THE SIDELINE › COST OF LIVING · 4 MIN READ
The pent-up queue
The pent-up queue
The pent-up queue
Three in four members who said no for money reasons spoke warmly about their club in the same breath. That is not a lost sale. It is a queue.
Three in four members who said no for money reasons spoke warmly about their club in the same breath. That is not a lost sale. It is a queue.
Three in four members who said no for money reasons spoke warmly about their club in the same breath. That is not a lost sale. It is a queue.
Here is a number that changed how we think about this season. Between April and August, 11,067 members told us they could not stretch to an offer because money was tight, and declined. We went back through those conversations. In 8,103 of them, the same member also spoke warmly about their club: the weekend’s game, the season, the plans for next year.
Here is a number that changed how we think about this season. Between April and August, 11,067 members told us they could not stretch to an offer because money was tight, and declined. We went back through those conversations. In 8,103 of them, the same member also spoke warmly about their club: the weekend’s game, the season, the plans for next year.
Here is a number that changed how we think about this season. Between April and August, 11,067 members told us they could not stretch to an offer because money was tight, and declined. We went back through those conversations. In 8,103 of them, the same member also spoke warmly about their club: the weekend’s game, the season, the plans for next year.
Three in four, warm, mid-decline.
Three in four, warm, mid-decline.
Three in four, warm, mid-decline.
Fans are not consumers at large
Fans are not consumers at large
Nobody is wistful when they decline their phone company. Members are. They apologise, they explain, and they talk about the team on the way out. The relationship is real, and the no is circumstantial: a mortgage that went up, a pension that did not, a rough patch at work. The reason given is the household budget, not fading love.
Nobody is wistful when they decline their phone company. Members are. They apologise, they explain, and they talk about the team on the way out. The relationship is real, and the no is circumstantial: a mortgage that went up, a pension that did not, a rough patch at work. The reason given is the household budget, not fading love.
Nobody is wistful when they decline their phone company. Members are. They apologise, they explain, and they talk about the team on the way out. The relationship is real, and the no is circumstantial: a mortgage that went up, a pension that did not, a rough patch at work. The reason given is the household budget, not fading love.
Which means the demand has not gone anywhere. It is pent up, waiting on circumstances, and the cost pressure in our conversations has already been easing month by month since April. When it releases, the share of wallet will go to whoever kept the relationship warm in the meantime.
Which means the demand has not gone anywhere. It is pent up, waiting on circumstances, and the cost pressure in our conversations has already been easing month by month since April. When it releases, the share of wallet will go to whoever kept the relationship warm in the meantime.
Which means the demand has not gone anywhere. It is pent up, waiting on circumstances, and the cost pressure in our conversations has already been easing month by month since April. When it releases, the share of wallet will go to whoever kept the relationship warm in the meantime.
The stitch in time
The stitch in time
Prudent clubs are preparing now, and the preparation is not complicated. Thank every no, for the membership, the fandom, the support. Capture what lit the member up while they were declining: the offer they liked, the finals run, the young list. Then make the first contact when things ease, warm and specific, continuing the conversation rather than starting a new one.
Prudent clubs are preparing now, and the preparation is not complicated. Thank every no, for the membership, the fandom, the support. Capture what lit the member up while they were declining: the offer they liked, the finals run, the young list. Then make the first contact when things ease, warm and specific, continuing the conversation rather than starting a new one.
Prudent clubs are preparing now, and the preparation is not complicated. Thank every no, for the membership, the fandom, the support. Capture what lit the member up while they were declining: the offer they liked, the finals run, the young list. Then make the first contact when things ease, warm and specific, continuing the conversation rather than starting a new one.
A graceful exit this season is a primer for a purchase in the next. The queue is already forming. The only question is whose door it forms at.
A graceful exit this season is a primer for a purchase in the next. The queue is already forming. The only question is whose door it forms at.
A graceful exit this season is a primer for a purchase in the next. The queue is already forming. The only question is whose door it forms at.
The full picture, charts and playbook are in our insight paper, The Squeeze and the Scarf.
The full picture, charts and playbook are in our insight paper, The Squeeze and the Scarf.
Get the paper