Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[TRO]

6 hours ago, CVByrne said:

Great post.

It's why I call this group of season ticket holders and regular match day goers as in a bubble. They want the club to grow income like the rest of us but would prefer tickets to stay cheap and it doesn't matter how big the season ticket waiting list gets. Doesn't matter how hard it is to get tickets. Doesn't matter where our average ticket price sits Vs other European Premier League clubs. Their pocket is the most important thing. 

Nassef Sawiris is Executive Chairman as in he is filling the role as CEO and Chairman. Fans can't vent their disapproval at him who is clearly and 100% driving this. The redevelopment of Villa Park, the price increases of tickets are signed off by him. The appointment and remit of Heck and Emery etc. agreed by him. 

No, that doesn't work for this group. It has to be Heck who is the target because he is new. So in their minds they can disassociate Heck from NSWE as if they are absentee parents. Nassef doing interviews with the FT about PSR. It's Nassef who attends the Premier League meetings. 

If you want to balance your views on the ticket prices you need to balance them against what NSWE have done since owning the club. This is their decision and if you think you would rather cheaper ticket prices and them gone then go for it. Make your banner NSWE Out of my club and protest. 

Sadly, I feel that had to be said.

I don't know enough, to take sides over Heck....but I am loathe to castigate any man, without firm and substantiated evidence. That has always been my stand on anything, anywhere.

We all want what's best for the club, while trying to balance what's best for us.... That can be tricky and force our thinking in to a compromise, we didn't want or don't want to countenance.

I would like to reside in parts of the ground I simply cannot readily afford or simply do not want to pay for, and I have to accept those consequences. Those that can good luck to them.

I have tried to programme myself in to thinking the days of cheap football at Villa Park is over.....That is a reality, I have to face, as disappointing as it is, its an economic corporeality.

Unless, Heck is clearing out his desk as we speak, I can only come to the early conclusion other folk in the hierarchy, are in support of him.....If not, the truth will be revealed.

Edited September 11 by TRO

[TDR V2]

6 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

And this to me is the bottom line of football fan naivete. 

When the petrol costs a 10p extra you blame the government/big petrol businesses. You hate those bastards, you can't trust them.

When your rent goes up by £100 a month you blame that evil landlord, you hate that bastard, you can't trust him.

When your food costs £15 extra a week, you blame Tesco, you can't trust those evil bastards.

But when a business (which logo you wear on your shirt and so did your father/grandad) decides to up the prices, all of a sudden everyone is surprised because it's my trusted beloved business - how could they? After all, it's my beloved club!

I will let you into a little secret; you can support Aston Villa football team, and yet do not trust Heck, NSWE, The Premier League, UEFA etc. They want to make money, and they are not concerned in the slightest if you can attend the game with your son or daughter. You can jog on.

And please don't be surprised about it. They care about you as much as Shell or Tui or Aldi does. 

 

All of those other examples have alternatives for the buyer. You don't just stop filling car with petrol or eating.

Fans only choice is to not go, it's not the same alternative. That is very exploitable 

[TRO]

3 minutes ago, MarkLillis said:

I agree with this. I've been attending matches with my brother since the late 80s its felt like something we would always do.

Over the last couple of seasons watching the direction that the club is going we've been having the same conversation.....

"this is great.....but its going to cost us"

Surely we aren't the only pair of fans that saw this coming? It was never going to be any other way.

We have to recognise that the club is in competition for the signatures of players with some huge juggernauts now, who have been accruing high sponsorships deals for decades, on top of that trophies have increased their merchandise, sales, and significantly bigger stadiums have been a further kick in our teeth to us.......There is a reality here and Wealthy owners cannot trump the restricted rules we are hamstrung by.

I think what we have done, with what we have got is commendable....some of the negotiating for top players at modest fee's has surely helped peg costs to the fans alone....but it can't happen every time, I think the clubs work here, has had a knock on effect to us, which may not be readily acknowledged.

We only have to look around us at the other assets, in our lives, the best costs money, lots of it in some cases.

Personally, I might have to contemplate, being priced out at some stage, but I refuse to see myself as a victim....more a consequence of economic reality.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, TDR V2 said:

I've based my opinion of what i have seen so far, not really interested in what the overall mob think. 

He's a revenue getter (apparently) and they are usually cut from the same cloth as sales people. Get the sale regardless.

If I'm wrong I'm wrong

That maybe the reason he was hired....it might be a reassuring statement to the owners.

That's what the job of sales people fundamentally is too....and the world is full of them, at every juncture of life.....everything you lay your eyes on has been sold at some point.

when you say " regardless" regardless of what exactly?

