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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1,062 Comments- Pages:
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weeminger
12:53 on
21 May, 2014
GourockEmeraldBhoy
12:51 on
21 May, 2014
Ticketmaster charge 12.5%, so 10% would be in the normal area.
Cheers for reply, still a rip off..
HH
Presumably Simian Donnelly would manage the Timpanzee 11 and the match reports would be covered by Glenn Gibbons.
FourGreenFields, cliftonville celt from belfast & gearoid1998,
thanks for tips on Donegal will start investigating the logistics,
much appreciated,
HH BBhoy
PS was in the stadium in Seville too , in the camp of not being able to look at the game…
weeron
I have a problem with the use of the word guarantee in the contract to supply 4 “Old Firm” matches.
Surely, the contracting league or football authority can only “Guarantee” 4 such matches if they come about through the predicted route of both teams finishing in the top 6 as they always had done.
If 4 such matches cannot be provided because one of the teams failed to earn enough points to reach the top 6, or because the club concerned went bust, then the league and football authority are not in breach of any “guarantee” to provide the matches. Surely??
The TV company signed up to the contract, fully aware of the competitive rules that govern football matches. They did not foresee the possibility of either Celtic or rangers failing to make the top 6 nor did they foresee one club or both going bust and losing their place in the league. As they did not foresee these possibilities, and did not insert covering clauses into the contract to specify what should happen in such circumstances, then they could surely not sue the league for breach of contract. Surely??
Now, I am aware, that when the contract came round for renewal there was no need for them to re-contract on the same term but, I would assert that, if the SPL had stuck to their guns, there would have been no chance of losing the contracted TV money for the duration of the specified existing contract, even though 4 “Old Firm” games could no longer be provided in the final year of its run.
In seeking to re-negotiate the terms, the league conceded, IMO, a cast-iron position, for fear of losing out on a future TV renewal deal. I believe they caved in and provided a get out to the TV company in order to sweeten future deals.
There is a huge logical gap in the narrative that the deal had to be scrapped and re-negotiated. They, the SPL, chose to scrap and re-negotiate it because they were frightened of a future poorer TV deal being offered, when the existing one had to be re-negotiated.
Surely, I am not alone in believing this.
Bawsman
I share your frustration about kick off times being changed, esepcially home games which used to almost always be 3pm. In terms of the TV deal though you have to remember the extra exposure this gives the club and sponsors. Also it gives our players (VVD, Forster etc) more exposure than they would get otherwise
No exposure of Scottish domestic football on TV would be bad news for us comercially so despite the downsides I think we are better with it.
What really cheesed me off last season was the number of home gomes moved to Sunday to accomodate Sevco playing plumbers and joiners at Ibrox on the Saturday. I don’t know how much of a say the Police have in this but it’s ridiculous that a Premier League game is moved to accomdate a league of keen amateurs. If the police continue to insitst on this surely some synchromising of fixtures could be done at the start of the season to avoid home games on the same weekend. Or just make Sevco play on the Sunday. I wonder if the new SPFL will improve this.
Cathedral View
13:11 on
21 May, 2014
gourockemeraldbhoy
12:51 on 21 May, 2014
Even more when you think about it, anyway done now.. Ill raid the bhoys banks later…
HH
A bigger resolution 12 parking lot means bhoys and ghirls can bring their own picnics,. instead of relyin’ on the over priced and under cooked stadium fare.
A freshly made roll with cheese and pickle is just the very thing; accompanied by a nice slice of pork pie and washed down with a glass of dandelion and burdock.
jc2
Meant to add… Good luck to the boy. What team does he play for?
Weeron 13:05
I think most of us are just looking for transparency.
SFTB
The previous contract was not due for renewal until right about now.
it had 2 years to run when re-negotiated.
May/June 2014
MWD
TBB-the Doonhamer Dome has an excellent playing surface.
Okay Auldheid here’s my question to the ‘Forum’ (two parts)
Are you aware that, out with the Celtic Support, the majority of Scottish football supporters think you are bricking it for your own financial gain? (seriously).
secondly
Have you no shame?
Emdy currently in Santa Ponsa? Just asking like, as I sit round the pool at the Jardin de Luz!
Scorchio, well kind of……………!!
HH
Battered Bunnet
Think local band
From there to Hollywood u15
Appropriate as one of original band son plays.
setting free the bears supports Res. 12 & Oscar Knox 13:34
The TV company signed up to the contract, fully aware of the competitive rules that govern football matches. They did not foresee the possibility of either Celtic or rangers failing to make the top 6 nor did they foresee one club or both going bust and losing their place in the league.
————————————————————————————–
My view would be that they DID see that possibility – however unlikely they may have viewed it. These guys don’t leave any stones unturned.
The SPL should have seen the possibility too, and structured the contract so that if there weren’t four “Old Firm” games they would receive £X instead of £Y, rather than have the whole deal collapse.
