Be Relevant

I guess it’s that time of the year; the end of the year which promises us the end of the “old” and the beginning of the “new.” These demarcations must be important otherwise we wouldn’t wish each other “Happy New Year” and say things like: “Best wishes for health happiness and prosperity in The New Year.”

In many respects, it is good to get the old year behind us. 2010 wasn’t very kind to us and we eagerly await 2011 with its aura of a “new start.”

But what will you be starting anew?

Will it be the same old league structures and open play programs or will it be something more inviting, exciting and fun?

Will it be the same old open play programs or will it be new programs that offer people a way to identify with programs that are relevant to them?

It has been said that “you are what you eat.” If that be the case, than I think “you are what you buy.”

Today, people want their buying habits to reflect their values, as indicated by the surging interest in farmers markets and local clothing designers. Wouldn’t it stand to reason than that bowling, at retail, needs to reflect people’s values too?

What are some of those values?

As reported by a recent consumer study, people want to be viewed as:
• Savvy shoppers who understand that getting good “quality” products and services are more important than getting a “quantity” of products.
• Contemporary Traditionalists who want their home, its furnishings and the accouterments that go with it to reflect their sense of style, taste and values.
• Individualists who want to be uniquely different, but not SO different that they are viewed as “weird or strange.”
• Successful people who are fulfilling their social, economic, family and spiritual needs.
• Optimistic about their future. (Recent consumer confidence studies have spiked in the past two months with more than 74% of respondents saying they are indeed optimistic about their future. This is up from 48% reported in November of 2009).

So maybe 2011 will be better than 2010.

But it is up to you to prove that your products are relevant to today’s view of how people see themselves. Or to create new products that achieve the same result.

In 2011; the mantra is “be relevant or go away.”

Uncertainty

We live in a world of uncertainty. There was a time we could count on a few things like: "if we worked hard, we would get that promotion,get more money, get a bigger house and car, put our kids through college and then stroll off into a happy retirement."

For many people, this American Dream has either passed them buy or has been shattered by the recent economic meltdown. This meltdown has also caused uncertainty; uncertainty about the future and for CEO's that uncertainty is translated into "the should I or shouldn't I hire more people question"

Today, workplace uncertainty seems to be "going on forever." American businesses are still skittish about permanent jobs. So they hire temporary workers.

According to the US Labor Department, temporary workers accounted for 307,000 jobs out of the 1.17 million private sector jobs that were added in the past year. For the more than 15 million people who are still out of work, temporary jobs offer less benefits, have no job security and makes it harder for them to save. But yet, temporary jobs are their window; their chance at permanency and represent a glimmer of hope in a still very bleak employment picture.

For you, the bowling proprietor, this could be your chance to draw upon the excess "talent" that is out there; to raise the bar on the kind of people you can hire who will be more than willing to serve your customers the right way.

Who knows? Perhaps their temporary status at your center will become more permanent and with it you will get a better and more grateful employee who still believes the American Dream can come true!

And wouldn't that be nice.

Feed The Dog

Your advertising results are inextricably linked to the message.

Two advertisers invest the same amount of money reaching the same target audience. One succeeds brilliantly and buys the mansion on the hilltop. The other fails miserably, receiving no response whatsoever. The difference between these two was in the message of their ads.

Ads that speak to the heart of the customer and touch a nerve are the ones that turn little companies into big companies. But few people know how to write such an ad. (We do and have been for years!) Most business owners approach advertising with the goal of merely getting their name out. But there is no evidence to suggest this will help you in the slightest.

A recent study by the Wharton School of business, University of Pennsylvania indicated that everything hinges on the message you attach to your name. Is your message predictable and, consequently, boring? Is it believable? Is it relevant to the perceived need of the reader/listener/viewer?

Tempt a dog with a bowl of rice, and he'll ignore you. Put a steak in the bowl, and you'll have his undivided attention. Your prospective customers are no different.

What have you been putting in their bowls?

The Social Couponing Phenomenon

The social media couponing phenomenon has hit and it has hit hard.

"Groupon.com", a subscription service is now in over 150 markets and has about 15 million subscribers. It is the big kahuna in this new revenue generating marketing machine. Their model is to ask retailers, like you, to cut your price by 50%. Groupon then takes 50% of that price.

For example, if you are selling an "all you can bowl program" for $10, Groupon will ask you to sell it for $5. Groupon will then keep $2.50 of that while you keep the other $2.50. Pretty steep discount, yes? The advantage of Groupon, however; is that the offer can be geo-targeted to your market area; so its a real rifle shot and not just a shotgun marketing blast.

Groupon also sets a "buy in" level. Once a specified number of Groupon members sign up for it, the deal THEN goes live and the Groupon subscribers are then charged for the offer whether they use it or not. Groupon also asks for a long period of acceptance so expiration dates are less flexible.

There are other players in the market too such as LivngDeal.com, Homerun.com, Buywithme.com and Giltcity.com. Be sure to check them out before you run to Groupon.

But, if you are going to use Groupon, offer a coupon for $10 worth of bowling for 2 or more people. Yes, you will only get $2.50, but at that price how much bowling and shoe rental can 2 people buy? Maybe 1 game each and maybe 2 pairs of shoes? At least you will have a chance for additional games (and additional food and beverage), provided that you you specify that the coupon is only valid for full price open play games and not for "specials."

Study this phenomenon. It will only grow in the future. Yet consolidations will happen. Groupon may be bought by Google. Several of the smaller social coupon companies will consolidate and some will go away. Other new models may appear as well, more suited to your needs.

One other point; many of these social couponing companies may not let you access the data of those people who subscribed to your offer. You may be on your own on this one so make that a goal of your program...to get the data!

And like other marketing tactics, make sure your goals are crystal clear. Do you want to tap into a new customer base? Do you want to get bargain hunters in to whom you can sell other "special" products or are you looking to get people to bring a friend or two) to the center.

Start with the goal, then the strategy and then the tactic.

Marketing never works any other way.

How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You?

If the goal of marketing is to create sales, then your marketing must create positive perceptions about your center. So really, what people say or think about your business or product offering is the chasm that must be bridged before any new sales can occur!

Try this exercise. Present your new idea or product to a group of people, maybe to your employees. Then, afterwards, speak to each employee individually . You will be amazed at what they heard. It will probably be different from what you said. Sometimes, very different.

Unfortunately, people don't listen well, especially to details. They hear what they want to hear. They interpret, what they heard, in a very different fashion from what you said. Just because they are "people" and that's how they are wired.

All too often a proprietor will send out ONE direct mail piece or use the newspaper for ONE advertisement. Or run ONE week of electronic media (Radio or TV) only to conclude that the program didn't work when in reality, it was the infrequency of message that brought the program to its knees.

When in doubt, speak to your audience as often as you can afford. Say it frequently and then say it again. More often than not, its the frequency of message, and NOT the product.

Moral of the story: You can never tell your prospect too often about your business, your product or your idea. Never.

There Is No Safety In Numbers

Recent reports around the industry are confirming what we all know, “open play is down and league starts this fall were off by more than 5%."

Proprietors all over the country are calling each other to find out "how the other guy” did and if his/her numbers are the same as ours.

Ok, so now you know that your numbers are equal to, slightly lower or slightly higher than the other guys. Does that make you feel safe?

It’s easy to take solace in the fact that there are other people worse off than us. I guess that’s why we slow down when we see a traffic accident; to feel better about ourselves and thank the universe it isn't us in that wreck (and to pray for the people who are in it).

But it may be a false sense of safety. Even though November and December numbers are showing some improvement, it is way too early to say that the business is “back to normal.”

I don’t think "normal” will ever return. Not in market that has been economically shell shocked; an unemployment level that is stuck at 9.7%; and the threat of looming inflation.

What to do?

• Double down on your best customers. Go after your best customers with special offers if they bring a friend bowling; provide them with food and beverage specials; develop offers for families ("Hey Moms and Dads, bowl at the same price as your kids”).

• Create more fun. Get that fun person to MC your cosmic bowling nights. Add fun prizes, trivia contest, dance contests, bring in a local band and split the door charge with them (charge $7 or so and give them $3.50). Have your staff dress up in funny hats on Saturdays and Sundays; hire a magician for the kids/families on weekends.

• Get your employees pumped up. You’re selling team building company parties, holiday parties to the corporate market, but what are you doing to keep your employees motivated during your peak season? Are you constantly preaching customer service??

• Get out of the building. You can’t make any money sitting on your *%^@*! Whether it’s you or your manager or your husband or your wife, somebody has to go out and do a sales blitz in your community. Sell short season 8 week leagues, team building events, adult child programs, and distribute lots of coupons offering $5 off, $10 off bowling (based on a purchase of $XX). Just do it.

• Advertise. Tell somebody you are out there; that you have an entertainment option for families, young adults, and kids. Cable TV is your best buy. Buy prime time; target 18 to 34 yr olds for weekday open play after 9pm or for cosmic bowling or females 25 to 44 for family programs.

• Social marketing. Learn it. Study it. Get good at it and use it to build relationships with your customers. Continue to build your data base and use it (don’t abuse it) to communicate the benefits your center offers.

There is no safety in numbers. The only real safety is between your ears and your ability to do 21st century marketing.

