Good Bye Zig

Zig Ziglar promoted himself as the worlds greatest salesman. And he sure as heck was, at least to me.

For over 40 years he traveled the country giving seminars that combined sales techniques, motivational aphorisms, a unique brand of optimism and a whole lot of down home country wisdom.

I had the privilege of seeing him in person twice. I also bought a bunch of his tapes and listened to them so many times that they jammed my "Sony Walkman."

Of his many"driving principles", one, in particular, has stuck with me, lo these many years.

It is this:  "Our whole philosophy is built around the concept that you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.  It works in business; it works in government and politics; it works in your personal life; it works everywhere."

"Be Grateful. Believe. Try" he would often say.  And no one said it better. Thanks Zig. You will be missed.

Window of Opportunity

There is a little break in the action now.

This assumes that you have your holiday programs and New Year’s Eve programs up and ready to go J.  

Don’t forget to post your holiday hours. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day.

You can take a deep breath and get ready for the holiday rush, but what if a lot of people come to open play bowl and you have: a) no incentives to get them to come back for a return visit, b) not put a system in place to get their email, c) no programs or leagues available for them to start in January?

Having none of them would be a wasted opportunity wouldn't it? 

No it wouldn't be a wasted opportunity, it would be a fatality!

By offering them an incentive (first game free on next visit, $5 off $20 of bowling, free pizza when you bring 4 people to cosmic bowling, etc) you increase the odds that they will return which will give you another opportunity to get their email address and be able to speak to them about joining a league in January

To get more emails, set up 2 sweepstakes box. One at the desk and one in the snack bar/bar area.  Get them at Staples; they are made out of Lucite and put a sign in the sign holder that says “Enter here to win $100 of free open play bowling” (5 winners chosen each month.”  Use a data base card (3’x 5”) that has the following information: name__________ email ____________ birthday month________ birthday year_________  gender  M_______  F__________  phone # ________.  Don’t forget the pencils.

As far as leagues and programs go, review last year’s league floorings in January and February. What did you put on the floor?  What leagues?  How many bowlers? How many weeks did they bowl?  How many games?  What did you charge?  What was your revenue from these programs?

Now that you have all that information, add 10% to last year's lineage and revenue.  You now have your NEW goal.

Note: now is the time to raise prices on these NEW leagues and set your pricing up for next September.

Here is an example of mandatory offerings that you have to put in place:

·         Adult child league; could be $8 for 8 weeks, Saturdays

·         Pizza and Beer league (2^nd shift)     

·         Retail workers league (2^nd shift)

·         Every other week or once a month couples league (1^st shift

·         League of your own for companies (every other week 1^st shift)           

Now you may not have availabilities during these times and therefore, you will have to develop new programs to meet your goals. 

You have between now and December 16^th (the day kids are out of school for the holiday break) to get this together and plan your January and February.  

Otherwise, you’ll be calling me and saying, “%$#@#%, I missed an opportunity, what do I do now?”

So What's New?

New is eating itself in a never ending race to faster, bigger and shinier. New is changing so fast that Andy Warhol’s famous comment about “everyone having five minutes of fame” seems understated. 

New movies and styles come out and maybe they last three or four weeks and poof, they’re gone. 

News stories like Hurricane Sandy are gone in four days.  Despicable acts of terrorism are here today and in three days are not just on the front page, but they are no longer even making it to the back pages.

We too fall in the trap of looking for a new idea, a new promotion, and a new “silver bullet” to fix what ails us.  But what ails us is the search for new. And is soon as we find that new thing, we know it won’t last and thus we will have to again start the long climb up to find another new thing.

Maybe we should concentrate on improving and perfecting what we have, what works and what is relevant, rather than ALWAYS CHASING the new.

Thoughts for Thanksgiving 2012

This is my 324th   blog since I started writing "Fredquarters Marketing and I am so grateful to all of you for encouraging me and pushing me to write about different topics, different ideas, streams of consciousness and anything else you find relevant.

I get immense joy from this.

Some of the more cynical people out there ask me if I have monetized this site; if I get new clients and why would I give away all this stuff for “FREE?”

Candidly, I never think about that.

