Our new growth initiatives

[TRW]

[quote:39f7abef67="Petrosian"]Bernie isn't the issue here, as I see it. Yes, he has done much for the game, especially over the past three years. However it was not always so. It took considerable prodding by Nev, myself and other members of the community to get him to where he was fairly responsive. Prior to that, Bernie's communication was next to non-existent and the customer service abysmal.

I'm really not looking to partner with the TSN bean counters with their latest strategic initiative. I won't be introducing any friends to the game because frankly it tends to devolve into just another addiction. That's not something I would wish on a friend. Plus it is not inexpensive and our economy is tottering on the edge of a precipice.

All that aside, I think it is poor business strategy not to throw the existing customer base a bone now and then. They did it last year for Father's Day. Did that backfire and cost TSN money? I'd love to get an answer to that question but I won't hold my breath.

TSN's approach to the existing base seems to assume that addicts will come up with the money to get their fix. Not always. When was the last time Don Ferry started a new team? So many regulars have faded away. Some come back, many don't.

Why on earth would you adopt a business strategy that is likely to alienate much of your core base? Is the cost of a promotion, i.e. 3 days of a reduced price on the five packs, so great? Again, we haven't even established that generating that good will costs TSN any money at all. But I bet that the current approach to existing members won't help TSN in the long run.[/quote:39f7abef67]


I absolutely agree with Petro. I consider myself one of the regulars Petro refers to. I was addicted for around 5 years playing 8-10 leagues per month. I haven't purchased any credits since last December. And that mainly started because I asked about a Xmas sale on credits.

I don't remember exactly how it started back in December (Nev probably remembers better than I), but I basically called out Bernie & TSN management to step up and be more reponsive to the current customer base.

I know Bernie listed some initiatives when this thread first started. But there's still nothing in it for guys like myself to come back & play at the same rate we did before.

If you go to the mangers ratings page, it shows the number of games each owner has played. And while I have no idea what TSN's revenue or profit/loss is for SOM, it appears that fewer games are being played than ever before.

I would like to come back into the fold & still keep tabs on the MB's, but at this time I have no incentive to do so.

I am sure there are others who feel the same...

[boss_of_um]

I left the game but I have come back after more than a year off and I am getting beat around pretty good but I still enjoy the game, mainly drafting one. I have one friend I spoke to about this game but I made sure to tell him it is TOUGH so I look forward to seeing if he tries a one week trial.

I would have bought a 5 pack with a Father's Day special this weekend but alas no discount was given so I likely won't be around much longer. Another hiatus.

[nevdully's]

Here's another troubling thing, and doesn't it always seem to unfold this way.....I disagree a bit with Petro in his assessment of Bernie's role in all this... Bernie has seen this thread, even posted in it, (oddly with absolutely no mention of yes, no, or maybe so to a Fathers Day Sale) at a point where it was obvious there was some clear customer dissatisfaction...Since his post there's been another handful of customers voicing similar dissatisfaction... Detailing why they're playing less, or giving examples of some who've stopped playing here altogether ...and nothing more from Bernie since yesterday...In my opinion I'd hoped he'd be all in this...keeping an eye on it and weighing in regularly....but that's not usually how things get done here....There is no "getting out in front of something". No "nipping it in the bud". No real discussion and availability...Just damage control after the swell...

This has got to be the tiniest piece of the TSN pie...and how many people here truly believe TSN gives a crap? It's all on Bernie for better or worse...We are HIS customers...If I could show Bernie anything it would be this....Half the community here, when Bernie says "jump" they say "how high" and "thank you for letting us jump Bernie" and "I'm sure nobody says jump like you Bernie" and "Bernie you're the best"..and truly God bless these customers they're a pleasure for all of us ....and then other more demanding half of us....We would be so damn happy to jump, and help, and buy more teams, and help, and jump some more,[b:59fce7ed29] if the ONLY REAL MAN we can count on to improve this game and our experience here, would have a strong tangible [u:59fce7ed29]consistent presence[/u:59fce7ed29] here.[/b:59fce7ed29]

[The Last Druid]

From an earlier post it sounded like Bernie met with the bean counters, to whom he referred as smarter than he is, despite his being a U. Penn graduate, and that the decision to not have discounts for regulars was made at that time. So I didn't take Bernie to task too much on this one 'cause I don't think it's his decision. Not that he's handled it well otherwise...

