Taking a Chance to Start 2012

As a writer, I sometimes struggle to find relevant subject matter to communicate to my audience. Other times, the keyboard cannot keep up with my fingers as words seem to flow from their tips.

With 2011 getting ready to go into the record books and 2012 ready to become a reality, I have spent considerable time deciding what to write.  Should I offer 10 ideas for 2012;  10 "life style" ideas for 2012 or perhaps just a short poem or ditty about living in the moment, happiness, health, prosperity and all that good stuff?

 I decided against this. It seemed as if it "had been done" and certainly done better better than I could by such notables as Henry James, Faulkner and Updike to name a few.

In addition to my bowling consulting work, bowling operator work and motivational speaker, I have taken to writing short stories, poems and, for other new clients, even speeches.  Like my bowling business, I get great fulfillment in writing.

So today I am going to take a chance.  I am going to share a short story, actually a very short story, I wrote and submitted for publication (which is pending approval) to a noteworthy magazine.  It has nothing to do with bowling, but everything to do with "a moment in time" and a greater insight into what my friends and colleagues have said is my "weirdly eclectic mind set."

Here it is. I hope you like it and I hope you comment on it


There’s a Reason I Missed My Train
 by   
 Fred Kaplowitz

By one minute, I had just missed my Amtrak train #55 to New York City. Realizing that I had no juice left in my cell phone to call home, I wandered Boston’s South Station, forgetfully dragging my charger, trying to find an outlet that worked, but to no avail. Spotting a woman charging her phone in a double outlet, I approached and asked if I could use the other outlet. Smiling politely, she said, “Sure, why not?”  As I plugged the phone into the charger and the charger into the rusted outlet, I realized that she and the man standing near her, but not close to her, were together. They looked to be in no hurry.  No hurry whatsoever.

We began with some small talk about travel and the places we had been. After a very noticeable pause,  turning hard to look at me, almost through me, and clear out of the blue she said, “I saw the white light and then saw the beauty and glow of Jesus; more spectacularly than I ever could have imagined”. As she completed her sentence, and for what seemed like a lifetime, her eyes closed and she began to rock back and forth. So unexpected was this sequence of word and movement that I found myself trying to catch my breath. For a moment, an instant really, time stood perfectly still. When she opened her eyes and stopped rocking she said, “It was right after an intentional hit and run accident on me.”

Continuing, she said that “Jesus asked her to come with him”. “But”, she said, “I told him I was too young to die” and he said, “Go. Your wish is granted, but you will see me some other time”.  She said, she had survived breast cancer, colon cancer and is now homeless. “I am still here”, she said, through her dark liquid eyes and, oh so tellingly, hard to find smile.

The  small slender man who had been standing with her was eerily silent and, while busily rolling a cigarette, was watching me intently through eyes so sunken and so engulfed in dark circles, he reminded me of someone I knew  a long time ago who had just barely survived a nasty street fight. Almost tempted to ask him what had happened to his eyes, I quickly thought the better of it and held my piece. Silently, I said to myself, “I hope to God you were protecting her”, but  I already knew the answer when he reached out his hand and introduced himself to me.   

                            

His name was Dale. He was her husband. Her name was Pat. They met in Church. “Been together for seven years and married for four years”, he said.  He helped her, said, “To get off smoking crack and being a prostitute”.

                                                                                       

Tonight they were going to their special place to sleep and then, tomorrow, they would get up and do what they needed to do; find food and find a safe place to sleep. They would endlessly repeat these tasks, I thought, until the Universe brought them the opportunity to change their lives, but only if they could see “the change” they were praying for and then capture it for all it was worth.

We said our “goodbyes” and “be safe” words to each other and then they were gone. Walking toward my train, I sadly thought, maybe she should have gone with Jesus.

.                          Boston, MA 9.1.11.

May the New Year bring you all you wish for and all you desire.

Just Hit Delete

Well the New Year is just 4 days from now and my inbox is filling up with invitations to this years party;  parties for kids, seniors, adults with older kids, entire families and just kids parties. The invites keep a coming.

Once we would have been bombarded with direct mail or even TV, Radio or Newspaper  advertising.  Now we are bombarded with Facebook, twitter and email.

Whats the difference?

NOW I don't have to look at your electronic messages. I can just hit delete.  THEN, I had no choice. I had to look, hear or read your message.

So how come with all these electronic miracle communications, as an industry, we aren't doing very well?

Its not the communication. Its not the facilities. its not the sport. Its not the entertainment.

Its the product we are communicating... same old New Years eve party, same old extreme or cosmic, same old Pizza pins n pop. Same old quarter mania.  Same old. Same old.  That's OK if we communicate it to new people...but very few of us do that. We just point, click and send to everybody!!!

