Tickets.com Client Spotlight: Northampton Saints

Saints supporters to benefit from major investment

By Editor

Northampton Saints has confirmed its commitment to remaining as the leading rugby club in terms of customer satisfaction following massive investment into the club's ticketing system and customer service this summer.

The club has teamed up with Milton Keynes-based Tickets.com, whose clients include the National Football League and Chelsea FC, to introduce a state of the art ticketing system to be introduced later this week.

The new system means that Saints will be moving away from the traditional season ticket book to an electronic card which will give each member a unique barcode – a system familiar from many top venues around the world – which will be scanned at the turnstile as they enter the stadium.

The new system has also allowed the club to introduce a third tier of membership. For just £5, Registered Saints Supporters will be given a supporters card which will give a number of benefits including discounted match tickets, a priority booking period for home and away matches and knockout cup tickets and will also give membership to the new Saints Savers Club to be launched this season.

Like season ticket holders, associate members and registered supporters will also be given access to their own unique members site which will allow them to manage their membership account online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including the instant purchase of extra game tickets (eg knockout cup matches at Franklin’s Gardens) where necessary. Supporters will be able to print out their tickets at home, thereby reducing the reliance on the postal service and increasing convenience.

In time the system will also allow casual supporters to print tickets at home, away tickets will be made available online as well as other additional events that may be held at the club. And over the next few seasons the club is intending to improve this system even further, especially if the proposed expansion of Franklin’s Gardens goes ahead.

With three pre-season friendly matches before the Guinness Premiership gets underway there are ample opportunities for supporters to get used to the new system and how it will work at Franklin’s Gardens.

“The feedback we get from supporters about the approachability and professionalism of our ticket office staff is very positive and was reflected in the results of the Premier Rugby Fans’ Survey,” said Saints chief executive Allan Robson. “However one area for improvement was online ticketing, which we are putting right with this investment. The new system is simple to operate, convenient and completely secure and will keep us at the forefront of customer service.

“As we look to expand Franklin’s Gardens in the next few years it is important that we are as efficient as we can be without compromising our customer service principles that are appreciated by supporters across the country. The system we are bringing in will allow us to do that and I am very excited about its possibilities.”