Lost Members, I don't get it

[bornadog]

Every year the club comes out and says there are 6000 members who have not resigned from last year. This is a big percentage of our total data base and I just don't get it. Is this true that 6000 members haven't resigned? I am starting to become skeptical about this figure. if true, what else can the club do to get these people on board?

[jazzadogs]

I wonder if people who 'upgraded' to Social Club actually just registered new memberships. So they have bought memberships, but according to the club have not re-signed? I don't know how plausible that is...

[The Coon Dog]

Send Bazza around to see them! :D

[Mantis]

Didn't we have the lowest churn rate a few years back?

I wonder what has happened since to make so many of our members drop off each year.

[EasternWest]

I'm with you BAD. It's understandable to have some fluctuation with people losing jobs, people getting jobs etc, but I assume the majority just stop being members. And I don't get that. Whilst I would never do it, I understand those that drop off with our drops off in form and performance, but our team has given them no reason to do this. I don't get it. Maybe it's marketing hyperbole, maybe not.

On a side note, my partner said that if we had kids we might need to tighten the belts and cut a few costs, including my membership. I told her that she should prepare herself for a childfree life then.

[LostDoggy]

I'm with you BAD. It's understandable to have some fluctuation with people losing jobs, people getting jobs etc, but I assume the majority just stop being members. And I don't get that. Whilst I would never do it, I understand those that drop off with our drops off in form and performance, but our team has given them no reason to do this. I don't get it. Maybe it's marketing hyperbole, maybe not.

On a side note, my partner said that if we had kids we might need to tighten the belts and cut a few costs, including my membership. I told her that she should prepare herself for a childfree life then.Yeah, I just don't get it either. I think money is an issue that could stop members from re-signing, but I just don't get it if it's related to team form! IMO, you stick with your team no matter what, I can remember many Saturdays trudging home from Whitten Oval after being smacked, but hey, you just dust yourself off and come back the next week - "there's always next week!".

Oh, I have to ask, is your partner a bulldog supporter? Kids are great, but for me, bulldogs are better :D

[LostDoggy]

I
On a side note, my partner said that if we had kids we might need to tighten the belts and cut a few costs, including my membership. I told her that she should prepare herself for a childfree life then.

Gold :D

It is crazy to think that sooo many people don't re- sign... Do you think they wait for the real season to start?
As an incentive I think members should be able to access the NAB Cup games as part of their membership - it maybe one way to get people to sign up a bit earlier??

At the moment tho the numbers look really good members wise so hopefully those late comers can actually get on board - cause we are in for a some good times...

I want to go the a game against essendon, collingwood or carlton and have more bulldogs supporters there than our opposition!!!

[EasternWest]

[/B]

Oh, I have to ask, is your partner a bulldog supporter? Kids are great, but for me, bulldogs are better :D

Nah stinking Hawks. We've since reached a compromise. She gets kids, I keep my membership, kids get junior Dogs memberships. Win/win. Except for the bank account, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

She thinks the kids will be Hawks, but as I go to as many Dogs games as I can and she doesn't go at all, the reality is the chance of that is zero.

[Sockeye Salmon]

[/B]
Oh, I have to ask, is your partner a bulldog supporter? Kids are great, but for me, bulldogs are better :D

Try watching a NAB Cup win with a Bulldog tragic 6yo who doesn't know the difference between NAB Cup and the real thing. All he knows is Barry got the medal and the Bulldogs won the trophy.

His elation was similar to that any one of us will feel when we win the real thing.



Watching the Bulldogs with kids >>>>>>> watching the Bulldogs without kids.

Find something else to sacrifice, besides, the easiest way to get new members is to breed our own.

[Greystache]

There's always mitigating circumstances why some people don’t renew, for example we had an English guy come over for a year on secondment last year, I sold him on supporting the Bulldogs because of the link between England and the Bulldogs (colours, British Bulldogs, Footscray’s link with English working class immigrants) and even convinced him to buy a membership. He’s now returned home, and while he loved watching us play, he isn’t going to keep paying for a membership he can’t use. But I agree some people just drop off for no reason, and given how this season is shaping up I can’t understand why.