Third Eye Blind

Good marketing people know that the key to marketing success is having a product that people want to buy. No mystery here.

But great marketing people know that they need to CONSTANTLY either, improve upon their existing product by adding (or deleting) features to the product or finding a new market segment for the product. If you can do both, you are a mastermind marketer.

In our world we have two categories of products, “league play” and “open play”. (Some purists would say “tournament play” is a third category, but I include that in an “organized open play category on my DSR, daily sales report)

No doubt you have sepnt countlesshours and monies to improve your lineage and revenue in both of these categories You no doubt have devoted countless hours to develop open bowling “specials” andspecial pricing models

You have been working on these issues, it seems like, forever.

While short season bowling has been an important part of the marketing mix fro a long time, it is only within the last few years that many more proprietors can see how valuable this product is to attract open play bowlers to participate more frequently (more than their current level of 2 or 3 times annnual visits). And because of the lesser time commitment, it is far more appealing to the new bowler as well.

This new product category; a third eye so to speak, is a hybrid of league and open play. Very simply, it is short season bowling (8 weekly sessions or less qualifies for this category). Usually two games and typically for a period of less than 8 weeks.

Sometimes it is offered with a premium; other times with an optional premium. And still other times, no premium at all. It can be for kids only, adults and kids, or even adults. It is this latter category where I believe the greatest opportunity exists

The consumer appeal for this type of product is;
• No long commitment,
• No great bowlers to compete with
• Inexpensive total cost (6 to 8 weeks vs. 32 weeks) price relative to longer
season length and 2 game format gets me home earlier
• Get premiums
• Win fun weekly prizes
• No complicated “league rules”

USBC tells me that there are 1.7mm sanctioned league bowlers and this number is off over 6% this year. Wasn’t it just 3mm bowlers a minute ago?

Years ago, the league bowler penetration rate against all adults was almost 10%. Today, with 1.7mm USBC bowlers, less than 1% of all adults in this country over the age of 18 bowl in a sanctioned league. So clearly the appeal of the long season league bowling has dwindled…and dwindled.

Marketing this NEW product (8 week leagues or less) to a new generation of 18 to 34 years old customers is what the NEW league marketing strategy is about.

Let me know how you do with marketing this product.

Price Revisited

Few business owners realize the powerful leverage that lower prices can have on their profits. To get a feel for it, consider this hypothetical example.

You own a bowling center and you normally sell bowling at $3 per game and shoe rentals for $3.00 per pair. On a transaction of two games and shoe rentals, your revenue is $9.00 per game.

After calculating your fixed costs and variable costs, you estimate that your costs per game are about $1.00 per game and shoe rentals about $1.00 each. On this transaction, you make $6.00 for a 67 percent gross margin.

After keeping prices at this level for five years, you raise the price to $3.60 per game. That’s a 20 percent increase — not small. But it’s nothing compared to the effect on your profits. Say 200 people buy the $9 package each week. At $10.80, 20% less games are bowled. But even at 20% less, the business makes 3% more profits. Details:

Price Transactions Revenues Costs Profits
$9.00 200 $1,800 $600 $1,200
$10.80 160 $1,728 $480 $1,248

What happens when you cut prices? Say you drop it by $1 or 11 percent. At $8, you sell 20 percent more games. Revenues climb about 9% or $136. Costs per game stay the same, so total costs increase 25 percent. You make almost 3% less money for working harder. Details:

Price Transactions Revenues Costs Profits
$9.00 160 $1440 $480 $960
$8.00 192 $1536 $600 $936

When does cutting prices dramatically increase profits? The answer may surprise you. If you cut prices about 10 percent, you have to have 18 percent more transactions to make more money. At $8, you’d have to do 188 transactions to beat the $960 profit you got from 160 transactions at $9 each. Your extra profit comes to $1. Details:

Price Transactions Revenues Costs Profits
$9.00 160 $1440 $480 $960
$8.00 188 $1504 $543 $961

On the other hand, if you raise prices 25 percent you’d have to lose almost one out of three customers before it hurt profits at all. Details:

Price Transactions Revenues Costs Profits
9.00 160 $1440 $480 $960
$12.50 115 $1440 $690 $950

If you’re cutting prices without having a strategy to sell more ancillary products you’re going to need a lot more new customers than you might have suspected to avoid losing money. Just driving traffic in the hopes of selling more food and beverage is not a strategy.

But driving traffic with a clear goal to sell more food and beverage is a very viable strategy.

Need A New Idea?

Sure you need a new idea, but if I gave it to you what would you do with it? Would you say, "Just cant get to it", "Don't have enough time", Can't get my people to do it? Maybe.

And then when it doesn't happen or happens half a***d, would you say, "we tried it, it didn't work." But would you ask why it didn't work?

What didn't work? The idea? The effort? The communication? The timing? Doesn't matter. It's easier to blame the idea. Poor, pitiful idea. It gets no respect

Yet, there are more new ideas out here than ever before, more ways to get the customer to buy than ever. The Internet has more marketing information to stimulate your brain than you can possibly absorb. There ARE no shortage of ideas, but there are idea killers.

The biggest killer of the new idea is because "YOU don't like it." Or your spouse doesn't like it. OK, admit it. You didn't like it. It's OK...if you recognize that. Just make sure you ask a potential customer or ten if he or she likes it. Because that is really all that matters, isn't it?

The new idea, the great idea, the new product you have been looking for is THE CUSTOMER.

Be Different or Go Home

Bailouts, bankruptcy, foreclosures, unemployment.

The news just doesn't seem to get better. In fact, it seems that it is getting worse. But even among the dozens of proprietors we see each month, these are a few that are going against the trend and actually showing increases.

What are they doing that you may not be doing?

Here are some examples:

"I have had a salesman out in Fort Worth since July. Today we got Citi Insurance group with 70 women to bowl at 1PM and pizza and soda, they were whopping and hollering and having fun. Team building, they drank like fish from the bar. Tomorrow 70 more will come and 40 more Friday. Our holiday parties look great. Last weekend we had the best weekend since we purchased the center. We are working on live bands two nights a week at 10PM. First night we did $2400 in the bar. Also we started two leagues on the weekend. It is out there for the getting:-)"
J. Brooks, Texas

"Since we have started our Rewards Card Program, I have seen people coming in more. They like the idea of CASH BACK REWARDS. They also love it when we do drawings. I go out and get other businesses to donate prizes, like 30 day memberships to a gym, a free med. pizza.

This week end I invited a Chiropractic office in to do FREE 10 min. Chair massages. The customers loved it! I had people coming up to me and asking when the next drawing was going to be. They did not want to leave if the drawing was going to be soon. I gave FREE games of bowling away as prizes. In order to get the FREE games they had to have our Rewards Card and they had to activate it. We gave out lots of cards.

People will be back because they are going to want to use their FREE games! So, what's our new product? The customer is our new product. We reward them. Do fun things. Give them things for doing what we want. You want free games, sign up for a rewards card. You want to win that prize, stick around a little longer for your chance to win. (Three people I talked to stuck around for the drawing. Two out of the three went to the snack bar and spent around $20.00 each.)

We make them feel special by sending our top 100 customers an e-mail flier telling them how happy we are that they are our customer. Bring this flier in and we will load an extra $5.00 on your rewards card. These are some of the things we are doing and we are seeing results.
D. Nichols, KS

To make it in this competitive environment, you not only have to be better than ever, but you have to be overwhelmingly different enough to get the consumer to make a purchase decision.

So what are you doing to be overwhelmingly different?

Chutzpah

The word "chutzpah" (pronounced hootspah), in Yiddish, means gall, nerve, tenacity, and sometimes an often used word describing a man’s genitals.

However, the word is basically untranslatable without a story.

One day there was an old woman who was selling pretzels on the corner of 47th street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. A young man from an ad agency saw her and went over, put down a quarter and never took the pretzel. Everyday, he would pass her and put a quarter down, but never take the pretzel. They never spoke, but only exchanged glances. This went on for weeks, months and even years. Three years to be exact.

Then one day, the young man comes down from his office, walks over to the pretzel cart and puts down his quarter. Just as he was about to walk away, the woman turns to him and says, “We had a price increase, pretzels are now 35 cents."


Moral of the story: Don’t wait so long to increase your prices. :-)

What's Next?

As much as we talk about training employees, hiring employees and getting better employees, it seems that even with these changes, we improve our business, at best, in small increments. Sometimes you get lucky and you find a superstar or someone with the potential to be a superstar.

More frequently, you hire someone with more experience. someone who knows what to do NOW.

But what you really need is someone who knows what to do NEXT.

A new manager comes on board and after a few weeks impresses you because she developed and built a new short season league in a spot you have been struggling to fill. But what is she going to do next? What is her plan for these people after they finish their 8 to 10 week program?

"Rolling them over" is a strategy that we hear frequently and it can take on many faces, but the really good person, the person you need on your staff is the person who knows what to do next and knows what to do next when they are implementing the NOW program.

The continuity of business today requires a dynamically flowing process. Not one program and then another, but a strategy that builds upon each program and (customer) experience and has the next step process built into the initial implementation.

Think of it as playing pool. When you get the shot to sink the seven ball in the side pocket and it is a virtual "gimmee", the important part of the shot is not sinking the seven ball.