When I was in sales, I prided myself on many virtues.....but I also became acutely aware, to survive, don't spend too much time, preaching to those, who genuinely cannot afford your product or service. I said to myself " That is not your fault, don't make it so"

How he gets the revenue he is clearly tasked with, is the cornerstone for debate, and that may attract diverse opinions.

I am not prepared to see him as an ****hole, until I am sure....because I might, see him as the necessary revenue creator, to improve our club incrementally. We need to be clear, where we all want to get to, requires funds, lets not lose sight of that fact.

I don't want to come out of the traps too quick and end up with egg on my face.

 

Edited September 11 by TRO

[MrBlack]

If you haven't, you should listen to the interview he did with that crossing broad bloke...

https://www.crossingbroad.com/2024/07/this-isnt-wrexham-a-q-a-with-former-sixers-president-chris-heck-now-running-business-operations-for-the-premier-leagues-aston-villa.html

It's interesting whatever your views on him. 

It explains why he got things wrong at the start, and I respect him for being as open as he was.

I'm also repeats some of his lies that he likes to peddle about claiming it was him that picked black sabbath. Don't think he mentions the fact he didn't know the badge was being changed on this one, must have realised his lie didn't make sense by the time he did this one. 

One of the key things from it is where he says that he was killed for what he did in the lower grounds, but that it was a massive success because it sold out and everyone loved it. Well yeah, it sold out. And yeah, most of the people that used it liked it. But he's ignoring what people didn't like about it. He took something away from ST holders, and didn't replace it. 

His approach to pricing for the champions league tells me he hasn't really learnt from his time here at all, and he's repeating that failure. He doesn't care about the fans that don't buy the ticket.  He only cares that it sells out, regardless of who it sells to.

[TDR V2]

4 minutes ago, TRO said:

That maybe the reason he was hired....it might be a reassuring statement to the owners.

That's what the job of sales people fundamentally is too....and the world is full of them, and every juncture.

when you say " regardless" regardless of what exactly?

When I was in sales, I prided myself on many virtues.....but I also became acutely aware, to survive, don't spend too much time, preaching to those, who genuinely cannot afford your product or service. I said to myself " That is not your fault, don't make it so"

How he gets the revenue he is clearly tasked with, is the cornerstone, for debate, and that may attract diverse opinions.

I am not prepared to see him as an ****hole, until I am sure....because I might, see him as the necessary revenue creator, to improve our club incrementally. We need to be clear, where we all want to get to, requires funds, lets not lose sight of that fact.

I don't want to come out of the traps too quick and end up with egg on my face.

 

I pride myself in the accuracy of my snap judgements and I love egg. Recipe for disaster I am

[TRO]

44 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

And this to me is the bottom line of football fan naivete. 

When the petrol costs a 10p extra you blame the government/big petrol businesses. You hate those bastards, you can't trust them.

When your rent goes up by £100 a month you blame that evil landlord, you hate that bastard, you can't trust him.

When your food costs £15 extra a week, you blame Tesco, you can't trust those evil bastards.

But when a business (which logo you wear on your shirt and so did your father/grandad) decides to up the prices, all of a sudden everyone is surprised because it's my trusted beloved business - how could they? After all, it's my beloved club!

I will let you into a little secret; you can support Aston Villa football team, and yet do not trust Heck, NSWE, The Premier League, UEFA etc. They want to make money, and they are not concerned in the slightest if you can attend the game with your son or daughter. You can jog on.

And please don't be surprised about it. They care about you as much as Shell or Tui or Aldi does. 

 

Its sad, but true.

The problem with football, unlike any other business....It's a love affair, we have allowed ourselves to be sucked in to....

....and despite the questionable returns from it(as most clubs return losses) the owners of every club are attracted to this concept....the loyalty is unique, its tribal.

There is another reality that will hurt some folk deeply and its not meant to....but if you can't afford something, you can't have it, legally.

It matters not how long you have enjoyed the fruits of whatever it is, when you can't pay for it, its over.....There is no benevolence around to help, its predatory.

 

 

[TRO]

9 minutes ago, TDR V2 said:

I pride myself in the accuracy of my snap judgements and I love egg. Recipe for disaster I am

well done....pardon the unintended pun.

[Mic09]

49 minutes ago, TDR V2 said:

All of those other examples have alternatives for the buyer. You don't just stop filling car with petrol or eating.

Fans only choice is to not go, it's not the same alternative. That is very exploitable 

It doesn't matter. It turns out your £40 seat can easily be replaced with a £140 seat that other customers want.

Aston Villa is in the market of getting richer customers. You might not have an alternative of choosing to watch another team. They have an alternative to sell your seat to another customer. 

