Svend Elkjaer - Sports Marketing Network

Can community sports clubs really deliver the required growth?

2011-02-11T14:04:00.002Z

I have just returned from the Danish Sports Federation's congress which focused on the 'Future of the Sports Club'. With 500 delegates primarily from local authorities, sports governing bodies and major community sports clubs there was a lively and frank debate, which I can imagine that some of the 'stalwarts' most have found a little uncomfortable. Terms like 'innovation' and 'commercial' are not normal bedfellows of the volunteer-based community sports club.

The background is that in Denmark the number of people playing sport in the traditional sports club is, at best, stagnating. However, the number of people enjoying sport and physical activity in commercial facilities and through self-organised sport is rising. Even big Danish traditional sports like badminton and handball where the national teams have been performing really well internationally (the Danish men just came second in the World Cup) are seeing declining participation, whereas skateboarding is seeing growth.

In a country where the local community club or community group has traditionally been a real hub for the communities some of these are facing challenges as responding to the changes in social structures, working patterns, lifestyle choices and the meteoric rise in the use of social media...and this event certainly addressed those issues.

All praise must go to the organisers for a putting forward some challenging presentations and topics and not too many politicians and dignitaries reciting policies...really refreshing.

Over the next postings I will highlight the most interesting lessons and try and draw lessons relevant to the UK.

Provide better and more welcoming experiences - the (only?) way forward for sport and leisure

2011-01-22T13:54:00.000Z

Many sports and leisure providers are reporting stagnant, or even declining, gates and membership. In most cases they blame somebody or something else - like the recession, TV or the internal enemies: the mobile and the computer. Of course, external factors do play a role but you simply have to accept that you are competing with many activities for people's time and money - you just have to provide a better experience.

We believe and increasingly research proves it that you simply have to, consistently, provide consumer experiences that people will want to join - and pay for as customers. Because that's what they are: Customers. Regardless of whether you are coaching in a leisure centre, trying to attract 50 more people to a rugby match at your local club, running a leisure centre or CEO of a major professional club, you can grow by focusing on your customers. Listen to them and provide them with a better experience. And the good news is that it does not have to cost a penny.

We are all becoming 'demanding' customers and fan loyalty cannot be taken for granted; it has to be earned. Considering that almost 30% of the UK population has posted a message on a consumer website, you can only wonder what people would say about the customer experiences at their local club or centre.

So what is the situation right now?

British Gymnastics have just released a Dropout Survey which looks into why gymnasts leave the sport and the key reason is that gymnasts found the sessions ‘boring/repetitive’.

“They just did the same thing every week and the classes were very big so it was on a sort of a circuit. So I could see they were getting bored when it was the same thing each week”
(Mother of 7-year-old recreational level girl)

Parents and former gymnasts were asked what could have been done to retain their participation? The main things were:

1. more feedback between coaches, gymnasts and parents;
2. sessions to be more fun/less serious
3. an equal focus on all children
4. more targets/rewards for participation
5. coaches to be more encouraging
6. provision of more opportunities for boys.

The Effective Practice case study findings indicate that recreational gymnasts in particular, are more likely to continue to stay in gymnastics when they have fun and enjoy themselves, have opportunities to demonstrate their skills and are listened to.

In addition, the case studies confirmed that the quality of coaching is a hugely influential factor in retaining young people within gymnastics.

The most important reasons for leaving gymnastics according to parents were ‘didn’t like the coaches’, ‘boring/repetitive’ and ‘no longer enjoyed it’.

Congratulations to BG for producing this ground-breaking research. I have to say I am convinced that the issue of coaches not listening or even thinking of how they can make their sessions more inspiring and welcoming is the same across all sport. Sorry coaches, but it had to be said.

And there is also plenty of scope for improvement at our professional clubs. Premiership Rugby has just released the findings from a survey of 12,000 existing rugby union fans (not the lapsed ones).

The survey revealed that the average attendance in the Premiership had fallen by four% on last season to 12,478 while during the same period crowds at the French Top 14 championship have risen by 2.5% to 12,150. As far as I know the French consumer is also suffering, so we can't blame 'the recession'.

43% of fans feel that the clubs do not listen to them and feel they are being taken for granted (remember these do not include any lapsed fans).

One interesting fact is that the sport has failed to attract women in significant numbers since 2004. Six years ago 19% expressed affection for rugby. Last year the figure was much the same at 18%.

The lack of progress is all the more galling because broadening the supporter base has been a key goal of Premier Rugby, with the Big Game concept, pioneered by Harlequins and Saracens and soon to be repeated by Sale at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium, engineered specifically to encourage greater family participation. “Given that 50% of the population is female, the more you attract the more you grow,” Mark McCafferty CEO of Premiership Rugby said. “If we attract more women, we might open ourselves up to new sponsors who want to get involved and who want more balanced demographics. And, obviously, children are the next generation of rugby supporters.”

But it’s not just women who are proving difficult to entice.Young men are similarly diffident. One of the more startling trends coming out of the questionnaire is a five% fall in men aged 34 or under who consider themselves rugby fans. The fact that 34 is seen in rugby supporter terms as ‘young’, is worrying enough, but not as alarming as the decrease in that category from 24% in 2006 and 23% in 2008 to 18% last year.

I would like to suggest that many newcomers to rugby union find the rules confusing (what's the difference between a ruck and maul?). But the same thing applies to most sports: A rugby league mother was dragged to a basketball match for the first time by her other son. After two quarters she went for the exit, believing the game was over - embarrassment all round. No-one had explained to her that there were four quarters. She is now a committee member at the club.

Another key aspect which deters in particular females from attending sports facilities is the state of the toilets. I know of far too many horror stories and here's what Tony Rowe, Chief Executive of newly promoted Exeter says: "Some of the toilet facilities at some of the Premiership grounds leave a lot to be desired".

This problem is widespread

"I have brought my wife and some friends down here and they won't come back. They complain about the smelly toilets, the lousy food and they don't understand what is happening on the track.
I just love the sport. I would pay for them to join me"
Wealthy, die-hard member of £ 500.00 per season Premium Club at top speedway club

Phil Hogg, avid rugby union supporter in letter to The Guardian: "The BBC only gets interested in rugby nationally when internationals come around, November and the Six Nations. The latter starts next month on a Friday night in Cardiff where England face Wales, kick-off 7.45pm. Those travelling from a distance on public transport will have to spend the night in the Welsh capital because they will be lucky to get a train back.