As a side note, with the volume of English people moving to Australia I’m surprised the club doesn’t try to make more of the link between them and the Bulldogs, could be another way to entice more supporters.

[chef]

Try watching a NAB Cup win with a Bulldog tragic 6yo who doesn't know the difference between NAB Cup and the real thing. All he knows is Barry got the medal and the Bulldogs won the trophy.

His elation was similar to that any one of us will feel when we win the real thing.



Watching the Bulldogs with kids >>>>>>> watching the Bulldogs without kids.

Find something else to sacrifice, besides, the easiest way to get new members is to breed our own.

How true, my 6 year old son now has a new hero named Barry:).

[Bulldog4life]

There's always mitigating circumstances why some people don’t renew, for example we had an English guy come over for a year on secondment last year, I sold him on supporting the Bulldogs because of the link between England and the Bulldogs (colours, British Bulldogs, Footscray’s link with English working class immigrants) and even convinced him to buy a membership. He’s now returned home, and while he loved watching us play, he isn’t going to keep paying for a membership he can’t use. But I agree some people just drop off for no reason, and given how this season is shaping up I can’t understand why.

As a side note, with the volume of English people moving to Australia I’m surprised the club doesn’t try to make more of the link between them and the Bulldogs, could be another way to entice more supporters.

It's funny you say that I've been saying that to my wife for the last couple of years. Great minds think alike.:)

[LostDoggy]

I never understand this fixation with how many members a club has. As long as we are financially viable is all I care about. 2 members or 50,000 makes no difference to me. Being successful will bring in the members and the dollars.


If we only end up with 28,000 members and make a good profit due to every one upgrading there memberships then I am happy.



Just enjoy the season and the rest will take care of itself.

[GVGjr]

Didn't we have the lowest churn rate a few years back?

I wonder what has happened since to make so many of our members drop off each year.


Yes, apparently that is true. We have one of the lowest churn rates of all the clubs. 6,000 sounds a lot for us though and it's a shame some people who can afford it don't maintain their memberships.
It's a lot easier now to become a member especially with all the payment options.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Yes, apparently that is true. We have one of the lowest churn rates of all the clubs. 6,000 sounds a lot for us though and it's a shame some people who can afford it don't maintain their memberships.
It's a lot easier now to become a member especially with all the payment options.

I wonder how many of those 6,000 are those who in the past have bought 'sympathy memberships' ie those who have bought memberships purely to help the club, but are not neccesarily supporters?

[w3design]

Look there can be a multitude of reasons why folks do not continue their membership. There was a significant gap in mine when circumstances took my life too far away to attend matches. I remained a passionate supporter, and eventually re signed simply to support the club even though 2 games a season was about all I could manage for a few years. These days I am close enough [only about 150km away] to be a regular attendee.
Have you noticed how many senior cits there are amoung our supporter group at matches? Their 'drop off rate' could be part of the problem too.

[LostDoggy]

6000 is definitely a lot of people, but considering our current sales, it's great to see that we clearly have a lot of new members (who will hopefully continue to buy memberships..)

There are a lot of people who have a tradition of signing up before the first game they go to- not such a good idea if you want a social club, reserved seat type of membership, but there's certainly a lot who do this (not 6000, but I'm sure our numbers will go up over the round 1 period).

[ledge]

Round 1 could be a problem this year because if its sold out those wanting to buy membership i imagine wont be going, round 2 or 3 could be bigger in membership.

[AndrewP6]

How true, my 6 year old son now has a new hero named Barry:).

As does my 3 and a half y/o nephew... seeing the back page of the Hun the other day, he jumped up, fist-pumped the air, and said "Big Bazza"!!!!

[The Adelaide Connection]

There's always mitigating circumstances why some people don’t renew, for example we had an English guy come over for a year on secondment last year, I sold him on supporting the Bulldogs because of the link between England and the Bulldogs (colours, British Bulldogs, Footscray’s link with English working class immigrants) and even convinced him to buy a membership. He’s now returned home, and while he loved watching us play, he isn’t going to keep paying for a membership he can’t use. But I agree some people just drop off for no reason, and given how this season is shaping up I can’t understand why.

As a side note, with the volume of English people moving to Australia I’m surprised the club doesn’t try to make more of the link between them and the Bulldogs, could be another way to entice more supporters.

