Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 15:58:09 GMT
Well done for sticking in there, anything achieved by committee can be torturous.
I would be tempted to stand up in front of Barry, ask what he actually wants?
Maybe ask him to show you an analysis, line by line, of stock so that you can see what sells, what margins are achieved and what's left sitting on the shelves?
Find out who is in charge of procurement and make sure they are getting best possible value. Sales reps love nothing more than being allowed into stores and to be left to 'top up' stock.
From where I stand it appears that marketing communication is haphazard and unpredictable, often non-existent. Both shops are a mess. You can't even get into the stadium shop at the time when most people are at the ground, then straight after the match there's a queue out the door of people wanting tickets, obviously that makes it difficult to get customers in to browse. If Barry hasn't worked this stuff out and dealt with it in 10 months then maybe you should barge to the front and take control?
Again, I don't know who the member of shop staff is, but can I ask if that person has a genuine appetite for change or would rather make excuses to just carry on as things are?
Do we even have a 'request a catalogue' function on the shop website?
Can I ask, those christmas decorations, christmas cards and 'Santa Is A Gashead' hats, on the shop website, is that left there from 3 months ago, or is it early for next year? Does the member of shop staff not even realise? The advert for a shirt signed by the squad, it's last year's shirt!!
What's a 'Denium' t-shirt?
Of course I'm not blaming you, or anyone else on the panel for any of this, Barry is in charge of retail.
Organise a couple of field trips, see what other clubs do. Port Vale may be an eye opener for our shop staff, well stocked with an interesting range of merchandise, and accessible.
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Post by poguemahone on Mar 8, 2015 20:13:27 GMT
Well done for sticking in there, anything achieved by committee can be torturous. I would be tempted to stand up in front of Barry, ask what he actually wants? Maybe ask him to show you an analysis, line by line, of stock so that you can see what sells, what margins are achieved and what's left sitting on the shelves? Find out who is in charge of procurement and make sure they are getting best possible value. Sales reps love nothing more than being allowed into stores and to be left to 'top up' stock. From where I stand it appears that marketing communication is haphazard and unpredictable, often non-existent. Both shops are a mess. You can't even get into the stadium shop at the time when most people are at the ground, then straight after the match there's a queue out the door of people wanting tickets, obviously that makes it difficult to get customers in to browse. If Barry hasn't worked this stuff out and dealt with it in 10 months then maybe you should barge to the front and take control? Again, I don't know who the member of shop staff is, but can I ask if that person has a genuine appetite for change or would rather make excuses to just carry on as things are? Do we even have a 'request a catalogue' function on the shop website? Can I ask, those christmas decorations, christmas cards and 'Santa Is A Gashead' hats, on the shop website, is that left there from 3 months ago, or is it early for next year? Does the member of shop staff not even realise? The advert for a shirt signed by the squad, it's last year's shirt!! What's a 'Denium' t-shirt? Of course I'm not blaming you, or anyone else on the panel for any of this, Barry is in charge of retail. Organise a couple of field trips, see what other clubs do. Port Vale may be an eye opener for our shop staff, well stocked with an interesting range of merchandise, and accessible. I'm sure the club were wary at first giving us any freedom. To be fair BB has been very positive about the panel and is now extending the scope we have. I'm pretty sure neither he or us knew what path the panel would take. After a bumpy start we have now settled down to a solid core of positive fans who each have different talents to bring to the group (not sure what mine are). Following last seasons relegation, the club had to make difficult choices and it seems to me that the club is running on a skeleton staff who are all working harder for the benefit of the club and it's supporters. We initially stuck with the clubs supplier for 'our' polo due to time/labelling/production reasons. Since then we have sourced a local supplier for the phone cases which are selling well and as we speak we are talking to garment printers/embroiderers with a view to expanding the retail panel range. The shop at the Mem. has an inherent problem of access. Difficult to solve immediately but we continue to review. The shop at Two Mile is run by the supporters club so outside our remit, however better communication between the two is undergoing review with the expectation that the Supporters match day portakabin will stock more from the shop. The website for the online shop is not very good and is desperate for someone with the right skills to make it current and freshen it up. Anyone? I like the idea of a field trip if for no other reason than the packed lunch. Members of the panel travel away and go in the home teams shop to get ideas. Away supporters visiting the Memorial can't even get in our shop unless they arrive before 1.30pm. Not sure I've answered everything but rest assured we see ourselves as fans not employees of the club. Each member gives a lot of time and effort and with fans continued support and feedback we can represent fans views and wishes. Thanks for showing an interest. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 21:17:09 GMT
Well done for sticking in there, anything achieved by committee can be torturous. I would be tempted to stand up in front of Barry, ask what he actually wants? Maybe ask him to show you an analysis, line by line, of stock so that you can see what sells, what margins are achieved and what's left sitting on the shelves? Find out who is in charge of procurement and make sure they are getting best possible value. Sales reps love nothing more than being allowed into stores and to be left to 'top up' stock. From where I stand it appears that marketing communication is haphazard and unpredictable, often non-existent. Both shops are a mess. You can't even get into the stadium shop at the time when most people are at the ground, then straight after the match there's a queue out the door of people wanting tickets, obviously that makes it difficult to get customers in to browse. If Barry hasn't worked this stuff out and dealt with it in 10 months then maybe you should barge to the front and take control? Again, I don't know who the member of shop staff is, but can I ask if that person has a genuine appetite for change or would rather make excuses to just carry on as things are? Do we even have a 'request a catalogue' function on the shop website? Can I ask, those christmas decorations, christmas cards and 'Santa Is A Gashead' hats, on the shop website, is that left there from 3 months ago, or is it early for next year? Does the member of shop staff not even realise? The advert for a shirt signed by the squad, it's last year's shirt!! What's a 'Denium' t-shirt? Of course I'm not blaming you, or anyone else on the panel for any of this, Barry is in charge of retail. Organise a couple of field trips, see what other clubs do. Port Vale may be an eye opener for our shop staff, well