Those opting to drive will have to arrive in plenty of time or park outside the city centre. The council luminaries have decided to dig up Castle Street again after inconveniencing traders and motorists in the autumn. A pre-rush hour wait in the jam on Tuesday was 40 minutes. Welcome to Wales."

Welcoming clubs have more members and make more money.

Yes, there is a clear financial case for providing an excellent experience at your club or centre. Happy customers spend more money, attend more matches or sessions, bring more friends etc. We are not suggesting that performance on the pitch or technical coaching skills are not important - but many people attend sports not just for the sport, but also to enjoy the camaraderie and atmosphere of live sport in their community.

It is almost frightening to consider that if you retain 90% of your fans/members year after year, after four years you will have lost 34.4% of your original fan base. In our experience very few clubs do indeed have a retention rate that high, so the financial incentive to provide great customer experiences is certainly a strong one.

How to move forward

All our experience tells us that in order for customer-facing staff or volunteers to be able to provide excellent customer servic, senior management must create, nourish and support a customer focused culture. Excellent customer service does not sit in isolation from the rest of the organisation and the "customer comes first" should not just be an empty statement, but a way of life for everybody at your club or centre.

It is all about producing great moments of truth. It is a moment of truth when an interaction that can leave a lasting positive or negative impression on a customer occurs between a customer and a staff-member or club volunteer.

Understanding the moments of truth that are important to an organisation's customers - by different groups - is the key to understanding what is great customer service.

Now look around your club or facility and ask yourself:

1. Do the people who come here have a really great experience they tell their friends about?
2. When was the last time we had a thorough look at how we treat our customers?
3. Do we engage with members constantly and listen to them and not just when they cancel their membership or season ticket? (at that point it is normally too late)

Then go to other sports providers and see how they perform and, if you want see how it should be done go to a Disney resort and be amazed!

SMN works with various sports providers helping them improve their consumer experience. We run Welcome Sport workshops, do 'mystery shopping' and provide straight-forward, hands-on, positive advice. If you want to have a chat about how we can help, just get in touch on 01423 326 660 or email svend@smnuk.com.

From School Sports Partnerships to Community Sports Enterprises

2010-12-15T07:43:00.000Z

The announcement that funding for School Sports Partnerships (SSPs) would be withdrawn with effect from 31st March 2011 has been met with universal and strong criticism across sport. As with so many areas within sport in Britain there has never been a proper assessment and review as to whether they delivered value for money, whether they had outlived their usefulness and whether all 450 of them were well-functioning enterprises.

Of course, people have got the right to sign petitions and write letters of protest to their MPs but in my humble opinion it will not make any difference to the Government's decision to withdraw the direct funding of the SSPs.

Let me now offer you another school of thought: For four years SSPs have had pump prime funding and now they have to learn how to become self-reliant, sustainable enterprises.

SSPs should regard this situation not as their death warrant, but as a huge opportunity to learn from the social enterprise sector and use their relationships, skills and assets to transform themselves and become community sports enterprises - serving not just schools, but their whole community. But how?

According to the Social Enterprise Coalition: "Social enterprises are business organisations that trade in the market with a social purpose". They are enterprises which are developed and constituted to fulfil a particular social or community purpose. Their profits are reinvested towards those social or community purposes, and they are normally owned and managed by the members of the community in question.

Setting up the legal framework to function as a social enterprise through becoming a Company Limited by Guarantee or a Community Interest Company is the easy bit. The main challenge is to develop the enterprise culture and skills required and I do appreciate that this is a big leap for many people working in sports development, but one that has to be taken.

Matt Hilton, Director of Specialism at Fleetwood Sports College and Partnership Development Manager at Wyre & Fylde SSP, is one of the many people working within SSPs who feels now is the time to seize the day: " Following the devastating news from the CSR, it is true to say that SSPs are going through the 7 stages of grieving: shock, denial, anger, guilt, sorrow, acceptance and engagement.

The biggest challenge for SSPs is to accept, engage, adapt and realign their services to meet the needs of existing and potential clients. There is scope for new ways of working in the form of a social enterprise with SSP's becoming a 'buy in service' that offers bespoke services and products that are value for money. Indeed, it could be said that SSPs have operated under the auspices of a social enterprise with their aims and objectives and surplus monies being reinvested for the benefit of children and young people.

One thing is for sure, SSP staff will have to think creatively and be entrepreneurial in developing new ways of working in order to generate new income streams. This will be underpinned through maintaining and building positive relationships with new and existing partners.

If SSPs can make the transition in doing things differently...doing different things, then a highly skilled leadership and management network will continue to transform the lives of young people and the wider community."

So how could this work? Well-functioning SSPs will have developed a number of initiatives which will have a value for schools, children, parents and the community as a whole. In some cases you would now have to negotiate payment directly with each school and other partners; in other cases you could charge participants and their parents. (People are quite happy to pay for good sporting and customer experiences - just ask the 400,000+ people who play 5 and 6-a-side football every week).

Yes, this means that they are now becoming customers and will have to be treated as such; - you are becoming an enterprise and will have to act accordingly.

Then consider the many changes we are seeing in delivery of community services with asset transfer and commissioning of services and the scope for enterprising SSPs become even greater. With Big Society on the doorstep the opportunities are going to be plentiful.

Also, there are many other potential community partners than schools. One example.

There are 1,900 housing associations in Britain with around 5 million tenants. Most of these partner with local community groups, partly because they are keen to encourage their tenants to engage with their community and partly because it is in their interests to keep their tenants active. So sport and physical activity is an obvious partner. Indeed we know of four housing associations which employ their own sports development officers.

One case-study: INCommunities is the former housing department of Bradford Council. When SMN helped Bradford Dragons Basketball Club to convert into a social enterprise INCommunities attended the launch and as a result a partnership between the two was forged. Consequently, the Dragons run basketball coaching sessions for the tenants in the wards, tenants get subsidised tickets to the Dragons Summer Camp and discounted tickets to the Dragons' first team home games. The total value of this package to the Dragons is £26,000, which is a lot of money for a small club like the Dragons.

