Service Outputs: Silvertips

When thinking of a company that has good service outputs, I immediately thought of my company, the Everett Silvertips Hockey Club. The Everett Silvertips are a fairly new hockey organization in the Western Hockey League, displaying the finest minor league (ages 15-22) hockey in North America. My current role in the club is Marketing and Game Operations Intern, which is going to turn into a Marketing and Ticketing Executive position when the 2010/2011 season is underway. We have averaged over 6500 roaring fans for each of our home games, totaling to over 1,750,000 in our seven season existence. According to King 5 News: Evening Magazine, the Silvertips ranked 3rd for best sports team in 09’, of all Western Washington teams. They were behind the Sounders in first and Seahawks in second (1). Also according to WHL.CA, Everett has the best fans in the league, voted by all teams in the WHL (2).
Besides the success the players have produced on the ice, I think our service outputs is what puts on top of the league when it comes to fan satisfaction. We hit the five major concepts mentioned in class: bulk breaking, waiting/deliver time, product variety, spatial convenience, and customer service. Bulk Breaking: while we do give better options to our season ticket holders, we do value fans that can only make it to a selective amount of games. Besides offering season tickets, we also offer flex packs, which fans can pick any 8 games, not 8 that are pre-selected (which most teams do.) We also have tickets available upon walk-up that are reasonably priced. Waiting/Delivery Time: is the same around the league; tickets can be bought by walk-up at arena ticket office and online or on the phone with Ticketmaster ®. One thing I noticed that we do, which other teams don’t, is that we have a phone line connected directly to our office. By calling this line, fans can buy tickets through our ticket executives, with NO service charge tacked on. This is not only cost saving, but also time because the lines are drastically shorter and quicker than the general ticket windows. Also a additional value we added for the 2009/2010 season is that our ticket executives can send you a virtual copy of your bought ticket, for no additional cost, that can printed out at your own convenience. Product Variety: the Silvertips highly recommend fans to follow the team on the road, visiting other arenas and showing their dedication to the team. The Silvertips make this convenient by having links on our website to other team’s site to buy tickets. We also work in relationship with other events at Comcast Arena, producing optimum fan perceived value with the ease to attend multiple events. Spatial Convenience: one of the best aspects given by any event at Comcast Arena in Everett, especially for the Silvertips. The Silvertips have teamed up with the city of Everett to make the best traffic scenarios around game/event time. While it may take over an hour to get your parked car to the freeway after a Mariners of Seahawks game, events at Comcast Arena are exited at a premium time and convenience. Parking garages and lots are spatially spaced out and there are multiple routes to the freeway. Customer Service: I believe is our best service output. We care about our loyal fan base. Working the Guest Services Table on game nights I have tried my best to be as friendly and genuine as possible for each fan. Having knowledge of information and exact stats around the league and a grip of complementary events surrounding our product, we always have an immediate answer to fans questions. Some fans come up with great excitement, which I try to continue and increase in them, by increasing their already high level of perceived value. On the other hand fans might come up in an upset attitude. I try my best to fulfill their request to achieve the value that they deserve. Another thing members of our staff do is remember as many fans as we can by name. This might be a daunting task as we see over 6500 faces a game, but acknowledging each fan individually and forming relationships is the best way to retain and have them spread the word about our great organization, which will lead to new acquisitions and add-on selling.
1. http://best.king5.com/winners/best-of-western-washington/4749/people/sports-team?place=4&view=List
2. http://whl.ca/index.php?s=11088&p=&year=&month=&t=archives&searchbox=best
Joel Anderson
MKTG 301, Section G