CUSTOMERS REALLY DO COME FIRST AT THE
NEW WEMBLEY STADIUM
Participant Relationship Management software from First Sports International has allowed Wembley Stadium to make an early and trouble-free start on premium seat sales. The customer database at the system’s heart puts the company in an enviable position to integrate future technologies in ways that could not only maximize efficiency, but also offer spectators a uniquely personalized experience.
Many companies struggle to retrofit relationship management software to their organizations, pulling in customer data from legacy systems in order to achieve the elusive ‘single customer view.’ Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) is not in that position. While building a spectacular new venue from the ground up, it also has a ‘greenfield’ opportunity to present its customers with a world-class solution for premium seat sales and targeted marketing campaigns. No surprise, then, that it has started by implementing an application, with a customer database at its heart: First Sports International’s sports solution. Implemented in just six weeks, the solution, designed specifically for the sports industry, supports the sale of premium seats and corporate boxes, generating vital cash flow ahead of the stadium’s opening in 2006. As that opening day approaches, the FSI solution provides a foundation for a range of hi-tech applications that will create a very slick experience for Wembley’s customers.
Wembley’s IT and Business Process Director Peter Warren says, “So far, our focus has been on getting the basic processes and procedures right. With those in place, we’ll be well positioned to access available technology to ensure that our administration matches the high standard of facilities designed into the new stadium. We know that FSI’s solution has the reliability and scalability to support whatever we decide to do.”
SPORTING AND ECONOMIC ASSET
WNSL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Football Association(The FA), set up to oversee the re-building of Wembley – from the stadium itself to its systems and business processes. The project’s long-term aim is not only to turn Wembley into the world’s most sophisticated stadium, but also to build brand loyalty to the venue itself – a task that has never been attempted.
Due to open in 2006, the stadium, already acclaimed as one of the world’s top facilities is taking shape where the former twin towers of the old Wembley Stadium once stood. A 133-metre high arch will span the stadium, supporting a partially retractable roof to shelter spectators, and at the same time adding a graceful new landmark to London’s skyline. Ninety thousand fans – 10,000 more than in the old stadium – will be accommodated in style and comfort, with 30% more seat space than before, ample catering facilities for everyone, and more lavatories than any other building in the world. The stadium is expected to generate approximately £230m in visitor expenditure per annum, contributing over £62 million to London’s economy each year. The new stadium will also generate more than 7,500 jobs – 2,800 more than in the previous stadium.
With a venue of this scope and size to market and support, a significant mount of effort and energy have been dedicated to building the right infrastructure, the right processes and finding the right technology partner to help deliver on ambitious corporate goals.
ADVANCE SALES OF PREMIUM SEATS
Accordingly, on joining WNSL at the beginning of 2003, Warren’s first priority was to enable the launch of Wembley’s premium seat offering known as Club Wembley. According to the business plan, 160 corporate boxes and 15,000 10-year seat licenses were to go on sale in 2003. Boxes are leased for between 3 and 10 years and are available not only for every event, but for other activities (for example, company meetings). Ten-year seat licenses include 12 key sporting events each year as well as entitling the holder to first refusal on other events such as concerts.
Major events in the football calendar offer the best opportunity for promoting both business and personal entertainment, and so Wembley aimed to start selling during the FA Cup Final on 20th May 2003. That left only a small time window in which to implement the necessary support systems. Nonetheless, Warren resisted any temptation to start grappling with systems issues straight away – business processes had to be designed first. For seat sales, a neatly staged process emerged, beginning with a customer’s expression of interest and concluding when a contract has been signed and a deposit paid. In time, the technology selected by Wembley, and the database that technology would build, would form the foundation on which these business processes would depend.
CHOOSING FIRST SPORTS INTERNATIONAL
Not until late March, however, was Wembley ready to think about the systems themselves. Warren describes the choice of package as a no-brainer. “With Just over six weeks before we needed to start selling, we couldn’t afford any show-stoppers, and FSI’s experience told us there wouldn’t be any.”
Warren was impressed by FSI’s ability to deliver comprehensive functionality in a straightforward manner. “Some of the big packages are cumbersome to implement. The FSI solution is simple to implement, yet so easily adaptable, enabling it to cope with the idiosyncrasies of our business. The software, and the way in which the FSI team approached the whole project was ‘adaptive rather than prescriptive,’ just as they claim. The solution is also designed modularly, focused around a central module that makes it easy to build bridges between applications.”
