Ok, maybe i've not made a mistake in taking sports marketing as a degree, but tonight's lecture on how to promote your club was certainly worth the trip. I have to admit that years of the Old Parks attitude to the outside world has left me missing some of the important points that sucessful clubs take on board. There were several key things:
Welcome - since when do you see old parks welcoming someone they dont know who turns up at the club? It is simple and we need to realise it can help change the clubs image.
Funding - It's no suprise that we are struggling to stay solvent. We have no real idea of the direction we are heading and we just dont organise enough events that tap into potential growth areas.
The Neighbourhood - We really need to sell ourselves to the local area. There must be plenty of people in Barkingside who would be interested in some aspect of Parks, but I can't think of anyone that actually comes from there. Most of us live miles away from the place. I'm going to take it upon myself to do some door to door advertising - to let people know that we are there and that they are welcome.
The next few years will be very important. We really need to increase our retention rate (which is something I had been worried about for a while) and make sure we follow up lapsed members. Most of all we need to know exactly why people stay with us and what we can do to improve. I dont think Ive ever heard anyone ask members whether they want anything new before, its all been a matter of 'this is the way it happens here'. We really need to change if we are to survive the coming years and we need to bring the club together socially more. It's just not feasible to stay as only cricket club any more.
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