No, the important part of the shot is where the ball ends up (the position) after the shot so it can set up the next shot!

Who in your organization plays pool and knows what to do NEXT?

Taking It To The Streets

One of my clients sent me this:

“Henry Lewcyk had an interesting statistic at the conference when he was talking about marketing: 75% of all centers invest the bulk of their marketing budget for "in center promotional material". This translates to we are only willing to spend a few dollars copying fliers to hand out to people who come in anyway.

One other comment about the conference: Everyone was talking about how to take your open play bowlers and make them into league bowlers. The reality is most of them do not want to be in leagues and there is nothing wrong with that.

As an industry we ought to spend more time talking about those people who come in a 2X a year and spend a $100 or so.

We need to focus on getting them back 4-5X a year instead of two. That would be a lot more likely than trying to make them into league bowlers”.

Henry is generous. More like 95% of the centers invest in “inside marketing” (i.e. fliers, posters, more fliers, and more posters). Now centers are emailing; do you think it’s a replacement for direct mail?

Getting people to come into the center more frequently is less about communicating the product you have than it is about developing a new product.
• 5 to 6 week fun bowl sessions for busy young professionals at a premium price that involves a charity they can relate to (AIDS, Breast Cancer, Kids Charities, etc)
• 3 to 4 corporate parties scheduled annually as a team building event
• 4 pack of fun: bowl 4 times and get the 5th time free 9 especially good for packaged programs like Pizza Pins N Pop. No you’re not giving it away, you’re getting people to come back two or three more times than normal

Maybe it’s time to take your marketing to the streets because THIS is the new normal.

Getting To The Change

I received a lot of feedback on my blogs about advertising campaigns, and new technology and wanted you to know of them. Here are a few.

Comments ranged from:

“You’re the lone voice in the darkness crying out for what we all want to say about new products,” (thank you, but…) to "we need a real hero, a Michael Jordan or even a “Tiger Woods (well, maybe not THE Tiger!) to “small center or big center, this industry cannot afford NOT to do something. Our products are old and tired and I modernized 3 years ago!” (“but what?”, say the masses).

One industry pundit indicated, and I agreed, that “certain companies have been more giving to the industry than others, but it seems that proprietors are not willing to reward these “involved” companies for their good work and ‘contributions’ but rather will only reward those with “cheaper prices.”

Sad, but true.

And finally, one industry veteran said, "Aw c'mon Fred. This is a pipe dream. We aren't going to do anything new and besides are you serious about getting proprietors to even partially fund an industry marketing campaign? But keep dreaming, maybe something will happen."

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get some great new game changing products and then really have something to say?

Yeah, it would be very cool indeed!

So what kinds of new products have you been dreaming about? Let me know.

Maybe we can build it together.

Where have You Gone, Joe Bowler?

"Where have you gone Joe Bowler? A nation holds its lonely eyes to you." With respects to Simon and Garfunkel, you must be wondering what happened to Joe Bowler. He was just here; bowling in a few leagues; coming in Saturday with his kids and bowling with Mom on Saturday night.

But now he is gone. Its because of lifestyles we are told. Or it's because of more competition, Or even the weather.

But lets look at competition. TV was supposed to kill the movies. Home videos were supposed to kill TV and the movies. The CD was supposed to kill videos, movies and TV (it succeeded only in killing the video tape). The Internet was supposed to kill all forms of "mass media". Sports on TV have bigger audiences than ever as do the top 10 most popular shows. The I-pod was supposed to kill radio; radio listening is up for the first time in three years.

Now "video on demand" is supposed to kill Netflix; Netflix grew 11% last year. The Kindle was supposed to kill bookstores. Hasn't happened. Go to a Borders or a Barnes & Noble this Christmas shopping season and note how many people have lined up to buy books. In fact go there any time!

I think our competition is just apathy. Apathy on the part of manufacturers who have not given us technologically exciting, break through products in years to attract new customers and retain existing customers. NO, I am sorry, big screen masking units, new graphics for automatic scorers and a few other "cutesy" products do not a "game changer" make.

Pinsetters, scorers, lights n music and bumpers and maybe synthetic lanes. They are game changers...but that's over 50 years. Five game changer products in 50 years does not bode well for the health of your companies or for our centers.

But bowling proprietors haven't been innocent either. Apathy runs deep. We have not demanded these technologically cool products. To counter this argument, manufacturers will tell you that proprietors don't want to pay for new products. OK, its a draw. Now what?

The only fact that make sense is for us to realize that our customers are leaving because there is NOTHING NEW. For those who hold to the sanctity of the game (and I am one as well) who say. "bowling should stand by itself. Its a great game," you are absolutely right.

But the new customer doesn't share that feeling. Speak to some "twenty somethings" and ask them why they don't bowl any more on Friday or Saturday nights.

If the answer that you don't want to hear is: "your product is not exciting", then sit back on your apathy and wave good bye to Joe Bowler.

Or you can DEMAND CHANGES from those who can deliver.

C'mon Mr. Brunswick, Ms. AMF, Mr. US Bowling, Ms. Switch, Mr. Murray and any body else who can think and deliver a "game changer" product for 67 million unexcited participants. We need it NOW!

The Novice and The Bowling Center

We frequently complain about the inability of our staff to execute programs. Client after client, at one time or another, have told me: "I just have to get my people to execute" or "I have to get them to focus on asking customers to buy XYZ"... and so on.

But the real problem occurs when you hire someone who is a "novice" and expect that novice to make "intuitive” decisions." A "novice" needs a manual. He needs to be told what to do with no decision-making possible.

Before she can get to be an intuitive decision maker, the employee has to move through the stages of becoming an "advanced beginner", where she has more freedom, yet still unable to make the best decisions at a level of "competency",where she can make plans, create routines and choose what activities are more important than others to concentrate her time resources.

By advancing up two levels, you would hope that the employee welcomes the freedom you have given her, becomes "proficient" and understands exactly what is expected of her, simply because YOU expect more of her.

And finally, the employee reaches a level of "expert" and begins writing manuals, training modules, making new rules and offering suggestions on how to get the job done better and more efficiently.

Have you examined where your employees are in the spectrum of this "skill acquisition model?"

Just because your "novices" have been there a while doesn’t mean that they understand how to be "proficient" or how to make good quality decisions. After all, what have YOU done consistently to help them become "proficient?"

If you have never given them any decision making opportunities, why should you expect them to know how to "make a decision" and become an intuitive decision maker?

"Novices" are OK to spray shoes and give out lane assignments, but they are not OK to help you grow your business.

Do you have too many "novices?" If you keep hiring “novices” and never train them, grow them, challenge them or test them to undertake a decision making job, failure may be your only option.

A Spark Continued

It seems that my blog about a Superbowl ad has stirred a little emotion out there. here's what several proprietors have said about it. I am publishing these without identifying the proprietors.

So here you go:
"This is a very good article and it is about time that ALL proprietors FACE THE TRUE FACT that our industry is dying ! ! We can make all the excuses we want to, but where will our new league bowlers come from when the current ones die or become tired of our 33-35 week demands? Our new bowlers and even the old ones don't even have beer frames..They don't need to eat at our centers when they can catch a quick meal at a fast food place on the way to our centers. Hardly any bowlers stay around and pot bowl or have a few drinks after bowling, they head home. Our game rooms are a thing of the past, every kid has more games on his cell phone than we have. Our league bowlers used to use their bowling night as the night out with the wife...No more, now we have and have had for awhile their daughters playing athletic events during the week and that’s where most good parents are with their children not in our centers for our mixed leagues..Once they leave us they find out they don't need us, watching their children or even their grandchildren is less expensive and more personally rewarding. We need HELP and quick! A Super Bowl ad should be on BPAA's table and a NATIONAL campaign to follow. I hope it is not too late to save some of us Proprietors..Thanks Fred for telling it like is for the most of us proprietors that are willing to really see that or industry, that we all love, is in REAL TROUBLE...."


"FRED:

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS:

WHILE GOING ABOUT THE DAY TO DAY BUSINESS OF MARKETING A BOWLING CENTER I HAVE FOUND THAT OUR VENDORS SOMETIMES ARE THE BIGGEST OFFENDERS TO CUSTOMER SERVICE. REMEMBER THE IBM COMMERCIAL WHERE THE BOARD PRESIDENT STANDS UP AND SAYS THAT MAYBE WE SHOULD SEE OUR CUSTOMER FACE TO FACE INSTEAD OF A PHONE CALL?

IN A RECENT DEALING WITH A VENDOR. I WAS TRYING TO GET THE BEST PACKAGE THAT HE OFFERED, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THE BASIC $269.00 PER MONTH FOREVER PLAN. I WAS TRYING TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITH HIM, BUT IT SEEMS THAT HE WAS TOO BUSY WITH THE NEW RESTAURANT COUPON PROMOTION TO EVEN E-MAIL ME OR SEND TO ME THE UPGRADED PLAN,

I GOT TO THINKING THAT IS THIS THE WAY OUR REGULARS (LEAGUE BOWLERS) SEE US? AS NON RESPONSIVE TO THEIR NEEDS. MAYBE IF WE SPENT MORE TIME SEEING WHAT THEY WANT AND LESS TIME CHASING OUR TAIL WE MIGHT FIND GOLD RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES."

