Nov. 3, 2008
Richard Stevens, Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The University of New Mexico’s athletic department isn’t necessarily hoping to find negatives in the way it presents major events such as Lobo football or men and women basketball, but sometimes in order to get better, you have to seek out the gray areas.
That’s why the Lobos have a secret — like in the “secret shopper’ UNM has hired to poke his nose here and there looking for things the Lobos do well and things maybe the Lobos don’t do so well at athletic events.
The secret shopper already has hit a UNM football game in 2008. His nose soon will be poking around at a Lobo men’s basketball game and also a Lobo women’s basketball game.
He looks for the good, the bad, the average. He then he passes on the info and a grade to UNM.
“The goal is to make sure we are providing a standard of service that our fans will find enjoyable,” said Kurt Esser, a UNM Associate Athletics Director in charge of external operations. “We weren’t worried about looking bad in some areas, because you need to find out where you need to improve services. You need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are.”
The Secret Shoppers report for the UNM football event (vs. Arizona) is extensive. It is 32 pages long.
It includes aspects of the event such as ticket purchasing, parking, entry gates, concourse management, guest services, ushers, stadium exiting, merchandise, food service, marketing, promotions, cleanliness of venue and parking lots, courtesy factors, security, restrooms, crowd flow. You name it. The check list will be similar for the upcoming hoop seasons.
The Lobos improved their score in almost every area from Mr. Shopper’s survey of 2007 football.
The Secret Shopper that Sept. 13 afternoon was a male, age 47, husband/father, business owner, football fan. We’ll call him Mr. Shopper. It was 84 degrees when Mr. Shopper arrived on the scene. It was 72 degrees when his mission was complete.
Mr. Shopper evaluated the event on a 4-point scale: 4.0 (poor), 5.0 (fair), 6.0 (good), 7.0 (exceptional), and his report was extremely specific in its evaluation process.
Example: Mr. Shopper ordered tickets via three methods: phone, on-line, and at the ticket office one day prior to the game. It took him 12 minutes to complete his ticket order by the phone, seven minutes on-line, and nine minutes at the ticket office. Mr. Shopper gave a detailed report on how he was treated over the phone and at the ticket office. The Lobos graded well.
Example: Mr. Shopper came to the game three hours prior to kickoff to review personal parking and then left and returned to University Stadium on the free shuttle. He had comments such as: “The air conditioning on the bus was great,” and “I cleared the venue traffic in less than one minute.” Mr. Shopper said his shuttle experience at New Mexico was superior to the shuttle services at Ohio State, Oklahoma, Michigan and Navy.
Of course, one of the major interests of fans comes when their stomach starts growling like a Lobo linebacker eyeing an opposing quarterback. Mr. Shopper had a good appetite for the Arizona game. Or maybe he just had a good budget. Mr. Shopper will be chowing down in The Pit pretty soon, too.
At University Stadium, he ordered a hot dog, a bottle water, another hot dog with a soft drink, a cheeseburger with water, and an ice cream. It took him five minutes to get his first dog, including waiting-in-line time. It took him two minutes to get his second dog, including wait time. It took him one minute to get his ice cream.
Mr. Shopper said one of his hot dogs was “one of the better hot dogs I have had this year.” Mr. Shopper wasn’t as impressed with his cheeseburger. He said one of his servers was “the most cordial concession worker I have had in the past year.”
Which is exactly why UNM is doing this Secret Shopper stuff. It’s kind of why Lobos Coach Rocky Long studies game film. He wants his Lobos to get better. If Long sees a lineman missing a block or using bad technique, Long corrects it.
Ditto for Esser. He wants UNM events to get better, too.
“We get feedback on each event and then we get feedback after the season is over and they kind of rank you with other athletic events,” Esser said.
The company UNM hired to evaluate it events is VenueCheck. The company will compare and rate the Lobos with collegiate and professional venues coast-to-coast.
Esser said this is the second season UNM has looked to Mr. Shopper to help the university improve game experiences for the Lobo fan. He said UNM’s grades were “significantly” better for the Arizona football game compared the the game Mr. Shopper rated in 2007.
“That’s the point,” said Esser. “We are always looking for ways to improve our product.”
If you are a Lobos basketball fan, you might want to keep an eye out for Mr. Shopper at a men’s and women’s game. Which game? Sorry, Esser isn’t talking. It’s a secret.
Editor’s note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner