Football Clubs Should Appy Systems Thinking
British football clubs are being urged to improve customer service as the majority are accused of ignoring the needs of their fans.
The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) said that top British clubs are only paying 'lip service' to their fans because most had paid no attention to their customer charter.
In 1999, the Football Task Force Report urged every football club to adopt a customer charter but the FSF has discovered that such charters are very hard to find.
The FSF scored the charters of every Premier League and Championship team and gave them a score out of five across a range of categories to analyse how much they valued their fans.
Charters were scored on how easy they are to access, their timelines, how good they are, how clear the complaints procedure and appeals process are and whether they include the contacts for the relevant league and Independent Football Ombudsman.
Research by the FSF revealed that Tottenham Hotspur were the champions of the Premier League club charter table with a score of 31 out of a possible 35 finishing comfortably ahead of north London rivals Arsenal who posted a total of 23.
Everton finished bottom with a score of zero because their charter could not be found on their official website or on the internet but the Merseyside club said it would be made available again soon.
FSF spokesperson Amanda Jacks said that football clubs can often get away with treating their customers poorly because they are in an exceptional position due to the extreme loyalty of their fans.
She said: "Sadly many clubs just pay lip service to their supporters - a truth reflected in the attitude to charters. It's quite obvious many documents had little thought put into them and were given very low priority by clubs.
"Many fans face long waits before clubs reply to their emails or complaints, even when club websites promise swift turnaround times. It is very, very rare that a complaint we assist with has a swift and satisfactory response."
Businesses are urged to always respond to complaints as soon as possible as this will make customers feel valued and this can result in them enhancing their reputation through positive word of mouth.
Hiring performance improvement consulting experts can help a business improve customer service as they can apply systems thinking theory which will put the consumer at the heart of future strategies.
About the Author
Himsworth Consultancy is a leading management consultancy firm of senior business and consultancy professionals that specialise in improving corporate and operational performance, delivering world-class customer service improvements and offering alternatives to business and functional outsourcing. Visit http://www.himsworthconsultancy.com/ for more details.
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