- James Elston, Marketing and Community Director, Wakefield Wildcats
 

Company Information	Key Benefits
Industry: Sports (Rugby League) Location: Wakefield, UK Product: Maximizer CRM 10 Users: 5	• An accessible, comprehensive customer database • Complete solution to manage and monitor existing and potential customer relationships • Ability to expand the service into merchandising • 89% home attendance increase • 20% boost in season ticket sales

Wakefield Wildcats ‘stand-off’ with Maximizer CRM.

A winning history

Established in 1873, the Wakefield Wildcats have been in the Rugby Football Union’s Super League since 1998. In the 2007 season the club finished eighth in the league after playing 27 games, 15 of which were at its home stadium. The Wildcats’ customer base consists of casual fans, season ticket holders and supporter club members. Maintaining a strong and sustainable relationship with customers and the community is at the heart of the Wildcats ethos.

Capitalising on fan loyalty

In order to offer the best possible service to its fans, the Wakefield Wildcats saw the need to enhance its direct marketing efforts by gathering information about its customers. This meant that three separate customer databases needed to be brought together into one, easily accessible, categorised system.

The Wildcats were aware that a great deal of its annual revenue came from the same loyal fans, year after year. The club therefore required a system that allowed it to track how many customers were buying tickets and products, what they were purchasing, where they were purchasing them and how often. By tracking the number of matches attended, the marketing department can identify key opportunities to offer regulars attending seven or eight matches season ticket packages.

The new holistic system also had to enable the Wildcats to target potential customers through its community events and maintain regular communications between the club and its fans. With these base requirements in mind, Wakefield Wildcats began its search in 2006 for a complete CRM solution.

System versatility

During the tender process, the Wildcats conducted extensive research and considered numerous CRM system providers in order to find the right partner to support its vision and growth. After consulting with Maximizer Software certified business partner, CRM4Business, the club decided on Maximizer CRM.

James Elston, marketing and community director at the Wakefield Wildcats comments: “We needed a CRM system that could grow with us. Our business is continually expanding and we wanted a solution that would be easily adaptable over the coming years. Also, Maximizer CRM was affordable and seemed to be the best suited solution now and into the future.”

Maximizer CRM’s user-friendliness also impressed the Wakefield Wildcats’ marketing team. Although a small core of staff would initially be the key users, moving forward, it was important that other employees could easily use the system as well.

Elston continues: “We were looking for a system that did not need extensive training for the casual users. Maximizer’s ease of use stood out as an appealing factor compared to other CRM systems.”

Success in numbers

The Wakefield Wildcats have achieved an 89% home attendance increase over the last two years with Maximizer CRM helping to boost the number of fans attending matches significantly.

Elston comments: “The attendance boost is primarily down to the club targeting future fans through the community department. Maximizer CRM has played an important role in fostering these relationships by providing a tool for tracking and monitoring new customer leads.”

Attendees’ details at team community events are logged into the CRM system and are then used to distribute ticket or merchandise promotions and track which customers take advantage of the offers. These leads are an opportunity to contact customers to thank them for their support whilst concurrently inviting them to the next Wildcats’ match.

In addition to the sharp rise in attendance the Wildcats have achieved a 20% increase in season ticket sales since the implementation of Maximizer CRM. The CRM programme documents customer purchasing trends so the club can offer ticket packages tailored to the customer’s buying patterns.

As part of the next stage of development, the Wildcats plan to expand the CRM system into merchandising. Currently, when customers buy products from the Wildcats’ shop the customer’s details are taken manually. The aim is to feed data into the CRM system automatically, providing even more information about its customers’ buying habits.

James Bogue, director at CRM4Business; Maximizer certified Business Partner, comments: “Nurturing and maintaining customer relations is central to the Wildcats’ success off the pitch. Maximizer CRM has given the club the perfect tool for collecting the maximum amount of information about their present and prospective fans. As the team continues to grow, the software can easily be adapted to fulfil the club’s changing needs.”

Elston concludes: “CRM makes building relationships with fans quicker and easier. The increase in both attendance and season ticket sales prove how valuable a marketing solution Maximizer CRM has been for us. Its affordability, scope of growth and ease of use made the program a natural choice.”