Sitting in a luxury suite, or skybox if you prefer, at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will remind you what form did for function. The accouterments are impeccable: paperless ticketing, private elevator, exclusive buffets and beautiful architecture including the 1,100 foot long Halo Board and one-of-a-kind retractable roof. And, at 1 million square feet smaller than AT&T Stadium, you feel its function come alive in ways the large volume of space in Dallas cannot.
In the US, it’s a great time to entertain customers. And it’s only getting better (next up, Los Angeles).
(You’re probably nodding your head in agreement right now.)
Corporations at-large spend billions each year in luxury suite leases alone. The purchasing goals I hear from fellow suite-holders are:
“Relationship building”
“Goodwill”
“Deal-making”
When your corporation leases a luxury suite, whether long-term through a venue/team or single-event via a 3rd party marketplace, there’s a significant financial commitment incurred that’s founded on the belief: ‘You gotta spend money to make money.”
“So what is that return, Brian?”
Well, in my past life, when asked I’d pause, seek the right syntax and word choice, and go with something like this: “We’ve got (this) in the pipeline. We’re budgeted to spend (that). We’re hosting (these targets). It’s just taking longer than we thought.”
(That explanation doesn’t cut it anymore.)
I’m Brian Barker. I’ve been fortunate to experience more than 100 sports & entertainment events in a skybox as an executive leader for a SMB. For 7+ years, I strategized, coordinated, executed, and reported on corporate events for my corporation. We had inventory in multiple venues and a client list of more than 1,400 companies at our disposal. Nice problem to have, except for one thing: I had no industry benchmarks and found no one trying to serve the market in the way I thought they should.
The lack of answers didn’t get me fired, but it caused many frustrating moments for my team and me.
So I talked to numerous suite-holders; they shared the same sentiment.
“I don’t talk to other suite-holders. We’re just out here doing our thing, paying our bills, and hoping for the best.”
“We’ve been doing the same thing, year-after-year. I think we’re winning more than we’re losing.”
(These kinds of statements remind me of the best-selling book Who Moved My Cheese?… who’s with me?)
The only way for us suite-holders to find our “cheese” is to do something about it, something different.
Surely the luxury suite investment pays off through customer retention, “better relationships” and loyalty.
(You tell me.)
Through my experience and connections to the luxury suite industry, I’ve concluded at least one pain exists:
The luxury suite is a “Black Box.”
Therefore, I’m doing what no one else is: I’m tackling the problem with layered tech, optimizing the experience for guests and hosts to produce actionable engagement and brand loyalty.
My company NextLevelFan is investing R&D into three key event elements:
1. Activating guests during the most critical event moments
2. Authentically engaging guests and leaving them wanting more (Read “Welcome to the Experience Economy” by Pine & Gilmore)
3. Measuring event effectiveness, using both lead and lag measures, in real-time, across a peer network
*Drop the mic… 🙂
Now that you understand why I’m so passionate about this, I’d like to offer you something.
The best way to know if NextLevelFan can help you generate ROI is to try our platform for FREE.
Go to our pricing page and check-out our features for admins AND attendees.
It’ll take 5 minutes to get setup and no credit card is required.
After the first event, you will simply sign-up with your credit for one of our three plans (Rookie, All-Star or Legend). You’re billed one-time for the annual license and then after each event for the amount you used.
If you have questions, we’re certainly happy to help. Contact us at sales@nextlevelfan.com.
Onward…!