There Seems To Be A Spark Out There

It was just a few weeks ago when we talked about a SuperBowl commercial for the bowling industry. I was then being very cavalier about the strategy, given its enormous expense, but it seems I struck a nerve.

At convention after convention this season, many proprietors commented to me that advertising on the SuperBowl was in fact a DAMN good idea and I should pursue it. Not only pursue it, but take it on and write to the powers that be.

Other proprietors emailed me and said it was “high time” we did something to stand out. Still others thought the industry should move forward with a national advertising campaign.

Yes, we should do all of these things and subsidize local markets, create beautiful commercials, develop email templates, produce radio spots, produce direct mail, postcard copy and art, but I don’t think its on the BPAA table. I may be wrong, and I hope I am, because we need a jump start.

Here’s why. One very good NJ proprietor recently wrote to me that the “industry is dying” and we just don’t know it. As vehemently as I wanted to disagree with him, he made some valid points such as:

1.“50% of our business (the league bowler) is getting older and we are not able to replace him or her. So attrition will eventually win. The other 50%, Open Play, is affected by a host of internal and external issues. Right now the lack of money in the consumers’ pocket is the number #1 problem combined with the need for a deal in each transaction creates a monumental problem.

2.The Bowling business has always been a function of “Volume multiplied by Price”. Right now we have neither and the horizon for that to change is not good as the consumer has learned to live with less and spend less. Unfortunately being an entertainment venue, we are the first thing that goes in the tough times. This may be the new economy with the consumer having less money in his pocket. I don't see it getting materially better in the near future.

3.Food and beverage and ancillary income, which was a constant pipeline, has slowed to a trickle. Unfortunately the recession has put a big damper on this revenue stream. The customer has figured out, as in the movies, they can bring it in or do without. Trickle, trickle.

Well if our existing customers are not buying our product with the frequency they once did, maybe that SuperBowl spot is just the thing to kick off a national campaign followed by a strong grassroots marketing program.

What do you think, Mr/Ms. BPAA, can we at least examine it?

Got 'Em Looking

"Got 'em looking." Derek Jeter just struck out in game #2 of the ALCS. How often do we get struck out just looking; waiting for that perfect pitch; for that magic bullet of a promotion that will make our open play soar or make our new league offer a success?

Too frequently.

Why are there no proprietor groups doing joint marketing? Why is there no industry marketing fund to subsidize proprietor initiatives? It seems to me that in these times, more cooperation (not less) is needed. Oh sure, the Cincinnati group does their radio have a ball program in January and has done so for years. And I understand the California proprietors have a new advertising initiative in place.

But what about everyone else?

When do we realize that the old rule of investing 3% (or less) in marketing/advertising/promotion/direct mail/internet marketing is woefully inadequate and that more dollars not less are needed in a MORE competitive entertainment environment?

Sure its expensive. Sure it hurts to write the check. But it will hurt a lot less now then having to write a check later out of YOUR PERSONAL checking account to cover your summer!

How long are we going to "go out looking?"

How to Become A #1 Best Seller

What makes a #1 Best Seller?

Provocative subject matter?
Critical reviews?
Superb packaging?
Great distribution?
Slam dunk marketing?
And a million other things, right?

What makes any business a #1 Best Seller?

I think it is getting your existing customers to tell their friends
what a great experience they had at your center.

But that's only part of the plan.
You have to provide these folks with a creative and compelling reason to come back and invite their friends to join them.

Referral + Action = KCHNG KCHNG KCHNG!

Coyote Ugly

Most of you know what Coyote Ugly is, but for those who do not, it refers to a member of the male gender commenting how he would rather chew his arm off than wake last night's beautiful woman. Of course, this is equally true for the female member of the species as well.

With that being said, how many of us are figuratively chewing our arm off with ugly fliers, poor websites, boring emails and equally dull direct mail? Taste is hard to quantify, but my Dad, who was in the shoe business and a "fashonista" in his own right often muttered about, "all the people who got dressed in the morning without the benefit of a mirror." He was even more surprised when he saw a garment that was totally inappropriate (in his mind) for a particular person. His comment was, "there's no accounting for taste."

More and more I watch customers just walk past fliers in bowling centers. They should. Because the fliers they are not buying are just plain ugly, confusing and do nothing to say, "Wait!, Stop! Look at me. I have something you want!"

Guess what our customers are saying? I DON'T WANT WHAT YOU ARE OFFERING BECAUSE IT IS UGLY, TASTELESS AND UNAPPEALING...and that's before they even read it!!

Please do your fliers in 4 colors and get them produced by a professional graphic artist. You can find them in colleges, grad schools or free lancing from their underpaid newspaper or magazine job. Make a statement. Show your customers that you are proud of the product you are offering and that's why you are spending a few dollars more (because in the overall scheme of things, it is only a FEW dollars more).

If you think they are not paying attention, you are mistaken. In fact, they may have already judged you and your business "coyote ugly."

Here's how to make a better flier 101:
1. Put a benefit in the headline. Its not about your center name. Keep it out of the
headline
2. Make a clear offer
3. Give the prospect a time limit to buy
4. Create a sense of urgency by setting a time limit to buy
5. Guarantee fun or get your money back (you'll be surprised that less than 1% of the people will ever take you up on this
6. Spell out the action you want them to take
7. Put your name, address, website and phone number on the BOTTOM of the flier

And you'll never be "Coyote Ugly" again,

That Sippery Slope

I was wandering around the Internet looking for some information about the NY Giant vs. Chicago Bears game this Sunday when I saw a sidebar that said, “Check out your IQ. Tony Romo has 143. Are you smarter than Tony?”

Not being a Cowboy fan and wanting to test this fact, I clicked on the icon to take the test. I got all the way through the 10 questions and was then asked to fill in my cell number, so they will send me my score.

But before they would send it to me they had to send me a pin number on my cell phone. When I received my pin number, I entered it in the box and guess what came up? It was an offer for a text messaging service that I would be RECEIVING…and it would only cost me $19.95 per month

Now if I had not read the terms and conditions, I would have agreed to a $19.95 fee for at least six months. And would have felt that i got ripped off, not a feeling that anyone likes.

Now you see why it is so hard to get people to open your email.

It’s because of shady marketers like this that the rest of us suffer. It’s because the element of trust between the seller (us) and our customers (them) has been so damaged that we can’t even get 85% of our customers, (Our Customers!!) to open our emails.

If you don’t continue to build the element of trust into your relationship with your customers you will begin, at least in the customer’s mind, to migrate more towards the type of marketer described above.

Build the trust first. Sell second.

That slippery slope just got a little slippier.

Hit The Demand Button

When I first began studying marketing, I was taught about the importance of satisfying consumer needs. But in reality, all consumers REALLY need is food, clothing, shelter and maybe a little sexual appreciation (so to speak). These basic physiological needs, once satisfied, would then lead our human species to satisfy more psychological needs such as self actualization, self esteem, achievement, etc. etc. etc.

As the years rolled on, I realized that satisfying needs wasn't quite as important as recognizing what people "demanded."

Well, think about it.

People need to lose weight, but they demand a Big Mac. People need to get exercise, but they demand a 72" 3-D LED TV to sit in front of and veg out. People want to have fun, but they demand something "different that they know for a long time."

And that's why they like bowling. They already KNOW what bowling is. They even think they know how to bowl. They have done it since the first bowling birthday party they attended. They did it, as a teenager, on a date; or as part of a group who conducted a fundraiser; or as a company employee who attended a holiday bowling party or team building event and THEY LIKED IT...but not enough to keep doing it.

Why is that? Was it because it wasn't different enough each week? Or it was not challenging enough? Or it was it too challenging?

Whatever the need or the reason, does it really matter?

What matters is finding the "demand button" and pushing it hard. Here's the button I haven't seen many proprietors hit in a long time.

This button is the demand for "belonging" to a group, or to "be part of something."

What compelling offer can you develop that hits these demand buttons?

Now do the Fred thing: Develop. Implement on a small scale. Measure. Modify. Repeat.

The New Normal - Part Two

I think this recession is going to last a while.

Even though productivity per worker has increased, we have less workers. The middle class worker who produced regular 'boring" stuff is now finding that stuff mechanized, out sourced or limited to the lowest cost producer. And its hard to differentiate paper clips, toothpicks and other boring stuff and sell it at higher prices.

So good bye to the middle class worker of "boring stuff" In fact, since this recession started, we have lost 8,000,000 jobs. And we are seeing a net replacement of just about 80,000. Do the math. It will take us 100 months or 8 1/3rd years to get back to where we were. Think it can't happen. It happened in Japan. They lost a whole decade

Stimulus, protectionism, spending cuts, tax incentives, etc is NOT going to fix this problem. But you can if you view this as an opportunity to be faster, better, smarter, and OFFER A GREAT ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE.

Because if it is not great and I can live without you or get it less expensive somewhere else, guess what happens to you. "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie!"

Do something different than cutting prices... a couple of ideas

1. Train your employees to deliver great service. Yeah, yeah you may think you do this, but do you do it with every new employee; or every month; and do you make this a VALUE that your center must ALWAYS uphold?
   
