Concierge services behind the scenes at major sporting events

In the run-up to a football World Cup or any other major sporting event, the concierge industry is buzzing with excitement and is determined to offer the best services to its clients. And while the ability to anticipate and react quickly is crucial, the effectiveness of concierge services will also depend on the quality of their partners.

 

The highly volatile world of ticketing

Getting the best seats for the most prestigious sporting events is the commitment made by a concierge service to their Members. Timing is of course of the essence as the closer the event gets, the more complicated it is to find available seats.

In reality, from one hour to the next, a sporting event can be sold out. Aware of these challenges, John Paul has created an outstanding ticketing department to offer its Members the best in sports and cultural activities. Drawing on an exceptional address book, their Concierges strive to find the best partners to offer the best experiences. From the finals of the Roland Garros tournament to a PSG Champions League match, our Members' dreams are always a reality.

 

Surrounding yourself with the right partners

For this dream to come true, the processes deployed internally by the Concierges must be precise and rigorous. “Whether it's a hospitality offer or direct seating, it's essential to build up a stock with privileged contacts such as the federations or via the organizer,” explains Ritchie Sundrun, EMEA Ticket Manager at John Paul.

Indeed, having the right partners is crucial if you want to provide the number of seats the client wants in the shortest possible time. “At John Paul, we make it a point to accommodate our clients' requests even when the sporting event is sold out,” he adds. However, while this is possible for many national and international competitions, it is less obvious for clubs, most of which operate on a year-round subscription basis.

 

Building loyalty among partners networks

In addition to the ability of concierge services to react quickly to their customers' requests, the notion of anticipation must be part of their strategy, especially in the sports event sector where tickets are expensive. Having a large volume of tickets/places available via privileged contacts and several months in advance is therefore a real competitive advantage that cannot be maintained without an active approach to building up partner loyalty.

In any case, and this is an inherent rule of concierge services, “you can't have very good customer satisfaction without pampering your service providers” concludes Ritchie Sundrun.