[Mic09]

6 minutes ago, TRO said:

Its sad, but true.

The problem with football, unlike any other business....It's a love affair, we have allowed ourselves to be sucked in to....

....and despite the questionable returns from it(as most clubs return losses) the owners of every club are attracted to this concept....the loyalty is unique, its tribal.

There is another reality that will hurt some folk deeply and its not meant to....but if you can't afford something, you can't have it, legally.

It matters not how long you have enjoyed the fruits of whatever it is, when you can't pay for it, its over.....There is no benevolence around to help, its predatory.

 

 

If it's a love affair, it's a relationship where the husband beats on the wife and she always comes back. She loves him and remembers how good he was.

One day, she will leave him, she won't take much more. But it turns out the husband is a rich, handsome businessman and he will easily replace her with another girl.

Aston Villa can get as many girls (customers) as it wants right now. 

[TDR V2]

4 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

It doesn't matter. It turns out your £40 seat can easily be replaced with a £140 seat that other customers want.

Aston Villa is in the market of getting richer customers. You might not have an alternative of choosing to watch another team. They have an alternative to sell your seat to another customer. 

Where are those £40 seats, I'd like one of those. I'm not a STH so I always have to pay full whack for every game. If we go GA+ eventually for everything then they will have lost at least 2 people, I'm already hanging on by a thread this season

Edited September 11 by TDR V2

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

It doesn't matter. It turns out your £40 seat can easily be replaced with a £140 seat that other customers want.

Aston Villa is in the market of getting richer customers. You might not have an alternative of choosing to watch another team. They have an alternative to sell your seat to another customer. 

That is not a fact that many want to contemplate, and I am no exception.....but it's a sad reality of economics.

They say " Be careful what you wish for" and we can't get the genie back in the bottle......but here is where we are.

[Mic09]

Just now, TDR V2 said:

Where are thoae £40 seats, I'd like one of those. I'm not a STH so I always have to pay full whack for every game. If we go GA+ eventually for everything then they will have lost at least 2 people, I'm already hanging on by a thread this season

Just look back a few seasons. The conference tickets were around those prices. The cups were. 

I'd like one of those, but they are gone. 

[TRO]

2 minutes ago, Mic09 said:

If it's a love affair, it's a relationship where the husband beats on the wife and she always comes back. She loves him and remembers how good he was.

One day, she will leave him, she won't take much more. But it turns out the husband is a rich, handsome businessman and he will easily replace her with another girl.

Aston Villa can get as many girls (customers) as it wants right now. 

True....and they know it.

[Andy_10]

28 minutes ago, TRO said:

That maybe the reason he was hired....it might be a reassuring statement to the owners.

That's what the job of sales people fundamentally is too....and the world is full of them, and every juncture.

when you say " regardless" regardless of what exactly?

When I was in sales, I prided myself on many virtues.....but I also became acutely aware, to survive, don't spend too much time, preaching to those, who genuinely cannot afford your product or service. I said to myself " That is not your fault, don't make it so"

How he gets the revenue he is clearly tasked with, is the cornerstone, for debate, and that may attract diverse opinions.

I am not prepared to see him as an ****hole, until I am sure....because I might, see him as the necessary revenue creator, to improve our club incrementally. We need to be clear, where we all want to get to, requires funds, lets not lose sight of that fact.

I don't want to come out of the traps too quick and end up with egg on my face.

 

But with the greatest of respect to whatever you sold as a salesman, "selling" football is a lot different to selling vacuums or time-share.

There is no long standing customer loyalty to Henry the hoover. Sure. You may like its little face over a space ship looking Dyson, but there is zero emotional attachment that has been passed on from father to son/daughter for generations.

There is no big "first hoover" event, like taking your child or young relative to their first game.

So again, with every respect to your career & experiences within that career, it is not comparable to how football is sold.

And the first step, the very basics of brand growth is looking after your core customer base. Because without that core customer base being loyal, if we do not have the success that Emery has brought to the table for Heck to utilise then the extra £2M he has made on one game, will be lost ten fold across a couple of seasons, purely by alienating & pricing out the core customer base.

It's short term gain for long term pain.

Unless Emery continues to perform miracles, of course.

But then this then doesn't come down to how good Heck is at his job, it will come down to how good Emery is at his job.

And while there are things that Heck has done that I genuinely dislike, like the crest debacle, the stadium issue, his overall attitude to his core customers, poor communication, etc, etc, (amongst some good too), I don't think that he is an a-hole.

I just think that he could & should have done things differently. 

Edited September 11 by Andy_10

[MrBlack]

Chris heck people, not the club, tickets, or seats. 