2. Make sure your center is clean, clean and clean. Outside where the cigarette butts are; lights that are out in the parking lot, or corners in the bathrooms that haven't been cleaned for years.
   
3. Build relationships with your customers via facebook, emails etc that prove to them that you are concerned. "Here's some suggestions about kids Halloween safety, health tips, where to get flu shots, spending for vacations and fun. And oh yes, add some coupons for "family entertainment savings"
4. Ask your league bowlers for company party referrals and reward them
5. Go visit the businesses in town YOURSELF, build relationships with them and invite them in for free parties ( on those nights where you are trying to fill holes or build open play)

So stop trying to treat this recession like the others.
Because it is not.

It is the NEW Normal.
Part Two

The New Normal - Part One

How many people watch television and listen to classical music from their television?.

That's how "niched" we have become. Sometimes there are less than 100 people who comprise a unique segment." Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it is no different than mass marketers trying to be individual marketers.

No different than when a marketer tries to be all things to all people with the same product. That's why Glow Bowl, COSMIC BOWL (and all the other "doo hickey" names for music, lights and bowling) is a unique product that appeals to a highly defined segment that we have the ability to market this weekend night product.

If people like it, why has no one extended the product? It's basic marketing 101. Not brain surgery. Some people have gone to BIG SCREENS inside the center and over the lanes with some amazing results.

But what else can we do to that product? Create 3D Bowling!! Major consumer product manufacturers and retailers are marketing this product. We can get in on the ground swell! Maybe there is even a tie in promotional opportunity for us!!


Do It Now. Buy The 3-D Screens; Integrate then Communicate.

Budget and Fund the communication about this great new product. Allocate at least 8% of your purchase price for advertising, social networking, PR and street marketing.

Other products like BINGO BOWL have an amazing appeal to seniors in Mid Western, and Western cities and towns. Casino bowl on the East coast uses the appeals of Atlantic City or Foxwood's, (works every where except at centers in South Jersey, Philadelphia or any place within 50 miles of either Foxwood's or Atlantic City.)

The segments get smaller; the niches get more defined and pretty soon we are marketing to just individuals. Thankfully, social media allows us to market to a segment as small as "one."

This is how specific it gets. This is the new challenge. This is the new normal.
Part one.

7 Ways To Get The Toothpaste Back In The Tube

I heard a P&G Senior Product Manager once say, "Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to get it back." What he was referring to was the fact that once customers left one of his brands and went to a competitive brand, it was hard to bring them back to the brand. Real hard.

In thinking about our league bowlers who didn't come back this year, we can go through a litany of "things we might try." Here are a few ideas, in no particular order.

1. Invite them into the center for an open house and let them bowl for free
2. Send them a couple of free game passes and hope they will come in ...one of these days.
3. Create a new league called, "The C'mon Backs." Offer them lower prices, specials on food and drink and belly dancers.
4. Put them all on your email list and bury them in an email blast at least once a week.
5. Develop a learn to bowl better program for the lower average bowlers and invite them back to improve their skills. Maybe even for free!
6. Create an adult child program with these dropouts and get them to bowl on the weekends with their children.
7. Build a newsletter just for dropouts and build relationships with them over the next year; create special offers, contests, chances to get bowling equipment and to come in and bowl for free.
8. Forget about them and move on to newer targets.

I have tried all of these strategies at one point or another (well,maybe not the belly dancers) in my career with varying success. If you want to find out which one might work for your center, why not send a questionnaire to your dropouts and ask them to fill it out.

Ask them to rank these ideas; rephrase the 8th one, however! Or call 50 of them, your self, and ask them. Nothing like getting it first hand from the horse's mouth; that way you will be dealing with facts. (There's an idea.)

Or you could just try one and see how it goes. Less scientific of course, but at least you will be doing something.

Or you could just look for another tube of toothpaste.

Why bother?

Most retailers want to believe that if they reduce price and advertise the reduced price,customers will flock to their doors. After all the product is on "sale" and consumers respond, almost in a Pavlovian manner, by taking out their wallets.

Or do they?

In the mattress industry, furniture industry and appliance industry, there almost always seems to be a sale going on. So it goes for cars, clothes, shoes, pillows and bed linen, towels, toiletries, groceries, health clubs, spa treatments, telephone calling plans, computers and peripheral equipment, televisions and stereos, fast food restaurants. The list goes on and on.

Its probably harder to find a consumer industry that isn't on sale lately. But very few do it like the bowling industry. We put our product on sale and only tell the customers who were going to come there anyway.

Some of us tell them by placing a flier on the main customer service area desk. Sometimes we will even make an announcement. Others send out an email, like its direct mail. And still others don't even have a flier; they just tell their employees and hope their employees remember and tell the customer.

Its harsh to say this. I know, but why bother having a sale and not telling any one?

Yes, I know its expensive to advertise. But what if instead of cutting your price and giving up that revenue, you spent that money and invested it in media. Sure Internet stuff is important. Its contemporary. It's inexpensive. It's a dream...yet less than 15% of your customers even bother to open your email. That means 6 out of 7 people don't even want to look at what you are sending them. Don't take it personally. How many times have YOU said, "I get so many %#%E#^^ emails, i just trash 'em!!!!

GUESS WHAT? SO DOES YOUR CUSTOMER.

So don't go betting the farm on just ONE medium. Layer your approach. Test various campaigns. Test various offers. Work on it till you get it. Be obsessed.

And if you need professional help, give me a buzz. Its what I do...help proprietors to build revenue.

Just "don't do nuthin!"...please.

Better Questions

It's time we started asking better questions. We have been measuring our business by the same metrics and segmenting our customers by traditional methodologies based on such variables as league play vs open play, frequency of use over the course of a year, age, income, zip code etc.

But we missed something here. Who are these customers? Who are they as people? Not by segmentation definition: age; income; household size, home value; number of children in the household. No, none of that stuff.

Is past performance still valid as a prognosticator of the future? Are the benchmarks we have been using appropriate.

I think the real test of the health of our business is the number of people that come back and spend money with us after two times. Last time I looked, that was about the median number of times the typical open play bowler came to our center in a YEAR.

And while we all have the omnipresent "price special" even these great summer offers have failed to prevent the atrocious open play summer we experienced in North America this year. Why, even with price specials like 25 cent bowling, $1 bowling and FREE bowling, was open play off?

Why? Because consumers did not have enough money? They still went to the movies and to baseball games (both minor league and major league) and vacation travel was even up a bit. But not bowling.

It sure as heck wasn't price. We gave them that. It sure wasn't because they had to wait! We had enough extra lanes open to build a new Giants Stadium!!

Here it is: we just aren't cool any more. There's no media build up of "cosmic bowling", that's already old. There's no Hollywood stars or professional (non bowling) athletes going bowling or viewed going bowling. They're at baseball games, basketball games, US Open, Olympics, Formula One races, Golf, etc. But there are no shots of them going bowling. And if these shots exist why doesn't someone share it with local proprietors.

So here's my solution. Take whatever you can Mr. BPAA and buy a Superbowl spot this year. (Heck, take what you spent on Bowlopolis.) You bought it for Master Lock and it put them on the map. How about doing the same thing for bowling?

The residual effect from the advertising promotion world would carry us for months. The spot would be played and replayed in front of millions of people. It would have to be an edgy spot.

Some of the industry "fuddy duddies" would have to get out of the way. No crash of pins, no kid throwing a ball, no hugging Grandpa and going YAY.

And after the Superbowl, we would be cool...and our centers would be busier.

Which One Are You?

Some of the greatest mistakes entrepreneurs make is in their follow-up efforts with their customers and prospects. You see, most small business owners fit into one of two categories.

1. Those that don't follow up often enough. (99 percent of small business owners don't follow up at all.) When your follow-up is inconsistent and infrequent, you're simply wasting your time and marketing dollars. Your contacts won't remember who you are...and those that do will simply regard you as "the occasional pest."

2. Those that follow up too often. When you send too many messages to your contacts, you are going to be viewed as a mass marketer. In fact, a recent email study shows that 65% of men and 56% of women define spam as "email from a company that I have done business with that comes too often."

So how do you determine the best pace at which to follow up with your clients? Well that's the tricky part. Each group of prospects and customers is going to react to your follow-up differently. So ultimately, you are going to have to "test" your group. But here are some key, follow-up principles to keep in mind:

Follow-up must be consistent.

Send frequent enough messages to keep your name fresh in your contacts' minds.

Send valuable and educational materials as well as your marketing message. What if you sent "Halloween Safety Tips for Kids along with your marketing message and/or coupon for a kids Halloween party? Wouldn't Moms appreciate that and be more likely to trust you? You betcha!!

Your messages, therefore, should be building a relationship with your contacts.

Be personal, be real and a little entertaining.
By following these principles, I have no doubt you will find the follow-up pace that is perfect for you, your customers, and your prospects!

So which one do you want to be?

Overlooked Markets

1 out of 4 children registered for kindergarten this year are Hispanic. 1 out of 7 are African American. Only 53% are Caucasian. This is down from 59%, from just two years ago. One out of 6 are Asian Americans. American demography is changing. And it is not just in Arizona, California, Texas or Florida. It is nation wide. Clients in Iowa and Washington state tell me that their towns and cities have a lot more Mexican people than ever. I'm not here to debate the politics of this or to cast judgment. It is what it is.

