New year is a great time to start or increase our sports participation. For a start there’s safety in numbers, as “do more exercise” and “get fit” are high on the list of annual new year’s resolutions.

But to create a new habit out of these resolutions, personal trainers will tell us we need some extra steps. To succeed we need to set a goal & get a “gym buddy” to help keep us going. We also need to understand and identify our motivation for doing it. Asking ourselves why isn’t something many of us do enough, but only through really questioning ourselves can we understand why we want to keep doing something.

Goals are good, but what happens once you’ve ticked off the race? Buddies are helpful, until they get injured or too busy at work. So if we don’t have a personal reason we connect with, then the new behaviour is unlikely to stick when the snow comes!

So why do we play sport? And do we play all sports for the same reason? There’s plenty of research around, telling us the reasons why people drop-out of sport or won’t start. But what about the millions that do play? What gets us out of cozy beds or (hopefully) wind-free houses to swim, ride or kick balls around? What drives our love affair for playing, not just watching, sport?

Digging beneath the responses of SportEngland’s satisfaction survey shows that we can participate in the same sport for a multitude of personal yet common reasons. For some it’s about the competition & progression, for some it’s about improving their health or fitness and for others it’s purely social & not about the sport at all.

This becomes relevant when we think about the competing activities. Those motivated by specific competition will be less inclined to play a range of sports than those driven to improve their general well being. Equally for those motivated by the social opportunity, social media or a coffee shop may be a competitor on a wet & windy day!

As for me, I play football because it’s been baked into my DNA since I could walk. I no longer dream of playing for Fulham or Wales, but I still get excited when a tricky pass or move comes off! They remind me of why I had the dreams as a child – dreams that I don’t remember involving rain or mud.

I ride my bike to explore places while getting fit, I run to remind myself I used to be fit, and I swim because achieving a big goal like a sub-3hr triathlon is impossible if I don’t. I no longer have a good reason why I would spend 4 hours looking for a golf ball.

So why do you play sport? Would you be lost without your regular fix, or do other work or leisure activities quickly replace it?

Strong brands are ones that create an emotional response in people. When you ask them what the brand is, they don’t reply with a list of functions and features. Instead they tell you about it’s benefits or how it’s relevant (or not) to them.

Growth comes from understanding the needs and expectations of the target customers you want to buy/use your brand – a strong connection with them often means a disconnection with others. Those who don’t engage deeply with a brand will usually dismiss it as “marketing hype”. And that’s the point about great brands, they divide opinion precisely because they are distinctive enough for people to have an opinion, as the varying eulogies to Steve Jobs have demonstrated.

Brands drive growth
Growth of the iPad, Starbucks, Manchester United, Ikea – each has invented or re-invented their category and achieved growth and success way beyond the wider market or what was considered normal. Each brand has their passionate followers with whom they deeply connect, and they have passionate detractors with whom they often disconnnect equally strongly. But that doesn’t matter – if you create something genuinely relevant and meaningful, it can’t be relevant and meaningful to everyone.

If you ask someone “what is Manchester United”, you wont get a list of features about ground capacity, employees or their upcoming fixture. Instead you’ll get a story about the role the team has played through someones life, the glory of a great victory, the thrill of watching great craftsmen at work. Or you will get the complete opposite – I’ll stop there before my inner Fulham fan takes over. But regardless of where you stand, its clear they’ve succeeded in growing the revenue and success of the club, by becoming a brand that people want to be part of and engaged with, both on and off the pitch.

The same dichotomy occurs if you ask people “what is Ikea” or “what is an iPad”. But all these brands have achieved stellar growth because their brand has deeply connected with enough people to drive it.

Branding and participation
So in terms of sports participation, my question is this, “what is sport?”. Or to make it more specific: “what is swimming, running or football?”

I chose these sports to get a mix of what gemba sports research call “franchise” sports (those where the number of fans vastly outweighs the number of participants) and “grass roots” sports (where the opposite is true).