An enterprising SSP could deliver a similar programme.

Also community sports enterprises should be delivering community activity and leisure in the communities, not just schools. What about Pushy Mums programmes where mums pay £3 to run with their buggies in organised groups or Doggy Walks (the one in South Shields attracts 18,000 people once a year who walk 3.5 miles with their pooches and it has raised £3.2m for charity over 15 years)?

The Big Society and sport...how sport and active leisure providers can play a key role for their communities and develop as social enterprises

2010-07-29T06:16:00.000+01:00

The Big Society and sport

The third sector, particularly social enterprise, has moved into the policy mainstream in recent years. Under the Labour government social enterprises were regarded as potential deliverers and civic activism, community capacity and cohesion. The Coalition government is continuing on this path with the Big Society emerging as an early important theme.

The Coalition plans include giving communities more powers and rights to manage local assets and services, training a generation of community organisers and growing the size of the role of the third sector. Early policy statements (see below) emphasise the role of social enterprises, supporting the growth of existing ones and the establishment of new ones.

The Cabinet Office recently announced how the Coalition will Support co-ops, mutuals, charities and social enterprises:

We will support the creation and expansion of mutuals, co-operatives, charities and social enterprises, and support these groups to have much greater involvement in the running of public services.

We will use funds from dormant bank accounts to establish a Big Society Bank, which will
provide new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other non governmental bodies.

Sport in the UK generates a lot of social capital. It builds bridging capital, bringing communities together, breaking down racial and social prejudices – indeed it is in many sports clubs’ financial interests. Sport also creates bonding capital – clubs and teams help people find identity and purpose, in essence they help them belong. It gets people active, keeps young people of the street and develop hubs for their communities.

However, community sport is regarded by many people in the Third Sector as isolated and solely focused on 'sport for sport's sake' and as much part of the problem as part of the solution. Also, it has to be said that a number of leading people in sport adopt a rather puritan approach and advocate that society/Government should support sport through grants because of the good sport does in itself.

There seems to be massive scope for improving the communication and relationship between sport and the third sector and for sport to play a strong role in the Big Society where it should be integral and not just a spectator. And there are indeed many cases where sports clubs are playing key roles in their communities and deliver key services through their sport. These clubs almost inevitably become vibrant, visible and viable community sport enterprises as a result.

But how to develop these relationships? How to play that strong role in the Big Society without losing sight of the sporting aspect? How to develop a common purpose and language between sport and its community partners? Can all this be achieved within voluntary community sports clubs or do we have to develop separate community sport enterprises? How do we develop a better understanding within sports bodies of how to engage with their communities? For many people in sport being part of the Big Society represents a huge cultural change and for many in the third sector community sport is still regarded as 'the odd one out.'

What impressions and experiences are you providing?

2010-07-27T12:32:00.000+01:00

Most of the big retailers, but also pubs and hotels employ what is known as Mystery Shoppers. These are people who are paid by the retailers to assess how the shops look through the eyes of a shopper and feed that information back to the company to help it focus on the areas where is should develop its customer service.

So what would a mystery shopper report on your club or centre? We suggest you, if possible, get mystery shoppers of different ages, gender and backgrounds to visit your club or centre, anonymously, and observe and report back. The questionnaire below might be a useful tool.

ClubCheck Questionnaire (could be used by Mystery Shoppers)

First impressions and welcome

1. Is the club well sign-posted externally?

2. Is the access/parking easy?

3. Does public transport stop near club?

4. Welcoming exterior? E.g. flowers, plants, litter free...

5. Is the club well-sign posted externally?

6. Exterior appearance of club:

i. Clean and well maintained
ii. Modest/unremarkable
iii. Unkempt/untidy

7. Pre-match/training involvement

i. Made to feel welcome and included
ii. Only superficial interest
iii. Felt awkward/like an outsider

8. Are the toilets clean?

9. Is there comfortable seating?

10. Bar/coffee shop: How does it compare with Starbucks and Wetherspoon?

Service

11. Is the guidance on what is going on a the club

i. Very clear
ii. Adequate
iii. Limited
iv. Non-existent

12. Is the atmosphere at training sessions/matches

i. Great
ii. Acceptable
iii. Bad

13. Do people speak to each other?

14. Did I receive follow up information about the club and its activities?

15. Did somebody ask me for my contact details to ensure I receive follow up emails/texts?

16. Food and drink: Is there a

i. Great selection
ii. Nothing unusual
iii. No thank you

Overall

17. Is the overall sense of ‘welcome’ and ‘community?

i. Community involvement/activities mentioned/discussed

ii. People are engaging with each other
iii. Little interaction outside the sport aspects

18. Would you return to this club?

i. Definitely, excellent experience

ii. Encourages a return – good experience
iii. Uninspiring experience
iv. Poor experience, would discourage a return
19. The overall club visit makes visitors feel

i. Comfortable, involved and genuinely welcome

ii. Reasonably comfortable
iii. Accepted but as an outsider
iv. Unwelcome, excluded or uncomfortable

20. Would a non-sport person (a partner/parent etc. feel welcome and included)?

Important: People from different sections of society, age groups, genders etc. will probably experience your club in different ways and you should be careful not just to ask your own friends to ‘mystery shop’, but if possible try and get people from different age groups and backgrounds involved.

Spotting and exploiting opportunities in sport and active leisure

2010-06-29T09:16:00.000+01:00

"An opportunity is a real ingredient in your organisation, just like staff or computers...

but it only exists when you can see it"

Sports Marketing Network introduces the Opportunity Search...the tool which can

• help you develop your organisation's culture and skills

• help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your organisation

• help you identify your opportunity space based on your skills and culture

• help you identify cost-saving and revenue-generating activities

• help you assess and decide on which of the above you should implement

More than ever before people in sport and leisure are being asked to do more with less. It isn't easy.

Many organisations are tackling this challenge with cost cutting initiatives without really making any changes to the way they operate. What's the net gain? Not much in the way of unique added value for your customers. At the same time to many people are too busy solving the everyday short-term problems that they ignore the important medium and long-term opportunities and therefore they rarely get ahead. With fewer resources available this then becomes a vicious circle. If you only come up with solutions when the problem is 'blocking the road' you will always be panicking and fire fighting.

The trick is to spot practical opportunities everywhere in your organisation and to explore them. Some people and organisation in the sport and active leisure sector have been very successful in spotting and exploiting opportunities whereas others, often from within top-heavy, centralised organisations have found it very difficult to be innovative.

Many do not regard opportunities as something they need to focus on and certainly not an area where they need to devote any specific time and effort. They will have to introduce a formal focusing procedure which requires the organisation to spend time and resources...hence the Opportunity Search. Often people are trained to solve problems as they arise. The notion of throwing up ideas for no good reason is alien to many and those ideas are rarely used as few organisations know 'how to handle new ideas.' This is why the notion of the Opportunity Search is such a great one as it provides a framework that excites and focuses the creativity of the executives.

Opportunities could include introducing a new activity, say samurai aerobics, or improving your booking process to speed up time. Or you could identify a staff member with great social media skills and get them to develop better ways of engaging with your customers, or develop a community programme, sponsored by the local housing association or save £ '000.000 by refurbishing an empty warehouse and set up a inline skating/BMX centre (as opposed to building a facility from scratch). The list goes on...it is all about improving the vibrancy, visibility and viability of the organisation.

department with a Local Authority to start embarking on database marketing if the skills to do so are not available.

How our canine friends can help you raise your profile, generate income, involve the community and get more people more active

2010-06-23T09:56:00.000+01:00

According to Census data 21% of UK households own a dog and various estimates based on consumer research suggest the total number of dogs in Britain exceed 10 (ten) million. For many people the main exercise they get is walking their dog so therefore it is not surprising that we are seeing some great initiatives using our relationship with our furry friends. Here are two initiatives which are relatively easy to replicate:

The Great North Dog Walk 2010 breaks world record

The World record for the greatest ever Doggy Walk was set on Sunday 13th June in South Shields, Newcastle. 18,113 dogs (of 178 breeds) and their owners enjoyed the 3.5 mile (5.6km) walk which follows a coastal route along the cliffs with magnificent sea views. There were four different routes of varying lengths to cater for everyone within the community and over varying surfaces like grass, gravel and concrete. This therefore allowed for baby buggies, wheelchairs, the young, the elderly, disabled and also older dogs to support this world record attempt.

Whilst the emphasis of the event is on participation and enjoyment if you want to you can enter competitions on fastest runner, fastest junior and fastest senior.

The Great North Dog Walk is the brain-child of Tony Carlisle and was founded by him in 1990, when a couple of hundred dogs participated. Tony is a college teacher who has won the United Kingdom Fund-Raiser of the Year on three occasions and has raised over £4.2m for charitable causes.

As you can tell from the website http://www.greatnorthdogwalk.co.uk/GNDW/index.htm the whole atmosphere on the day is truly great.

Anybody with access to a decent size piece of land for start area and a route for the walk can start up a doggy, whether you are a leisure centre or sports club. Whereas the Great North Dog Walk raises money for dog-related charities I would suggest that your local Doggy Walk

1. links up with local pet/dog rescue home and share the money raised 50/50 between your club's community programme and the rescue home

2. links up with local dog walkers, pet shops, dog groomers, vets and other pet related organisations. Even the Police dog handlers could do a demo (and your poodle could become an honorary police dog for the day!).

3. Invites local dog-owning celebs to start the walk

How CaniX - (running with your dog to you and me) keeps growing

CaniX is the term used to describe the sport of cross country running with dogs, Originated in Europe as off-season training for the mushing (sledding) community, it has become popular as a stand-alone sport all over Europe, especially in the UK. Canix is closely related to bikejorring, where participants cycle with their dog and skijoring, where participants ski rather than run.

Canix can be run with one or two dogs, always attached to the runner. The runner typically wears a waist belt, the dog a harness, and the two are joined by a bungee cord or elastic line that reduces shock to both human and dog when the dog pulls.

Originally canix dogs were of sledding or spitz types such as the husky but now all breeds have begun taking part. Not only can all breeds run but people of all ages and abilities can take part. Including children and the disabled such as the visually impaired. Some breeds are very well suited to not only running and pulling but running at steady pace over a long distance. Canix is now not only a great way for the runner to keep fit, but great for the dogs too. It encourages people and their dogs to take part in outdoor activity and meet other like minded individuals.

Many participants also report that the company of their dogs alleviate the boredom when running alone.

Previous events have included vision impaired entrants running with a human guide, hearing impaired entrants running with their Hearing Dogs, people who have had a triple heart by pass, 10km/ marathon/ ultra-endurance athletes, to kids, have-a-goes and those that just love to do things with their dogs.

In conjunction with Natural England’s green exercise initiative in Swindon, CaniX UK is setting up a pilot CaniX scheme at grass roots level. As well as several permanent courses across the borough, regular training sessions will be held to make CaniX more accessible to all. Following appraisal similar schemes will be set up across the UK.

CaniX is planning to host the European Canix Championship to coincide with the 2012 Olympics. They are currently looking for suitable venues to host the competition with teams from ten countries.

Have a look on www.canix.co.uk and get inspired on how to get running with Buster and Fido!

How our canine friends can help you raise your profile, generate income, involve the community and get more people more active

2010-06-22T08:30:00.000+01:00

14 ways to kill creativity

2010-06-15T12:38:00.000+01:00

1. Play if safe
2. Know your limitations. Pigeonhole yourself.
3. It's just a job after all
4. Show you are the smartest guy in town
5. Be the tough guy. Ask for data and evidence
6. Respect history and legacy
7. Crash early ideas
8. Been there, done that. YOU have the experience
9. Keep your eyes closed
10. Assume there is no problem
11. Be wise. Don't rock the boat
12. Underestimate your customers. What do they know?
13. Be suspicious of those creative guys, they always want to change and improve
14. Be grown-up and just do your work

That will do the job and you can go back to sleep!