The Central District Bulldogs has a particularly large contingent of British supporters, which probably also owes to a huge number of them originally settling in the new suburb of Elizabeth in the 60's (?). But I am sure the romance of the British Bulldog helped seal the deal.

By the way, Greystache = Best forum name/avatar ever.

[chef]

As does my 3 and a half y/o nephew... seeing the back page of the Hun the other day, he jumped up, fist-pumped the air, and said "Big Bazza"!!!!

That's who my son is now when he plays in the backyard:)

[LostDoggy]

Have you noticed how many senior cits there are amoung our supporter group at matches? Their 'drop off rate' could be part of the problem too.

That's quite funny.

[LostDoggy]

Yes, apparently that is true. We have one of the lowest churn rates of all the clubs. 6,000 sounds a lot for us though and it's a shame some people who can afford it don't maintain their memberships.
It's a lot easier now to become a member especially with all the payment options.

IIRC, it's 6000 who didn't renew this year, but something like 8000 last year and similar figures the year before, yet our overall membership figures stay relatively similar.

It makes me wonder if these are the same 6000/8000 people, and they are just joining up every other year, or if they are not the same people and we just have a big uptake every year to make up for the lost members.

If this is the case, then my hypothesis of a sleeping giant is on the mark, as there are potentially 15,000 - 20,000 people out there who have been recent members (ie. forked out money to support the club) that aren't currently, to add to our 30,000 or so from this year. That's potentially a 50,000 base membership, which is pretty massive, and this is before factoring in any growth.

ps. is there a case for the club taking lower net profits on individual memberships to inflate numbers? We'll get the same overall profit but have a healthier membership figure -- I know it's artificial in some ways but wouldn't we rather have a lot of members even if it doesn't mean a lot more in the way of profits?

[Greystache]

The Central District Bulldogs has a particularly large contingent of British supporters, which probably also owes to a huge number of them originally settling in the new suburb of Elizabeth in the 60's (?). But I am sure the romance of the British Bulldog helped seal the deal.

By the way, Greystache = Best forum name/avatar ever.

Thanks mate, gotta love ripping off a Simpsons episode!

I didn't realise that about Central Districts, interesting. I just think there's an opportunity there for us, I lived over in London for a few years and the English are really into their sport, and given in Melbourne there's not much scope for their two favourite codes (Rugby Union and Soccer) they tend to be drawn to AFL footy and often become very passionate. Maybe the club has considered it before and deemed it not worthwhile.

[LostDoggy]

Nah stinking Hawks. We've since reached a compromise. She gets kids, I keep my membership, kids get junior Dogs memberships. Win/win. Except for the bank account, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.

She thinks the kids will be Hawks, but as I go to as many Dogs games as I can and she doesn't go at all, the reality is the chance of that is zero.

Ahh! sounds like a great compromise dfa4pm ;)

[LostDoggy]

Try watching a NAB Cup win with a Bulldog tragic 6yo who doesn't know the difference between NAB Cup and the real thing. All he knows is Barry got the medal and the Bulldogs won the trophy.

His elation was similar to that any one of us will feel when we win the real thing.



Watching the Bulldogs with kids >>>>>>> watching the Bulldogs without kids.

Find something else to sacrifice, besides, the easiest way to get new members is to breed our own.

Great ideas Sockeye - don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that our newest bulldogs (young 'uns) now have a new hero/cult-figure/star to cheer and emulate :D

[ledge]

Thanks mate, gotta love ripping off a Simpsons episode!

I didn't realise that about Central Districts, interesting. I just think there's an opportunity there for us, I lived over in London for a few years and the English are really into their sport, and given in Melbourne there's not much scope for their two favourite codes (Rugby Union and Soccer) they tend to be drawn to AFL footy and often become very passionate. Maybe the club has considered it before and deemed it not worthwhile.

I remember going to see a Centrals game when Cowboy Neale was coach and I happen to be wearing a Southampton top, the crowd started singing the Liverpool song, thats how english the crowd was.

Some of my relations came out in the 90s and they first settled in Elizabeth too but I believe most have moved on to new suburbs around the beaches now and the Aboriginals have moved in on Elizabeth.