Well, we have almost gotten through May, the trough in the bowling business and we are heading for June; also a bit of a trough, but in June the kids, teens and college students are out of school and its time to make a run at them.
If you haven't already planned some programs to attract these segments then now is the time to review some old programs and create new ones.
Here's a checklist of some programs from both a league and open play standpoint.
1. - Get your cosmic bowling program geared up and get to the high school and college students. Run one or two special events every month. For example a theme night (70's, 80's, etc as well as a band night). Give the band the $5 or $10 admission charge and you keep the food, beverage and bowling dollars.
2. - Consider a family cosmic hour, if you have the lane availability , between 5 and 9pm during the week or on a Sunday afternoon; offer great food specials also.
3. - We all have adult child programs, but do you have an 8 week program for $8 that includes a bowling ball. Set it up for early July so it ends just before labor day so you can flip these newly minted bowlers into a 10 or 12 week program, NOT a 35 week program.
4. - Unbundle your pizza pins n pop program and offer "Hours of Family Fun" for $39.95 to include 2 hours of bowling and shoe rental. Then create a "sub offer" of "super sizing your fun for just $15 and get a large cheese pizza and a pitcher of pop. This price of $54.95 should equal your existing PPP pricing. If not adjust this suggested pricing.
5. - Offer 5 or 6 week LTB lessons for kids under the age of 14 for just $19.95 to $29.95 total. Set it up so it ends before Labor day, then flip these kids into an 8 week HAB program for $8 per week and then again into a 10 or 12 week program after January.
6. - Make sure your Monday to Thursday late night specials have not only attractive pricing, but also utilize sweepstakes prizes, which you can get from local merchants, as well as instant gratification prizes (win a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi for a redhead pin strike) or weekly gasoline cards ($25 of gasoline or add dollars to your rewards or gift cards).
7. - Daytime open play is always challenging and if you are not in the "Kids Bowl Free" program, you are missing out on a traffic driving, data base program that will carry you through the start of next season. Go to www.kidsbowlfree.com and sign up your center today!
8. - Don't forget to communicate to your day care centers, summer day camps and other kid's organizations for field trips, day outings, fund raisers and rainy days programs.
9. - And finally, make a run at all those companies and organizations that have had parties at your center during the season, why not invite them back for a half priced bowling party IF they sign an agreement with you for their annual Holiday party.
Summer is a hard time to market bowling, but with these tips, summer doesn't have to be a bummer. Call us at 212 867 2577 or email us at Fredkaplowitz@gmail.com for some great money saving and time saving tips to implement these programs.
Monday, May 23, 2011
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