Photo Credit: Courtesy Indiana Area Soccer Boosters
Few recreation professionals would claim youth programming is an easy component of their job. Local markets are more crowded than ever with school districts, churches, YMCAs, fitness facilities, non-profit organizations, and individual recreation departments competing for the same children. Furthermore, it seems that every sport and/or activity no longer has a season. A person interested in soccer can play year-round in many areas of the country and increasingly in northern climates as indoor facilities continue to pop up. Oversaturation of programs, coupled with increased government regulation, create a perilous landscape, and sadly many recreation professionals continue to use the same old template instead of taking progressive steps to improve. It is time to throw away the old playbook and build programs that are valuable for patrons.
What Does The Research Indicate?
When someone asks, “What is the most important element of a successful program?” many people will immediately think of customer service. Customer service is a buzz word that has been enshrined in the industry (and quite frankly every sales industry) as the gold standard in building a program. But customer service is not clearly defined, nor does it encompass all of the variables important to patrons. I will do my best here to synthesize four definitions paramount to understanding programs.