Clive Nates provided a transparent and at times very personal window into his thoughts on fan engagement during an interview with Fan Insights Podcast.
Clive initially outlined his love of English football extending back to the late 1960s when his support for Everton first emerged. It was that passion which drove him to do something exciting for the game. However, he never envisaged his level of involvement or responsibility would develop how it has; that is simply a by-product of getting involved.
Clive puts a lot of thought into what he does and that comes from his business background, grounded in being a methodical and analytical persona. Beyond that though Clive really wants to deal with fans the same way he would want the club to interact with him. He is and always will be a fan even after his time on the board is over.
As time has gone by Clive has seen just how important the club is to the city and community at large; he cited a report by The University of Lincoln which highlighted for example how businesses benefit from The Imps. Clive from his social media interactions feels the fans incredible passion so he is committed to giving them what they deserve. Without wishing to sound trite Clive recognised that the fans are the real owners of the club and his input is a mere blip in 136 years of history or even a small part taken against an average fan’s lifetime of support.
Clive was asked about social media interactions including being ‘trolled’. He explained that he felt much better at that side of things now. When people are angry or disagree he has learnt to take the conversation out of the public eye, to remove egos and correspond personally. That way Clive feels there is a far better chance of dealing with any issues. That approach has proven to be a big lesson learnt.
Clive recognises that people are different -some are argumentative, angry, negative or could simply be overreacting with social media making it very easy to have a voice. His approach is to not ‘take on’ the person but rather simply state facts. He won’t swear unlike some but will be honest and try to get his views across in a firm way but not belittle or attack somebody in the process.
An important aspect of communication is keeping people as informed as possible. When fans are uninformed they can make assumptions. Whilst obviously some matters have to remain private (rational fans know that) it is helpful to let fans have as much information as possible whenever he can. Clive believes that informed fans respect honesty and go along with that even if they don’t agree with the narrative.
Clive expanded the conversation to include the development of the club in recent years. The Imps had been in non-league for six years during which time the football league landscape had changed dramatically on matters such as reporting requirements, against the simultaneous backdrop of necessary cost-cutting measures. Therefore it had been imperative to appoint somebody with the knowledge and expertise within the modern football league structure as chief executive in order to bridge that vacuum which is where Liam Scully had come in. Liam has been massively important to off-field progress with his dedication and hard work proving vital in moving the club forward. One of his first tasks to enable Danny/Nicky Cowleys requirements was to source a training ground and in less than a year Liam had something in place ready for development.
Clive paid tribute to the impact of the Cowley brothers both on and off the pitch – taking on a club in Danny’s own words that were ‘in mourning’. A lot of the progress is down to them with Clive adding that a lot of people had also contributed to that effort and success.
Clive finished by talking about how he valued fan engagement and the number of fans he has contact with directly via PMs. He knew how fans loved to help as best they can. Not everyone can help financially but fans invest a lot of time thinking about what they can do. Some ideas may be crazy and never come off but Clive looks at some suggestions and thinks ‘why not that’s a good idea’ and wants to utilise the time and effort that fans put into their thoughts.
Writer: hulloutpost
If you haven’t already had a go at our quizzes, this is a great way to learn some random information about the Football Club, as well as helping us generate much-needed page views: Quiz No.1, Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3, Quiz No.4, Quiz No.5, Quiz No.6, Quiz No.7, Quiz No.8, Quiz No.9, Quiz No.10, Quiz No.11, Quiz No.12, Quiz No.13, Quiz No.14, Quiz No.15, Quiz No.16, Quiz No.17, Quiz No.18, Quiz No.19, Quiz No.20, Quiz No.21, Quiz No.22, Quiz No.23, Quiz No.24, Quiz No.25, Quiz No.26 and Quiz No.27.
Clive Nates: "I'm proud of the progress the club has made.":https://t.co/fPeRjXzzvk#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps pic.twitter.com/d5ZHKz9nib
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