Meeting with Matt Finnis

Remove this Banner Ad

How about forming a sister relationship with an NRL team, not St George, but the Cowboys and maybe sharing a week or two pre season, hosting each other away etc. If promoted properly, then straight up the Saints could possibly pick up 50000 new fans in nq for instance and convert several thousand into paying interstate members.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

I'd overhaul the merchandising. Things are never in stock and there's few options. More stuff for kids. More stuff for girls. Games and collectables, I'd do top trumps - I'd love the kids (and me) having a set of saints top trumps, card collections, more retro stuff and for the love of god have all the xl's etc the same or have the sizes for each item on the page - it's like we're trying to put people off.

Plastic crap like frisbee, dog leads, baby cutlery, everything imaginable, pants and socks there's no pants and socks, how is that possible. Stuff the kids can buy you for Christmas and vice versa.

I'd commission a history at least every 3 years, have seasonal review DVDs with commentary of games from Richo, coaches and players. Real insider stuff. Iconic framed pictures, autographed stuff, long sleeved versions of guernseys......

Also We know we have a whole host of supporters who aren't members so let's put together membership Christmas packages for cashed up baby boomers to buy for their thrifty grown up kids. Package them up with some exclusive tat and a choice of named videos with family offers for baby sitting or lifts - all the things that we think stop people going to games or signing up.
 
Blended said:
Welcome to Bigfooty George!

As I said before we need a statue of Trevor Barker out the front of a revamped Moorabin. Get Matty on it
Click to expand...
Hahaha hey Brad how are ya mate! Will do! First thing on the list !
 
GJD23 this is the most pro-active and encouraging thing to have happened to this board. i am licking my lips at the thought of some really good action items coming out of it that could be implemented

i have some feedback from an interstate supporters point of view, every year we get the survey and every year i put the same responses on it and nothing ever happens. in fact the questions on the survey often dont even related to interstate supportes (something I passed on but nothing was done). basically they need to review the interstate membership bands and consider them when engaging with members...

but heres the key stuff:
1) the premium interstate membership band provides little value for money, its why I cancelled mine. something I highlighted to a well known saints person working at the club, their response was that they agreed with me and would pass on the feedback. there are little things that can be done here to provide more value for money.. for instance over here in WA we have a pre-game function. it costs $20 entry and is funded by the western saints and sometimes their sponsors. surely if you buy the premium interstate membership, you shouldnt have to fork out the extra $20. but the same functions in tasmania are free entry to members?????
2) there is no membership band available for a junior interstate member. they buy the exact same membership is a junior based in melbourne, just without any of the benefits. theres no kids clinic unless you fly over etc. (the number that would fly over would be very low)... we are basically pricing out or giving interstate members a reason NOT to sign up. just doesnt seem right that juniors pay the exact same price, even if the interstate ones cant receive all of the benefits
3) added to the above, there is no membership band that gives an interstate junior access to grand final tickets. our membership dept response was "you have to buy the standard 11 game junior membership plus the extra membership that gives you access to it" this to me is vastly unfair, given NO junior is going to attend all 11 games if they live interstate!!! so the only option is to buy the premium interstate membership I mentioned above that is really poor value for money. if we do make a grand final, the family with the junior is already going to be paying for over-priced flights and accommodation to make the event
4) the 1 game interstate membership is $30 more expensive than a 3 game membership... how does this happen? given interstate members require less work and you actually pay for less tickets... now tickets at subi are slightly more expensive than etihad tickets but not by 3x the amount
5) the new membership website is extremely confusing and hard to find what membership is useful for your circumstance. for instance punch in the search details from an interstate members perspective

positive feedback:
1) the president attending a Q&A session in perth was the best thing ive seen happen in sometime, well since grant thomas made the entire playing list available for a function in 2004. it was extremely informative
2) the club is making more people available for the pre game function which is a massive positive
3) the flag bearer stuff for junior members was amazing. my boy who had a vague passing interest in football, was absolutely hooked from that moment on. please please please do not ditch this. it is vitally important for kids to get close to their stars and experience the game
4) the work matt finnis, luke holmesby, tom moriss (now departed) has done is nothing short of sensational and i feel we are finally on a path where the club acknowledges members and recognises how important they are. it finally feels like my football club (JUST FIX THE INTERSTATE PROBLEMS!!!!... please)
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Defacto said:
GJD23 this is the most pro-active and encouraging thing to have happened to this board. i am licking my lips at the thought of some really good action items coming out of it that could be implemented

i have some feedback from an interstate supporters point of view, every year we get the survey and every year i put the same responses on it and nothing ever happens. in fact the questions on the survey often dont even related to interstate supportes (something I passed on but nothing was done). basically they need to review the interstate membership bands and consider them when engaging with members...