The sport of football has a strong brand for spectators and sponsors, whether people and companies choose to engage with it or not. Likewise with the Olympics around the corner, the spectator brand for elite swimming and running will get more and more coverage – which will delight some and annoy others. But that’s why the Olympics works, if everyone cared then no-one would care. It creates a deep level of inspiration and excitement, because it connects with most people but not everyone. If every elite sport became relevant to everyone, they would be passionately relevant to no-one.

But what do any or all of those sports mean to you, as a current lapsed or aspiring participant? What does running, going for a swim or playing football mean to you? Does the idea thrill you or fill you with dread? Are you constantly trying to get friends to join in, or are you always planning to start playing it “tomorrow”? Are you looking forward to your next session, or is it something you keep saying you will do but probably never will (like I do about parachuting)?

Please add your thoughts in the comments below…

From a sports participants perspective, the fear of being wrong could be the fear of having:
- the wrong level of skills (too rusty to try)
- the wrong level of fitness (waiting ‘another week’ until they’re a little fitter)
- the wrong friends (not in the clique)
- the wrong gear (looking like a newbie)
- the wrong attitude (not wanting to be serious / competitive)

In developing, packaging and promoting participation opportunities, sports need to be considering (which means they first need to be asking) how current and potential customers feel about their sport. And the good news is that some sports are already creating some good practice for addressing these fears. Back to Netball helps overcome the fear of no longer having the right skills, as participants can all be rusty together. Likewise the different group speeds available within RunEngland Networks and SkyRide Local’s help people get over the fear of not having the initial fitness to keep up.

But until sports fully understand how current and potential customers feel about their sport (and the same person may have different perceptions/experiences, and hence fears, about different sports), they won’t be able to talk to potential participants in a way that addresses these fears. And until then, they’ll never know what they were missing!

While debate rages about how accurately this measure can predict revenue growth, most leading companies still pay more attention to this measure than they do to customer satisfaction scores. Why? Because we’ve all claimed to be satisfied when a waiter asks for our feedback on an ordinary meal. But rarely have we then recommended that restaurant to our friends.

Net Promoter Score was in the London news this week, in an article about Metro Bank. If you’ve not heard of them, they’ve just opened their sixth branch in London and are owned by Vernon Hill. According to the article, Metro Bank have a Net Promoter Score of 97% – that means 97% of their existing customers would recommend them to a friend.

Now they’re still very young, but that’s still a remarkable number. For context, the reported score for First Direct (who have a strong history of growth through word of mouth) was 57%, for RBS was 10% and for Barclays was -35%. In Barclays’ case, that means 35% of its clients would actively dissuade a friend from using it.

From a sports perspective, it’s easy to think that all our regular participants would recommend us to their friends. After all, they must love the club/sport if they keep doing it. But if that were the case, every team and leisure centre would be experiencing astronomic growth!

So what would you need to do, to have 97% of your current customers wanting to recommend your team or sport to a friend..?

It made me wonder whether sport can build on it’s current position, for some customers at least, as being their 3rd place between work and home. What Starbucks did wasn’t new, coffee shops were already a 3rd place for some. But what Starbucks did was build it up into a relevant and compelling customer experience, and one they could use to grow their whole market (not just their share of the existing market).

Golf is a sport that often combines business with sport, and team sports like football create social and community bonds around playing. But how could a sport deliver a customer experience – consistently across all it’s touch points – that set a completely new standard? What would it take for a sport to no longer be seen by its participants as an either/or to working or spending time with the family? Could it be West Wing-style mass jogging networking events, using voice to text software on an iPhone? Or family canoeing days that start with brunch at a cafe, and end at a cinema?

The answer probably isn’t either of those suggestions. But it is out there…

Mark Parker, NIKE Inc.’s President and CEO, said “everything we do at Nike is based on delivering long-term sustainable growth. At the same time, we’re focused on delivering value to our shareholders in the near term. This is the balance you’ve come to expect from Nike, and it remains our commitment going forward.

We strike this balance by leveraging our significant competitive advantages, and chief among them are our authentic emotional connections with consumers, innovative product and retail experiences that lead the industry and a strong NIKE Inc. portfolio that gives us tremendous opportunities for growth and significant levers to drive profitability.

