One of the biggest customer-service issues that we face annually is the USAT Rankings. We get more calls on this subject alone than with any other single issue. Some members feel they were ranked too high, some feel that they are too low, some are upset that they are not ranked at all, and some just can’t figure out or don’t like our formula. Our customer service team says that these calls can take a few seconds to clarify or more than an hour.   

The point here is that the rankings are a big deal. So USAT went out on a limb this year by making a bold announcement. We decided that the rankings would, like everything else these days, be primarily found on our website. That’s perfectly fine for most people.   

We also stated that the rankings would no longer be available in print through Triathlon Life. Instead, USAT will celebrate the best of our members’ achievements by printing only the All-America Teams in the magazine.   

At the same time, we decided that USAT would offer a special commemorative Yearbook offering a compendium of the best of multisport from 2007. In that issue, we would also include the rankings. The catch, however, was that we would have to charge for this issue and it would cost just under $11, including shipping charges. 

While I have not been besieged by complaints about this decision to launch a yearbook, I have had a few critical e-mails questioning why they now have to buy the magazine that contains their 2007 Rank. Granted that rank can be found on-line, but the change in our printing status has raised a few eyebrows.

Let me explain as I did with the few folks that did write their displeasure to me. The issue came down to best managing our significant growth over the past three years. In 2007, USAT had 40,000 athletes ranked. That added over $50,000 to our publishing budget to print the final rankings. Given that less then 50 percent of our membership is ranked, it simply did not make sense to continue that program.   

Yes, a significant benefit of membership is the national rankings. Given today’s electronic environment, having access to the rankings online is an appropriate forum. Perhaps USAT could develop an online highlight feature that would allow a member to drop their ranking onto a page creative that they can then print and save or frame. 

Look at it from another perspective. For the $39 annual fee, a USAT member receives a significant value for their investment. In order for this organization to continue to deliver uniform benefits to all of our members, we have to make tough decisions each year. This was one and quite frankly, if the yearbook idea does not work, then we will simply continue to offer the full rankings as an online program only. 

In the end, organizations often make change decisions that impact its constituency. This is one and hopefully the end result will be a plus for all sides and we can re-energize our efforts in other areas to best support our growing membership.

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