiosks at Man City and the same company send her off to the Galpharm and Riverside when they're short-staffed. I'm not sure who ours are now, but I think old man Blakey(I J Blakey Haulage) used to be involved in the company that ran them.
We should be changing the pre-match/build-up music every season. It used to be part of the 'new season' experience that you heard the new music for the first time and it got you all excited and ready but now it's been the same since we got to the PL, that's 4 seasons of the same music. Anyway, what the hell do you study Goochie? I wish my assignments were about City!
Parking - I go on a supporters coach or walk to the station. When i'm on the coach, it gets in an out of the car park easy enough, unless some muppet holds it up and we're waiting for the away supporters coach to leave. Can't say it's ever that bad, and i get to see the whole match. Pre match is all right for me as i'm in the OSC so can go in the sports bar. The football is always on and i can get a drink (if i wanna fork out the dosh) and listen to whoever is being interviewd, usually Stan McEwan. The downside is getting into my seat and having to listen to the usual pre match build up. As someone said, you can set your watch by it. First, it's Tyger Tyger with the operatic song mix, then there's the enforced handshakes, the techno music (i don't bother clapping cos i'm a miserable get), then it's the "good afternoon.... stand", and to cap it off the so called club anthem gets put on. Somehow, they suddenly expect the City fans to sing along to a version of a classic song you'd exepct at a Funeral. The whole Elvis bollocks needs changing asap. Half time needs more music and less of the ****e half time entertainment. Turnstiles - I get in easy enough. There's never really any queues. Food and drink - I thought the pies are getting better than the usual stuff we get delivered, but that could just be me. Usually they're so hot you can leave them under your seat for 20 minutes into the match, then open the wrapper and the insides would still be hot. Now it's quite tasty but expensive. With the burgers- i don't expect much from a catering company other than processed meat (probably all sawdust with no meat in) and a dairylea slice- so i don't get them.
Parking - I'm in the posh car park, so it never really takes long to get out, though it's a good one and a half minute walk and if it's raining they really should send someone to pick me up. Pre match and half time; do the club do enough to get you to go early/ keep you entertained at half time - The Elvis nonsense should be binned as soon as possible, it's not our song, the away fans all join in and it's getting progressively more embarrassing(as is the 'good afternoon' crap from the fat dj). At half time I go down to the bar, so I've no idea what's going on outside. Smokers - At least five Championship clubs this season have allowed the away fans out to smoke at half time, I see no reason why the same shouldn't be allowed at the KC. Premier Club members used to be allowed outside for a cig, but they banned it and if you go out now, you're not allowed back in again. Turnstiles - N/A (Premier Club members have chipped pass cards to get in) Premier Club - The Premier Club bar is okay, service is slow and the beer's no better than you get on the concourse, though the pies are usually better. The only change I'd really like to see in there, is being allowed out for a cig. Disabled supporters - If the bloke behind me doesn't stop talking bollocks, he's going end up in the disabled section(I'd leave that out the survey) Food and drink - I'd like to see our concourse kiosks handled by a local company, selling local goods like Old Mill Bitter, Cooplands pies etc, or give half of the kiosks to Bob Carvers so the away fans can sample the pleasures of the pattie. And anything else the club can do to improve your match day experience - Win.
I agree, I just need other people's opinions on it really! I do marketing management, and this is part of my customer experience module, where you pick an organisation to research, obviously City being the company I know most about it's been pretty enjoyable!
On the food and drink note, we a guest beer in our gaff the other day from the Great Newsome Brewery and it was bloody lovely. Didn't realise it was from Hull but it was ten times better than some of the other local stuff I've tried and I'd have a pint of it at half time if they get it in. (The Wellington Inn have a beer called The Beef, good God, it's terrible)
I really like that idea, St Helens have done something similar in their ground, as well as the usual beers they brew their own so it's cheaper and is actually quite nice.
Turnstiles ! Never ever,and im talking never ! Stop using turnstiles or the game will die ! Turnstiles are football !
sorry to bring in Cardiff again, but there is no way that meat pies at Ninnian Park were mass produced Ginsters type dog food. Best pies I ve had a City match to this day. Again, I dont know about the new place but I suspect that they will have sold out like everyone esle now?
