2014 Member and Supporter Survey results: your views
Tuesday 14th October 2014
More than 1,000 Kent Members and Supporters worked through the 2014 ClubSurveysand results indicate an improving assessment by both groups.
“The message sent in the 2013 Surveys was received and there has been a clear action plan to address the key points during 2014,” stated Kent Cricket CEO Jamie Clifford when reflecting on the Club’s end of year scorecard, covering ticket and membership packages and sales, match operations, communications and promotions.
“In 2013 we were sent a very clear message.” says Clifford, ‘”Our operations had slipped with important aspects of a match day not making the advances they had made in the previous two years. The food and drink offering, sound system quality and signage around the ground were particularly highlighted.”
Members seem to have been particularly pleased with the actions taken as their overall rating of the club moved positively by 68% (ratings within the Good or Excellent assessments), after an appreciable slump in 2013. Supporters recorded a similar bounce back with 58% noting an improvement.
Food and drink
The most dramatic movement came in the food and beverage provision. The Club, with catering partner Centerplate, put in place a major overhaul of the offering, which resulted in the re-launch of the Ames Bar as The Spitfire Bar, offering a ‘Boundary Catch’ fish and chip menu and real ale options. In addition the Club opened The Lime Tree Cafe mid-season.
”The cafe in particular had a significant impact,” says Clifford. ”It broadened the range and, with its pitch side seating, quickly became a very popular. We also bought in a greater variety of temporary outlets at the limited-over matches, including a very popular Thai option, with vegetarian dishes.”
Approval rates moved a dramatic 183% for range and 197% for quality of offering according to the Members responding to these questions.
Sound/Public address system
The addition of extra speakers, resetting of some volume levels and an off-season servicing of the sound system was also noted by Members and Supporters. “Sound at outdoor events is absolutely vital from both a communication and atmosphere perspective,” noted Clifford.
”It is a notoriously difficult area to get right but we knew from last year’s assessment that we had to invest further in it. It is still far from perfect but it is encouraging to see that the efforts are being recognised.” For the first time the Club’s sound clarity has the majority of attendees rating it as, Good or Excellent, 50.6% of Members and 51.2% of Supporters.
Fixtures
2014 had been a year of major changes to the playing programme and the Club was very interested to receive feedback from Members and Supporters on these adaptations.
LV= County Championship matches now predominately start on Sundays, the new 50 over Royal London One-Day Cup contested over four mid-week time slots during the school holidays and the new NatWest T20 Blast competition played over seven home rounds, spread over a longer period and mainly on Fridays.
Overall results were fairly inconclusive, at this early stage of the new format, with five of the six ratings resulting in a slight majority viewing them as Good or Excellent, with NatWest T20 Blast changes the most favourably viewed.
Members rating over LV County Championship, Royal London One-Day Cup and T20 Blast respectively, 51.6%, 54.5% and 64.5%, Supporters: 44.7%, 51.9% and 61.4%. ”In many ways the survey results mirror our attendance,” says Clifford.
"There has not been a dramatic change in numbers with overall figures slightly up, reflecting the extra NatWest T20 Blast fixtures, the home quarter-final in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the reduction in limited over cricket.
"Championship has grown, but when you strip out some of the one-off promotions it is almost identical to the previous two years. What was of note was the comments section and trends within this.
"Of the 1,006 people who completed questions in the surveys, 450 included comments, some extensive.
"The question of no Sunday limited-over cricket was raised regularly, as was the playing of Canterbury Cricket Week over a weekend. These are two areas in particular we will be talking to the ECB about when it comes to setting the 2015 programme.”
Communications
The Club maintained its positive assessment of its communication function with both its website, www.kentcricket.co.uk and weekly e-newsletter Extra Cover receiving growing endorsement of their performance and function.
The website was rated Good or Excellent by 67.8% of Member respondents, up 8%, and 66.4% of Supporter, up 5%.
Extra Cover was rated between 70% – 80% in the assessments of its; Appearance/Layout, Range of Contents and Relevance of Contents by both groups, with virtually all improving on 2013 ratings.
“The feedback and assessment we receive from the Surveys are absolutely vital to our planning and operations,” said Clifford. ”We are very appreciative of the hundreds of people who complete them and can assure them it makes a big difference.”