Data Driving Experience

A SHIFT IN WEALTH 
Burns & McDonnell recently published an article indicating that American wealth is on the move. With the Baby Boomer generation expected to soon transfer $30 trillion in wealth to younger generations, it begs the question: what will the new luxury owner look like?

The answer is partially unveiled as social spaces and premium products with exclusive access and amenities are created. Venues are becoming more of a social platform than a fixed set of seats. To Muhlenbruch the new premium demographics desire service standards, décor themes, and prime locations, adding, “The Millennial and Gen Z luxury experience will be modular, customizable, and digitally integrated. It will exist in the context of a dynamic and articulated stadium, which can self-organize around luxury consumers’ desires.”

EXPERIENCE BEGINS WITH BUYING
It’s important to remember the overall experience starts with the purchase experience. A newer premium demographic buys and makes requests outside of regular business hours. Does your venue have a have a dedicated afterhours concierge or technology that can solve for this desire?

Moreover, new buyers want an easy transaction. While premium has always been a relationship business, we are evolving to understand that a digital-first mindset can actually enhance that relationship, albeit counterintuitively, because you’re giving your client what they want, which is less friction. Does your team have a robust online suites and premium site, and is it mobile-friendly? Do you allow text to buy? Do you allow suite resell? Hint: you should. 

DROPPING FEEDBACK 
As our industry collectively elevates and differentiates the premium experience, feedback acts as a significant barometer for the future. As we learned in a recent ALSD article by DropThought, data can improve fan loyalty and revenues. Business intelligence also increasingly drives decisions, making it more important to track feedback in our venues, and in real time, when possible.

Teams are integrating surveys within their apps and allowing clients to scan QR codes to leave feedback. With the addition of real-time triggers, catering or operations can be alerted of issues, which can be mitigated immediately and while guests are still in their suites and seats (Think: hot chicken tenders in place of cold ones in minutes). Studying the data over time can also help discover trends and if issues are one-off or consistent.

Surveying technologies with opt-in features create lead-generation opportunities. In suites, this is powerful, as teams may be unable to track who suite hosts are entertaining. Incentives to submit feedback create a better opportunity to capture the contact information of suite guests.

Burns & McDonnell’s Sports Practice Leader Erica Muhlenbruch explains, “The emergence of censored environments will allow for a new dimension of data collection, to enhance fan experience and create new forms of revenue.”