And yet when I ASK these clients how they have adapted their marketing efforts to accommodate these new segments, more often than not I get the "deer in the headlights" look. Uh oh, I know what that means. Simply stated, they have done nothing. They are still marketing to a vision that their customers are all "Leave it to Beaver Caucasian families with 2 children and a stay at home Mom! Or worse I get, "those folks don't bowl."

Duh. Of course not!!

You probably have not made a serious attempt to get their business or to tap into their culture. So why should they bowl? They don't even know who you are or what you offer.

So here are a couple of tips to market to these NEW segments:

1. Visit or attend business meetings within their communities. Do your research and find out more about them. For examples, Hispanic people are VERY family oriented. Appeals to the family for a bowling event will resonate stronger than will a date night option. Birthday parties for children as well as teen parties also have a high appeal.

2. Make sure that you communicate in their language. Not speaking to them in their language is a sign that you don't care.

3. Visit their churches and stores. These are "touch points" where people meet and mingle and exchange the "daily gossip" going on in their communities

4. Look at your food menus. Are you offering foods that are familiar to their palate or are you still trying to force your own style food down their throats?

5. Church fund raisers and organizations/clubs are very high priorities in this community. Are you tapped into these groups?

6. Communicate in their newspapers, radio stations and TV programming. You can't get eyeballs and ears by not being where they are most likely to be

7 And the last tip of the day is the sign on your front door that says "Habla Espanol Aqui." (We speak Spanish here).

In today's economic environment, you need to explore every niche and cranny that can bring revenue to you.

And yes it will take time. Trust is like that.

The Ice Cream

"Where is the ice cream?, he asked, as he walked into the den. "In the washing machine. Where do you think it would be?", she answered. Grumbling, he headed off to the refrigerator to get his chocolate chip fix. Settling into his easy chair, he was finally happy to get what he wanted.

Where are you looking for customers?
They're right there; every day and every night.

Is anybody telling them about the ice cream.

Readers Write

Last week I posted my thoughts about bowling proprietors expanding into other venues within their existing structure. I received a very erudite letter from one of my blog readers, Joe Shumacker, past President of the BPAA, with a commentary on that blog.

Here is his letter in full:

Fred,

In addition to Borders filing for bankruptcy, Barnes and Noble is in the middle of a proxy battle for control of the company. Clearly a marketplace disruption is occurring in the "publishing" industry. The changes will be major and life will never quite be the same, for the companies or consumers.

Bowling enjoyed a very strong marketplace disruption in the 1950's - 60's with the advent of the second generation of bowling (Gen2). The third generation Gen3) has been a much weaker disruption, far below it potential for creating a positive future for bowling. Although the results are disappointing to date there is still time to get it right.

There is a counter point to your position on creating multiple functions within a bowling box. There are many examples where the bundling of functions has not worked. The car-boat concept has been around for years. Efforts to make your TV your PC have failed to gain much traction. The jury is still out on medical clinics located in drug stores. There is an appeal in attempting to do everything for a customer (client).

Comcast is attempting just such a bundling with cable, Internet and telephone service. There seems to be two keys to success or failure in the bundling of functions strategy. One is whether the component functions are a product of common skill and expertise on the part of the provider. Comcast believes it has the skill and expertise to pull it off. The second is whether the consumer is comfortable in sourcing the varied functions from a common provider. As an example I once saw a Mobil gas station in an upper middle class community with a sign stating it had a sushi bar inside. I did not stop for lunch. Another example is found in the old joke about the guy who went to veterinary and taxidermy school at the same time. The strategy was that either way you got your dog back.

I am a firm believer in the strength of bowling as the core of an operating business. The core can supported with ancillary and complementary revenue sources with a marginal expansion of skills and expertise. There is also little or no customer resistance to the expanded products and services, it fits into the expected experience. As an operator moves from complementary functions to truly parallel functions such as destination sports bars, major arcades or restaurants, the level of complexity increases greatly.

The cost of operation is much larger. The risk involved is far greater. The fundamental questions remains; 1. Can we do right (skills & expertise), and 2. Will the customer buy into our selling proposition?

The bundling of parallel functions can lead to significant success. It is however an exercise the operator needs to enter with his or her eyes wide open and with the support of experts. The use of experts (consultants) in the planning and development phases will reduce the risk of totally missing the mark with what seemed to be a very logical proposition.

My first question for someone considering a such an expansion is whether he or she is getting the most she can out of the bowling operation. If yes and further profitability is desired or required then do some serious homework on the business you are lashing onto the side of your bowling business.

Joe

Digging Deeper

Reports around our industry (and other industries) showed that once again consumers are tightening their belt. Uncertainty about the economy, the future of the existing tax cuts, double dip recession possibilities and job losses have created a real hesitancy in consumers' minds on how to spend their few discretionary dollars. Many are saving more. Most are doing nothing.

And that's hurting our industry. But within this gray cloud of summer open bowling, that hopefully is passing over our heads, there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

If there is one thing that we have proven is that we can be "AFFORDABLE FAMILY FUN". We just haven't gotten that message out to enough people frequently enough. Nor have we demonstrated or proven it successfully

Like the car dealers or electronics manufacturers, comparison advertising states facts, and depicts in very clear terms, what the advantages of one product are to another product. Consumers can relate to these charts. It's a quick visual gulp that they can process quickly. We say that we are a better value than the movies. We say we are a better value than water parks, amusement parks and dining out experiences, but we never display it. Shouldn't we? Heck Yes.

Here's an example:

Create a chart that looks like this. On the left side of the page list 7 key variables such as:

1. food, beverage, 2 hours of entertainment
2. exercise
3. music and lights
4. conversation
5. all ages can do
6. friendly competition
7. achievement

Now to the right of this column, create 3 columns that say Bowling, Movies, Applebees

Under each column and next to each variable, write "Yes" where bowling has an advantage and "No" where the competition does not have an advantage. In the price category, under bowling I put $49.95. In the movie column I put $60 and under Applebees I put $70* (includes tip and beverages).

For the other variables under Movies, I put a "NO" for every one of them, except "Maybe" in the "all ages can do."

Under Applebees, I put a "No" for all variables except I put a "Yes" under "conversation and "all ages can do."

Now if you create this chart and send it out to your email list and distributed it to your facebook friends or even direct mailed it (hopefully you would do all three) along with a sending a compelling coupon offer to visit your center for Pizza Pins N Pop, would you get a response? I think YES!

Use a headline like:
"Why Should Family Fun Cost an Arm and a Leg?"
At Happy lanes it Doesn't"

Now, go tell somebody.

Kindle vs IPad

I read a report the other day that Amazon, the on line book seller sold more "E-Books" than paper books last month. This was the first time this happened. Coincidentally, the bricks and mortar book retailer "Borders" filed for reorganization and is also in play as a possible buy. Its current chairman as well as other investment groups are all vying for a position.

Amazon was also the innovator of The Kindle, an e reading device, that when introduced in 2007, was sold for $399. As competition rose - Barnes $ Noble's E Reader called "The Nook" and Sony's Reader - Amazon's prices fell to $139. Do you think they are making money on the device or just selling it at cost so they can sell more e books?

In April, Apple introduced the IPad (and sold 3 million units to date) which allows its owners to read books as well. Of course, owners of Blackberry, IPhone and Droid owners can also read books on their phones.

But the IPad will win.

Simply because one dimensional products have a shorter life cycle. Remember when word processing machines were all the rage? What happened to them? What happened to single purpose devices in our economy. Many have not survived.

What about your bowling center? How can you make it a multi use facility? Sure,you have a bar and a snack bar and a bunch of games, but what can you do to stay relevant in the NEW multi purpose environment. Can you become a Birthday Party Showcase too? Can you become a GREAT sports bar too? Can you become a late night, night club too?

What will you be when you grow up?

What You Always Suspected is Here

Hidden inside Ashley Hayes-Beaty's computer, a tiny file helps gather personal details about her, all to be put up for sale for a tenth of a penny.The file consists of a single code that secretly identifies her as a 26-year-old female in Nashville, Tenn.

The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.

"Well, I like to think I have some mystery left to me, but apparently not!" Ms. Hayes-Beaty said when told what that snippet of code reveals about her. "The profile is eerily correct."

Ms. Hayes-Beaty is being monitored by Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company that uses sophisticated software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website—their comments on movies, say, or their interest in parenting and pregnancy. Lotame packages that data into profiles about individuals, without determining a person's name, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers.

Ms. Hayes-Beaty's tastes can be sold wholesale (a batch of movie lovers is $1 per thousand) or customized (26-year-old Southern fans of "50 First Dates"). "We can segment it all the way down to one person," says Eric Porres, Lotame's chief marketing officer.

Ashley Hayes-Beaty's taste in film is tracked by a New York firm—and offered for sale for a tenth of a cent. One of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found, is the business of spying on Internet users.

The Wall Street Journal conducted a comprehensive study that assesses and analyzes the broad array of cookies and other surveillance technology that companies are deploying on Internet users. It reveals that the tracking of consumers has grown both far more pervasive and far more intrusive than is realized by all but a handful of people in the vanguard of the industry.

