SEAT Global Magazine - Exclusive Interviews of Global Sport Executive Issue 09 March/April 2018 | Page 42

CASE NASHVILLE PREDATORS STUDY PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER T H E P R O B L EM As teams find success on the playing surface, they often find new and challenging opportunities off the court, ice, or field. When the Nashville Predators made their Stanley Cup Finals run in 2017, fan interest grew immensely and the number of Season Ticket Citizens expanded from 9,000 to just over 12,000. The organization now needed to introduce its industry-leading customer service to the new fans. To achieve their goals, the Predators chose to productively engage their technology partners. Enhancing existing business processes allowed the organization to more efficiently service their growing season ticket base. “We want our technology vendors to be true partners of the Nashville Predators organization. Both SSB and StoneTimberRiver are industry leaders in their specific specialty. Finding partners that provide great products and thoughtful guidance was important to us.” — JT Louviere, Director of Business Strategy THE GAME PLAN For the Predators, it was important to employ best- in-breed technology providers catered specifically to the industry. The clear choice was a partnership with SSB and StoneTimberRiver - both companies uniquely capable of exceling in their respective fields, but also of complementing each other effectively. SSB and StoneTimberRiver both work with more than 50 leading professional and collegiate sports leagues and franchises. SSB creates infrastructure built on their proprietary platform that provides a clear and consistent picture of every audience, enabling their clients to make educated and actionable business decisions. StoneTimberRiver provides a best practice CRM solution for organizations’ ticketing, suite, and partnership departments. “We want our technology vendors to be true partners of the Nashville Predators organization. Both SSB and StoneTimberRiver are industry leaders in their specific specialty. Finding partners that provide great products and thoughtful guidance was important to us,” says JT Louviere, Director of Business Strategy. With increased success on the ice, the Predators now needed to introduce their industry- leading customer service to the new fans. To achieve their goals, the Predators chose to productively engage their technology partners. After the 2017 season, the Predators’ Business Intelligence team developed a preliminary model of potential renewal factors. SSB’s platform married and integrated all the Predators’ data sources, providing the organization a complete and comprehensive view of each fan. In collaboration with SSB, the Predators aggregated multiple data factors to create a singular statistic of renewal intent – the “Penalty Kill” score. With a plan of action in place, the Predators also increased their service and retention staff from 5 to 11 employees. Utilizing StoneTimberRiver’s CRM software, the Predators’ staff took direct actions based on the “Penalty Kill” score. The business plan and software equipped the retention staff with clear guidelines and direction for outbound Season Ticket Citizen communication. THE PROCESS The offseason began by generating a touchpoint campaign in StoneTimberRiver’s CRM software for every season ticket holder. StoneTimberRiver’s clean, intuitive user interface and workflow for end users allowed for quick user adoption. As best-in-breed partners, SSB and StoneTimberRiver provided seamless integration points between systems. While SSB compiled a clean “Golden Record” for every fan, StoneTimberRiver provided this information to end users in a simple, digestible form. Transactional data from SSB’s platform ensured all the data was quickly accessible for users in StoneTimberRiver’s CRM platform. Retention representatives could quickly drill into ticketing data, attendance, and email marketing, among other transactional data points. This detail enhanced the aggregate view provided for each fan with the “Penalty Kill” score. By providing staff the essentials at their fingertips and access to the transactional data, the Predators found their organization better able to efficiently and productively engage with their customers. Retention representatives improved their ability to communicate, inform and connect with Predators customers. Effective use of technology from partners SSB and StoneTimberRiver resulted in a successful offseason for the organization. THE RESULTS Retention representatives improved their efficiency and effectiveness in communicating, informing, and connecting with Predators customers. The Business Intelligence team can see the fruits of their labor through their reporting and analysis. With the help of Tableau, information from SSB and StoneTimberRiver is delivered daily to the appropriate stakeholders. Management receives high-level key indicators, while reps track their touchpoint progress and completion in real-time. The healthy competitiveness generated internally at the Predators has not only produced positive results for the touchpoint campaign, but also created a cohesive internal environment. A thoughtful action plan from the Predators’ Business Intelligence team, and effective use of technology from partners SSB and StoneTimberRiver resulted in a successful offseason for the organization. [email protected] [email protected]