The Pistons started the '14-15 season winning only five of their first 28 games, but they "recovered and excited fans enough" to get them "shopping for team merchandise at the Palace of Auburn Hills," according to Bill Shea of CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS. The Pistons said that retail sales transactions "were up" 22% and merchandise revenue increased 13% over '13-14, but the team "declined to disclose the team’s retail sales revenue." This year’s "transaction growth rate slowed" from '13-14, when it was 70% over '12-13. Revenue growth from '12-13 to '13-14 was 15%. The Pistons said that an initiative "to improve customer service at the Palace played a role in the increased sales." The team last year "opted into the NBA's deal that allows teams to participate" in Disney's "customer service training initiative called 'Disney Elevate.'" Pistons Dir of Merchandising Terry Adam said that a Disney consultancy team "trained all staff at the Palace, beginning with executives and moving down to part-time game day employees, to improve customer service." He added that another strategy to "boost customer service and sales was using secret shoppers at the Palace this season." Adam said that the team also "instituted a $10 'item of the game' that was slow to catch on, but eventually did." The merchandise "was marketed in pre-game materials, on social media, and through in-game messages on the massive video scoreboard." The team has "made marketing and game-experience pushes to reverse season ticket sales and attendance declines" (CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS, 5/11 issue).