• The study found that the nation's 50 top websites on average installed 64 pieces of tracking technology onto the computers of visitors, usually with no warning. A dozen sites each installed more than a hundred. The nonprofit Wikipedia installed none.

• Tracking technology is getting smarter and more intrusive. Monitoring used to be limited mainly to "cookie" files that record websites people visit. But the Journal found new tools that scan in real time what people are doing on a Web page, then instantly assess location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions. Some tools surreptitiously re-spawn themselves even after users try to delete them.

• These profiles of individuals, constantly refreshed, are bought and sold on stock-market-like exchanges that have sprung up in the past 18 months.

The new technologies are transforming the Internet economy. Advertisers once primarily bought ads on specific Web pages—a car ad on a car site. Now, advertisers are paying a premium to follow people around the Internet, wherever they go, with highly specific marketing messages.
It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests.
(Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, July 2010)

Is this spying or is this market research. It is market research if the person knows you are doing it. It is spying, if the person doesn’t know?

There is something a bit creepy about this.

Of course, the scam artists and internet marketing "get rich quick" guys will love this because it will make their job so much easier. Imagine them sitting a round and saying, "Hey Joe, what if we just tapped into the thoughts of these markets and see what they clicked on, says Homer."

"Lets go for phrases and then products and then frequency and then size and color!" Yeah, that's the ticket, says Homer." And as Lotame's chief marketing officer said, "we can segment down to one person" And that means that every message can be personalized. In the hands of ethical marketers that's a good thing, but in the hands of "the get rich quick, trust me crowd", it makes me feel uneasy.

In any case, keep your antennae up for this technology and go to a website called Bluekai.com. BlueKai is the center of the digital data economy and the largest auction marketplace for all audience data.

This really is "Big Brother and The Holding Company".

A Sofa Buying Experience Gone Awry

A 97 year old woman buys a sofa from Jennifer Convertibles in March. In April, the wrong sofa is delivered. Not only isn't it what she wants, but one of the cushions is two shades lighter than the others.

It is now August. She and several of her friends have called the company and gotten the proverbial run around. In fact, her attempts have turned into marathon phone -a-thons where she was transferred from one person to the next, put on hold interminably and told, “someone would get back to you”.

Of course, nobody did.

So now I am getting a "go" at Jennifer Convertibles. I want them to see the e-power of the Internet and to see how negative messaging will be spread to every person in my email club as well as people in my members’ clubs and to my facebook friends and their friends.

Please email this to Jennifer Convertibles. The President’s name is Rami Abada Contact: Jennifer Convertibles at 419 Crossways Park Dr., Woodbury NY 11797

Of course they have filed for voluntary bankruptcy so let's email them at Invest@jenniferfurniture.com. Why wouldn't a company who treats customers this way file for bankruptcy?

Or sign your name at the bottom and send it off to the email above. Ask the company to call Fred Kaplowitz @ 516 359 4874

Now, could this be happening to you? Yes indeed!

The bowling experience isn’t quite as expensive as a full sofa, but a corporate party could be even more expensive and the opportunities for a “bad experience” very real.

Accept no substitutes. Guarantee your service with “money back guarantees.” Oh sure, some people will beat you, but overall what do you think the result of that statement would be. It would mean more business because you have credibility.

“Excuse me sir, would you and your daughter like to join our Saturday adult child league. Try it for one week and if you’re not happy we will give you your money back. Why wouldn’t someone, who was on the fence, at least consider this offer? And isn’t getting them to show up and try our universally recognized and enjoyed product always the first step in the buying continuum?

Unlike Jennifer Convertibles, who cannot resolve a 4 month old problem with my Mother in Law, offering and standing by your guarantees makes good business sense.

Turning Water into Wine

Do you have a bunch of data base names that could use an email,but don't know how to get them?

What would those data base names be worth if you could get them? $25?, $100?, $500?

Have you tried to contact just 100 of them by mail or phone and offer them $10 of free bowling if they give you their email.

What do you have to lose?
It's better than having all those names collect dust!

Go to NCOA - (mailcleanup.com) and clean your list and then send out 100 letters or postcards or make 100 phone calls (if you have permission). If you get a good response, send out some more.

Keep solving problems.

The New "New" Marketing Plan

I love marketing plans. Love to get into the data and analyze it. And then to develop a stream of alternatives, then create a best fit analysis and all that other geeky stuff.

The "New" new plan format is a lot simpler.

First, is the "What It Is Section." This is where we tell each other what is happening in the market, to our products, what thee competition is doing and the assumptions we make about each of these. Is this our view of the world? is it real? because everything else will be based on this foundation.

Second, is the "What Are We Going To Do?" section. This is where we determine what we are going to do to change the product, the advertising, the distribution, the sales channels, the people you will need, the technology, the budgets, the deadlines, the number of units, (games, bowlers, beers, birthdays, company parties, fund raisers, etc). This is the plan. there really isn't anything else.

Of course, you're going to be wrong. Deadlines will come and go, advertising plans will drop off the planet, programs won't get implemented, so the next section is all important.

Section three is "What Are You Going To Do Differently NOW." This section gives you a back up plan when the other stuff that you planned doesn't work. some people call it a contingency plan. I call it the REAL plan.

So before the season starts, why not take a shot at doing a plan. Maybe even a real plan.

Chopping Wood and Hauling Water

Is it really all about chopping wood and hauling water?

Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.

If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?

Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.

With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.

But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?

Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.

One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.

Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.

Or at least enjoy the ice cream.

Minimum Thinkers

So you’re going to start bringing back some of the workers you laid of in late April and early April and expect them to do better work in the Fall, right?

Most likely the people who you will be hiring to do the “cog in the wheel jobs” are most likely the kind of people who don’t mind being bossed around, being told what to do and even how to do it.

These folks are just right to be micromanaged, abused and misused. Not that you would do that, of course, but if you did, they would still come to work. Basically, they are the kinds of people with low self esteem. So remember to hire them. if you want to conduct business as usual. Or “no” business as usual.

On the other hand if you want to hire people who can give you great work, look for people who have not been beaten up and convinced that they are incapable of great work.

Do you really need people who say “yes” first and “think” second? Just because it is a minimum wage job doesn't mean you need minimum thinkers.

Look for people who want to be better than average and who we can grow to be the kind of people you envy when you check into a Marriott.

ATT Was Right

Based on my last blog about the "New Busy," I received several comments from you, but I wanted to share the following with you:

"If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then a phone call can answer a 1,000 emails. Think of what a face-to-face meeting might do. Yesterday, I was trying to get on an Army website that required permissions with a user name and password. I received those and tried to get on but to no avail. When I contacted my counterpart, he suggested that I email his help desk. I did this and received a phone call in return from a techie who said that we could spend all afternoon emailing and not solve the issue.

She lead me through several steps to discover that I do not have the computer program that will give me access to the website. That is the power of the phone call."

Dave Overbagh
Marine Corps Bowling Program Manager


And as a follow up, I actually called about 10 customers in Spokane and while I had to fight my way through the "answering machine/voice mail jungle," I did get call backs and was able to break thru. Here's just a sample of what the people (all league bowlers)I spoke with had to say:

"Well, I keep getting emails from you guys, and a couple of postcards now and then, but I haven't heard from anyone there since last summer. Glad you called, Fred"

"How'd you get my number? (its on your file at the center that you filled out) Oh, well are you trying to sell me something? (Nope) Just wanted to call me to see how I'm doing huh? Yeah I'll be back bowling in the fall. THANKS for calling."

"My kids are always on that computer. I hardly get any time on it, maybe at work. You don't ever send anything there, right? (uh, No). Well, I'm not much of a computer whiz, oh I know it OK, but I don't set in front of it all that much, so I appreciate the phone call. First time anybody called me just to say hello and thank me for my business. I'll be damned."

"What are you calling me for? (Just to say Hi and thank you for the business)
Are you s******g me? (N0). C'mon, this is a sales pitch, right?. (uh, No). Then "whatcha" calling me for? To say hello?? Click."

The responses ranged from a heartfelt thank you to disbelief and cynicism. I hung up and realized that ATT was right. We do have to reach out and touch someone; maybe we can't do it as frequently or as efficiently as we can with emails, but an occasional phone call now and then may be just what this Marketing Doctor ordered.

The New Busy

What the hell is this thing called the “New Busy?"

I looked at my day yesterday and realized that I only physically spoke to six or seven people, but instead communicated in “the New Busy” way. I received, sent and participated in:
* 147 emails, (not counting spamola!)
* 32 text messages
* 16 facebook messages
* 2 “go to meetings” meetings

And a partridge in a pear tree!

During this time, I reviewed several different ads, approved postcards, bought some traditional media, modified and then signed off on several Cycle 1 marketing plans, created a Facebook page for a client, published an ad on Facebook, developed several August open play and corporate offers, established my email grids for the month, worked with a brand new client on setting up a league meeting agenda, and created a Craig’s List advertisement.

This was in addition to sending out a request for proposal and participating in a local BPA conference call.

Oh yeah, it started at breakfast (8:15am) and ran thru lunch and finished before dinner (about 8:30pm). We eat late in these parts.