” They paved Paradise and pootuppa (bigger) parking lot………”
The Honest Cover-up……………………..As stated mate, everyone is considered, except the paying customer.
I’ll still be going to 3 o’clock KO’s, simply not paying for about 10 tickets for games I cannot get to.
Glad to hear that DBBIA. I assume your cutting edge work on the ole nematodes/slugs problem has been influential in creating a pitch fit for such an occasion.
TBB
Great little stadium and playing surface for a final.I was down there a few weeks back to watch wee Quincy Adams Wagstaff in the TSB Schools sevens.Very enjoyable experience.
I hear what you’re saying about those pesky wind turbines though…
resolution 12 parking lot with free BBQ facilities and free food for all the homeless and starving in Glasgow’s East End, as long as you don’t disturb all the blanked resolutions and forum questions that are hostage to deceit.
TBB- we blow the slugs and snails [ wind turbine assisted of course] in the general direction of Gondwanaland, where they are prized for their wool.
TBB
For whatever reason, I am tempted to start singing that well known ditty ” Wherever I lay my Shabby Chapeau that’s my home!” — but to be honest that just doesn’t sound right.
Moonbeams
When does the club use its database for marketing purposes. I am genuinely interested in your experience re this.
DBBIA
I had a comment to make about something you said earlier but I now have no idea what it was or what it related to.
That is the way it is going here.
I also have more than the odd comment to make on Paul’s very good leader but that will have to wait — the blog sighs in relief — or makes another noise that involves the expulsion of wind!
The difficulty in knowing whether resolution 12 has been “parked” or not, is what expectation you had, at the start, of how long the process would take and what it would involve.
Tony Donnelly decided, even before the process began, that PL would choose to bamboozle all the gullible eejits who actually organised and understood the process, and just string the process out ad nauseam. To what end PL would choose to piss-off these gullible supporters, was never revealed. Suffice to say, that PL’s intellect and power is so large, that we, the mere mortal supporter, could not hope to understand the workings of his thought processes anyway. Like Big Brother in 1984, if PL says Eurasia is our friend then he is right and, if he says Eurasia is our enemy, he is still right.
So, where should we be by now with the whole process?
Short answer is I don’t know but the guys who did the hard work in getting this process going need to have some landmarks as to where the process should be, otherwise there will be more posters inclined to believe the resolution has been “parked” and the resolutionists are being bamboozled.
Anybody, trying to pilot a resolution through several bodies (it is not just Celtic plc that need to act on it) will be aware that it takes time, a lot of time. It is, therefore, to distinguish “parking” from inexorable slow progress, whether you are looking from outside or from the inside. We know that certain bodies, perhaps including Celtic, will be opposed to the progress of the resolution, or, at best, embarrassed by its arising. Therefore, the tendency to believe it will be or has been “parked” is a strong one.
I was, initially, encouraged by the reactions of the more board-sceptic members of the resolutionists (That’s you canamalar & Morrisey). If they were persuaded that their Resolution was significant and some viewpoints were shared by PL and the Board, then the augurs were good.
However, it may help the wider support from sinking into belief in the “parking” narrative, if some guidance could be given as to what the expectations are of signposts along the way.
e.g.
How long till the club feels ready to forward the resolution or an enquiry arising from it, to a governing sporting body, such as the SFA, UEFA or FIFA?
How long till a Press Statement can be issued, jointly by the Resolutionists and the Board, on outlining areas of shared agreement?
What are the reactions from the Board or PL, that would be regarded as dealbreakers for the resolutionists in taking the issue forward?
Please note, that I am not accusing anyone of acting in bad faith as I do not have the information o which to assess that. But, every long-term project needs staging marks to let you know whether you are on target, ahead of pace, or falling drastically behind.
Do the resolutionists have such interim targets or staging marks?
jc2
Oblivious. Mind and get decent photos. Those old Mexican cameras aren’t so reliable.
Best of luck to the team. Should be a great day.
What happened to all the 125 charity money? I haven’t read anywhere where it went?
I contributed, I’m curious.
Sir Paul
Ah Kin tell Ye How tae Solve the Plethora o’ Problems…which come with..Namely..
The Poor Personal Service n Abysmal Food Quality ..that Celtic Fans appear tae Be Experiencing ,whenever they Pay a Visit tae one of The Stadium Food Courts.
Interested?
Well..
Wan Should Simply…….Make Sure…
That ALL o’ yer Catering Service Employees.. Especially, the Managers,
Ur..
VIRGOS!
Don’t Laugh!
When it comes tae Bein’ Fastidious.. Tidy… Scrupulous. Or.. Persnickety
There is Naebuddy, But NAEBUDDY.. oot there. Who kin Compete, wi a Punctilious Virgo, when it comes tae Precise .. Meticulosity!!( Is that A Woid?..ed) ( If it’s No. It IS .. Noo!
Don’t Believe Me?
