Pleased to see this morning’s initiative by Celtic to provide people with a more visible and accessible complaints procedure, including an “Our commitment to you” section. I know it’s almost blasphemous to use the word ‘customer’ in a football context, but when it comes to levels of service, it is useful to benchmark the ‘customer experience’ at Celtic Park, which is patchy and often disappointing.
I’ve been meaning to pick up this topic for a while but there is a Supporters’ Forum coming up next month, where various supporters’ groups will be given a chance to put issues of concern to the club, and I planned to raise it directly with the club before writing about it here.
Celtic have a great brand (if you indulge me with another blasphemous but useful term), born to feed the hungry, champion of the underdog, fundraiser for the poor and needy in Scotland and across the globe. We still have the unique Seville legacy – which is 11 years old today – and on Saturday, 47 years after their own crowning moment, the remaining Lisbon Lions will cast their considerable shadow over European football, but a great deal of the ‘customer contact’ reflects a club weary from more recent skirmishes. It needed be this way.
We are one of the world’s unique brand properties, like Disney, but a lot smaller, of course. Every customer contact, every public-facing decision, should reflect this. Disney understand this. They make you pay ridiculous amounts for their tat, but you pay willingly, because every customer contact reflects the highest service levels achievable. None of this comes on minimum wage, you need to select, train and retain good staff, who remain in place irrespective of available alternatives.
Legendary customer service is expensive, but if you own a uniquely ethical brand, paying that expense can be profitable.
Look around at brand management elsewhere. BP throw an environmentally responsible ‘better use of energy’ message at you straight from their home page, and they are one of the world’s most notorious polluters. Barcelona give their ‘More than a club’ message the prime spot (top left) on their home page, without a notion of irony around their tax or Qatar cash transactions. Apple have “Apple and the environment” prominently on their home page. They have little to do with the environmental movement, but they know how important to their business it is to maintain their unique brand.
Ethically, Celtic are miles ahead of any of these outfits but you need to go hunt for our considerable ethical works on the club website.
What should Celtic do when training, match day stewards, or kiosk staff (don’t start me)? What should we do when faced with an expensive business decision? Consult the brand values. Brand values are absolutely sacrosanct and the cost of maintaining them should be looked on as an opportunity to invest in them. At the moment lots of areas are under-invested in, reflecting completely different values to those who rush into the ground on match day.
Our values are to build a great football club which improves Health, promotes Equality, encourages Learning and tackles Poverty. Celtic do this through the very real help they give to thousands of people through Celtic FC Foundation. This is where we are today but all of this should have a higher profile.
When you visit the Celtic web site two days before season ticket renewal deadline day (today), you should be smacked around the senses with our work on Health, Equality, Learning and Poverty. Do that and the drag-through to renewals or merchandise sales will follow, ask Apple or Disney.
We need confidence in this strategy. I know it’s expensive, things are tight and demands enormous, but these values, this unique brand, is why we will flourish for another century.
If you want to raise a question at the Supporters’ Forum leave a note below.
Order your signed copy of Tommy Gemmell’s All the Best below.
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Dbia @1201
Ditto
Not Owen Coyle-please.
HH.
I’d be very wary about reading too much into ‘talks with the board’.
If Neil Lennon goes into PL’s office and says “I’d really like a shot at managing down South and also getting some level of privacy back into my life – so I’m handing in my resignation” that’s ‘talks with the board’.
Doesn’t mean they didn’t back him.
The main thing now is that they get the right person in to replace him.
Why is the official website last to know?
The budget concern thing surprises me, as he was appointed by Lawell and would have known the job involved working within a limited budget.
Well.
At least Neil agreed to wait until Season book deadline day to help the club sell season books as much as they could.
Celtic is in his heart.
MWD says Aye
Henrik – no thanks,
we need a proven manager, not another “club legend” there is already one of those in place south of the river
Would be good, and would spare us days/weeks/months of speculation, most of it uninformed crap, if Celtic today announced NL is leaving our new manager is ………………….