And what's funny is this -  you get some people to discuss new ideas and half of them will say flat out:  "that won't work in my market."  Or  the classic: "We tried that and it didn't work."  

And that is too bad because: "Closed Minds = Closed Cash Registers"

Usually the people saying this are the proprietors or managers that could really use a new idea or two. But instead of embracing it, they will  immediately dismiss because it doesn't fit their thinking. They won't even examine it or even test it.

Is it because they think they know what  the customer wants precisely?
Or worse is it because they think they are the customer?

9 times out of 10 YOU ARE NOT the customer. So why are you deciding what THEY would want?
Seriously??

No wonder I hit delete. 

10 Things I Learned in 2011

As I look back on 2011 I realize that it was a much different year than any year I experienced in the bowling industry and that spans over 35 years; 16 of which as the head of  The Kaploe Marketing Group,  having proudly served hundreds and hundreds of proprietors over the years domestically and internationally.

It was a much tougher year.  Much tougher.  Open play was off allot and leagues were at best down slightly Again!

So I thought I would make a list of things I learned this past year and perhaps some of them will resonate with you as well and give you "pause" to think about how to improve your businesss.

1.  Bowling is NOT recession proof any more and in order to get new people into the center and get people to return more frequently, it takes a sustained effort of specific offers to KEY segments vs. a blanket offer to everyone.

2. If you have a blog for your center, you will get 88% more traffic per month than those those who do not (Source: Hubspot Research June 2011).  By the way, if you need help in writing blogs, just contact me (516 359 4874) because we are introducing a  new service for your center in mid January that will create professional blogs for you...really inexpensively too!!

3. Content is king.  Many proprietors are still using  emails and Facebook for one thing and one thing only: to deliver an offer and sell, sell sell. STOP!  You need to build a relationship with your customer and provide them with valuable information that THEY want as a first step to get them to trust you.  Once trust is established you can then offer coupons and special deals that are relevant to specific segment.  There's a reason they call it SOCIAL media, right?

4.  Customer service is no longer just a buzz word.  It is expected and when not delivered, you and your center will soon find that you are on Facebook and Yelp in a very unflattering way. Hire the best athlete and train him or her to  carry out your tactics.  Just because someone has had experience in "front desk operations"  doesn't mean they understand the 21st century customers needs.  In fact it may hurt more than help.  Meeting, greeting, saying thank you and fixing customer issues immediately are essential.  How often do you retrain your staff or get a mystery shopper to tell you how you are doing?

5. Build your cosmic bowling back up by creating an interactive entertainment experience. Go to a college and hire someone who is studying hospitality or communications for Friday and or Saturday night to be your MC to run dance contest, trivia contests, give out funny prizes (red noses, rubber ducks, t shirts, free games, pizza, etc).  Use theme nights; get a band once a month or so and strive to be as entertaining as possible. This product is viewed as entertainment. It "aint" just bowling anymore The 21 year old who has stopped coming to your cosmic show has stopped because it hasn't changed since he was 16 years old. Boring doesn't sell!

6. Get better toilet paper. Women judge a bowling center's cleanliness by the quality of the toilet paper. Don't ask me how I know this...its a very long story.  :)

7.  Make sure your website is updated at least once per week and that you post on Facebook every day. Yeah, I know you're busy, but to communicate effectively someone on your staff (or you)  needs to devote at least one hour per day to 21st century marketing communications.

8.Try to build a short season league program every month (6 to 10 weeks). That's what NEW customers want. That's what they expect and if you don't offer them this choice, they just won't join anything.  Period.

9. Outside selling is still very important. If no one in the center is getting outside of the center to speak to chamber of commerce members, non profit groups, community organizations, companies and local retailers at least once a month on a "blitz" program,  you will be very disappointed in your lineage results.

10. Company parties, team building events and fund raisers are a vital source of revenue and should be done every month, not just during the holiday season.

What did YOU learn this year?  Please let me know.


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What Are We Missing?

With all the talk about book stores, as a brick and mortar business, going the way of Woolworth, it is surprising to note that book sales, at independent retailers, have reached an all time high during this holiday season.  When once the mighty Kindle or Nook or I Pad were predicted to make book stores obsolete, the numbers proved those who predicted this trend absolutely wrong.

Some will point out that the closing of Borders forced people to buy books at independent stores.  Others will say that  these electronic marvels don't have the breadth of choice that the retailer has; nor do they have the element of  "touch and feel."