Look , Kiddo.. Ah am Tryin’ tae Help Ye …No Need tae Get Snarky!
Anyway, JIst Dae whit Ah tell Ye.. n… ye Wull Find that awe the Celtic Fans Complaints ,concerning the Poor Quality ,baith in Service n Food… which they are Receivin’ Frum the Stadium’s Service n Catering Employees..
Wull Vanish ..jist like Ma wee Pal.. Nutsy Diz
Whenever it is His Turn tae Stand a Round at the Bar!
Noo Ye Know.
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
Paul67 et al
Nobody could deny that there have been some improvements in and around the Park in recent years, though a long way from fully utilising the area around the stadium. More recently there were some innovative ticket pricing, particularly for U13s at £5, and even as low as £1 entry. Catering remains an area for improvement, but no point in blaming what are probably the lowest paid workers at Celtic Park. Some imagination needed here. It must be possible to arrange, American style, to sell food around the pitch itself, in front of the lower tiers, maybe on a freelance basis.
The biggest bugbear has got to be the TV deal, its reliance on Celtic, without any real financial benefit, and its’ impact on not only the time a game is played, but the day it is played. Lunchtime in the North of Scotland on a Sunday, (try that from the North of Ireland), illustrates only contempt for our supporters. Refuse Sunday football altogether, and focus, certainly early and late season on a later afternoon kick-off, say 5pm for televised games.
I cannot quite remember when governments started to refer to us as “customers”, the Tories for sure, followed up by New Labour. Nowadays, any politician who tries to refer to me as a customer will be be told, in no uncertain terms;
When I vote I am a citizen and a democrat, when I pay taxes I am a taxpayer, and when I get on trains and boats and planes I am a passenger. What I am not, and will never be, is a customer of yours, because whatever it is you are selling, I aint buying!
Paul, put me in the Supporter camp.
You’ll having a swinging time in the ole gazebo will be filled with prime mates.
Call me ole fashioned but I don’ t like the term ‘resolutionists’.
Sounds vaguely Sevconian.
My tuppence worth on the TV deal:
Everything hinges on the terms of the “guarantee” that the SPL/SPFL provided to the TV people. If they said that they would guarantee them 4 OF games no matter the positions of the teams in the league – then that is sinister and I’d imagine UEFA might have something to say about it. I cannot imagine the EPL ever agreeing to a deal that ManU would always be in the EPL even though it looks probable that they will be for the life of the current contract.
If the guarantee meant that the TV companies could show an end of season OF league game even though their quota of games for the season had been used (for example if there was a League Cup meeting) then that would seem reasonable to me.
So the quetion is – what was the wording of the “guarantee”?
The ole Gazebo is the place to be seen, hang out with the Marmo-Set for the ultimate pre-match experience.
“I’m keen to stress disallowing Newco into the SPL would inflict massive damage on the whole of the game in Scotland”
Neil Doncaster, July 2012
Okay I get it they’re going to park resolution 12 underground. Great idea save space and leaves stacks of room for any future resolutions to sky-scrape without impeaching on the chargeable parking space.
Up the board.
Good article Paul
Just popped in during lunch, and back to work shortly.
Some excellent points raised.
“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.”
Totally agree with the match day experience being very poor in a lot of aspects. I renewed my season ticket about 4 years ago after an absence of about 7 years due to financial constraints. Don’t know if it was because I had been away so long and was looking at the match day experience with fresh eyes, but it seemed to me that it was a tired experience with a lot of people working inside Celtic Park just going through the motions.
Now I always think positive change should come from the top down, and then from the bottom up once positive attitudes and ideas have been established through both people doing the daily job and most importantly from fan feedback.
My impression is that either the people at the top of Celtic have become so disconnected from the fans, they just do not understand how poor the match day experience is, or they are happy to just to let things go on the way they have always been. I get the impression the people at the top of Celtic do not share the same ambition to take Celtic to a new level (appreciate the constraints of our environment)or they just do not have the competences to do so.
The questions you ask above Paul, these should surely be asked at the highest level at Celtic, sadly I don’t think this is happening and there is evidence every week that this is the case.
HH Dan
yesterday’s birth sign was Taurus, today’s is Virgo.
Tomorrow’s is ‘Gingivitis’
DBBIA/RussellGrantCSC
Hows about “The Resolutionistas”…..!
…more ‘us’?
;)
BBhoy,
Can only echo what Cliftonville Celt said about Donegal. Still have family in Kerrykeel. Uncle used to own a bar there called Shields Bar. Some beautiful wee places around. Portsalon is a must, as is driving up Knockala and looking a the view. Downings is a beautiful wee seaside place. Letterkenny is a good place to go shopping and eating. Carrigart is another wee gem of a town. You can get to some of these places just driving around Mulroy Bay and the view is brilliant.
Good luck and have a great time.
Sean
The Resolution 12 angry men.