Is Owen Coyle’s granny keeping well?
We’ll end up with McNamara. Anyone else won’t be interested in working within the kind of budget on offer
The writing was on the wall with Samaras, but people couldn’t or wouldn’t see it.
Easier just to dismiss the suggestion as the usual board hater stuff.
Not to worry, we’ll soon have Sevco.
It will be just like the good old days.
We can all speculate why Neil has decided to move on but one thing we all know is he loved our club, it was his club as it is our club.
It was obviously time to move on and he goes with my blessing. Like us he will always be a Celt.
Hail hail
Neil Francis Lennon, you leave us with my eternal thanks and gratitude for what you have done for us.
And I wish you every success in the future. Unless you are playing against us.
GCT- she’s left the phone off the hook just in case…
kidpyramid
12:13 on 22 May, 2014
‘We’ll end up with McNamara.’
###
What with him having such a good relationship with Peter Lawwell and everything?
Budget my arse, he left for his family, out of a city of bigots and haters, SMSM won’t print that, but i posted it, poor guy didn’t stand a chance.
Sorry to see NL go… but if he doesn’t think he can take the club or himself further due to issues outside his control he needs to decide what’s best for himself and his family.
Who next? I heard that Lambert could be tempted, with Henrik to occupy the dugout seat reserved for guys from Sweden…
I can only assume Neil wanted a decent percentage of the finance he helped bring into the club via Champions league qualification.
Or maybe he wanted a percentage of Peter’s bonus.
MWD says Aye.
Gold Coast Tom
12:13 on 22 May, 2014
Maybe you should check out the Record or the Sun, they might know.
I look forward to the SPIN!
MWD says Aye
Thanks to Neil Lennon for the titles, the cups, the CL last 16, Barcelona, and, even more important, having the guts to stand up to bigots and bullies.
Best of luck whatever the next destination.
Shocked & sick!!!!!!
Ernie Lynch.
We’ll see
TonyDonelly67
are you being serius.
If he was going to leave because of the bigots he’d have done so 3 years ago.
You truely have no braiin cell collision process.
MWD says Aye
Best of luck to Lenny, sad to see him go.
HH
Thanks for everything Neil, deep respect for how you handled abuse & threats no-one should have to deal with & the very best for the future
Wow. Hunguffery ahoy.
Larsson would need Wim Jansen …..
Houston, we’ll have a problem
Big Malky fits the MO.
Unemployed (no compensation), cheap, can work within a tight budget, being an ex player is a bonus. Has a decent track record in management.
Lets be honest, anyone could take the job and win the league for at least the next couple of years
Neil – sorry you’re leaving, you’ve served our great Club well and now will do so as a fan and ambassador.
Lord only knows how you put up with scoddlands skum for so long.
All the best.
Hope he doesn’t take the Norwich job. He deserves better
Tony D, I think that may well be a factor, and simply a new professional challenge.
Not too surprised. Rumours have been going around, NFL’s own stated ambition. And someone told me PL was expecting it.
John Collins?
How much did Neil Lennon get paid? How much did Mjallby get paid ? How much of a pay cut would Samaras have to take to have stayed?
How much is on offer to the next manager? I think the budget will suit a Larson style appointment. Malky McKay, Owen Coyle etc regardless of how good they are will earn so much more at championship clubs.
Expect our short list to include Roy Keane and a few other s at Dermots request plus the Paul67 type coaches from left field – polish coach maybe.
Either way the picture has become clear as day for everyone. Life in the very slow lane unless we get lucky with this appointment.
Spin the wheel Peter.
Maybe he’s goin to run Celtic POOLS!!! That wd be funny on an other day!!
dbbina
hopefully no hunguffery but a successor in immediately,
as i had wind of this beginning of last week.
If i knew then, you’d think the board knew way before i did ;-)
There’s more chance of kojo getting yhe gig than Jackie Macnamara.
Give it a few hours and Peter Lawwell will be getting it in the neck, and it will be from the ones who didn’t fancy Neil Lennon, predictable CQN.