Marketing and commercial team.

[Nudga]

I'd just like to thank Ryan and Mark from the marketing  team for inviting me and my boys for a little behind the scenes tour and meet the players.
My boys were already Rovers fans but this has given them a real buzz for it.
Thanks also to Paul Dickov and James Coppinger for taking the time to have a little chat and signing autographs.

Can the VSC pass this on to Gavin  (who we also met).

[mushRTID]

Iv noticed on Twitter this new Ryan fella is already doing some good things and is very approachable and enthusiastic. 

[dknward2]

Long may it continue IRWT is well on it way back

[Nudga]

Ryan has just text me to see if we enjoyed our day. Fantastic approach,  big thumbs up from me.

[eastender]

Ryan has just text me to see if we enjoyed our day. Fantastic approach,  big thumbs up from me.

Are you Len fairclough ? 

[roversdude]

Wonder what the thinking was with lack of food outlets in west stand

[GazLaz]

Ryan has just text me to see if we enjoyed our day. Fantastic approach,  big thumbs up from me.

Don't be sending a picture back of your thumb up anywhere, I know what you are like.

[wesisback]

Nothing but positive things to say about Ryan Murrant so far. Every interaction I've had with him and everything I've heard from everyone else has shown that he will absolutely move the club forward.
Long may it continue!

[neil grainger]

That's great to hear - well done to all involved.

There needs to be a big improvement in the catering in the West Stand.
I brought 3 extra visitors to Rovers today, taking advantage of the excellent reduced pricing.

But with half of the food & drink outlets in the West Stand closed, we failed to get anything to eat or drink as the queues at the few open outlets were so huge. We would have missed the start of the second half had we stayed in the queue until we were served.

Why can't we get the basics right?

[knockers]

Both me and Muttley tweeted Ryan today about the west stand North end catering being closed and he is going to sort it out

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It was carnage at HT on the West Stand and with the totally inadequate queuing system people were falling over each other. Thing is, this issue arises periodically, along with other basic pre match preparations that should be nailed down by now and shouldn't need sorting out. Most likely Centreplate viewing the Customer at the heart of everything they do again!

[swintonrover]

One thing I did notice yesterday was in the train station. On the digital billboard in the tunnel, there was the BBC FA Cup video with the words "Come and support the Rovers in the FA Cup".
A large part of me hopes that was a club initiative, but I reckon it was a BBC thing. Good placement though.

[i_ateallthepies]

I joined the queue as the half time whistle blew and got served just as the players were walking out onto the pitch.  The hot food was sold out well before I got served.  I thought they were trying to run a business selling stuff to punters, never mind putting the customer at the heart of everything they do.
And then the chaos with the queueing.  What happened to the barrier system they used to use marshalled by a steward?  Ah yes, it worked, so that wouldn't f**king do would it!!!

[Bentley Bullet]

If it wasn't so ridiculous you'd have to laugh. The only time the outlets can sell owt is on match days......So they decide not to open them on match days!

It's like Santa Claus booking 2 weeks off to go on his holidays at Christmas.

[LincsRover]

South stand was just as bad - only 2 out of 3 outlets open but only one serving alcohol, no queueing system and they ran out of steak pies before kick off in one of them (the one that serves beer). My mate who is now a fully fledged rovers fan (after years of flirting with Lincoln city he now owns a rovers shirt, hat & scarf) couldn't believe how poor the whole catering operation is run. He has his own business and commented that no other business outside a football ground could possibly survive such terrible service, organisation and (rude) staff - appalling!

At least on the pitch things were much improved!

 

[ian1980]

With how long we've been in the Keepmoat now, there shouldn't still be issues like these. It's almost as if nothing is learnt or any accountability taken.

Why is it being made so difficult? It's selling food and drinks on a large volume basis which is done very successfully in countless other places.

[wing commander]

 Nobody cares about it,the club or the caterers..Christ we've moaned about it enough..Nothing changes,there are plenty of fancy words from both sides but it's still pathetic

[mushRTID]

I don't know why people bother buying anything there anymore. It's a disgrace what is served up to supporters and we shouldn't have to put up with it.

Maybe a small food boycott is the only way they will listen because nothing ever changes.

If people do need to eat while they are out there's plenty to choose from near the keep moat instead of putting up with the garbage served.

[wesisback]

How long is Centreplates contract? Surely they've already been informed that their contract won't be renewed. I've found the company an absolute disgrace who have treated the club and fans with contempt. My biggest criticism of the club is they haven't sought to terminate it already for failing to meet service levels. I think most fans would even accept no food for a few games while we found a new party if it meant we had somebody who cared again.

[silent majority]

As most will know I've voiced the opinions of supporters and attended numerous meetings with the club and staff of Centerplate to help resolve these issues, and yet for every step forward they eventually return to their bad old ways. Don't forget though that it was worse under the old SMC and the variants of business's that traded under various different names as management buy outs followed one after another. We have had some significant gains, but eventually they become lost and forgotten as the poor service tends to overshadow even those.

This item is on our agenda again for tomorrows meeting. Lets hope for good news.

[wesisback]

Do you think it was that much worse Martin? I gave up at Coventry and I know many that did yesterday. Many aren't getting to the front of the queue to receive shite service or taste the average food.
Do you know when the Centreplate contract runs out? As above I don't think it matters, they've had enough chances and the club should be looking at terminating their contract. This isn't a swipe in any way Martin but we all know already how Centreplate will respond.

[silent majority]

I do actually. The range, variety and prices were shocking previously and there was no financial benefit to DRFC at all.

There has been a change in Centerplate management in recent months, and the signs were looking good for wholesale improvements (somewhere round about the time we brought back the pie and pint offer) and prior to the Christmas break I would have said that the new team were meeting their commitments. But it seems to have gone backwards yet again.

I would suggest that details about length of contracts and terminations of such shouldn't be made by me. I'm not suggesting any of that is imminent by the way, just that I'm not in a position to publicly say what is or isn't the current position.

[wesisback]

I've not seen the changes at all. Pie and a pint is a good pricemark but the service hasn't moved forward at all.

[wesisback]

http://www.centerplate.co.uk/news/news/doncaster-rovers-teams-up-in-10-year-deal-with-lindley-venue-catering

Found it! That's a contract and a half! I'm sure they'll pick it up when the last year comes round!

[RobTheRover]

That contract must have performance related break points in it. There is no way I would ever sign up to a ten year contract on anything,  let alone something as contentious as catering, without having a safety net in place for non-performance.

[BobG]

Trouble is, just as the catering is pitiful, so is the clubs attempts at any sustained effort to build a 'relationship' with its potential supporters. Yes. Players do go visit a lot of schools. Yes. They traipse round DRI from time to time. Yes. The dish out free tickets. But WTF use is made of that expensive CRM system that was launched with such hype - only to rapidly sink into obscurity?

I registered to buy tickets as the KM opened. I live a long way from the ground. For unpleasant reasons I haven't been to the KM as often as I'd like for a bit now, so why aren't they contacting me? Why aren't they sending a poxy birthday card to Alex? Even an emailed one would do FFS.

Used properly, CRM systems are worth millions. If DRFC used theirs even half way decenttly, it would be transformational. It would redefine, for the better, the relationship with the customer. It would transform the club revenue. It's worse than shameful how little use has been made of that system. Has ANYONE seen or heard ANYTHING from it in the last 5 years?

This is a serious weakness in DRFC's command and control systems. Sad to say, it is one of a number of serious reasons why I did not admire JR's business abilities and did not value him as Chairman of the Rovers. He had plenty of strengths. But business management was not one of them. It wasn't upto JR to use the DRM system or to run it, but as Chairman he should have set the direction and the objectives. Clearly, he forgot all about it.

As for the current Chair, directors and CE, they better get a move on. They've had some really major battles to fight so they won't have had time so far to look internally, but now those battles have been won, I shall be ultra disappointed if we don't see some evidence of a new direction being taken on managing relationships with the customers. And no. I don't mean ticket offers or Club Doncaster.  Both have their place, but only within a thought out marketing strategy (isn't that a risible statement when it comes to DRFC!) and a thought out implementation plan.

Martin, VSC Directors, do you happen to know if any of the current Board are even aware that such a thing as a CRM system exists within the club/company? If they don't know it's there, clearly they wouldn't think to plan how to use it. There will be expense involved in getting it running. I imagine no one will have paid the software support fee so the clubs version will likely be a good way behind the curve. Indeed, it may not even be supportable now. But that can all be fixed. it just needs the vision and the will. PDX Rover could tell them how!

Cheers

BobG

These things are exponential. Time lost is damn hard to reclaim later.

[silent majority]

Bob,

This is a subject we've discussed many times with the club. If memory serves me right the CRM system the club invested in was never implemented and on occupation of the Keepmoat, the SMC as management incumbents, implemented their own system. We, as a simple tenant, had no need or right to use anything. The ticket office, which in fairness is the central block of such a system, was using a very cheap system that the SMC operated, and on handover to DRFC, mysteriously extended the contract and left the club with its hands tied.

Admittedly over the years the software has been added to and amended, but as far as I'm aware is still lacking in capability. We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, it might be early doors for Ryan as Shaun's replacement, but we can ask for an update.

[eastender]

There's only 92 league clubs , surely it can't be hard for someone from the club to contact them all and find out which ones are happy with there catering arrangements, and work out which company perform best. 

[BobG]

 Thank you Martin. I had failed to grasp that the club had been stitched up by the SMC.

I do remember though that when we first started at the KM, there was a series of personally addressed email shots that looked like the beginning of proper SRM use. They carried on for a while before they died. If the Rovers CRM system was never implemented, what system, who's system did that??? And what happened to cause it to stop?

Bob

[silent majority]

Hi Bob,

I'm sure I have the answers to all this somewhere! As I say, I'll try for an update tomorrow although in fairness we do have a pretty packed agenda.