Spotting and exploiting opportunities in sport and active leisure - 14 notes, ideas and suggestions

2010-06-10T17:43:00.001+01:00

1. Many, many years ago, the British Admiralty turned down the invention of the wireless telegraphy because the noble Sea Lords were quite content with their system of using men on hilltops to signal to each other using semaphore flags

2. Many people and organisation in the sport and active leisure sector have been very successful in spotting and exploiting opportunities whereas others, often from within top-heavy, centralised organisations have found it very difficult to be innovative.

3. You need to combine method and motivation. Method without motivation ends up on shelf and motivation without method is ineffective

4. You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper. "We have always done it this way" approach will not help you develop compelling propositions

5. Ideas without information are pretty worthless. Information without ideas can still be useful. The best of all is abundant information, supplemented by ideas. The mistake which so many people make, is to assume that collecting more information will do away with the need for ideas

6. Often people are trained to solve problems as they arise. The notion of throwing up ideas for no good reason is alien to many and those ideas are rarely used as few organisations know 'how to handle new ideas.' This is why the notion of the Opportunity Search is such a great one as it provides a framework that excites and focuses the creativity of the executives

7. Many people are too busy solving the everyday short-term problems that they ignore the important medium and long-term opportunities and therefore they rarely get ahead

8. Re-active thinking includes problem-solving and judgement, whereas pro-active thinking includes creativity and opportunity-seeking. Problem-solving without opportunity-seeking leads to stagnation and decline

9. If you only come up with solutions when the problem is 'blocking the road' you will always be panicking and fire fighting

10. If the penalty for coming up with an idea that didn't work is bigger than the reward for coming up with a great idea - the no one will be putting forward any ideas.

11. Badly run organisations tend to assume that all their troubles are external (the economy, the government, regulations, etc) and that there is nothing wrong with their thinking. Successful ones feel they are successful because of the competence of their thinking, culture and skills and they regard external problems as difficulties to overcome.

12. Complacent organisations do not learn nor study. Why bother yourself with that new stuff if you already know everything? Complacency is not usually the characteristic of someone who is genuinely interested in a subject

13. Too many people find uncertainty uncomfortable and take the "Don't waste time dabbling in what might be but get on with what is". Since opportunity search involves uncertainty at least at two stages - the uncertainty of even finding an area of opportunity and the uncertainty that it will prove invaluable - such minds are reluctant to get involved in an opportunity search.

14. With a problem you search for the solution, with an opportunity you search for the benefit.

How can 'the establishment' help grow community sports deliverers?

2010-06-04T08:23:00.000+01:00

Here are some areas where I personally believe we could support innovative sports deliverers:

1. Allocate funds, away from NGB funding, for small-scale innovative programmes

2. Don't be so afraid of people making a living out delivering community sport

3. Have high profile, one-stop shops, probably linking up Business Link and local authority sports developments, where budding community sports entrepreneurs can get advice and support

4. Accept that not everything can be planned from the core and accept that in many cases the community knows best

5. Gather best practice and share it

6. Dare

Should we leave the delivery of sport and active leisure to the community?

2010-06-03T12:17:00.000+01:00

Should we leave the delivery of sport and active leisure to the community?

An increasing number of really good and innovative work in delivering sport and active recreation is now been delivered by social and comm entrepreneurs. They discover a need, engage with partners and possible customers, deal with all the obstacles (from planning to funding) and somehow they get it off the ground. Their innovative and entrepreneurial approach helps them to overcome the obstacles and deliver great sporting experiences.

Many of these entrepreneurs report of the lack of support and sometimes almost obstacles being put in the way by 'the establishment' if what they do not fit in with some policy decided centrally.

Just ask the people at Adrenaline Alley in Corby, probably Britain's most successful urban sports facility (run from a former chicken factory) or Keighley Table Tennis Centre which is located on a floor of a former textile mill. Yes, now they are successful they are getting a lot of interest, but you ask them about the hurdles they had to go through to when they started out...

Also, there does not seem to be anywhere where these people can go and ask for advice and support. They seem to be sitting somewhere between sports development, social enterprise and community services and therefore seem to be left to their own devices. One part of Britain where they can get dedicated support is in Yorkshire where SMN are accredited by Business Link to deliver social enterprise and Leadership and Management support to sports deliverers that want to develop. But, as far as we know this is the only part of the country where such a programme exists.

So how can 'the establishment' help grow community sports deliverers? Read more tomorrow.

What future for delivery of sport and active leisure?

2010-06-02T14:21:00.002+01:00

What future for delivery of sport and active leisure?

The way that we deliver sport and active leisure is a constantly evolving, a process which is being accelerated by the toughening economic climate, changes in people’s lifestyles, constant development in the way we use mobile and social media and the growing uncertainty in the political landscape.

Many people within the sector are unclear on how to react to the increased pressures they are facing as they have to be more accountable and results driven, communicate differently with ever-more demanding customers and somehow respond to/liaise with the many new sports deliverers from coaching agencies, NHS, community groups and commercial and social entrepreneurs.

But does this not lead to confusion in the marketplace or is competition a good thing? If little Johnny wants to play football or netball, for that matter, surely the fact that different providers are there increases the likelihood that Johnny will find something he really wants to do.
But can we afford all these different providers? If Johnny and his mates are not paying a fee which covers the cost of delivering the sessions then somebody will have to (part)fund them. And in time of austerity it is very unlikely that funding will be available to all the programmes and deliverers out there. So how do you develop a programme which attracts funding? Read more tomorrow.

Sport and active leisure managers must focus more on innovation, community and enterprise

2010-05-03T06:24:00.003+01:00

Many people in the sport and active leisure sector (probably too many?) do not really know how to react to the increased pressures they are facing as they have to be more accountable and results driven, communicate differently with ever-more demanding customers and somehow respond/liaise with the many new sports deliverers from coaching agencies, NHS, community groups and social entrepreneurs. Too many just focus on ‘managing the facility’ and tend not to engage with community partners and agencies from Health, Education, Police, Housing etc. This becomes even more amazing when you then see what can be achieved when we become more relevant to people’s lives and we start speaking their language.

