Change to a New Business Model

Without going into the detail of the history of the Squash industry over the past 40 years, I believe we have gone from what was an essentially service based industry to a facility based industry.

What the hell does that mean?!

Squash enterprises were often run by families where you were just about one of the family, where as now they are seen as a facility - we have squash courts, you can come down and play here.

That was fine when there were many Squash players when Squash did not have much opposition and Squash facilities were relatively new, but is not good when facilites are often run down and Squash is not the hot ticket in town. Many other sports are in a similar situation.

So how do we change the fortunes of the industry and  sports in general?

Return to a Strong Service Based Model

If you have read any of my previous posts on this website, you will have seen the service thread running through them. Sport in general and  Squash in particular must pick up the service challenge if privately owned sports venues are to survive and prosper. Sure, multi sports venues are what will probably be the sports centre model for the future, but service will be at the heart of profitable operations.

There is no doubt that the service model costs a little more, but there are many advantages to this approach.

• When you offer great service, the quality of the facility has less of a bearing on participation (this is important at present with many tired facilities)
• Great service will differentiate sports from the many other recreational/entertainment pursuits available today
• It provides the incentive, that many people with busy lifestyles need, to stay physically active
• You can charge more for services that have a strong service element. People are willing to pay for being looked after.
• Those who provide service can identify peoples needs much better, and so can retain their customers for longer.
• Word of mouth is very cheap in terms of marketing. More service means more referrals and lower marketing costs.
• Better service increases loyalty meaning more associated purchases will be made through the sports venue, not through other outlets

Unfortunately the sports industry does not have a great hold on what service actually means in 2008. It is far more than a friendly smile. Service staff need to be proactive in serving their customers. In this world of choice, we need to find ways of grabbing customers, not wait until they fall into our arms. Luckily, solutions are closer than we think.

At present we generally do not recognise our casual customers as potential regulars when serving them, quite often more as a nuisance who are stopping us from taking care of our clubbies. We need to approach this sector of the market in a very organised way to ensure we maximise the transition from casual to regular. The casual base is at least 10 times the number of regulars, it is a very fertile market.

These are people who enjoy participating at our sports venues. They are also a link to an even bigger market, the potentials, a market that is perhaps 10 times bigger again. Small gains in these larger makets mean big increases in participation. Grab 5.0% of our casual market and 0.5% of the potentials market and we double our regular customer base.

Smart Space is Built for Service

Smart Space provides tools which assist sports venue operators to manage the relationships with their customers a lot better. You can deliver better service with less effort. You can communicate with all your customers cheaply and easily. Smart Space helps you work on winning them over. 

Check out some of the previous posts to see some of the results I have had with this approach and see if you are interested in profiting from changing to a service based business model. Together with Smart Space, Strachan Sports Services have proven strategies that work. If you are interested in how to make it happen, contact me through the link above.

Raymond Strachan