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REGULAR MEETING June 11, 2018
<br /> Mr. Berlin continued, We signed this with my wife, three (3) daughters and future son-in-law all
<br /> present. We had a goal in mind and that was to have great baseball. At that time we were a
<br /> Diamondbacks affiliate. I didn't think we would get the Cubs and I think getting the Cubs brought
<br /> us better baseball. The Cubs joined South Bend in September 2014 and the first (1St) season was
<br /> 2015. Of course the Cubs then won the Wild Card and went to the playoffs. In 2016 they won the
<br /> World Series and in 2017 they got to the pennant series. As Joe and I always say in our marketing,
<br /> we believe the road to the World Series starts in South Bend. We also wanted to create really great
<br /> memories for the residents of South Bend and the Michiana region. If any of you have been to
<br /> Four Winds Field, you know it is more than baseball. It is more than just a game. It is bringing
<br /> families and friends out to the ballpark to share these experiences and moments that you always
<br /> remember. The best part of being a baseball owner is not just watching your team win or have a
<br /> great season, but it is also about walking around the ballpark to see these moments unfolding.
<br /> When a child gets their first foul ball or being able to watch the game through your child's or
<br /> grandchild's eyes, those are things they never forget.
<br /> Mr. Berlin went on, Doing something great for the citizens here is something we set out to do.
<br /> Lastly, and very importantly and no less than the first two (2)items of focus,was the revitalization
<br /> of South Bend. We wanted to prove to future developers that one (1) could invest in South Bend,
<br /> profit from it, and do something nice for the community by creating jobs and opportunities. I think
<br /> we did that. With that in mind, I would like to tell you how it all unfolded. First off, we really had
<br /> to work on the stadium. When Joe and I took over the team in 2011, we started managing the team
<br /> in January, we really saw a ballpark that had really great bones but not a very good process
<br /> in place. We did a long study and had a lot of town hall focus groups to speak to former fans and
<br /> season ticket holders to really understand all the different touch points. We even asked people what
<br /> they would like to see us start, stop and continue doing in the ballpark. We were able to break it
<br /> down into three (3) groups. Each bullet point in each category was sought after by Joe and I to
<br /> make not only satisfactory, but a thrilling experience. Thrill was defined as being a surprise and
<br /> delight. So we actually started asking things such as, `How does the drive to Four Winds become
<br /> thrilling?' So with your help by changing the directions of some of the streets and putting up more
<br /> signage with some of the streets, getting out of town folks to the field safely, people were able to
<br /> find and get to our ballpark more easily. Even in the parking lot, we try to put friendly, happy,
<br /> optimistic and positive people in them rather than cranky folks taking the money. So every touch
<br /> point was thought through with taskforces and committees. In doing so, we saw a big change.
<br /> Mr. Berlin continued, There is something called Net Promoter Score and it serves as a guideline
<br /> for building loyalty and earnings with your customers and the idea is that you want to ask a
<br /> question of your fans, once a year, and that question is how likely are you, on a scale of zero (0)
<br /> to ten (10), to recommend Four Winds Field as a place to take your family? Well, on a scale of
<br /> zero (0) to ten (10), a zero (0) to six (6) would be defined as a hater, a nine (9) and(10) would be
<br /> a lover, and a seven(7) or eight (8)would be a fence sitter. Fence sitters, because we don't know
<br /> which way they lean are taken out of the formula. We net the responses of nine (9) and ten(10)to
<br /> the zero (0) to six (6), and what you get is a percentage. So in 2012 when we first took over, only
<br /> forty-one percent(41%) of the fans were promoters. There were a lot of fence sitters at thirty-two
<br /> percent(32%) but a lot of haters at twenty-seven percent (27%). The net score was about thirteen
<br /> percent(13%).Now,keep in mind,relative to the rest of the baseball industry,the baseball industry
<br /> average is about fifty percent (50%). So to be at thirteen percent (13%) means we were doing a
<br /> terrible job. Whether it was the cleanliness, the quality of food, service, parking, or anything, it
<br /> just wasn't good. We set out to improve it and now we sit at an eighty-four percent(84%) in 2017
<br /> after mailing out about 40,000 surveys, blindly,to folks without knowing their names. Only three
<br /> percent (3%) of our fans hate us. And when we looked at some of the comments, those hate
<br /> comments we got weren't what we expected. In one (1) case, we had a letter from a grandmother
<br /> who had brought her grandchildren to the ballpark and she was very upset. She was trying to teach
<br /> her grandchildren all about the game of baseball and they were too busy having too much fun in
<br /> other parts of the ballpark. Others came in saying our hotdogs were too big. The nice thing about
<br /> this study is that the higher the score, it correlates with the success of the organization.
<br /> Mr. Berlin went on, As we focused on these touch points,the attendance went up quite a bit from
<br /> the first year we bought the team. It was at 113,000 and is now at 354,000. 1 would like to remind
<br /> you that this is not modesty. This is a private-public partnership that the City of South Bend and
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