One the biggest challenges for sports development and facility managers is how to react (or even be pro-active) when it comes to changes in people’s lifestyles, technology, political landscape and economic climate. Too many people in the sport and active leisure sector somehow believe that the sector exists in a parallel world, relatively unconnected to people’s ‘real’ lives. This is probably why so many innovations in sport are coming from outside the ‘establishment.’

To grow participation and fill our facilities we must develop a new mindset and skillset which is much more focused on the ‘person’ and less on the ‘place.’ .

I am therefore proposing the launch of the ICE campaign: ICE stands for Innovation, Community and Enterprise and this campaign is designed to raise awareness of the importance of these issues in sport and active leisure. The campaign should address issues such as:
1. Help the sector to fully understand the needs of its community and help it demonstrate how it can achieve outcomes to address those needs
2. How to replicate things that work well from both within the sector but also from related sectors such as hospitality, entertainment and tourism and then share learning to help promote improvement
3. Learning a new language, understanding and new relationship in the dynamics of complex and challenging environments. Become capable of operating at a strategic level, integrating their work with their peers in Health, Education, Social Care, Housing Association and the Probation Service
4. How to develop and implement successful change programmes, which will really help drive things forward
5. What the sector can learn from the third sector delivering services in and for the community
6. Explore how within existing resources, innovation can enable identified needs to be met and deliver better value for money
7. How to radically transform service delivery using new facilities, providers and partnerships
8. Respond to commissioning opportunities by developing interventions for partners in the health, children services and adult care sectors by developing offerings they want to invest in

What do you think? SMN would like to hear from you on 01423 326 660, svend@smnuk.com or just reply to this email.

2009-08-21T07:29:00.000+01:00

Hey Glasgow, Scotland!! I'm coming your way tomorrow.
Who wants to go for a bike ride??

That was Lance Armstrong's tweet (message on Twitter) and the following day (18th August) more than 200 people in Paisley had the cycling experience of their lives as they rode through town with the seven-times Tour de France winner.

A few days earlier Lance Armstrong had decided to fly to Glasgow to attend the O2 concert at Hampden Park and thought he fancied a bike ride when he was there.

When you have 1,758,670 followers on Twitter and you are sporting legend, things are bound to happen when you ask them to come for a bike ride.

Finally, his last tweet, of many, in connection with the ride was: And how great was it that the Flying Scotsman Graeme Obree came out!! Legend!

If this does not convince you of the potential for sport to use social media to engage with people, then what does?

The online club house is here

2009-06-22T08:34:00.000+01:00

New media is changing the way sport and leisure is able to communicate with members, customers and fans and this is now affordable and available to everyone.

Most clubs now use emails and websites to communicate with their members but far too often this is done in a haphazard way without giving proper thought to implementation and objectives.
A number of early adaptors are now beginning to use texting, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media and are experiencing great benefits. In a very short space of time you will be able to transform your club and how you communicate and spread your message to many more and many new people.
There are plenty of simple and inexpensive ways you can communicate, such as:

Regular email blasts to your database encouraging them to get engaged and connected
Use your web site to communicate information about your club or centre and use Facebook to communicate event information, photo galleries, etc. Both can work together to promote your message.
Create a Youtube.com channel for your club by using a flip video camera. Make two-minute videos and post them directly on Youtube.com; also share this link to your Facebook page (free uploads on Youtube.com).
Use Twitter to send 'breaking news' or immediate updates

However, still far too many clubs, leisure centres and others involved with sport are reluctant to use new media, often due to myths and misunderstandings.

Introducing
The Online Club House
where friends, members, fans, never-beens, community, etc.
can chat, learn, get involved,
exactly like in a normal club house?
but whenever and wherever they want and in
much bigger numbers
The virtual club house (even for clubs which haven't got one.

For more on this, watch this space

New media in sport and active leisure…we must get going

2009-06-19T04:50:00.000+01:00

SMN have just launched a new workshop called New Media and Sport. Having spoken with hundreds of people who are involved within this sector I realised that there are far too many myths and uncertainties as how to inform and engage with our audiences.

No one reads the notice boards and local newspapers are dying and at the same time there are now so many tools available, almost all of them free, that this surely must be the way forward. Being beyond my early years I am not, what they call a Digital Native, but the process of learning how to use new, digital and social media is fascinating and if I can, anyone can. The potential benefits are immense.

Let me tell you this story:

Sonya Ellis, Club and Coach Development Officer of England Athletics South West, took 40 kids to run in the London Mini-Marathon. Took loads of digital photos from this exciting day with the kids running in front of Big Ben etc.

When she came home she uploaded the pics on the club’s Facebook page. The following night I ran a workshop for the clubs in the area at Exeter Harriers and at that point 28 of the 40 kids had already been on to Facebook to view the pics. What a way to engage!

Staffordshire CSP has already booked us to run this workshop in September so I am really looking to that.

Are your customer-orientated when you dealing with your sponsors and community partners?

2009-06-15T06:31:00.000+01:00

Are your customer-orientated when you dealing with your sponsors and community partners?

Yes, the credit crunch is having a serious impact on many sports clubs, but it is also exposing some clubs which for far too long have taken for granted that ‘someone/somewhere’ would make sure that they would attract enough funding to ensure their club’s (often unrealistic) ambitions could be fulfilled.

At the same time we are also seeing clubs that have a much more outward-looking approach to working with external stakeholders and this led to draw this list of three types of clubs:

Completely club-focused: Here the prevailing attitude is “We have a good club: people ought to support us”. The club makes little, or no effort, to engage with its community, but at the same time they expect the community to support them. They moan to the Council, governing body or whoever that they should be given some money. I call these clubs “GUMWAL” clubs (Give Us Money, We Are Lazy).

Sales orientation: Here the prevailing attitude is “Now it is so tough out there, we’d better get somebody who can SELL”. So they a get a couple of volunteers who are semi-retired sales people or they may even get commission-only sales person to go out there and ‘get some business’. Nothing changes within the club because these new people are not there to improve the organisation, just to sell. They may attract some new revenue, but it is rarely sustainable.

Customer focused: The challenge for these clubs is to understand the needs and wants of their target sponsors and community partners. They do spend time and effort to understand their community and work hard to inform and engage with and as a result are able to develop programmes which attract partners and funding.