stocked with an interesting range of merchandise, and accessible. I'm sure the club were wary at first giving us any freedom. To be fair BB has been very positive about the panel and is now extending the scope we have. I'm pretty sure neither he or us knew what path the panel would take. After a bumpy start we have now settled down to a solid core of positive fans who each have different talents to bring to the group (not sure what mine are). Following last seasons relegation, the club had to make difficult choices and it seems to me that the club is running on a skeleton staff who are all working harder for the benefit of the club and it's supporters. We initially stuck with the clubs supplier for 'our' polo due to time/labelling/production reasons. Since then we have sourced a local supplier for the phone cases which are selling well and as we speak we are talking to garment printers/embroiderers with a view to expanding the retail panel range. The shop at the Mem. has an inherent problem of access. Difficult to solve immediately but we continue to review. The shop at Two Mile is run by the supporters club so outside our remit, however better communication between the two is undergoing review with the expectation that the Supporters match day portakabin will stock more from the shop. The website for the online shop is not very good and is desperate for someone with the right skills to make it current and freshen it up. Anyone? I like the idea of a field trip if for no other reason than the packed lunch. Members of the panel travel away and go in the home teams shop to get ideas. Away supporters visiting the Memorial can't even get in our shop unless they arrive before 1.30pm. Not sure I've answered everything but rest assured we see ourselves as fans not employees of the club. Each member gives a lot of time and effort and with fans continued support and feedback we can represent fans views and wishes. Thanks for showing an interest. Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you are fighting an uphill battle in an arena where there either isn't a real understanding of how poorly things are run, or maybe just no appetite from the top table for change? How can one of the retail outlets be outside of a retail panel's remit? Is that a joke, or is Barry really that silly? As for match day access, honestly, it isn't hard, hire a marquee, or buy a cheap one for £100, stick it in the car park and fill it with stock. Don't let the club tell you that can't be done because all of the parking spaces are taken, more than once they have had displays where the players normally park their cars. Don't ask for willing volunteers to sort the website, that's not really a sustainable solution, get a competent professional to deal with it, the cost will become irrelevant when compared to the gain. |
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Post by poguemahone on Mar 9, 2015 21:43:55 GMT
I'm sure the club were wary at first giving us any freedom. To be fair BB has been very positive about the panel and is now extending the scope we have. I'm pretty sure neither he or us knew what path the panel would take. After a bumpy start we have now settled down to a solid core of positive fans who each have different talents to bring to the group (not sure what mine are). Following last seasons relegation, the club had to make difficult choices and it seems to me that the club is running on a skeleton staff who are all working harder for the benefit of the club and it's supporters. We initially stuck with the clubs supplier for 'our' polo due to time/labelling/production reasons. Since then we have sourced a local supplier for the phone cases which are selling well and as we speak we are talking to garment printers/embroiderers with a view to expanding the retail panel range. The shop at the Mem. has an inherent problem of access. Difficult to solve immediately but we continue to review. The shop at Two Mile is run by the supporters club so outside our remit, however better communication between the two is undergoing review with the expectation that the Supporters match day portakabin will stock more from the shop. The website for the online shop is not very good and is desperate for someone with the right skills to make it current and freshen it up. Anyone? I like the idea of a field trip if for no other reason than the packed lunch. Members of the panel travel away and go in the home teams shop to get ideas. Away supporters visiting the Memorial can't even get in our shop unless they arrive before 1.30pm. Not sure I've answered everything but rest assured we see ourselves as fans not employees of the club. Each member gives a lot of time and effort and with fans continued support and feedback we can represent fans views and wishes. Thanks for showing an interest. Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you are fighting an uphill battle in an arena where there either isn't a real understanding of how poorly things are run, or maybe just no appetite from the top table for change? How can one of the retail outlets be outside of a retail panel's remit? Is that a joke, or is Barry really that silly? As for match day access, honestly, it isn't hard, hire a marquee, or buy a cheap one for £100, stick it in the car park and fill it with stock. Don't let the club tell you that can't be done because all of the parking spaces are taken, more than once they have had displays where the players normally park their cars. Don't ask for willing volunteers to sort the website, that's not really a sustainable solution, get a competent professional to deal with it, the cost will become irrelevant when compared to the gain. It's an improving situation, hopefully we can remove the hurdles and move forward. I personally agree with your sentiment. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2015 21:58:23 GMT
Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you are fighting an uphill battle in an arena where there either isn't a real understanding of how poorly things are run, or maybe just no appetite from the top table for change? How can one of the retail outlets be outside of a retail panel's remit? Is that a joke, or is Barry really that silly? As for match day access, honestly, it isn't hard, hire a marquee, or buy a cheap one for £100, stick it in the car park and fill it with stock. Don't let the club tell you that can't be done because all of the parking spaces are taken, more than once they have had displays where the players normally park their cars. Don't ask for willing volunteers to sort the website, that's not really a sustainable solution, get a competent professional to deal with it, the cost will become irrelevant when compared to the gain. It's an improving situation, hopefully we can remove the hurdles and move forward. I personally agree with your sentiment. Good luck and thank you and all of the panel for giving up your time and energy for the cause.  |
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gonzales
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 55 
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Post by gonzales on Mar 9, 2015 23:40:43 GMT
Regarding the shop website and someone volunteering to sort it, it's correct to say that's not sustainable, but I'm sure we have fans who are also working in webdesign!? A small contract covering costs is surely possible. Although if I do recall that we are tied into that abhorrent official website due to contractual obligations, possibly they also 'oversee' the brfcdirect site?
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