I’m a known fan of Peter Drucker’s. And one of my prized possessions is The Daily Drucker. Which is simply just a daily reader of Peter Drucker’s writings. If you are smart, you will buy a couple of copies, so you are never without one.
What I love is that each year on January 2nd, I am faced with the idea of being a futurist about the areas I focus on and the industries I serve, which is revenue in the world of sports, entertainment, professional services, nonprofits, and advocacy.
That seems like a lot, but in reality, these industries share more in common than they have differences.
But each year, I like to take a moment to write down some of the emerging things that have occurred and how they are going to impact us going forward.
This year, I will do it again…I’ll limit it to 2-4 for each area, so that this isn’t a novel.
Sports and entertainment:
Several trends have shown their head in sports over the last few years:
- Lower attendance: everywhere we look, empty seats as the at-home experience is better and better. This is going to force teams to really focus on making the in-arena experience better and better, but more importantly focusing on the unique things that you can only do at a stadium.
- Secondary market is the primary market to many: teams have been slow to adjust to the changing ways that their customers buy and utilize their games. The secondary market has become the primary market to many fans because they don’t want to be tied down to a package, especially if the value adds don’t add a lot of value. And, sports has fallen into a position where it isn’t sports or nothing, but sports versus every other entertainment option in town. This is going to require teams to adjust the way that they sell single games and to go back to the drawing board on how they are selling the more high value components of what they sell.
- Cable money is still huge, but cord cutting has to be a concern: These big TV contracts are fantastic and they give teams and leagues revenue certainty, to an extent. The thing is, what happens if these cable companies collapse under the commitment of these contracts? The danger might not be looming right now, but these things could happen fast and the threat should make teams and leagues more aware of the need to solidify the other areas of their business to maximize their revenue from all areas.
Professional Services:
- So much competition, its a race to the bottom: In all too many instances, there is so much competition now that too many professional services firms are competing on price and price alone. If you look at their websites, you almost feel bad for these companies because they have become trapped in a downward spiral of cost cutting, commodity driven marketing and selling that is doomed to defeat many good professionals. This trend is going to force professional services firms to do a better job of marketing and selling based on value.
- Business models are under attack: Besides competition, in many areas business models are under attack. The billable hour is under siege and every invoice questioned. This is going to force professional services firms to focus on new ways of billing and new ways of capturing the value they create for their clients.
Nonprofits and advocacy:
- A new administration: New administrations mean change, simple as that. This new administration in the United States will impact on a global scale. This is going to make nonprofits and advocacy groups need to fight for their priorities more and become more adept at messaging their desires.
- Competition will be tougher: This means that dollars are going to be more and more difficult. This also means that organizations are going to have to work harder and harder to get the money they need to fund their operations. This will require that these organizations learn more about the power of storytelling and how to use it effectively.