9 Promotion and customer service

Learning Objectives

  • Define promotion in the context of the sports industry and identify different types of promotional strategies used to engage with fans and build brand awareness.
  • Discuss the role of customer service in the sports industry and explain the concept of service encounters, including the elements that make for a successful service encounter.
  • Evaluate different approaches for managing and dealing with customers, including best practices for handling customer complaints and resolving conflicts.

Introduction

In the realm of sport marketing, promotion and customer service hold great significance. Promotion involves generating consciousness and curiosity in a sport-related product or service through various methods such as advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and direct marketing, with the ultimate aim of persuading people to purchase it. On the other hand, customer service relates to the way a product or experience is sold to the fans. It involves all the activities and processes involved in ensuring that the customers receive the best possible experience with the product or service. Remember that the quality of customer service can greatly impact the overall success of a sport product or service!

Promotion

Promotion is the plan of action which helps to diffuse the information to increase the sale capacity. Drawing on Brassington & Pettitt textbook “Principals of Marketing” [1], Kumar and Patra in an article written in 2017 classify “promotion” into five components these are especially: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Public Relations, Personal Selling, and Direct Marketing [2].

 

There has been considerable talk surrounding the AFLW’s decision to provide free tickets to fans during the 2020 season as a promotion strategy. As outlined in the article below, the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) lack of a ticketing system has led to some issues. While the AFL had previously offered free entry to women’s games to allow the competition to establish its supporter base, some say that this approach may actually hinder the growth of the AFLW. Concerns have been raised about whether it might be beneficial for the AFLW to begin offering tickets for certain games, such as the season opener, to reduce fan anxiety regarding capacity limitations.

Are free tickets (Sales Promotion) a problem for women’s sport?

This 2020 article highlights how giving away free tickets can be problematic. Have a read.

AFLW’s free games without tickets are proving to be a surprising problem for fans[3]

The AFLW claimed at the time this article was written was that ticketing would create a price barrier, which could deter potential fans from attending. However, this claim seems unfounded as fans regularly express their desire to contribute financially to the game, as evidenced by their willingness to purchase player sponsorships and club memberships. Furthermore, the lack of ticketing also provides ammunition for critics of the league, who argue that the AFLW lacks support because games are free to attend.

We know that a focus on crowd numbers can be misleading and fail to recognise the underlying issues faced by women’s sport, such as gender equity and LGBTIQ inclusivity.

Let’s discuss this in class!

So we can see that in the sport industry, having a solid promotion strategy and understanding the target market is crucial for success. A well-designed promotion strategy can help sports organisations effectively reach and engage with their target audience, such as fans, athletes, or other stakeholders (like sponsors, NGO’s or Government). This strategy can encompass various techniques, such as advertising, social media marketing, and event promotion.

However, in order to make these “promotional methods” work, it is essential you have a clear understanding of the target market and their motivations (see how the weeks are linking together!).

By identifying their interests, preferences, and needs, sports organisations can tailor their promotion strategies to effectively connect with their audience and build meaningful relationships. Ultimately, a strong promotion strategy that is well-suited to the target market can lead to increased visibility, engagement, and revenue in the sport industry.

But remember – a promotion strategy without good customer service and follow up will likely fall flat on its face.

Sales and selling strategies: Customer service

As sports management students, it’s important to understand the significance of customer service in the highly competitive sports industry. When I interviewed past students from our sports management program last year a lot of them (after graduation) worked in customer service roles. However, some of them expressed that they didn’t feel adequately prepared for the unique challenges of dealing with customers. So this week has been designed to give you some tips and tricks in managing customers and hitting the mark when it comes to customer service.

Two people in a customer transaction
Two people in a customer transaction

Providing excellent customer service is not only essential in building and maintaining a loyal fan base, but it also has the potential to increase revenue and brand loyalty. Academics have described “service encounters” as “the direct interaction between a service operation and its customer/client[4].

In the sports industry, providing quality service encounter is crucial for attracting and retaining customers- whatever the business is! According to Lewis and Entwistle (1990)[5], there are several areas of customer service that are essential for successful service encounters.

