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I have recently attended two conferences, one in Europe and one in the US. I was really excited about attending the one in Europe as it was in Turin, Italy, and I had the opportunity to address European stadium CEO’s, managers and premium seat sales staff.  I was, however, more excited about visiting the brand new Juventus stadium. They had just won the Italian soccer championship and I was eager to visit Italy’s first purpose built soccer stadium. I apologize to the soccer purest that would prefer me to use the term ‘football’, but soccer is the most internationally understood term.

 The Italian soccer league is one of the strongest in Europe and their revenues rival most other leagues except in one area, and that is match day revenue generated through their stadiums. In fact, out of the top twenty clubs in Europe, Italian teams make up 4 of the bottom five clubs with Juventus earning only 8% of its income from match-day revenue (according to a KPMG stadium insight study 2011 conducted by Dr Andrea Sartori). Arsenal, with similar total operating revenue, earns 42% from match-days and Liverpool 23%.

 This is one of the reasons, I presume, Juventus embarked on a new stadium. Here are some of my thoughts on how successful it could be.

 I want to share two separate experiences I had this year in visiting venues as part of an organized delegation attending a conference.

 About 60 Venue Managers, sports CEO’s and other delegates departed the conference center in Turin for our tour of the brand new Juventus stadium. We were booked for 6pm. We arrived outside the magnificent structure at 6.15pm to find we were locked out. We were told that we were 15 minutes early and would have to wait.  Fair enough, I thought. I know how busy venue staff can get. At about 6.35pm our tour guide arrived. He told us he was the tour guide for the venue and that they took public tours on a daily basis. Strange – I thought we would have had a more senior staff member take around colleagues, as we do at our venue, but was happy to be out of the heat and indoors. We were taken on a general public tour. We were not allowed to visit the concourses, kitchens, corporate suites or the field. We were taken to the change room and told we were not permitted to take photos. One poor soul who didn’t understand the instruction, snapped a photo and we were almost expelled. The tour took about 25 minutes and every venue-related question, was met with a blank stare and no answer.

 Last July, I attended the IAVM conference in Fort Lauderdale and chose to visit Sunlife Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphons. We arrived late but were welcomed at the entrance by Pamela Baynes (Senior Director Event sales and Marketing) and Gwen McCormick (Manager, Guest Services). Gwen led the tour, which went almost everywhere including the control room, corporate areas, change rooms and pitch. Every question was answered and interesting ‘inside’ aspects of their service standards shared. When we arrived in the change room, we were given a drink and a Dolphin’s cap. We were escorted to the pitch and again shared ideas around their customer experience and how fan engagement. The tour took almost two hours and I walked away with great ideas, good information and most importantly, felt the staff wanted to show their venue.

Both are great venues, both deliver wonderful views and an intimate exciting sporting environment. We all talk about an outstanding customer experience, but few actually ask what it is the customer wants. I would suggest the very first thing every customer wants is respect. Customers want to know that you value them and you respect the fact that they are doing business with you. I would suggest having a great venue is just part of the customer experience and that the way you treat your guests is the other, and perhaps the more important part. Leaving Sunlife Stadium in Miami I felt valued, cared about and almost part of the family. I left Juventus feeling like I was an irritation. Guess where I will never go back and spend any money. Perhaps one of the reasons they only generate 8% operating revenue from their stadium is because they simply don’t respect their guests?