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I understand that during the first two months 64 members have joined the membership scheme of which approximately 20% are exiles.

I have to say I am very disappointed at the way in which the club have marketed the membership scheme and last month I wrote to the chairman, Simon Baker with a number of suggestions as to how the scheme could be improved and professionally marketed. So far I have not received a reply, having written on the 13 September. The following is a synopsis of my suggestions.

1. The availability of the membership scheme should be clearly promoted on the official website. As things stand potential members would be hard pressed to know we even had a membership scheme.

2. I suggested that a minimum of one page should be devoted to the members club in the official matchday programme promoting the advantages of membership and how to join.

3. I think it is very important that the scheme be open to junior members i.e. the under 16s. Why not offer membership to the under 16s at £5 per month with free admission to all football league home games. Young people are the seed corn of the future.

4. Why not have a special rate for overseas members of which there are many dotted around the world who avidly follow the fortunes of the club. How about an annual membership at £50.

5. The present scheme excludes for some reason the over 65s. I really do not understand why. This seems very strange.

6. If the club is serious about the membership scheme it should be professionally promoted at all home games. If it is worth doing surely it is worth doing well.

I am rapidly gaining the impression that although much progress has been made in the last 3 years the club desparately needs a more professional approach not only to marketing the membership scheme but to marketing the club to the local popultion and beyond. I have been to many towns and cities in the UK where tickets are on sale in town centres for the next match and special offers are available in order to boost attendances. Do the board understand that in this day and age to compete with other attractions you have to market what the club has to offer.

In my view through all eras the biggest weakness has been the failure by the club to effectively market itself to the local population.

I do hope that the official site will soon be promoting the membership scheme in detail and that the numbers will rise substantially. My local club here in Portugal has 6000 members with averages gates of just 4200.

Just to remind all exiles you can become a member for £100 per year or if you prefer paying £10 per month. When you visit Plainmoor admission is just £10. If you read this forum you must be really interested in the club. Are you prepared to support the club to the tune of £10 per month?

When i finish my degree and i'm not living off noodles and living in the slums of Exeter, i'd join up.

Maybe its just a case of people simply not having the money?

After reading some of the recent posts on here, it would seem that the club are not in the habit of returning correspondence.

I'll email them and ask them to get around to it

seems strange to me too, should be on the home page of .com for sure, its hardly worth doing to produce £640 per month is it? offset the money people save at the turnstiles and its prob only £500 profit. i wonder how many takers they were hoping for when this scheme was first thought of??

There must be more to the lack of publicity for this scheme than meets the eye. My three year old (NB, three year old may not actually exist) could have done a better job of selling what is an excellent scheme.

Matt.

Thank you Matt for your comment. I think you may well have hit the nail on the head because the lack of publicity for the scheme, the complete failure to market the scheme in a proper manner, leads me to believe that there is a sizeable proportion of the board who are not behind the scheme.

What I find so irritating is that if the scheme did not have the full support of the board then why launch it at all.

I still believe as the first football league club to launch a true membership scheme this is a fantastic opportunity for the club and it so frustrating that the board cannot see the potential.

I really feel the board should issue a statement either backing the scheme and promoting it in a professional way or they should withdraw the scheme until such time as they are prepared to either back it properly or forget it. No one benefits unless the board and the club are behind the scheme 100%.

Or you could look at it and say 64 is not bad for two notices on the website which is pretty much all the exposure it got and in combination with the large season ticket take up.

portugull wrote:Thank you Matt for your comment. I think you may well have hit the nail on the head because the lack of publicity for the scheme, the complete failure to market the scheme in a proper manner, leads me to believe that there is a sizeable proportion of the board who are not behind the scheme.

What I find so irritating is that if the scheme did not have the full support of the board then why launch it at all.

I still believe as the first football league club to launch a true membership scheme this is a fantastic opportunity for the club and it so frustrating that the board cannot see the potential.

I really feel the board should issue a statement either backing the scheme and promoting it in a professional way or they should withdraw the scheme until such time as they are prepared to either back it properly or forget it. No one benefits unless the board and the club are behind the scheme 100%.

I don't think withdrawing it now is an option - as you say 64 people have taken it up. In terms of promoting it in a more 'professional' manner, perhaps priorities are just elsewhere currently? It was never going to be a huge income generator, and with our current issues, maybe they are focussed on other things that might provide greater revenues.

our website has always been, and still remains, an absolute disgrace

the membership scheme, ticket details and links to the club shop should be permanent fixtures on the home page, together with gulls player. i'd have thought that we'd be looking to have 200+ members at the very least given the large numbers of exiles, but how many of them have even heard of this forum, let alone the excellent scheme

I would imagine most of those with a reasonable interest in our club, are aware of the Membership sheme - even if they can't readily find details on the website.

If I had the money, yes I would sign up.
£10 a month isn't a huge stretch but life has a habit of badgering up our finances at the worst possible time :x
You're right though, promotion of the scheme has been dreadful.

Fonda wrote: I don't think withdrawing it now is an option - as you say 64 people have taken it up. In terms of promoting it in a more 'professional' manner, perhaps priorities are just elsewhere currently? It was never going to be a huge income generator, and with our current issues, maybe they are focussed on other things that might provide greater revenues.

I don't know anywhere near enough to make an informed argument either way about how busy our commercial department is, but I would be happy to give a couple of hours a week FOR FREE to promote this scheme.

Matt.