Lakewood BlueClaws Hit Home Run with Vonage Business Communications

The Lakewood BlueClaws didn’t have the resources to offer precise call performance feedback to its sales reps beyond their initial training periods, nor did the ball club have the tools to help the sales reps take detailed notes for their follow-up emails to clients. Routing inbound callers to the most appropriate ticket queues was a challenge, too, and whenever the forecast predicted bad weather, the staff’s productivity was routinely impeded by hundreds of calls from anxious fans.

Further, the organization's B2B sales executives—who spend 40 percent of their time away from the office—had trouble responding to new and ongoing opportunities without constantly checking their office voicemail. And after each home game, the team’s staff returned to their offices to find the main number’s voicemail and text inboxes filled with time-sensitive queries and requests that had gone unanswered.

The BlueClaws needed a technology partner to provide a full-featured unified communications solution that would empower:

• Supervisors to provide constant training and feedback and bolster the quality of their customer interactions.

• Sales reps to provide a higher level of customer service.

• B2B sales executives to focus on generating new business and nurturing existing clients.

• Staff to actively promote a positive game experience for loyal attendees.

The ball club chose Vonage for its unified communications platform, Vonage Business Communications. Featuring a host of benefit-rich features, the platform enabled the organization to: 

• Record calls and articulate precise, specific, performance-improving feedback to its sales reps. 

• Deliver high-quality, comprehensive, efficient support to the team’s fans.

• Free B2B sales executives from the anxiety of frequently checking their office voicemail.

• Raise the brand's profile as a provider of a first-rate Minor League Baseball experience.

Hitting a Grand Slam for Both Fans and the Ball Club

The Vonage Business Communications platform supports the Lakewood BlueClaws’ commitment to delighting its fans by empowering its staff with advanced business communications tools:

Visual Voicemail. An emailed recording automatically accompanies every voicemail a staff member receives, giving them the ability to review new voicemails at a glance. This is a particular advantage for in-the-stands staff members during a game, when high-energy crowds, music, and announcements can make listening to urgent voicemails a challenge.

Call Forwarding. While the ball club’s three B2B sales executives spend 40 percent of their time on the road, Vonage’s Call Forwarding feature ensures they never miss a call, which cuts down on missed opportunities and helps executives give prompt attention to their existing clients.

Call Recording. The Call Recording feature not only helps the organization’s sales reps review conversations and document their details in follow-up emails, it helps supervisors train both new reps as well as seasoned reps who are new to the baseball-fan experience.

Mobility. With the Vonage Business Communications mobile app, the team’s staff has on-the-go access to all their favorite communications tools, which directly impacts customer service. For example, when a fan texts the Lakewood BlueClaws’ main number during a game, multiple staff members receive the text and any one of them can respond in just moments with an in-person visit to the fan’s seat.

Auto Attendant. A virtual receptionist, the Auto Attendant feature is especially valuable during rainouts: The organization can easily replace its standard greeting with a temporary one, which frees the staff from having to answer the same question hundreds of times over the course of a day.

Call Queue. A virtual waiting room, the Call Queue feature also ensures callers get routed as efficiently as possible. For example, if a fan calls about tickets and enters the ticketing queue, the Call Queue feature gives the team the option—if they prefer—to offer a choice of other ticket queues.

“We've had the Vonage Business Communications for about a year and it's really transformed the way we handle our internal communication and collaboration. The fan experience has been immeasurably improved because of it.”

- Greg Giombarrese, Director of Communications | Lakewood BlueClaws