Lawn Tennis Association Serves an Ace With Siebel CRM Professional Edition

"More than 4 million people play tennis at least once a year in Great Britain, although only 88,000 of these are registered LTA members," said Luke Varda, Head of IT, the LTA. "Our goal is to grow tennis and the LTA membership by encouraging more people to participate in the sport, play more often, and create better players at every level from junior to international tournament players. Siebel CRM Professional Edition creates a single, complete, and multichannel view of British tennis participants, allowing the LTA to become more proactive and responsive in making tennis fun, accessible, affordable, and attractive to everyone, regardless of age or background."

Prior to introducing Siebel CRM Professional Edition, the LTA relied on more than 20 electronic systems at a headquarter level to manage relationships with 88,000 registered LTA members, up to 5,000 qualified tennis coaches, 2,600 tennis clubs, and more than 2,500 sanctioned tournaments that take place in Great Britain each year. The LTA also has 43 county offices, some of which use their own separate systems to manage similar, overlapping relationships.

The LTA has deployed Siebel CRM Professional Edition to unify information across multiple channels and create a single, nationwide association for promoting and managing GB tennis. The LTA's player ranking system was among the first processes to utilize Siebel CRM Professional Edition. The previous player rating scheme provided a player measurement system by comparing the player's results against other players, but it relied on information from multiple sources and was only updated twice yearly. This new player ranking system powered by Siebel is updated every two weeks and provides a dynamic, browser-based indication of each player's standing against other players, by measuring a player's performance within a tournament. This makes the competitive structure more transparent, encouraging junior and adult players to compete more frequently; inspiring top competitors to improve; and guiding players to the right tournament, at the right time, and at the right level.

The best-in-class functionality of Siebel CRM Professional Edition will also be used to support Club Vision—the LTA's strategy to provide progressive clubs with greater support and resources. By introducing a single, integrated view of tennis clubs, public "pay and play" indoor tennis centers, schools, and local authority venues, the LTA is able to provide advice on issues such as coaching, funding, and facilities management. The objective is to improve the access to tennis and enhance the experience and quality of play at all levels and ages.

More than 2,500 sanctioned tennis tournaments that the LTA organizes every year are also being managed using Siebel CRM Professional Edition. The LTA is using the single view of tournament competitors, the venue, facilities, referees, attendees, and results to streamline the organization and management of each tournament and improve its success.

Later this year, the LTA will also use Siebel CRM Professional Edition to launch MyTennis, a secure, personalized portal that will enable its members to manage and follow their profile, apply to and participate in tournaments, book tickets, and update their coaching licenses.