Consumer-driven companies with strong brands and compelling products will be in the best position to maintain their margins, and disciplined companies who are lean and focused on how they use their resources and who are aggressively seeking new ways to grow will prosper. Those who don’t won’t. In that sense, the roadmap for success in the future is no different than it’s always been”

Later in the call Charlie Denson, President of the Nike Brand, added: “As always, we’re focused on managing the business for sustainable long-term profitability. For the Nike brand, that means staying laser-focused on innovation, first at the product and brand level to drive the top-line growth and also driving innovation and discipline into how we run the business.”

While Nike is a multi-national commercial business, I believe there are some important messages here for the UK sports sector; whether the goal is increased profitability, more fans on seats or more participants on pitches, courts and roads.

Nike see their competitive advantages as including “authentic emotional connections with consumers, [and] innovative product and retail experiences”. And the Nike store environment and the style and tone of Nike’s services and communications would confirm this. They lead the market by listening to what consumers say about how they play sport – what it means to them, how it makes them feel and how they want to ‘consume’ it. They’re not bound by the rules of each sport, but rather by the needs of their consumers.

Many people associate Nike with product innovation, whether it’s Nike Air in the 80′s or Nike+ in the 00′s. But innovation also runs through how they manage their business processes and costs. Innovation and discipline is a powerful combination, as the likes of the Barcelona football team or the British cycling team regularly demonstrate. But how often do these twin traits of innovation and discipline emerge within the organizations and processes running sport?

So according to Nike, sustainable business growth comes from:
- being a consumer-driven company (clarity about why you exist, and where your strategic priorities are)
- creating authentic emotional connections with consumers (knowing who you exist for, and why you are still relevant to them)
- delivering innovative and compelling products (aligning what you provide to the people you exist for)
- providing innovative retail experiences (differentiating how you deliver your innovative products)
- embedding innovation into all aspects of the business (creating continuous improvement in both what you produce and how)
- being disciplined, lean and laser-focused (all business processes have a clear and relevant purpose, and are carried out both efficiently and effectively).

These traits exist across elite sport, and no doubt also reflect Nike’s origins with Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. But they are just as relevant to how sports organisations across the market place could be operating. Can you share a good example of how these principles are being applied within the UK sports market…?

• 72% of both New Zealand & Australian consumers said they had ended a relationship with a company due to poor customer service.
• The Australian’s had ended 1.37 relationships each, at an average of AU$403 (US$338)
• The Kiwis were a little lower, ending 1.17 relationships at an average of NZ$386 (US$257)
• Indian consumers were the most sensistive to poor service, ending an average of 1.84 relationships each

While I’m always a little sceptical of the results of sponsored surveys (this was was sponsored by Genesis Communications Laboritories), the theme still raises a very interesting thought. It’s a commonly held belief that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than acquire a new one. However, to what extent are companies investing in evolving and innovating their customer experiences, to keep up with customer’s changing expectations?

Call centre’s have been around for a long time, and this research suggests that over half the consumers polled still prefer to use the phone, rather than newer channels such as email or web self-service. But recent call centre innovations seem to focus on developing cost-saving self-service, rather than improved customer experiences. And this survey suggests that it’s these same automated self-services, that feel the most challenging for these defecting customers.

Do you have an example of when a call centre either exceeded or failed to meet your expectations of service?

MapMyRun have partnered with the Columbus Half Marathon, to bring Columbus to the world. On August 30th, MapMyRun members around the world will join those in Columbus, running the 13.1 mile race. But they won’t just be there in spirit. By registering in advance, and entering the route they will run, they will be able to ‘compete’ with runners in the race and around the world. Better yet, if they succeed, they’ll even get a finishers hat, shirt and medal!

This is brilliant. Never again will race organisers have to turn runners away. Meanwhile, MapMyRun further engage their community of runners, connected by their common pursuit of running (or cycling, walking and skiing, which they also cater for).

