Customer Relationships
Build stronger customer and fan relationships — and turn them into purchases, memberships and repeat business.
Grow revenue through stronger customer relationships.
Strategic advisory for sport organisations and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.
I help you build the relationships, offers and experiences that turn interest into purchases, memberships and repeat business — from a clear plan to support through implementation.
Free 30-minute introductory conversation.
What needs to work better?
Three ways I can help. Choose the area you want to improve.
AI Discovery
Understand and improve how your brand and products are found and represented in AI search.
AI Workflows
Make recurring tasks simpler and more efficient with AI workflows built around your team’s work.
Where should your customer relationships create more value?
Sport: turn fan interest into purchases and memberships.
Give fans a reason to register, buy, join and return. I help teams, leagues and federations connect the fan experience with relevant offers, direct contact and a clear path to purchase or renewal.
D2C brands: give customers a reason to buy again.
Connect customer insight, useful communication and relevant offers. We examine what happens before and after a purchase, where the relationship ends too soon and what would make returning worthwhile.
Explore the approach for D2C brands
From the problem to a practical plan.
Find the opportunity.
Review the customer journey, offers and available evidence. You get a clear view of the main gaps, opportunities and questions that still need answers.
Decide what comes first.
Choose the changes that matter for your business and customers. You get a prioritised plan with responsibilities and measures of progress.
Put the plan into practice.
I support your team and delivery partners with briefs, decisions and implementation reviews. We agree who delivers, approves and runs the work.
Experience with responsibility for delivery.
Brand & Story is the advisory practice of Ralph Scherzer. You work directly with me.
As Communications Director and Board Member at BORA-hansgrohe, I worked across storytelling, digital development and D2C commerce. As Digital Product Director at the Saudi Pro League, I was responsible for a new web, app and fantasy ecosystem.
That experience connects commercial priorities with the customer experience and the people responsible for delivery.
The method behind stronger relationships.
People need a reason to connect, a reason to return and an offer worth paying for. Engagement helps build the relationship; revenue depends on a relevant offer and a purchase people choose to make.
The Fan Relationship System is Brand & Story’s seven-part framework for examining how customer understanding, data, channels, engagement, revenue opportunities, partnerships and responsibilities work together. Developed in sport, it also guides the work with D2C brands. We use the parts your business needs.
Owned Fan Relationships
Explore the seven layers
Select a layer to explore its role.
Story + Platform + Value Creation.
The full Fan Relationship SystemIdentity
Know who your customers and fans are.
Create a useful reason to register or stay in contact, with the right permissions and a clear benefit for the person.
Identity LayerFirst-Party Data
Understand what matters to them.
Use relevant information from interactions and purchases to improve offers, communication and service.
First-Party DataPlatform
Make it easy to connect and buy.
Connect the channels and services people use, from your website and shop to membership or support. Start with what is already in place.
PlatformEngagement
Give people reasons to return.
Provide content, experiences and communication that are useful between purchases, events or membership renewals.
Content & EngagementMonetisation
Develop offers people want to pay for.
Match products, memberships or services to real needs, and examine the path to purchase, renewal or repeat business.
MonetizationSponsorship
Create relevant opportunities with partners.
Where partnerships are part of the business, develop offers and experiences that make sense for the audience and the partner. This layer is optional for D2C brands.
Sponsorship ActivationOperating Model
Make the relationship work across your team.
Agree who owns each decision, how teams and partners work together and how progress is reviewed.
Explore Agentic Workflow Implementation ↗
Operating ModelChoose a layer to explore its contribution. The illustration explains the model; it does not show measured customer data.
Questions before we talk.
Do we need new technology?
We start with your customer experience and existing systems. A better offer, clearer communication or a different way of working may be the first priority. Technology follows a defined need.
How will we judge progress?
We agree measures around your goal and available data: purchases, membership uptake, renewals or customer value over a defined period. Costs and margins matter alongside revenue.
What happens after the first conversation?
We decide whether there is a useful fit. The next step may be an assessment, a workshop or advisory support. Scope, deliverables and fees are agreed before paid work begins.
What would you like to improve?
Tell me where you want to make progress. We will discuss your situation, the result you need and whether I can help.
Free introductory conversation · No commitment to a project