And yet, I didn’t feel like I did enough. I didn’t feel “the burn” like I used to feel when I really worked the phones, pounded out information, typed it, faxed it and followed up on it via phone.

I even liked sending out mail; addressing the envelope, stamping it, sealing it in my very own company envelope and walking it to the mailbox on my way out the door. There was something that was so damn gratifying about that at the end of the day.

Now the “New Busy” is working “smarter” via all of the aforementioned electronic miracles at our disposal. It’s about adding people to your Facebook page, building your lists, adding content, creating relevant offers, and all the while…being more efficient. Oh yes, there’s that silly Twitter thing to deal with too.

Yes, I get more done. Even my friends are amazed at my efficiency and precision type scheduling. In fact, I have demonstrated and taught my clients how to ring every millisecond out of a minute, out of an hour and eventually out of a day.

But with all this efficiency, why do I feel so much less connected rather than more connected, even with my smart phone tethered to my waist 24/7 mad my laptop never more than 2 feet from my sight.

Do you feel this way too? Do you think our employees feel that way after receiving our emails and texts? What about our customers? We do send them a FEW emails these days, don’t we!?

Unfortunately less than 15% of our customers are even bothering to open our information; information they said they wanted when they “opted in?” Due to the “do not call laws”, we can’t even call them on the phone any more and speak to them; we would probably only get their answering machine anyway.

And that’s too bad.

But I am going to call soime of them anyway and just ask them how they are doing; how’s the family and if they are having a good summer; just to hear their voice at the other end of my smart phone and feel connected.

Maybe the old ATT commercial was right all along.
Maybe it is time to “reach out and touch someone”…again
Maybe they would like that.

I know I will.

Yin and Yang

My Grandmother used to say, as many of your Grandmothers might have said, "your greatest strength is your greatest weakness." I really never paid it much attention, but as I got older I realized what she meant.

Time and time again, I would meet people who were well organized, buttoned up and great detail people. In fact, their attention to detail was almost fanatical. And we all know the devil is in the details.

But as great a strength as this was, they often bogged projects down to the point of strangulation. Nothing moved. So attuned were they to the details and getting it "perfect" that they frequently missed or barely made important deadlines; deadlines that could have, and sometimes did, cost them many dollars.

If your greatest strength is in teaching and coaching employees, your greatest weakness may be that while you are coaching and training, you may not be allowing the employee enough time to learn to "just do it" and, therefore, do his/her job.

If your greatest strength is "the numbers" of the business, you may be so immersed in the numbers that you are paying less attention to the kind of customer service your people are delivering. And its the level of service that ALWAYS makes the numbers happen.


On the flip side you may be keenly aware of your weaknesses, but not so aware of your strengths. Look for the weaknesses to give you clues about your strengths and then focus on those...all the while understanding the flip side.

Its the Yin and the Yang.

As a sidebar...

I hope many of you saw the Today Show this morning. Our little company, Kids Bowl Free, in which I am a partner , was mentioned and people were encouraged to sign up for it. That's MILLIONS of eyeballs that heard about bowling on a Friday morning. Maybe it rattled their cage to get out and visit your center tonight.

By the way, if you haven't signed up for this amazing program, it's not too late. Over 1,000 centers are in in it and more than 1,250,000 kids are loving it.

Please go to www.kidsbowlfree.com and check it out.

A Sign of The Times

As the economic news rolled in last week, consumers seem to reflect a certain tightening up of their spending. Some analysts are even calling for a "double dip recession." Additionally, this tightening up may also indicate that further public stimulus money is not forthcoming.

The New York Times observes that several retailers are essentially devising their own stimulus measures—promotions and deals that they're hoping will spur customer spending.

Sam's Club is facilitating loans of up to $25,000 for its shoppers; Target is offering 5 percent off to people with a Target credit card; Toys "R" Us has created a holiday-savings fund; and Office Depot and Staples are giving products away.

"A lot of the government programs have come to an end," says one analyst, "so retailers are taking it upon themselves to do everything they can to get the consumer to spend, even opening up their own wallets to give money back to the consumer."

Sam's Club does not expect to make much money off of its loans, but hopes that they contribute to a general spending thaw.


What are you doing to stimulate consumer spending in your bowling center or FEC?

Red Eye From Vegas

Thursday Night, 11:40am

Waiting for red eye flight back to NYC from Bowl Expo show in Las Vegas where we introduced our new Eyeball 2 Eyeball marketing program to hundreds of bowling proprietors.

It's a new service that lets me stay home and my client (you) get our professional services without having to pick me up at the airport, pay for my hotel or my dinner at Applebees. A video conference consulting program that connects us visually (and aurally) for an hour or two or three. Buy an hour for $188 or 2 hours for $350. Think of it this way.

It's probably cheaper than your attorney or accountant and I guarantee to make you money...just like I have for hundreds of proprietors all over the globe.

No long term contracts; just buy what you want. OK, that's the end of my "commercial." I will be putting more information up on my website.

If you want more details, just call me; here's my cell# (516 359 4874).

Many proprietors, at this bowl expo, were bemoaning their open play lineage for June. Some reported business down 20%; others 30%. Still others, even worse. What happened?

I think there are several factors...

1. The long wintry weather extended our league seasons, thus creating some bowler fatigue. Not as many winter bowlers wanted to bowl in the summer

2. Surely economic conditions have not helped and a lot of people are jsut feeling "not in the mood."

3. Moreover, economic news of falling consumer confidence, rising joblessness rates, stock markets declining, people may feel like they can't "afford" to spend extra income.

4. June is filled with the ending of school, getting kids ready for camps, family outings, especially if the weather is great, and a time to stay outdoors.

So now you ave heard all of the excuses.

But here's what I think really happened.

1. We didn't prepare well enough for this economic downturn. Oh sure many proprietors cut prices, but I saw very few people adding value to their offers such as:
* Free pizza when you bowl
* Free family bowling when each member pays a $6 entry fee
* Live music tonight during Cosmic bowling\
* Mystery score nights where customers can win $100 if they hit the score

2. Who is making sales calls? In the last 45 days, how many people went out and did a sales blitz, where you hit 100 stores, businesses, and organizations; attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting or sent letters, emails or postcards inviting companies in for parties?

3. Who has developed a fundraiser campaign (in April) to hit all of the fund raising organizations, hospitals, schools and fraternal groups for events in June?

Or maybe we just didn't work as hard or as smart as we could and thought that less expensive pricing would bring people in?

Because if one thing June has proven, it is that price cutting, alone, is NOT always the solution.

But that's just my opinion? What's yours?

What Do Customers Really Want?

The goal of a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.
-Sam Walton

It’s a question we should always ask and yet we often find so difficult to answer. How an organization handles this question (and the answers) will determine its ultimate success. If you consistently offer your customers what they want (at a price they feel is fair), you’ll have all the customers you can handle.

In 2009, Stiritz Group surveyed several thousand people across the country on “what do customers really want”?

Here are the results of that Service Survey. The results are in ranked order from most popular response to least popular.

"What Do Customers Really Want?"

1. Listen to me.
2. Know more than I do (about your product or service).
3. Be easy to work with.
4. Help me get what I came for.
5. Smile.
6. Tell me your name.
7. Acknowledge my presence.
8. Don’t treat me like I’m an interruption.
9. Show me you care.
10. Don’t waste my time.
11. Be honest.
12. Offer alternatives if you don’t have what I want.
13. High quality and low prices.
14. Don’t try to sell me. Just help me.
15. Do what you say you’re going to do.
16. Keep me informed.

According to Stiritz, “This survey is based on real answers from real people so we think it can be useful for many organizations as they work to improve their customer service. This list of 16 customer wishes seems basic and intuitive. Yet we don’t believe most organizations are delivering these things to all their customers all the time. If they were, this list would have been much shorter.”

This list is your gold-plated ticket to increase customer loyalty.

So, if you’re not delivering on these 16 “service wishes”, maybe your competitor is?

Is Anybody Listening?

Organizations of all sizes are scaling back their marketing budgets due to declined revenues in a recessionary period. This is especially true for traditional media which saw a 67% decrease in 2009 ad spending*.

What has since transpired is a shift to less expensive marketing solutions such as email, search and social media. The shift in ad dollars from traditional media to online and social media has inevitably created a unique opportunity for advertisers. Traditional media, radio in particular, have a lot of unsold inventory available.

Most radio stations run an average of 15 ad units per hour which means there are around 1.8 million ad units per day and 657 million ad units per year. On average, 5-15% of that inventory goes unsold annually. That is a lot of unsold inventory! And a majority of the inventory is prime airtime. If radio stations cannot monetize their unsold inventory, they will lose that potential ad revenue and most stations cannot afford that option.

They are desperately looking for last minute advertisers, even if they have to sell their inventory for significantly reduced rates.

And even though ad dollars overall are slipping, the radio audience hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, the audience is holding strong - up 3% from 2007-2009.** Advertisers have the ability to capitalize on this trend and ultimately are in a win/win position.

With access to prime unsold inventory available at reduced rates (which means greater reach without spending more ad dollars), advertisers can reach and engage the highly coveted, loyal radio audience...who are still listening.

Somebody IS listening!