What do they REALLY think of your Club

2009-04-26T11:54:00.000+01:00

What do they REALLY think of your club/centre?

All clubs and leisure centres produce annual accounts showing profit/loss and assets/liabilities showing the historic numbers and most produce budgets forecasting income and expenditure for the coming year.

SMN have for long been advocating that clubs and centres should produce annual Image Tables displaying how the club/centre is perceived within different groups in its community. The way people perceive you is vitally important to your future ability to attract members, supporters and sponsors/funders and thus to your earning potential. So this Image Table is important not just to ‘the marketing guys’ but also to the Treasurer (if you have a negative image amongst important stakeholders you will probably find it much more difficult to attract support and funding).

No, you cannot stick your head in the sand, neither can you rely on asking your friends and cronies what they think because they are not very likely to disagree with you.

Also, by undertaking annual customer surveys you are sending our clear signals that you actually do care about people’s perception of you. And, of course, you can improve on the areas where you image is weakest.

So how you do find out what they REALLY think – It is simple and can be quite exciting

First: Divide your target audience into seven groups
1. Members/season ticket holders
2. Lapsed members/season ticket holders
3. Casual users/supporters
4. Friends/parents
5. Sponsors
6. Opinion formers
7. The community at large
Second: Send letter/email to Group 1 explaining that you are looking for their opinion in order to be able to improve the service the club/centre provides. Include the table and question below
:
Ask them to rate from 1 to 10
1. Club/centre life
2. Facilities
3. Sound economy
4. Positive atmosphere
5. Good sporting experiences
6. Ambitions are well communicated
7. Open
8. Flexible and willing to change
9. Good managers/volunteers
10. Good coaches
Total
Please describe the most positive and most negative aspects of the centre/club:

Word of warning: Don’t be tempted to add too many more questions. Response rates go down the more time you ask people to spend.

Make sure you mark the questionnaires with the number of the group you are researching. You’ll need that when you analyse the completed questionnaires.
People can stay anonymous if they want. If possible you can give an incentive prize (such as a free drink/club shirt) to be drawn amongst those who complete and return the questionnaire.

Third: Do the same with Group 2

Fourth: Train a few staff/volunteers to interview casual visitors using the same questionnaire. NOTE: Leaving questionnaires for people to complete at their own initiative is a waste.

Fifth: Depending on your database you either send/email the questionnaire to Group 4 members

Sixth: You could also send the questionnaire to lapsed sponsors as well as your current sponsors

Seventh: Group six would include MP, Councillors, the media, community leaders, heads of school, etc.

Eighth: Literally, go down to the High Street (staff/volunteers) and interview a variety of people.

Finally, you now add up the results from the seven different categories and you now have a great tool to help you improve your club.

Tip: Link up with local College/University. They will probably have business students who are looking for ‘live’ projects and could use a project like this.

What is your story

2009-04-26T11:47:00.000+01:00

What is your story?

It doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom.

Yes, it is tough out there and sport and our clubs and centres are not immune from the effects from the chilli winds blowing across the country. A majority of Football League clubs are in arrears with their VAT and Tax payments, most clubs with club bars report a decline in bar sales and sponsorships are becoming increasingly difficult to come by.

So, what can you do to ensure that your club survives this credit crunch and still is able to deliver your sporting ambitions at whatever level your club is at.

Are you a Woolworth or an Asda?

Let’s first look at which businesses and industries that are doing well: Dominos Pizza, Gregg the Bakers, McDonald’s, Aldi, Asda (they are planning to open 40 new stores), holiday parks, wood stove manufacturers and retailers…there’s something here about value, home comfort and clear directions. A good story and a well run business with quality people. (Aldi have just recruited 102 graduates at £40,000 per annum plus an Audi).

These businesses and industries are all able to tell compelling stories which are relevant to their audiences. Compare this to a rugby club which over the years has been selling off pitches to finance their sporting ambitions and which is currently fighting for their lives due to a previous, less than dynamic, management. The current Chairman is working hard to raise shirt term cash from members and others, but as the club for years has been quite happy to live in their ‘own little world’ and has not played any part of its local community they are finding it very tough going. As the Chairman stated: “sports clubs without a clear strategy are finding it even more difficult to attract support from cash-strapped commercial businesses”.

At the same time far too many clubs are still asking businesses and others to ‘Support Our Club’ without offering any reason whatsoever why anyone should want to support the club. These clubs do not offer any benefits to potential sponsors (probably because there are precious few benefits), there are no stories on how the club and its members are performing a key role in the local community and neither are they able to offer any innovative, exciting ways outside partners can engage with the club to deliver sporting, health or community programmes. And yet they want people to “Support Our Club”.

The way forward

Everyone involved with running your club (and other interested people) should sit down, away from the normal committee meetings, and discuss how to develop your story, What do you stand for, where are you going, what exciting initiatives could you develop to make your club stand out?

To help you look outside the box I suggest you try and attend one of Sports Marketing Network’s workshops or alternatively invite a sports development officer from your local authority or your governing body to your meeting. You could also invite various community leaders from out side sport, such as head teachers, vicars, community groups, social/community workers etc.

The key objective is how develop a number of ways your club can a bigger role in your community and become ‘more than just a sports club’. If you can go out say ‘we will support our community’ you will be amazed what support and funding could become available to you.

You are always to give us a call on 01423 326 660. We will be happy to help you become a vibrant, visible and viable club which has a really good story.

SMN joins Bradford Consortium

2009-04-26T11:46:00.000+01:00

Sports Marketing Network joins Bradford Consortium to win two contracts with SkillsActive’s National Skills Academy

The Bradford Consortium which includes Bradford College, University of Bradford Management School, Sports Marketing Network and others have signed two contracts with SkillsActive’s National Skills Academy to develop two centres:

Centre of Excellence for Leadership and Management
Development Centre for Community Sport Enterprise

“Personally, I am really looking forward to be developing innovative products and services together with the other partners in the Bradford Consortium to help improve the way we manage our sports clubs in these difficult times. Watch this space,” said Svend Elkjaer of Sports Marketing Network

The National Skills Academy for Sport and Active Leisure has been set up to provide vocational education and skills training in England for people who want to work and develop their careers in sport and leisure as well as existing employees who want to improve their skills and career opportunities.