  • Firstly, process, procedural, and technical skills are important for ensuring that the services provided meet customers’ needs and expectations. This includes having a thorough understanding of the products and services offered, as well as the ability to efficiently and effectively carry out tasks related to customer service[6].
  • Secondly, interpersonal or “people skills” are vital for creating positive and engaging service encounters. This involves having the ability to communicate effectively with customers, establish rapport and build relationships, and provide personalised service to meet individual needs[7].
  • Thirdly, behavioural flexibility and adaptability are critical for handling a range of customer interactions and situations. This includes being able to adjust communication and service approaches to suit different customers and scenarios, as well as being able to handle and resolve customer complaints or issues[8].
  • Lastly, empathy is a key element of customer service in the sports industry, as it involves understanding and responding to customers’ emotions and concerns. This can include actively listening to customers, showing compassion and understanding, and providing emotional support when needed[9].

Now, let’s test your understanding of these concepts

 

Applying this insight, have a look at the following example which explored how important customer service was to those working in the physical health (gym) industry.

Selling Gym Memberships

In recent years, fitness centres have become increasingly popular in the sports industry, as people have become more focused on health and wellness. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global fitness industry had experienced steady growth, with millions of people worldwide actively using fitness services[10].

Multiple studies have discussed how the fitness services (like gyms, workout-classes etc.) rely heavily on social interactions, such as interactions between staff and customers, and between customers themselves[11][12].

In this weeks additional reading titled “Service encounter and repurchase intention in fitness centres: perceived value as a mediator and service innovativeness as a moderator”[13] explores these issues and gives us some valuable insights into this important area of customer service.

In this study, the researchers aimed to investigate the impact of service encounters on customers’ perceptions and behaviours in fitness centres. Specifically, they examined the relationship between service encounters, perceived value, service innovativeness, and repurchase intention. The study involved 806 participants who were members of fitness centres in Taiwan.

The study found that when customers have good experiences with fitness centre employees, they are more likely to think the service is worth the price and come back again. It also found that when the fitness centre introduces new and innovative services, this makes the customers feel like they’re getting more value from their experience with the employees and the overall fitness company.

 

Dealing with customers

Customer service is one of the most critical components of sport management, as the success of any sports organisation is ultimately determined by the satisfaction of its customers. This section aims to provide an overview of how to effectively deal with customers- including providing you some strategies for building rapport with customers, addressing customer concerns, and resolving customer complaints.

Be it known now – we will be doing some role playing in class this week, so make sure you watch the video[14] and come prepared to be both the “cranky customer” and “caring and competent staff” across multiple scenarios!

 

One of the best ways to deal with customers who may not be in the best mood is tricky. In an article written by SBCC Small Business British Columbia titled “10 Tips for Dealing with Customers“[15] they give us some great tips in approaching customers when in a customer facing role. I have taken their 10 tips and adapted them for you to the sport industry.

 

Make sure you go over these before class this week as we will be practicing these with multiple scenarios in our workshop. 

Media Attributions

  1. Brassington, F & Pettit, S 2000, Principles of Marketing, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Harlow, UK. ↵
  2. Kumar, S & Patra, S, 2017, 'Does promotion mix really help to enhance brand equity: A literature review', Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 80-6. ↵
  3. O'Halloran, K 2020, 'AFLW's free games without tickets are proving to be a suprising problem for fans', ABC News, 10 February, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-10/aflw-no-tickets-a-problem/11949354>. ↵
  4. Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  5. Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  6. Adapted from Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  7. Adapted from Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  8. Adapted from Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  9. Adapted from Lewis, BR & Entwistle, TW 1990, 'Managing the service encounter: A focus on the employee', International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 41-52. ↵
  10. Moxham, C & Wiseman, F 2009, 'Examining the development, delivery and measurement of service quality in the fitness industry: A case study', Total Quality Management, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 467-82. ↵
  11. Nathan, RJ, Tan, PK & Victor, V 2022, 'Fitness trainers’ physical attractiveness and gym goers’ exercise intention', International Journal of Business and Society, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 496-517. ↵
  12. Amjad, T 2020, 'Contemporary challenges in entrepreneurial marketing: development of a new pedagogy model', Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 1-22. ↵
  13. Wang, FJ & Chiu, W 2023, 'Service encounter and repurchase intention in fitness centers: perceived value as a mediator and service innovativeness as a moderator', International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 145-67. ↵
  14. Skillsoft YouTube 2019, Handling Customer Complaints: Defusing Frustration, 22 August, online video, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WphIXqTp_es>. ↵
  15. SBBC, 10 Tips for Dealing with Customers, <https://smallbusinessbc.ca/article/ten-tips-dealing-customers/>. ↵

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