Liverpool FC Says 'Days Of Clubs Taking Fans For Granted Are Over'

Liverpool Football Club has admitted to taking its supporters for granted. The frank revelation was issued by the club's head of customer experience, Jean Crisp, who says standards of customer service at Liverpool have and will continue to improve. Crisp is in charge of the club's customer experience department, set up at the beginning of last season with the aim of improving supporters' off-the-field experience when dealing with the club.

Liverpool fans have previously raised issues regarding poor customer service from the club, often regarding ticket arrangements. The new department has listened to and taken on board supporter complaints and now Crisp says all of this is set to change. She said: “I can't talk for any other clubs but I do think that in the past this club probably did take fans for granted, to some degree. “I think that was the case because clubs don't have to compete as other businesses have to attract and keep fans. Once you are a Liverpool fan, you're a Liverpool fan. Just because Arsenal offers better seating, you don't switch to support Arsenal; that just doesn't happen.

“If we were complacent, we're certainly not now and we totally understand that fans will no longer tolerate poor service. In all other walks of life, these same supporters are very demanding people, so why should it be any different when they interact with their favourite football club?” Crisp says a change in attitude towards supporters was required by the club.

Instead of simply seeing them as fans, they are now also viewed as customers “Clubs absolutely understand that we need to be much more customer focused,” she said. “Even calling supporters 'customers' is contentious to some degree but I think that it actually changes the psyche. Once you start referring to fans as customers, you change your mindset to thinking, 'We have to do better'. “Essentially, a customer has a different view from a supporter and I think that has been one of the reasons why there may have been complacency in the past. When you take your seat and the whistle blows, you're 100 per cent the supporter and you want a great football experience, but buying a program, beer or food is a customer experience and we need to make that great as well.

“We can't control what happens on the pitch, obviously, but I do think we can do everything possible to make sure that the off-the-pitch experience is a great one. The days of clubs taking fans for granted are over.” While a large percentage of supporters agreed Anfield is a good environment to bring their children to, and that they feel safe inside the stadium, ticketing was again highlighted as a problem area that Crisp says is being addressed. “There are areas that we do need to work on - our responses on ticketing, for instance, scored lower compared to other clubs,” she said.

“However, that is always going to be a challenge for a club the size of Liverpool where demand for tickets massively outstrips supply. “That will, inevitably, cause dissatisfaction. We are limited to what we can do and we're aware of that, but we have done a lot in the latter part of the season in trying to create a better service to handle that demand and the experience of trying to get tickets.”