Rain or shine, win or lose, a great number of baseball fans journey to the ballpark every year for the customer experience. Sure, most fans hope their hometown team wins, but even in the disappointment of defeat the overall enjoyment of America’s iconic pastime is often about so much more than just a victory. This is why major league baseball teams take customer engagement very seriously, and the New York Mets are no exception.
During a Speaker Spotlight Q&A session at CXNYC 2015, Forrester’s conference for customer experience professionals, Chris Brown, Executive Director of Guest Experience for the New York Mets, talked extensively about how the franchise successfully engages fans across their entire customer journey.
Brown began by explaining the sweeping breadth of his job, which he only half jokingly described as being responsible for everything except wins and loses.
“When you come out to a ball game at Citi Field, it is my job to see that you have a great time,” Brown said. “I oversee almost every touch point including everything from parking operations to medical services to security to guest services.”
This also included the key role Brown played in the transformation of the entire CX culture. When the Mets moved from Shea Stadium to Citi Field in 2009, it was not just the chance to improve the field. It also presented a tremendous opportunity to improve the entire customer experience.
Prior to 2009, the Mets never had a department dedicated exclusively to guest experience, but now it does. And the organization is not only tying to surpass its own past customer engagement efforts, it is actually trying to offer a customer experience that is unique among all area sports venues.
“There are a lot of stadiums out there, but we really wanted to create a ballpark,” said Brown. “It has a more intimate feel. It’s family friendly, safe, and clean. The best compliments we can get are from lifelong Yankee fans that say, ‘I love the Yankees. I will raise my kids as Yankee fans. But when I want to bring my family to a ballpark, I bring them to Citi Field.’’’
In order to make this baseball magic happen, Brown relies extensively on a well-trained and well-coordinated staff.
“We made one conscious decision that any person that works at Citi Field is going to go through the same guest services training,” Brown continued. “This is important, because breaking down silos was a big challenge for us. At the old stadium, different departments - from security to concessions to parking - were separate, and it was creating an ‘us verses them’ mentality.”
This caused a number of problems. Customer complaints about one department to another were rarely acknowledged. And, in some cases, such complaints actually built animosity between departments.
Brown understood that customers don’t care about the siloed divisions between a parking attendant and a ticket taker, for example. They are all Citi Field employees, and unifying this front through a single guest services training program was the first step in creating a new “we” mentality. Prior to every season, new employees now complete a 3-hour training session. And returning employees complete a 1.5-hour refresher session.
These sessions start off with a comprehensive overview of all organizational values, and present a vision of how employees can “own” their positions through various leadership initiatives. From there, it includes a number of focal points that touch upon the significance of a simple smile, safety issues, and exceptional guest service techniques. Employees also learn how every department is connected, and what defines a successful Citi Field team member.
“We train every staff member to know and understand how they each play a huge roll in the guest experience,” said Brown. “It is important that everyone knows their role, knows their importance, and realizes that they can really make a difference. We want people to say they are proud to work for Citi Field, and who are proud to work for the Mets.”
About the Author: Mark Johnson
Mark is CEO & CMO of Loyalty360. He has significant experience in selling, designing and administering prepaid, loyalty/CRM programs, as well as data-driven marketing communication programs.