I blame Heck for this. This is what he does to us. Turns us into a miserable unorganised rabble.

[TRO]

22 hours ago, Andy_10 said:

But with the greatest of respect to whatever you sold as a salesman, "selling" football is a lot different to selling vacuums or time-share.

There is no long standing customer loyalty to Henry the hoover. Sure. You may like its little face over a space ship looking Dyson, but there is zero emotional attachment that has been passed on from father to son/daughter for generations.

There is no big "first hoover" event, like taking your child or young relative to their first game.

So again, with every respect to your career & experiences within that career, it is not comparable to how football is sold.

And the first step, the very basics of brand growth is looking after your core customer base. Because without that core customer base being loyal, if we do not have the success that Emery has brought to the table for Heck to utilise then the extra £2M he has made on one game, will be lost ten fold across a couple of seasons, purely by alienating & pricing out the core customer base.

It's short term gain for long term pain.

Unless Emery continues to perform miracles, of course.

But then this then doesn't come down to how good Heck is at his job, it will come down to how good Emery is at his job.

And while there are things that Heck has done that I genuinely dislike, like the crest debacle, the stadium issue, his overall attitude to his core customers, poor communication, etc, etc, (amongst some good too), I don't think that he is an a-hole.

I just think that he could & should have done things differently. 

The principles of selling like supply and demand, remain consistent, sure there are nuances from industry to industry and Tactics employed too....but there are so many colliding forces in selling despite the different scenario's.

I disagree with the loyalty bit, to a degree, consumers have huge product loyalty, to almost derisory proportions...."never buy anything but Ford Mate"....."Jaguar man myself"....."but I have a Merc, because I can", voice from the back..."always a Merc"

No,don't under estimate Brand loyalty, outside the subject matter.

I accept Football is a unique beast, maybe because, we see it that way from a fans perspective.....Maybe, just maybe, we see ourselves as indispensible, too (just being devils advocate) and we over value our presence....not saying we do, but its a thought.

Spare the odd thought, for the thousands of fans abroad, who buy the merch and follow the club as avidly as we do, and can't get to games, due to Geography....They too have their own agenda, and that's a reliable revenue source.

I accept, there is nothing like football in so many ways, but I also think, in some ways we can drift in to a territory of over stating our own importance....let me explain. I have supported Villa for over 60 years, and am loyal to the core ( so what, some could say) you have had you fun and paid for it.....If I was priced out right now, don't kid yourself, some new fan of any age, could replace me, and fulfil my loyalty, equally as well, the only thing I would have over them is longevity, which counts for what, exactly, other than my own self indulgence.

What I am trying to do is engage in perspective....New fans can sing as loud and as fervently as me and too, might give the club 60 odd years of their enhanced entrance fee's too.

Personally I don't give much time to Badges, programmes etc, I just see it as the clubs business to get right, and I just dutifully accept it. I think the more one tries to involve themselves in to certain things, the more likely a lack of communication can be derived, and it getting disappointing. Don't construe that as defending Heck on Communication, because, I agree, he is poor or dismissive.....but maybe that's the way he wants it.

I try to be careful on not trying to tell the club how to runs its business, that is not the same of course, of legitimate complaints like Stadium Hygiene etc...buts it's easy to drift in to blurring the lines.

Chris Heck, is maybe like many of us, good at some things and not so good at others, that has crossed my mind too. I am also aware he has become, not very popular, very quickly, despite having recent praise, for the sponsorship deals, which most are pleased with. For me I am cautious of not letting that questionable reputation of late, deviate from the central issues, he is embroiled in...perspective.

I don't doubt he could have done some things differently, Unai could quietly admit that too, despite getting all the significant things right. The owners could say the same, despite my huge faith in them.

I would also like to remind you, that the owners will want all senior staff, in particular, to get things right, not just Unai, and that if CH gets it right Unai will have more money to improve his squad, something pretty important to all of us.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 12 by TRO

[TRO]

58 minutes ago, MrBlack said:

Chris heck people, not the club, tickets, or seats. 

I blame Heck for this. This is what he does to us. Turns us into a miserable unorganised rabble.

I was planning on dipping in to my " Winter Fuel Allowance" allowance to purchase a new warm coat, for those cold days....thats bit the dust , now.

Seems like Chris Heck has a partner in crime too.

[TRO]

1 hour ago, MrBlack said:

Chris heck people, not the club, tickets, or seats. 

I blame Heck for this. This is what he does to us. Turns us into a miserable unorganised rabble.

are you getting mixed up with the recent riots?

Maybe we could blame him for that too.

[nick76]

This is what Heck and his back office team need to do