Reports about this phenomenon suggest that people really like books. Actual paper and hard cover books. Even paperbacks.  They like to turn the pages; to be able to book mark their place with their favorite bookmarks; to write in the margins and to write dedications in the front.

Simply stated, I think people still like this "Old Fashioned" feel in the same way they like the traditions of holiday cards, the tradition of gifts rather than gift cards (although gift cards are at an all time high). Interestingly, personal stationery sales are also at an all time high, even in the age of the Internet, email, text message, twitter post and instant messaging.

Doesn't bowling have that kind of traditional fun and nostalgic feel intrinsic in its entertainment value?  How many times have you spoken to someone on a plane or at a meeting or at a party and heard them say, "We went bowling for the first time in years. I forgot how much fun it was!"

Yet, I can't find a proprietor who is talking about this in their blogs, their Facebook posts or even on their websites.  Or even, if they do it all, in their media advertising.


Maybe we are missing something here.  What do you think?

3 Ways You Should Be Using E mail In Your Business

Email marketing is still one of the most under-utilized and misunderstood marketing tools ever invented. Nearly every day, there are articles in business publications and websites that share misinformation and misleading information in regards to email marketing.

Even with all of the technology and social media platforms in existence, email still plays an important role and acts as a gateway to most if not all of the social media sites. Without an email address, would-be users cannot gain access to certain sites or cannot use the full functions of sites.

Almost every transaction you make online requires that you share an email address in order to complete your transaction. Whether your goal is to make a purchase or download free software, most website owners will require you to share your email address with them.

Email is integrated into our lives. It's on our cell phones and most paper forms that we fill out these days. So, email is not going any where any time soon. We'll be using email for a long time to come. There hasn't been any technology to come along to replace it.

This gives businesses an advantage in that email still offers another medium or channel for them to reach their leads, prospects and customers.

So how should your business be using email in your day-to-day operations? 

Here's 3 powerful ways to maximize your email marketing

1. Lead Generation: There are almost no businesses that can't use email in some capacity to generate leads. For example, if your business is a house painting contractor, you could offer a free report titled something like "Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Be a member of Our VIP Bowling Club." And, the only way your prospect could get the report is by signing up via email to receive the report. You could have the prospect either sign up via a form on your website or simply by sending an email to your email Autoresponder account.

2. Lead, Prospect and Customer Follow-Up: Studies have shown that it takes 7 to 12 follow-up contacts to convert a lead or prospect into a sale. Whether that contact is done via phone, mail, fax, in-person or email, the studies show that it will take up to 12 follow-up contacts to make the sale. This is especially true for high ticket products and items. Proper email follow-up is an art and a science in one. If writing effective sales copy isn't your expertise, it is much advised that you find a competent copy writer to follow up with your email leads.  (If you need help with this, please call us.  Its just one of the many tactical programs we are known for)

3. Cross Promoting: Getting your leads and prospects to sign up for your email list can be difficult. So, if you're going to go through the time, energy and effort to build an email list, you might as well get the most from your email list. One way to get a return on your investment from your efforts of building an email list is by cross promoting products and services that are closely related to what the prospect originally signed up to receive. If you have a good relationship with your email list, you could also sell advertising to other businesses where either do "solo" emails promoting the paying advertiser's product or service. Or, you could offer a 4-line advertising "blurb" placed inside one or more of your regular emails to your list.

Developing a relationship with your list of prospects should be the MOST important goal of your email.  

What do you think?

Some Assembly Required

It’s that season when a box of toys becomes a project. The warning label on the box, “some assembly required’ really means“ prepare yourself to read instructions that were translated into English and not translated very well, making your job of assembly more arduous and somewhat daunting task.”

“Some assembly required” is just work.

Isn't that true of our businesses? Isn’t “some assembly required” for the work we do? 

Whether we produce a product a service, an experience, or a lifestyle, we are always into “some assembly required.”

"Some assembly required" means getting it done and to get the work done (we all have great ideas, it’s getting it done that’s important is something I have heard from proprietors for many a year) you only have to do two things:

First, set a deadline to get the task done. Set penalties for not getting it done (a $5 penalty for the owner and $2 penalty for the employee who misses the deadline).  This money will go to a charity, but more importantly it will tell the proprietor who is getting it done, who is taking it seriously and who really gives a damn...including the proprietor.  Post the results. Eventually the non performer will either start to perform better, quit or get fired.

Second, hold meetings every week and have the team members report their progress of meeting the deadlines for their tasks.  Eventually peer pressure will force them to perform or to quit.  In either case, you win.

T’is the season.  Some assembly required. 

Set it up for January and February league starts.

Do it now. Christmas is almost here.