The Real Problem At Accrington Stanley

[AccyAggro]

Correct about the SOS website thing, big example was when bucket collecting from ewood park and anfield was counted by the fans, the club never bothered to wander up to crown (its miles away) and pick up the money, and after picking it up, the website could be updated and a least people would know the target was getting nearer...

[footymad1]

Outback Ozzy / cashman / ukcowboy / Kiwi John / yonmon / Wynonie Harris - thank you for the welcome; it's much appreciated! I will post as often as possible over the next few weeks as the club (hopefully) gets back on it's feet. I (unfortunately!) tend to have to work 60/70 hours per week and have a young family so my post times will probably be either very early or very late. I'm sure there are plenty more "twists and turns" to come but hopefully (and following on from the interventions from Ilyas and Peter) we can start to move in the right direction.

Stanleymad - thank you for moving my original post into this one (I should have done this in the first place - apologies).

To continue the theme of this thread I simply can't believe how poor the customer service has been from the club for very basic things like selling shirts. Add this to the Google Page Ranking gaffs of recent times and it does give me real hope that when we have a change at the top (i.e. Mr O'Neill leaves) that whoever replaces him will have full scope to improve the club as a business and a commercial entity. The club is never going to make huge amounts of profit (probably none at all) but as others have said before, ran prudently and transparently, there would be real hope for the future.

I wish I had the money to take charge of the club (and play a part in running it) myself. My background is in developing and working with small and medium businesses and in doing so making sure great customer service is achieved (globally). Our ASFC brand has been somewhat tarnished over recent events but it is still great and IMHO has not been used to it's full potential (not necessarily in the UK - but globally). Getting the basics right first is obviously fundamental (replying promptly to all emails, shipping orders quickly, ensuring the website is kept up to date etc would be a start!) but once you are in a cycle of doing this (and getting good press and feedback from the general public for doing so) then it is time to look further afield and be more innovative and creative with your ideas.

Anyway, I don't want to get to far ahead of myself - let's get this week out of the way and then focus on applying the necessary pressure for the badly needed regime change (I know this is much easier said than done). But as I say above, with transparency, we can look to a brighter future. Even if the "books" revealed more debts that even the court isn't aware of, I would still see this as a positive outcome as at least then it would be in the public domain so we would all then be in a clear position to help. If the accounts were then to indefinitely stay in the public domain that would be fantastic. If we could get to this stage then you will not be able to shut me up with my ideas over how we could progress Stanley as a business to generate as much cash as possible to keep us solvent.

deeayess / teach - your poor commercial experiences of the club are all the more incredulous as they have happened whilst the hierarchy at the club have known we are in massive debt. Great customer service costs nothing and to not reply to emails about potential season ticket sales is absolute madness and makes me really angry given the situation we are now in. How many more people out there have received no replies to ticketing or mechandise queries? Reading the experiences on this thread and on others I bet it is a fair few.

[cashman]

such a simple thing as keeping the fishy site updated is neither costly nor difficult, simple things like a Salisbury Fan, posting on here cos no prices yet announced fer the cup tie yet, is simply pathetic IMHO. yeh don't need Alan Suger or someone fer things like that. the guy was saying could possibly be 300- 500 making the trip, maybe nearer 500 wi any luck if they knew what it would cost em.

[footymad1]

Completely agree cashman!! None of this is rocket science - you would think at this time more than any Mr O'Neill and the rest of the team would not want to be risking either turning away potential money from ticket sales or further damaging their reputations by running the club like Fawlty Towers. It's really sad to see but at least there is hope for the future as anyone with even an ounce of common sense would be able to list and action dozens of improvements to how the club is being run commercially.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by footymad1

Completely agree cashman!! None of this is rocket science - you would think at this time more than any Mr O'Neill and the rest of the team would not want to be risking either turning away potential money from ticket sales or further damaging their reputations by running the club like Fawlty Towers. It's really sad to see but at least there is hope for the future as anyone with even an ounce of common sense would be able to list and action dozens of improvements to how the club is being run commercially.

only if "Billy Smarts Circus" has left town.

[Wynonie Harris]

Originally Posted by footymad1

I wish I had the money to take charge of the club (and play a part in running it) myself. My background is in developing and working with small and medium businesses and in doing so making sure great customer service is achieved (globally).

Interesting stuff, Footymad. Obviously you have considerable experience in this area yourself. If the club had any commercial nous, they'd get in touch with you to discuss your thoughts and ideas at greater length and perhaps take some of them on board.

I won't hold my breath, though...

[smudgie]

Must admit the customer service, from the merchandise side has been appalling considering its 1 of the easiest ways to generate more income.

I was after a new home shirt and scarf for weeks but was constantly given excuses for the lack of stock. Also no shirt number printing machine was rather annoying, why move it into another business in town??

You would be hard pressed to find any other club where you cant buy a new home shirt

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Also no shirt number printing machine was rather annoying, why move it into another business in town??

It wasn't moved as such, we were helping out. Think you will find the service is back up at the club now, we served our purpose

[Stanleymad]

The fishy site has grounded to a halt seems news updates quicker here or in telegraph

[katei77]

an in town outlet sounds a good marketing move,a sole shop/shop share/in door stand.

employ someone witha retail background,other P/T staff could be fans students unemployed looking for retail experience.

many town centre management agents allow week to week renting over the xmas period

not many bother going out of their way to the club if they are lucky and can someone with a key to open it they only find very limted stock

maybe ticket sales bookings for kids footy school etc.....

as for fishy site it should be renamed the snail site in fact a snail is bloodly quicker!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by katei77

an in town outlet sounds a good marketing move,a sole shop/shop share/in door stand.

employ someone witha retail background,other P/T staff could be fans students unemployed looking for retail experience.

many town centre management agents allow week to week renting over the xmas period

not many bother going out of their way to the club if they are lucky and can someone with a key to open it they only find very limted stock

maybe ticket sales bookings for kids footy school etc.....

as for fishy site it should be renamed the snail site in fact a snail is bloodly quicker!

We have offered the club space in our shop at no cost. You may wonder whats in it for us . From our point of view we get people knowing where the shop is for other 'non' Stanley stuff. Also one half of the ownership is a Stanley fan.

We have also offered to produce merchandise for the club at near cost price. Apart from a half hearted order it's never been taken seriously

[Stanleymad]

Waste of time katie, the club was offered the stand in the arndale foc for the sos and still couldn't man it to the point it was vacant.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Stanleymad

Waste of time katie, the club was offered the stand in the arndale foc for the sos and still couldn't man it to the point it was vacant.

like i said i do not think they wanted to raise the dosh, they wanted it to go under. before i just thought it possible, now i'm 90% sure.

[katei77]

if it is planned well and 1 person employed to manage the rota stock etc....it could work well

the sos stall was thrown together in a very short space of time with no time for planning etc....not having ago but thats how it was

it does need a real business plan and by real i mean 1 that will ensure basic costs are covered

even i manage to run a small business so im sure stanley could but like you said do they really want it

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by cashman

like i said i do not think they wanted to raise the dosh, they wanted it to go under. before i just thought it possible, now i'm 90% sure.

I'm afraid I think you're right. I've thought for some time that 'administration' was and maybe still is the goal of the board. Maybe it's all they think could ever be achieved; and the longer the crisis can be strung out, the better. What's a ten point deduction if you can leave all your creditors behind and start all over again, for a few more years? May as well owe £308miilion as £308K if the belief is that 'administration' will wipe out the debt.
Trouble is Stanley, unlike some other big city clubs that have 'chosen' that route, can't look to a guaranteed future fan base come-what-may.