Making customer service Otto-matic

It was so simple, yet it worked. Every time.

In May – long before the Spokane Indians’ first game of the season – the team brought together all of its seasonal employees for customer-service training. It was a little cold that day. Even a bit overcast. And everyone was seated in a single section on the first base-side of Avista Stadium.

There was lots of cheerful chatter in the crowd, as people either introduced themselves, or caught up with those they hadn’t seen since last season.

Otto Klein, the Indians’ seemingly omnipresent senior vice president, walked out in front of the group and clapped once.

Some of the hundred or so stopped talking and clapped once, as well.

Then Klein clapped twice. A larger number of the group followed, this time layered with a little laughter. Then another single clap followed by three claps.

By this moment, the whole group was doing it.

The simple back-and-forth lasted only a short bit, but its playful effectiveness was as impressive as it was delightful. Within a matter of seconds, Klein had the entire group’s attention and he had yet to even say a word.

Welcome to Otto’s world.

It’s filled with lots of deceptively small yet surprisingly powerful ideas that tend to add up to something much more sophisticated than they first appear . But mostly it’s a place that understands how to make people happy.

And when you’re primarily in the business of selling a product you have little control over – which is what happens when you run a minor league baseball team affiliated with a big league team more than a thousand miles away – being able to create happiness in ways that don’t show up in a box score is a pretty handy skill to have.

Even in the world of minor league baseball – maybe especially in the world of minor league baseball – the stadiums are the star. Communities all around the country are building mini versions of Safeco Field, with amenities that Dodger Stadium couldn’t even imagine.

And then there’s Avista Stadium.

It’s nearly 60 years old and was built in a matter of months. Four months, to be exact. If Spokane’s stadium was in the majors, it would be the third-oldest, behind only Fenway (1912) and Wrigley (1914). The next in line are Dodger Stadium (1962) and Angels Stadium (1966).

Yet, by most accounts, Avista Stadium has not only aged well, it’s literally beloved. The park at the Interstate Fairgrounds shows up in more than its fair share of annual surveys of the best minor league ballparks in the nation.

As a fan survey made its way through Twitter last month, two very different types of people in the major leagues added their votes for what was their favorite minor league stadium. First was David Yearout, currently on the grounds crew for the Philadelphia Phillies, who said “the crown jewel of the minor league baseball sits in Spokane.”

Phillies pitcher and former Spokane Indian Jerad Eickhoff then confirmed he “couldn’t agree more” and that Avista had an “unbelievable atmosphere, day in and day out!”

Of course, this is the sort of stuff that makes Klein’s day.

If you go to an Indians game at Avista, you’re almost certainly going to see him. There’s a pretty good chance he’s probably even going to talk with you. And if he talks with you, he’s almost certainly going to ask if you’re having a good time.

It’s that response that he lives for.

Avista doesn’t have a mini amusement park attached to it. Or a putt-putt golf course. Or a swimming pool. Or tons and tons of different concessions stands. Or even a scoreboard that looks like it’s from this century, let alone this decade.

So, when people tell Klein they had a great time and loved the stadium, he asks what they loved.

“And they can’t tell me,” he said with a laugh. “They start listing lots of things, but not one single thing. They just know they had a good time.”

That almost certainly goes back to the cold day in May. The day with the clapping.

Everyone who works at Avista goes through the course. They’re taught about safety issues. (Did you know that the seating area behind homeplate that is painted essentially like a candy cane is where a medical doctor is always sitting? Well, you do now.)

They’re taught basic courtesy skills. Everything from sincerity to body language to smiling. Klein calls it “aggressive friendliness,” and it’s easy to wonder why more places don’t teach their staffs something so simple that almost immediately pays off.

They’re taught about “service recovery” and the art of not only listening but apologizing. More importantly, they are told they are empowered to make things right. Then lots of scenarios are given to explain the point.

If a fan drops their soda, employees are instructed to instinctively get them a new one. And if the soda doused their shirt, then get them a new shirt.

Businesses have turnover. Employees leave for all sorts of reasons. Recruiting to fill jobs is one of the most time-consuming and expensive things most businesses have to do.

Nearly 800 people applied for seasonal jobs with the Indians this year. About 160 were hired.

“We hire for attitude because you can train for skill,” Klein said. For some, that means this is their first job. Training is essential. For others, this is the job that they go to after their “real job” is done, because getting paid to go to the ballpark is actually as fun as it sounds.

Part of what makes it all work at Avista is that the team controls nearly all parts of the fan experience. The county owns the park, but the Indians run it.

The people at the ticket counters. The ushers. The custodians. The people making and selling the hot dogs. Even the security. They’re all Indians employees.

It’s not like that at most other stadiums. Many of these same functions are either filled by stadium employees or vendors from completely unrelated companies.

That’s why the experience of going to a ballgame can be so uneven at other stadiums or arenas. It’s because they’ve all been taught in different ways, told different priorities or have different levels of training … if they’ve even been trained at all.

That’s why customer service is such a high priority. Klein said the team’s emphasis on it began with former general manager, partial owner and current elected official Andy Billig.

Klein calls Billig “the godfather of our customer-service strategy,” which began after focusing on the things that made Disney so successful at its themeparks.

These are also reasons why the team has become so successful financially. Though the team’s valuations are all over the place – anywhere from $5 million to $15 million – they’re a long way from the $138,000 the Brett brothers paid for the team more than three decades ago.

How does a minor league team make money?

The Indians have four revenue streams, and three of them really matter – at least as far as the team’s accountants are concerned.

Tickets.

Advertising throughout the stadium.

Concessions.

And merchandise. It’s just that, according to Klein, merchandise is basically a rounding error compared to the other three. Many teams only get ticket revenue, and then small portions, if any, of the signage revenue and concession sales.

The Indians get it all.

Even considering that, the team’s biggest priority is ticket sales. Ticket sales drive everything. If more people are at the park, they’re buying more pretzels and ballcaps. If more people are there, the advertising within the stadium is worth more.

If more people are at a game, the cheers for a home run are louder.

Klein and company will sell you season tickets if you really want them. It’s just that they’d rather sell you a 7-, 14- or 21-game package.

“Going to 38 games is just too hard for most families,” Klein explained. He said the smaller packages are not only more affordable for most people, they’re simply more realistic for people to get all of their money’s worth because they’re able to go to all of the games they’ve actually paid for.

When the team began to emphasize this strategy a few years ago, the actual number of people who went to Indians games increased by nearly 10,000 in a single season.

The Indians have either been No. 1 or No. 2 in attendance in the Northwest League for more than 20 years. Every year, despite having only 38 home games, they draw close to 200,000 annually.

It’s kind of just instincts. And, by most accounts, Klein has great instincts.

Just like when he wants to get a group’s attention by simply clapping once.