Club website

[Lifelong supporter]

It's really sad what's happened to the club website.
A gobbledegook headline on the main story which nobody has changed.
Doesn't whoever wrote it bother to look on the website to check for mistakes?
Just as bad a story lower down advertising tickets for a match which took place EIGHT days ago!

[IDM]

Perhaps folks are on holiday.?

I find it really sad when folks like to jump on any imperfection they perceive at DRFC, and post about it as if it’s so important.

[ForsolongaRover]

It's really sad what's happened to the club website.
A gobbledegook headline on the main story which nobody has changed.
Doesn't whoever wrote it bother to look on the website to check for mistakes?
Just as bad a story lower down advertising tickets for a match which took place EIGHT days ago!

I have been making the point that the biographies of the players do not show their basic personal (“vital”) stats. We cannot discover their height, weight of date of birth and that has been missing for the 2 or 3 years since the club changed from their previous website provider. They then fell out with the much-hyped new website provider whose reputation they claimed was evidenced by the many PL clubs which used them. From that date on, the website became rather like a semi-deserted warehouse of valueless goods. Now the only actual stats which are there are no doubt transmitted automatically from standard match stats and meaningless in their aggregated form in which they appear. (For a long time even these were just empty spaces.)

The fact that it is not easy to navigate is an obvious consequence of lack of use. Club personnel obviously don’t go there much, otherwise they’d realise what a shambles it is.

A member of staff has now written - only recently I think - a paragraph of “biography” for at least some of the players which, though it does not include the missing fundamentals, is useful, but obviously no one edits the overall content of the site. It is amazing in this digital world that no one in senior management has noticed how unprofessional the image is which the website portrays.

I might say I’ve made this point several times both on here and I think directly to the club. I suppose that the very long time the App was said to be about to be launched reflected its low priority.

And if IDM thinks these shortcomings are isolated imperfections I doubt whether he has ever spent time trying to find information there.

[GazLaz]

Feels like a largely unnecessary shake up in that department. It’s certainly not a thriving area of the club at the minute. Website’s, social media, player interviews etc should be pretty straight forward to get right. Must not have the correct resources.

[IDM]

I go there to buy tickets and have never had a problem.

[Lifelong supporter]

Perhaps folks are on holiday.?

I find it really sad when folks like to jump on any imperfection they perceive at DRFC, and post about it as if it’s so important.

I think it's very important when it's the first point of contact for anyone looking online for any information about the club.
What does it say about the club when the first thing people see is a crazy headline which could be easily corrected?
Far from jumping on any imperfection I waited a couple of days before pointing out the headline...and the other item, as I said, has been there eight days.
It's important that the club has standards in every department - even when it's holiday time.
I find it rather strange that people don't feel the same way.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

There could be any number of things where more resources would be advantageous but, it is close season and who knows whats ahead when things get moving ready for the new season.

For now though, whilst I'm enjoying fantastic value for money with my season tickets, I think I can tolerate a few things not being quite up to date.

[MachoMadness]

Surely the more cost-effective option at this point is to outsource to an agency. Get them on a decent retainer, keep one or two staff on to run the department and manage the work going in to the agency. That's surely the more cost-effective way of going about it rather than "restructuring" which just appears to be cutting it all.

[selby]

  It was more on the ball, less complicated and easier to navigate three years ago, I hardly ever use it now and when I do the format has changed.
  And every year it seems that the actual purchase of tickets according to the people who use it to purchase have problems and get frustrated which is not a good look.

[i_ateallthepies]

The errors in themselves may not be that important but it is the impression it creates of lax standards.  This is the customer-facing part of the club and if the impression it creates is that nobody at the club gives a monkey's about low standards then how deep does the laxity go on matters beyond sight of the customer?

[Pancho Regan]

  It was more on the ball, less complicated and easier to navigate three years ago, I hardly ever use it now and when I do the format has changed.
  And every year it seems that the actual purchase of tickets according to the people who use it to purchase have problems and get frustrated which is not a good look.

I regularly use the ticketing site and have done for several years.
I can’t recall ever having any problems.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It's funny but when the vast majority of people who deal with the club staff or players, either face to face or on the phone, usually say it's a positive experience, it maybe suggests they do actually give a monkeys.

[i_ateallthepies]

My only face to face contact with people at the club has been with ticket office staff, and that has always been positive and I suspect the majority of supporters will also only have had that level of face to face contact.  Nevertheless, the point still stands that for the club to appear so lax about the impression created by their primary customer-facing information outlet does nothing to create the impression of a professional organisation.

[sf9944]

Successful businesses set high standards and stick to them. Most of my interactions with the club suggest that they understand this.

I believe that part of our role as supporters is to hold the club to account when standards start to slip. Where possible we should do this constructively of course.

I don’t believe in making excuses for poor standards. Poor standards lead to poor performance, and not just on the pitch.

[ForsolongaRover]

  It was more on the ball, less complicated and easier to navigate three years ago, I hardly ever use it now and when I do the format has changed.
  And every year it seems that the actual purchase of tickets according to the people who use it to purchase have problems and get frustrated which is not a good look.

I regularly use the ticketing site and have done for several years.
I can’t recall ever having any problems.

I’ve not had problems with tickets - it’s not that aspect that needs improvement.