Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Drummond]

I think a less shit design is an eminently sensible starting point.  This stuff is easy isn't it?

You'd think so Chris, but then their answer to "How do we make more money from fans who just want to be able to buy some refreshments, and are literally begging us to help them part with their cash?" is to make it even harder to do so for the majority whilst fleecing a select and stupid few much harder.

See the 'Pro' shirts too.

[kippaxvilla2]

He has got a lot on his plate.  If he can succeed then great.  But, currently;

1. The kits are crap and are the laughing stock of the kit making world.
2. The TV and LG are about as popular as sick.
3. The toilets are overflowing with piss.
4. The zero hours contracts catering staff do not seem to be able to communicate.
5. The food is dire and overpriced.
6. The beer is dire and expensive.
7. The fanbase is being alienated.
8. We can never seem to be able to distribute merchandise as effectively as other clubs.
9. The club crest changes more often than the weather.

And yet amongst all this we need to grow revenue.

Good luck Chris.

[Drummond]

He has got a lot on his plate.  If he can succeed then great.  But, currently;

1. The kits are crap and are the laughing stock of the kit making world.
2. The TV and LG are about as popular as sick.
3. The toilets are overflowing with piss.
4. The zero hours contracts catering staff do not seem to be able to communicate.
5. The food is dire and overpriced.
6. The beer is dire and expensive.
7. The fanbase is being alienated.
8. We can never seem to be able to distribute merchandise as effectively as other clubs.

And yet amongst all this we need to grow revenue.

Good luck Chris.

And I'm pretty sure none of those were of his doing.

He's not going to say it's all shit, and throw people under the bus (possibly because he's not allowed to) but things will improve, because they have to.

[kippaxvilla2]

I was being genuine I wish him the best of luck and I don't blame him for anything....yet.

[Sexual Ealing]

Fans of metaphor will note that Everton are about to sign a shirt deal with Castore.

[Drummond]

I was being genuine I wish him the best of luck and I don't blame him for anything....yet.

Absolutely, me too. Though he's got his work cut out.

[Dante Lavelli]

At the moment he is hopefully going through each of the existing contracts and working out which are good/bad/indifferent. What’s being outsourced that should be done by direct employees etc.

I’d guess lots of deals will expire each season but others might be multi-year deals. Until they’re all flushed through his hands are pretty tied unless he can create a fiasco like sweaty shirts to exit the deals earlier.

[chrisw1]

Honestly, if he did a Q and A for an hour on here, it would give him enough of a sensible "to-do" list to keep his team going for the next 12 months.

I think it's a bit disingenuous to suggest he doesn't know these very basic points about business. Especially when it comes to something as basic as shirt sales. I get why people are annoyed about the way things have happened at the stadium, but the man's not an idiot.

He might not be an idiot but he's certainly not attuned to the fan experience at the club.  If we were he'd realise there's a huge amount of low-hanging fruit when all he's interested is the new fangled Kumquats.

edit - Lee makes the same point

[AV84]

Honestly, if he did a Q and A for an hour on here, it would give him enough of a sensible "to-do" list to keep his team going for the next 12 months.

I think it's a bit disingenuous to suggest he doesn't know these very basic points about business. Especially when it comes to something as basic as shirt sales. I get why people are annoyed about the way things have happened at the stadium, but the man's not an idiot.

He might not be an idiot but he's certainly not attuned to the fan experience at the club.  If we were he'd realise there's a huge amount of low-hanging fruit when all he's interested is the new fangled Kumquats.

I get why people aren't happy with the new stuff, although I'm not sure how much he's responsible for. As harsh as it sounds though, from a purely money making point of view, I can understand why the idea seems to be to bring more people in spending big money, than have people who are already coming spending a little bit more.

Obviously there's a middle ground where both happens, but maybe that's the long term plan.

[chrisw1]

I was being genuine I wish him the best of luck and I don't blame him for anything....yet.

Absolutely, me too. Though he's got his work cut out.

Dave said they still don't think they did anything wrong with the league cup pricing, despite it being the smallest crowd I can remember at VP for a few years.  If they aren't prepared to learn from mistakes then I fear for them getting things right in the future.

[AV84]

Dave said they still don't think they did anything wrong with the league cup pricing, despite it being the smallest crowd I can remember at VP for a few years.  If they aren't prepared to learn from mistakes then I fear for them getting things right in the future.

Financially speaking, 40,000 people paying £20 a ticket doesn't bring in as much money as 23,000 paying £40 a ticket. If all they're looking at is the bottom line, then the Everton game was probably quite successful.

[Nii Lamptey]

I think you're all being too kind to him. He's been in the job long enough now to have highlighted the key issues/pinch points. To prioritise vandalising the Holte, so that he can add fancy 'new' things he's created to his LinkedIn profile over the basics is enough for my patience to run out. Lack of communication is a big issue too, instead choosing to use the televised Brighton game to pimp his ridiculous new ventures to the masses.

On current evidence, I'm pretty sure that fixing basic concourse catering (ie. Have 5 roles behind the counters - A manager, till operators, pint pullers, order collectors and 'cooks' - Sorted!), would bring in more revenue than what they've managed to squeeze out of the Terrace View and Holte Suite so far.

[eamonn]

Was the attendance ever reported for the Everton game?

[AV84]

On current evidence, I'm pretty sure that fixing basic concourse catering (ie. Have 5 roles behind the counters - A manager, till operators, pint pullers, order collectors and 'cooks' - Sorted!), would bring in more revenue than what they've managed to squeeze out of the Terrace View and Holte Suite so far.

Maybe it does, but you're also having to pay those extra staff, so how does that impact your profit. And does it mean prices go up, which is a negative in most people's eyes.

It provably sounds like I'm being contrary for the sake of it here, but all I'm saying is there's a simple solution to all the problems, kit, catering, etc. but the simple solution isn't always the one that increases the club profits, which seems to be Heck's main job.

[chrisw1]

The difference is negligible when it was 23k mostly paying £36 or less.  That's before you account for lost catering and shop revenue.  Also, if we'd had 40k we may well now be in the next round.

When you preside over our lowest attendance since the League Cup second-round game against Wigan in 2017, you have fucked up.