Marketing for Sports Development

2009-04-26T11:39:00.000+01:00

A one-day workshop for people working in sports development
on how to improve their marketing and customer service skills

The time has come for sports to start thinking much more about the different needs of the various target groups and to create more exciting sport exercise experiences and communicate better. If we are to increase sports participation, sport as a whole, must become much more marketing and customer focused

An increasing number of people are acknowledging the importance of marketing in sports development as the focus on growing sports participation gets stronger in the build up to 2012.

This workshop is designed to help people working in sports development to develop a better understanding of marketing and customer service. Delegates will also be provided with specific skills to help them improve the way they develop and market their programmes to best suit their various groups.

This course links to the Quest Best Practice principles and will help increase your Quest score in these areas.

Based on best practice case stories from sports development from across the UK the workshop is entertaining, informative and interactive and give delegates lots of tools and templates they can apply in their jobs.

The important point is that excellent marketing and customer service does not have to cost a fortune…and it can make a huge difference. By raising the profile of your programmes you can attract more participants and increase your funding.

The workshop subjects include:
Introduction:
Marketing and customer service in sport…the story so far, lessons so far
Overcome barriers through a strategic approach
Develop a customer focused culture
Understanding the criteria and needs of different customer groups using simple consumer research
Develop events and programmes which really attract interest
How to ‘listen to people’s lives’
Understand the five Cs of marketing for sports development: cost, capability, consumer, convenience, communication
How to ensure sustainable increase in participation through SMN’s 4Com model (COMmunity, COMmunity, WelCOMing, COMputers
Special session
How to communicate using social media and mobile technology

How to design the whole experience to suit different groups
How to develop partnership promotions
How to incorporate passion in everything you do
How to provide excellent customer service to develop sustainable benefits
How to develop strong relationships with the media, both printed and online
How to make an objective assessment of the effectiveness of your marketing activities
At the end of the workshop delegates will be asked to develop a sport programme aimed at various target groups and produce a creative and effective marketing and communications plan,

BONUS! Delegates will be invited to submit/bring along details of a specific marketing challenge they are facing in their everyday lives and will receive advice from the workshop presenter.
Delegates will receive a comprehensive manual with all the course material including check lists, tools, templates and lots of practical case-stories. Delegates will also receive coffee/tea throughout the day and lunch.

The workshop runs from 9.30am to 4pm

Who should attend:
If you are involved with sports development, whether you are
working for a local authority, CSP, governing body or any other organisation,
this workshop is for you

The presenter, Svend Elkjaer, is Director of the Sports Marketing Network, a leading training company, information provider and marketing consultancy which focuses completely on how we can make sport more marketing and customer focused.

Over the last three years people from clubs, leisure centres and sports organisations have participated in Sports Marketing Network’s workshops. Sports organisations which have benefited from SMN’s expertise include Rugby Football Union, Football Association, Sports Council Wales, England Squash, Scottish Association of Local Sports Councils, SkillsActive, Sport England, England Athletics, England Netball, Welsh Rugby Union, British Speedway, UniBond League, Universities, 12 County Sports Partnerships and 45+ local authorities (from Cardiff to Stockton) and almost 1,500 sports clubs

Would you like to volunteer for your club?

2009-03-25T13:29:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago The Sunday Times ran their annual report on the Best Companies to Work For. The organisers sent confidential questionnaires to staff within participating businesses focusing on issues such as how employees feel about
· the head of the organisation, senior managers, and the company’s values and principles
· and communicate with their direct manager
· training and their future prospects
· stress, pressure at work, and work life balance
· towards their immediate colleagues and how well they work together
· their organisation has a positive impact on society
· the level of engagement employees have for their job and organisation
· their pay and benefits

Businesses are then ranked according to the overall level of satisfaction amongst staff.

Many businesses see a high ranking in this survey as a key competitive factor in terms of attracting the highest calibre staff, but also a tool to show customers that their happy staff provide better customer service. (Sainsbury’s undertake regular staff and customer satisfaction surveys store by store, and surprise, surprise the conclusion is that stores with happier staff have happier customers).

In a world where almost every single community sports club claim they cannot get volunteers it is striking there is precious little focus on how we develop happy volunteers, who then provide better service and attract other happy volunteers.

Mansfield Rugby Union Club has just emailed everybody involved with the club a 12-question questionnaire focusing on their views on how the club is being run. (This club actually has been accredited by Investors in People for its volunteer development and management).

So the question all clubs should ask themselves is: How would we fare if there was a Best Club to Volunteer For survey? How would your volunteers score on the eight questions above? Because, I am 100% convinced that the happier your current volunteers are, the welcoming your club and the easier you will find it to attract and, importantly, retain, volunteers.

Would your volunteers actually promote volunteering at your club because one can enjoy the experience and add value to the running of your club? Do you actually focus on volunteer recruitment, happiness and management?

Note to Sports Awards organisers: Many of you include awards for volunteers, which is great. Most of these awards are given to people who have often dedicated their lives to their sports and their clubs. What an about an award for Best Local Club to Volunteer For? Following the lines of the questions above, this would also encourage clubs to involve volunteers who can give a finite number of hours, but nevertheless can add value to their club and sport. You can call it ‘bite-sized’ volunteering if you want.

Bourne Leisure proves that staff motivation helps create good customer experiences

Runner-up in the Best Big Companies to Work For was Bourne Leisure. This company runs Haven, Butlins and Warner Hotels. With more 5,000 staff this expanding group strives to create ‘magical experiences’ for holidaymakers, as well their staff. 84% of staff say they have fun with their colleagues and 77% of them say they can make a valuable contribution to the company’s success.

The Butlins’ ethos has always been to invest in each site every year, so customer notice an improvement every time they return.

Warner Leisure Hotels organise a wide range Experience Breaks from archery and real tennis tuition to horse riding.

By the way. Guess where John Dunford, boss of Bourne goes on holiday with his wife and son? Butlins, of course.

An inspiration for our leisure centres, I would say.