And you know the high esteem in which I hold corporate bean counters everywhere, particularly when they dictate policy.

[JOSEPHKENDALL]

I did receive a message from Bernie yesterday that there would not be a Father's Day sale again this year.

[george barnard]

Okay, Father's Day has mostly come and gone, and that's fine. No discounts this year? That's fine. Maybe a discount should come as a surprise, that is not always at Father's Day (so that revenue drops in the weeks leading up to that). It could come at the All-Star Break, or World Series time, or Xmas or Kwanza or whenever. My favorite would be to link a possible discount to a baseball related event: a no-hitter thrown in the majors then a 5-pack discount for 1 or 2 days, or a triple play (a three-pack for $x). The discount would be somehow linked to our love of the game and our slavish devotion to both MLB and SOM.

Just a thought.

Bill

[modmark46]

Neat idea, Bill.

[nevdully's]

My Son turns 4 next month. My Wife Nancy had a very tough pregnancy requiring daily trips to the hospital 4 of 5 week days the last two months before delivery...Mikey is Healthy happy and the best thing to ever happen to me. However in the last couple months of Nanc's pregnancy and the past 4 years I've been home more than ever (lotsa ATG playing) being Mr. Dad....As a business Owner on salary it simply made more sense for me to stay home, than Nanc losing time in her 40$ an hour nursing job.

With a partner at my store and two managers that have been with me and worked for me from even before I owned my own store (I managed them in a corporately owned store), all for almost 20 years...You'd think...well I thought...if the was ever a best case scenario for an owner to step away and let his staff handle things this was it.

However what I've since learned (the hard way) is this great group of three are "employees" for a reason...Let me better define my partner's role...He had half the money needed to get our business...I taught him everything he knows and after starting out years ago as a part timer he's continued a happily as more of a good soldier than anything else...

Point is, although I'm still home more than most, it became evident that I needed to be there...They needed me to be there...Now each day I show up to get them all on the same page, pointed in the right direction, and 101 other business cliches that apply...

To probably brutally misquote a dialogue from "Remembering the Titans"

Offensive captian and overall team leader to defensive captain~ "you talent is great, your attitude is bad"...defensive captain responds "attitude reflects leadership"

We've got a hardcore group of customers and overall a pretty good group of guys...but there's no steady leadership here...none.


Now it's possible even likely that this site was never intended to have "leadership"...but this community has come to know "The Man"....And imo as a big fish in my own small pond...Bernie needs to either step up.. or..."say he stepping down, change his handle, and start fresh as an absentee IT guy that lays down the law i.e. I ain't here for you guys....and then just be Bernie behind the scenes....

I'm sure this sentiment will be misunderstood by many and taken as a dig at Bernie...It's not...It's a plea...Either be here and lead, just be in our loop...or tell us you're not..One imo is clearly better than the other, but either is fine. [/b]

[scorehouse]

i'm ready for more cards,live play, atg mystery game, etc. not interested in pimping strat for 10 bucks.

[MtheB]

From playing the board game in the mid-sixties, up until the on-line game came out, what we can do now is way beyond our wildest imagination of what we wanted to be able to do with STRAT back then.

I absolutely relish having the on-line games, and hope I never take these opportunities for granted.

I have found Bernie to be committed, concerned, responsive and he does whatever he can to address owners feedback, complaints, real issues and suggestions to the game. Given what he has to deal with on his end, that we don't get to be exposed to, I am astounded at what he has been able to do.

I thank Bernie and STRAT and even the Sporting News for bringing the game online and keeping it going. Yes, as with all products and services, things can be improved. The reality is, with that in mind, is that things have been improved many fold since they first released the online game.

My suggestions is only this:
why not do a groupon discount to add new customers, and allow existing customers to play even more?