In addition, the FSI solution met with approval from Wembley’s marketing department as it truly enabled the organization to define the systems around its customers, thus putting the customers at the center of Wembley’s business.
The fact that FSI could be trusted to get on with their side of the project was essential, given the other tasks on the critical path to live date. To eliminate potential hardware bottlenecks, Wembley needed to implement network infrastructure upgrades plus new network management technology. It also had to set up a call center, complete with call management software and IP telephony, and capable of processing high call volumes at any one time.
Over the course of the six weeks from March to mid-May, First Sports worked with WNSL to develop the software and further streamline Wembley’s business processes to ensure a seamless fit between the technology and the business. In May, First Sports delivered and implemented the software and helped Wembley upload its existing contact and prospect lists into the database. FSI also implemented a specially designed additional software layer to sit on top of the software package and allow customers to input their applications via the Wembley web site (
www.wembleystadium.com) instead of calling the call center. The system also automatically processes and fulfills seat applications based upon in-built business rules – a vital process given the amount of interest in key seat locations and seat packages.
SMOOTH RUNNING
The First Sports system and call center went live on 13th May 2003. Every enquiry went straight into the system, so that the customer database began to grow from day one.
Since live date, FSI and Wembley have continued to collaborate closely to optimize the use of the system. They have found ways to streamline administration processes further by taking better advantage of features within the software. For example, when a prospect registers on-line, the system now automatically runs off the necessary form letter and address label, minimizing the administrative effort associated with direct mail brochures.
While FSI’s staff engages in frequent visits to Wembley Stadium’s offices for meetings, the system is supported remotely. “They’ve been quick to sort out any issues we’ve raised, leaving us free to get on with the all-important job of filling seats and selling contracts,” says Warren. For minor amendments, such as screen layout changes, Wembley is now self-sufficient, since, as well as providing standard user training, FSI has trained internal administrators.
HI-TECH FUTURE
Warren is the first to admit that, implementation timescales aside, Wembley has yet to tackle anything particularly ambitious around the FSI solution but he and his colleagues are well aware of the possibilities of having a powerful customer database and flexible relationship management solution available so early in the project.
One area of potential is customer management and targeted marketing. Using the customer database in conjunction with mobile telephony and smart cards, it would be possible to organize entertainment within the stadium in sophisticated ways. “For example, smart cards linked to a customer database could control access to areas of the site, for example. Customers could use the same cards to pay for purchases, which could be a lot quicker than taking cash and would also allow us to learn about their habits and preferences. Then we could start to do things like identifying customers who always buy refreshments at the start of a match, and sending them a text message inviting them to buy it half an hour earlier in return for a discount.” These initiatives could improve spectators’ experiences immensely, as well as contributing to profitability, Warren believes. Moving forward, Wembley Stadium could use this understanding to create specific campaigns to better market or sell features to the individuals to whom it would be most pertinent.
For now, Wembley has more immediate systems concerns on its agenda, such as the need to fulfill seat orders and cater for the transfer of unneeded seats for particular events. Some of these jobs cannot be tackled until the layout of the stadium’s seating, including the seat numbers, is finalized.
Eventually, Wembley will need to implement a variety of specialized systems, probably from several different vendors, as well as possibly outsourcing some functions such as ticketing. FSI’s software database will provide the hub around which all these applications will be integrated. There may be mileage in connecting the FA’s customer base – covering England supporters generally – with Wembley Stadium’s own information about customers. Warren comments, “There would be obvious advantages to sharing our data: we could start to understand customers’ needs much better if we had all the information about people who come to England games in one place for example.” Although it is more difficult to generate loyalty to a venue than to a football club, a venue like Wembley Stadium is exceptionally well placed to create meaningful customer relationships. It is on the premise that this goal would in time need to be achievable, that First Sports International and WNSL together developed the Wembley solution.
All this is in the future. What has First Sports International done for Wembley to date? Warren sums up: “Basically, FSI has underpinned the success of the project so far – there was no other way to deliver what we wanted within the time that we had. The secret of being so fast off the mark was the flexibility and clarity of the software, plus the fact that we had a partner we could trust and rely on.”
