As much as we talk about the three purposes of marketing, (getting new customers, getting them to come back and getting them to spend more money each time they come back) it is always surprising to see new bowling centers spend inordinate amounts of time and money on planning soft openings, grand openings and public openings to insure that the facility kicks off in high fashion. Centers that have spent a great deal of money modernizing their facilities will, unfortunately, believe that they too must undertake similar activities and implement an expensive "re grand opening." Yet these new centers, and existing centers, will spend much less time on the one factor that makes all the difference; remarkable customer service.
The first visits to the new center, or to the modernized center, is usually a free ticket. New customers will come in because of their curiosity and because of the publicity the local media, who has been covering the progress of the center, has given the facility.
It is the second visit that is the real test.
What message or what impression has been made upon the new customer after his first visit? Is it a “wow, what an experience?” Is it “nice place, good time, but a bit pricey?” Or have they said “nice place, real modern, but the service was pretty bad. I’ll go back IF they straighten it out."
Moral of the story: If you concentrate on training everyone in the facility on HOW to “make happy memories” and if you consistently do that from day one, then the second visit can be a free ticket too.
What did you or your staff do to make a happy memory for just one of your customers today?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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