Oh sure, I get calls for consulting work, project work and even if I want to manage or buy a couple or three centers.  Mainly I get calls for suggestions, ideas, and maybe even a quick pick me up from a proprietor who has been beaten up by his local economy.

Mostly, I get people who just want some help.  I read somewhere that the more you give away the more you get back. I don’t know for sure if it’s 100% true, but I don’t doubt the assumption.  It’s worked pretty well for me.

Here’s a thought. 

We all give away free games; bonus bowling bucks; discounts and contributions, but sometimes we do it grudgingly.

Suppose we were able to do it with the idea that these free games are making someone’s life happier, even for the hour they are with us or helping them to forget some sad issues, they are dealing with, in their lives, wouldn't we feel better? 

And wouldn't the universe notice that we were giving generously and return good things to us?

What would it feel like if you knew that the free game you were giving away was making someone forget about the hurricane that demolished their house; even for just a brief moment in time?

I know you would feel great because that’s who you are.  I've seen you raise countless dollars in your centers for various charities and organizations. I know. I've seen it up close and personal.

I have gotten so many good things by giving you information, ideas, thoughts and hopefully ways to make money that I have been rewarded in so many other way that’s it’s hard to count.

And for that I am oh so grateful and say, “Thank You All” as we celebrate Thanksgiving 2012.

Go Giants! 

Speak with you Friday.

PS. Here's to a "very revenue Thanksgiving holiday." :) :)

Is Your Marketing Toxic?

Most people think that the purpose of marketing is to sell stuff.  

I hear this frequently from clients who load up their emails and face book content with offers to buy their “stuff”. 

Whether it is bowling, hardware, admission tickets to an entertainment venue, automobiles, auto parts, restaurant meals or computer chips, it happens all the time.

So I ask a lot of questions of my clients; here is just a sample.

Why do you create content that only talks about you and not about your customer?

Why do you use so many registration forms in front of your content; don't you think that discourages people to read further?

Why do you use social media to promote products that very few people want?

Why do you send so many emails to your list as response rates drop and op outs become the norm?

Why do you create little teasers in your blog or newsletter and force the customer to  click to read more which results in, you guessed it, a sales pitch?

The answer I always get is: “Fred, we are in the business of selling stuff. We have to show real results or get real leads or because the Boss told me to do it.”  “We just can’t keep giving stuff away.”

I get it. I know about those pressures.

I also I know that there is a time and a place to us registration forms, a time to place coupons in your email and a time to send a selling email. 

But at what cost?

Bad content and only talking about yourself is simply the biggest mistake of 21^st century marketing.

Don’t take my word for it. Test it. Send some of your paid search to a blog site, and then measure it if they share it.  

Measure the effect of that traffic and the benefits of free traffic and then convert those to leads

Have a great call to action with great content that “Provides Real Information “and “optimize it”. 

Don’t use the registration “gate”; let the content become the lead generation machine for your business.

Because you need to realize that the PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS IS TO SERVE CUSTOMERS and when you stop offending customers and prospects with constant sales messages, your business WILL begin to get many sales. 

Because serving customers, sells. 

What Is "Touch Point Marketing?"

There are only a few ways to gain market share, which is always a good strategy, in a slow growth or flat market.

1. New product development or product line extension. Think apple computers; new product category (I pod); product line extension, Mac Book Air (the new thin one!)

2.    Great customer service to differentiate your product from others in your category.  Think Southwest airlines.

3.    Price reductions; in the short term because long term, you become Montgomery Wards. Think Lexus when they introduced their flagship vehicle UNDER their cost to steal share from Mercedes.

Of these strategies, the one that you can control the most is #2, customer service.

But let’s break it down a little more. Lets call it “touch point” strategy.  A touch point is any place in your business where the customer has a memorable experience; an experience that you have diligently created.

Some people make the memorable experience at the front desk/customer area.  Others make a memorable experience in the restaurant.  Others make a great experience in the entry way. And still others focus on the bathrooms.

In the entry way, have you put a “welcome to our fun place” sign or a voice activation system that’s says hello every time someone comes in?

At the front counter, is your staff dressed in bright fun costumes or are they still wearing a ‘ hasn't-been-cleaned-recently- golf shirt with your logo?

