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In any successful business model, providing high quality customer service is a primary goal. For the St. Louis Cardinals, the first pitch toward consumer satisfaction comes from the ticket window at Busch Stadium.

When fans interact with ticket sellers, Jason Williams, EdD, studies how the transaction plays out. Is the seller friendly? Does she offer options? Is he wearing Cardinals attire? Responses to those questions and others figure into the customer service research and training Williams conducts for the Cardinals organization.

鈥淵ou have to provide excellent customer service,鈥� says Williams, director of the Rawlings Sport Business Management program and assistant professor. 鈥淵ou can have a great product, but your business will suffer if you have poor customer service.鈥�

Two years ago, the Cardinals recognized a need to observe and measure the effectiveness of customer service at the box office on game days, says Rob Fasoldt, director of ticket sales and services. Fasoldt reached out to Williams and the Rawlings Sports Business Management Program for expert insight.

鈥淛ason was quick to analyze the problems facing our team and prescribed tools to create metrics of our performance,鈥� Fasoldt says. 鈥淭he data gathered was then applied to his customer-focused training sessions with our staff in the 2014 offseason.”

The Cardinals are intentional about customer service, observes Williams, and it鈥檚 a smart strategy given their location. 鈥淢idwestern culture calls for treating people nicely no matter what鈥攏o matter who you are or what walk of life you come from,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ecause of that ingrained culture, the people of St. Louis insist on a higher expectation of customer service than in other areas of the country.鈥�

As part of his research, Williams sends 鈥渟ecret shoppers鈥� to Cardinals ticket windows just before a home game to pick up will call tickets. These 鈥渃ustomers鈥� are asked to purchase tickets for future games at the same time, and later they respond to survey prompts about the transaction: When you approached the window, was the seller on a cell phone? Were you offered multiple seating options? Were you thanked for your purchase?

The research shows the Cardinals are performing well in the ticket booths. 鈥淢ore than that, our findings indicate they have exceeded expectations and, to a certain extent, they鈥檙e setting new standards for customer service,鈥� Williams says. 鈥淭hey do continuous research to ensure that鈥檚 the case.鈥�

Training, which is designed around the feedback Williams collects, focuses on language used by sellers, their appearance, and brand expectations set by the Cardinals front office. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very thought out and meaningful. It鈥檚 not a message that, 鈥榯his person needs to change鈥�; it鈥檚 more the idea that each ticket seller should be saying, 鈥楾his is how I would want to be treated, so that鈥檚 how I鈥檓 treating my customer.鈥欌��

The importance of offseason training for high quality customer service during the regular season can鈥檛 be overstated, Williams says. 鈥淔rom our research, we know that if customers have a good experience at the ticket window, they鈥檒l have a good experience at the ballpark鈥攚hether the Cardinals win or lose by the scoreboard.鈥