Mark Kolier’s Blog

Posts Tagged ‘New York Mets’

Friday afternoon was opening day at CitiField for my beloved New York Mets or as Steve Somers of WFAN coined it – the Wilponzi’s. Ouch. It was a cold and dreary day like many days in early April at baseball parks in the northern climes. My ticket partners and I made a reservation at the Acela Club where we’ve eaten a number of times since it opened with the new stadium in 2009.

Arriving intentionally a bit early at 2PM for our 2:15 PM reservation, we knew that there was a 3:45 PM reservation behind us so we would have to clear out by then – first pitch was scheduled for 4:10PM. The line outside the restaurant was surprisingly long. None of us could figure out why. This began an odyssey that defied explanation for much of the afternoon. It ended well but only due to a savvy restaurateur in Drew Nieporent of Myriad Restaurant Group (Tribeca Grill, Nobu, Corton among others if you don’t know), who in addition to being on the scene realized that things were not going smoothly at all.

At $ 48 prix fix a meal at the Acela Club is not cheap. But you do get a lot for the money mainly due to the impressive salad and sandwich bar that has more high quality food than you could eat even if you didn’t eat an entrée. (The truffle macaroni and cheese is addictive).

Once we were seated, the drinks we ordered took 20 minutes to arrive. And our server was nowhere in sight for those 20 minutes of waiting. One of our partners cryptically mentioned to another server that we actually were at the stadium to watch a ball game “today”. Our meals did not arrive until well after 3:15. A couple of times we were visited by a host who offered us a free drink (we declined) and apologies for the slow service which did show that the staff was aware that things were not going well.

Once the meals did arrive the food as always was good. However at that point there was sincere doubt that we might return again – first pitch was 10 minutes away and it was long past 3:45. We finished up our meals and one of the hosts came over and told us that they were sorry for the long wait and the restaurant was going to pick up our meals.

Wow. And who said there was no such thing as a free lunch? None of us expected that but we were extremely pleased with the result. And yes we will be going back to the Acela club again soon but we might not have had they not come in and made amends.

On the way out I passed Drew (whom I have met a couple of times but do not know well at all) who was both on the phone and surveying the proceedings. I mentioned to him that it was a tough day and he more than agreed saying they totally messed it up – surprising candor from one of New York’s premiere restaurateurs. But I also told him that in the end they got it right by doing the unexpected.

Everyone should think about doing the unexpected when you know your customer has a bad experience in order try to make it right. Anyone can have a bad day. It’s what you do to respond that sets your company apart.

Do you have any good stories on successful resolution to a potential bad customer experience?

My creative director Nader Ashway and I not only work together but we share a passion for the New York Mets.   This is a collaborative post.  

As a season-ticket holder, I get to see all the colorful communications the Mets have to offer. In the yearly package the Mets send out, there’s a media guide, your tickets, usually some cheesy tchotchke, and a letter or two from the owners.  They usually talk about how “this is the year,” and how they’re gearing up for another great season.  But if you look at the non-verbal cues of the Mets, and dissect some of the verbal ones, they’re kind of saying “okay, we might fail again.”   This team needs marketing help.

First and foremost the product on the field has to be improved – that goes without saying.   Second, the communications agenda is sorely lacking.  From Omar Minaya’s almost-incoherent press statements to Jay Horowitz’ message gatekeeping, there’s very little to latch onto from a fan’s standpoint.  Thankfully, the Mets continue to have the best radio and television announcers in NY or anywhere else.  It may indeed be the strongest part of their brand. However, communications with Met fans and marketing of Met products in general are incredibly lacking. 

As noted Nader and I share a big-time passion for the Mets.  What would we do differently if we were in charge of marketing for the Mets?  

1)     Be honest and more transparent with your fans.  Stop the double speak and try plain language.  Beltran’s knee treatment fiasco was mishandled, only to be outdone by Reyes’ thyroid condition.  Did anyone hear about K-Rod’s pinkeye?  Exactly.  The Mets surely have good doctors but somehow have turned the term ‘Met medical staff’ into an oxymoron. 

2)     Reward your loyal fans. If people are going to shell out $ 7,000 – $ 15,000 for 81 games per seat at CitiField, they should offer more than ‘access’ to clubs on different levels where you have to pay for everything anyway.   How about free parking once in a while?   Or a hot dog and soda?   It would not kill concession revenue and would create an even closer bond between fans and the team – which has not made the playoffs since 2006 in case management has forgotten.  [Oh they did “allow” us to purchase tickets first for the first game at CitiField– an exhibition game vs. the Red Sox in 2009.   It snowed and rained.  What value.]   

3)     Listen & Engage. The best marketers listen to their customers, and develop products and programs to serve them.  In some categories, the consumer feedback can be instrumental in product development.  The Mets could use a series of focus groups with fans to understand their frustrations, their hopes, their desires.  Not only would it help make the team better from the inside out, it would likely put more asses in the seats – you’d go if you were invested on that level.

4)     Learn from past mistakes. If you were a product manufacturer, and your 2009 product wasn’t working so well, and your customers were grumbling and revenues weren’t promising you’d probably FIX the product, and FAST.  (Um, Toyota?) Although 2009 was a strange injury-plagued year, the Mets did only a cursory once-over in improving their product by adding Jason Bay to the roster.  If the Mets could learn from history, they would know that pitching is the key to winning – and right now, they haven’t done anything to shore up the starting rotation for 2010. 

5)     Give us a message to hold on to.  We know it’s marketing fluff, but the fans want it anyway.  Remember “ya gotta believe” from the late great Tug McGraw?  It was (and still is) a rallying cry for a generation who actually believed we could win.  How about “The Magic is Back?” (Thanks to Jerry Della Femina.)  This year, the internal message the team is receiving is “Prevention & Recovery.”  I’m not kidding – look it up.  Seriously, these guys need a more spirited rallying cry than “don’t get hurt.”  These guys need a marketing company!   Oh and Let’s go Mets!