Nike have been credited with a similar level of engagement and community around Nike+. And have also held virtual races around the world. Where MapMyRun could push the boundaries, is by extending this concept to those pursuing other sports too. Or perhaps by including video recording of your experience. And by tying it into existing real-life races, they can even cater for the virtually home sick. The loneliness of the long distance runner is no more.

This also has me thinking. What other events/brands restrict access to those being physically present? Orchestra’s already play “live” to theatres full of people around the world, who get dressed up to enjoy the experience of almost being there. Sports broadcast games to giant screens, where fans can gather, sing, drink, cheer and get almost the same experience as being there.

So where else could brands take this..?

Unfortunately, Qantas were proving Godin’s point to me while he was still typing. I was due to fly from Sydney with Qantas last week, arriving back in Wellington at midnight. I even checked-in for the flight, which at that stage was running 45mins late. Still the Qantas employee at the check-in was smiling, helpful and empathised with the impact of the delay. Sadly the empathy wouldn’t last.

When I arrived at the Qantas Club lounge, a deadpan lady told me “your flight has been cancelled”. So deadpan, that I laughed at her joke and kept walking. Alas the joke was on me, and I was dispatched immediately to the Qantas Transfer Desk.

Now if this transfer desk had been a country, it would have been Antartica. Cold and inhospitable. The staff were grumpy, huffing and puffing and barking orders at both customers and each other. Customers stood looking sheepish and confused. One lady asking politely for help, kept being interupted by a staff member with a deep sigh saying “let me start again and explain to you…” not once actually answering the passenger’s question.

Without eye contact or achnowledgement, I was told at one point that I was only wait-listed for a flight out that night. When I asked what would happen if I didn’t get on the flight, I was told with more deadpan delivery “we overnight you, and get you on a plane sometime tomorrow”.

I realise this is standard process for airlines. But how the process is followed doesn’t need to be. After all, queueing for a ride at Disney theme parks is a far from standard experience. Yet the transfer desk staff didn’t acknowledge the impact potential over night delays might have on passengers, let alone appear to care. It was clear the staff weren’t enjoying themselves, and despite them getting me on the flight at the last minute, I left there feeling it was my fault Qantas had cancelled their plane.

So why was the customer experience so bad? The Qantas man whisking me through the airport on the buggy was quick to defend his colleagues. He suggested their attitude came from having to deal with irrate and grumpy customers, and that after a while the body shuts down and they become immune.

But is this true? At what point in the customer experience should the roles switch, and customers be expected to empathise with the impact on staff? If they are responding to an emergency then fair enough, but the transfer process is all too common. The desk is permanent and they are being paid to do a customer facing job.

Airlines are a logistics business, just like postal or express deliveries. But DHL & FedEx have built their brands on employees taking pride in making sure parcels are successfullly delivered. The bigger the problem, the greater the satisfaction there is in a successful outcome. Stories are told, and the people celebrated, of how far staff go out of there way to ensure timely delivery. I doubt anyone was celebrating the efforts of the Qantas staff in getting passengers home that night. But maybe they should start thinking about it, because the experience I got from Air New Zealand when I rushed up to the gate was a stark contrast.

The plane had been held 20mins to collect the reject passengers. I was expecting to be rushed on-board, feeling bad for delaying the plane. But instead the staff were all smiles, greeting frustrated passengers with a warm “glad your here now, you can relax, we’ll get you home on time”. Later, as we disembarked, the usual “thanks for flying with us” announcement wasn’t just a script. Instead they acknowledged that not all of us had had a choice in flying with them, but they were glad that we had and it was their pleasure to serve us. And this despite the fact that the last minute passengers had led to food choices running out. But this too was handled with a smile and a joke.

Empathy has a huge role to play in customer experience, and that can only come when staff feel engaged with a brand. While the Qantas staff took the “I just work here” approach, AirNZ ackowledged how passengers were feeling about the situation and did something about it.

Now some would argue AirNZ were just being nice, to try and win passengers from Qantas. And if they were, they succeeded. Just don’t tell Qantas until they’ve sent over my luggage.