but heres the key stuff:
1) the premium interstate membership band provides little value for money, its why I cancelled mine. something I highlighted to a well known saints person working at the club, their response was that they agreed with me and would pass on the feedback. there are little things that can be done here to provide more value for money.. for instance over here in WA we have a pre-game function. it costs $20 entry and is funded by the western saints and sometimes their sponsors. surely if you buy the premium interstate membership, you shouldnt have to fork out the extra $20. but the same functions in tasmania are free entry to members?????
2) there is no membership band available for a junior interstate member. they buy the exact same membership is a junior based in melbourne, just without any of the benefits. theres no kids clinic unless you fly over etc. (the number that would fly over would be very low)... we are basically pricing out or giving interstate members a reason NOT to sign up. just doesnt seem right that juniors pay the exact same price, even if the interstate ones cant receive all of the benefits
3) added to the above, there is no membership band that gives an interstate junior access to grand final tickets. our membership dept response was "you have to buy the standard 11 game junior membership plus the extra membership that gives you access to it" this to me is vastly unfair, given NO junior is going to attend all 11 games if they live interstate!!! so the only option is to buy the premium interstate membership I mentioned above that is really poor value for money. if we do make a grand final, the family with the junior is already going to be paying for over-priced flights and accommodation to make the event
4) the 1 game interstate membership is $30 more expensive than a 3 game membership... how does this happen? given interstate members require less work and you actually pay for less tickets... now tickets at subi are slightly more expensive than etihad tickets but not by 3x the amount
5) the new membership website is extremely confusing and hard to find what membership is useful for your circumstance. for instance punch in the search details from an interstate members perspective

positive feedback:
1) the president attending a Q&A session in perth was the best thing ive seen happen in sometime, well since grant thomas made the entire playing list available for a function in 2004. it was extremely informative
2) the club is making more people available for the pre game function which is a massive positive
3) the flag bearer stuff for junior members was amazing. my boy who had a vague passing interest in football, was absolutely hooked from that moment on. please please please do not ditch this. it is vitally important for kids to get close to their stars and experience the game
4) the work matt finnis, luke holmesby, tom moriss (now departed) has done is nothing short of sensational and i feel we are finally on a path where the club acknowledges members and recognises how important they are. it finally feels like my football club (JUST FIX THE INTERSTATE PROBLEMS!!!!... please)
Click to expand...
Cheers for all of that mate very informative stuff...I'll have some spare time over the weekend and will put this all into a word document to make things easier. If a lot of other members/fans are experiencing the same problems I'll dedicate an entire few pages to it. Coming from Victoria I honestly have no idea how difficult it must be for other states. Thanks though.
 
gringo2011 said:
Yeah I'm not sure how you do the cheer squad better but we sit next to them sometimes as my kid loves being up the front behind the goals. They are seriously bad chants that make me cringe when I hear them. When you get a few outsiders who start cooler ones they get shouted down by the main CS. I remember suggesting on SS that we get the schools to make a banner and have some school reps to hold the banner. Go around bayside getting them on board. Give the schools Saint supporters the floggers and sit them in free seats for the day. Night games get a country supporters group on board or something. War heroes or homeless lesbians or some other special interest group. The soccer does cheers squads better.

I would like to see some theatrics and see if it works. Something like how the Melbourne Tigers ran on in the 1990s with Dr Albarn playing "Say hallelujah" with the light dimmed and spot lights on only maybe with "Saints are coming" or something appropriate. Some loud kitschy thing like that.
Click to expand...

great suggestion and i agree. give some high school kids in year 11 and 12 free tickets to 3 home games and let them do the banner (with help), floggers etc. and chants

helps build the community link and keeps the cheer squad fresh

would love to see EPL style songs rather than the clap clap clap 60s chants that are now dead in sport
 
GJD23 said:
Cheers for all of that mate very informative stuff...I'll have some spare time over the weekend and will put this all into a word document to make things easier. If a lot of other members/fans are experiencing the same problems I'll dedicate an entire few pages to it. Coming from Victoria I honestly have no idea how difficult it must be for other states. Thanks though.
Click to expand...

no probs. i know its lengthy and very specific which may be very hard to convey to him in your limited time. also understand from the club there might be a big of cost benefit here, given they might lose money by making it "fairer" but surely they cant bend over interstate supporters that bad!!!!
 
Loyal Sainter said:
Hey mate, great that you've got the opportunity to chat with the great man Matty Finnis.

Cheer squad needs a MASSIVE overhaul. We need banner signs (one that says "That was SIGNIFICANTLY PLEASING" would be a great tip of the hat to Richo) :D and decent chants!
It just seems to be run by school girls at the moment. It's embarrassing to see the away team with a bigger cheer squad than us at our home games.
Not the biggest of problems I know, but probably an easy one to fix.

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts.
Click to expand...

would love to see some TIFOs happening for big milestones. should do one for roo's. something uni kids and high school kids can do. get the design approved by the club and off they go. would look amazing. could do one for maddies match as well. i am sure the broadcasters would like it as well. could sneak in a sneaky dare logo ;-) schools would love it for a design and art project as well

if etihad or what ever stadium mgmt kicks up a fuss, then ask why its possible for aleague clubs to do them
 
I think a supporter activation initiative could help the club identify more potential members. Whilst it would be difficult to do a complete assessment of this, it would be possible to utilise social media to gain an idea as to how many supporters we have that are actively using a social media forum and then use that information to compare that to our number of members.

Upon doing so, we would be able to identify which of these supporters could be targeted to increase membership at the club. For instance, the Facebook page has over 138,000 likes but we've only just ticked over 20,000 members for next year. There's a massive gap in the market that we could be directly targeting through specific marketing.
 
I'm definitely going to bring up my own points in regards to member acquisition and retention as I work in that space in the energy industry. Definitely a massive massive area to improve on.
 
GJD23 said:
I'm definitely going to bring up my own points in regards to member acquisition and retention as I work in that space in the energy industry. Definitely a massive massive area to improve on.
Click to expand...
Bring back the 2010 home Guernsey v
 
GJD23 said:
I'm definitely going to bring up my own points in regards to member acquisition and retention as I work in that space in the energy industry. Definitely a massive massive area to improve on.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I think we're reasonably poor in this area. I know there's been a huge emphasis on making the club more transparent and trying to become the 'people's club' but at the same time, we seem to have missed an opportunity to promote memberships to both potential and past members.
While a couple of reminder emails can work for a portion of the market, there needs to be a more direct approach to try and prompt renewal. The previous years members should be the platform for the next year, which we then build on. But it seems that we regularly fluctuate between 30-40k.
Plenty of room for improvement in this area, which is exciting for the club's potential growth!
 
footymad17 said:
To be honest, I think we're reasonably poor in this area. I know there's been a huge emphasis on making the club more transparent and trying to become the 'people's club' but at the same time, we seem to have missed an opportunity to promote memberships to both potential and past members.
While a couple of reminder emails can work for a portion of the market, there needs to be a more direct approach to try and prompt renewal. The previous years members should be the platform for the next year, which we then build on. But it seems that we regularly fluctuate between 30-40k.
Plenty of room for improvement in this area, which is exciting for the club's potential growth!
Click to expand...
The club had one of the best member retention rates in the league last year.
 
i'd love to see us do what freo did with the freo council. worked with them to have their club built into the identity of the city. they paint the city purple, during finals... quite literally purple. they paint the medium strips etc.

also they were going to put up freo flags

imagine having st kilda flags up everywhere along the main drag of st kilda
 
Periphery said:
The club had one of the best member retention rates in the league last year.
Click to expand...
I'm talking body of work. Obviously our form has impacted the fluctuation over the last 4-5 years, but we need to get to the point where retention occurs regardless of our performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Jack
Discussion Saints part ways with recruiting manager after restructure
17 18 19 20 21
Replies
511
Views
30K
Tyrian Lonestar
Tyrian Lonestar
George
Toast Welcome to St.Kilda - MATTAES PHILLIPOU!!
22 23 24 25 26
Replies
637
Views
50K
Miha
M
George
Senior Mattaes Phillipou
Replies
0
Views
500
George
George
George
Senior Caitlin Matthews
Replies
2
Views
899
George
George
M
Discussion Sam Fisher charged with drug trafficking
10 11 12 13 14
Replies
327
Views
15K
StFly
StFly
L
Resource Looking for help with season 1998
Replies
6
Views
776
langers1971
L

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top