Is your restaurant a fun place where kids can get crayons, adults can get engaging waiters and waitresses and where the food is presented in an eye catching and mouth watering way?  Do you have a mascot greeting the customers and kids?

Is the bathroom a different experience? Check out what the Las Vegas Hilton did.  Ina city known for “over the top experiences”  the Las Vegas Hilton actually has people coming to their casino to see the bathrooms. More importantly, it is driving sales in a very flat market.

Kind of gives new meaning to a “ touch point strategy.”

Hurricane Sandy: The Follow Up

For those of you who have asked what happened to my friend at his "hurricane party, here's what happened:

After considerable urging and death threats from his friends and family, he made the decision to move out about 10 minutes before the wall of water flooded his basement and added 8 ft of water to his first floor, destroying everything on that floor; kitchen, living room, den, bedroom, bathroom and dining room.
                                                                                        He was one of the lucky ones.                                      The house behind his burned to the ground.

If you would like to contribute to the relief fund for the Rockaways, here is a link:  http://www.facebook.com/RockawayRelief

The Wisdom of Tom Coughlin's All In Philosophy

I woke up last night with a message in my head about “imagining the moment” and then something about “turning the moment into action”.  I get these messages now and then from some part of my brain that has lain dormant all these years only to be stimulated just enough to send me a message.

Weird?  You bethca!

In following up with clients, I sometimes find that they are stuck. Yes, stuck. Sure they know what to do. They know what they are supposed to do. They know how to do it. They even know how to make sure it gets done right.  But they just don’t do it.

Why?

Perhaps it is because they haven’t had many wins lately or maybe it is because they feel that the bowling Gods have not been kind to them. Or perhaps they feel a sense of deep frustration, or worse, a sense of futility.  Is it because they have been counting on someone else o help them out?  Or they think that the best strategy to have is “hope?”

Well I am here to tell you: only you can help yourself.

Don’t count on any big brother association, manufacturer or sponsor to do it all for you.  It’s your ball game to win or lose.

This is a beautiful, wonderful industry with many cool people who have overcome adversity and risen out of the ashes to become successful. Learn from them. Learn from other industries and their leaders. Learn all you can about contemporary marketing methods. Read all the books you can. Attend all the courses you can.  Never ever stop learning and never stop doing.

Because as an old friend once told me when you are stuck and just not “getting to the issues”, then the only thing to do is to do something.  I don’t care if it’s reorganizing the office. I don’t care if you take up yoga or want to become a sheep herder or lose 15 pounds.

Just do something that you can see a result. Then do something else.  And then something else. Until you get back into the habit of doing something at your maximum potential. Not half baked. Not half heartedly. Not half assed. But as Tom Coughlin said, the coach of the Super Bowl wining NY Giants - "ALL IN."  Its not enough to show up, do your job and go home. 

You have to be ALL IN, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. And you have to have people around you who are ALL IN also.

Because if you're not ALL IN, you will never know how damn good you really are!  

And wouldn't that be a shame to wake up one day and say "I coulda been somebody."

P.S.   My friend, who lived on the island and refused to leave, right before the hurricane,  finally came to his senses and did leave. His hurricane party came to a sudden end;  packing and leaving with his family just in time before the wall of water hit his house.  He was one of the lucky ones. His house was completely flooded, 8 feet of water on the first floor.  His neighbors houses burned. 

Did Your Guy Win?

No matter who wins tonight, think about how many homeless people, how many hurricane victims could have benefited from the ungodly amount of advertising spent to sway opinions and ultimately votes for "their guy." 

Estimates in Ohio alone were that combined advertising by both parties exceeded $20 million.  

Yikes.

Yes, I know there is a great deal at stake, but there's something about that level of expenditure, (and I'm a marketing guy) that almost, almost seems sinful (IMO)!!.

But now you have the opportunity to give back to some folks and transform your bowling center into a fund raising machine where your tribe of followers can raise money for their causes and you can raise a little revenue for your cause.J

What about an adult child league for the local school that needs to raise money for their band?  Every team pays (I.E.) $20. On a two game program, you keep $10 and the school keeps $10. They bowl for 6 weeks or 8 week. 

Based on 12 teams, that’s $120 per week for the school. Multiply that times 8 weeks and it’s almost a cool $1,000 bucks you have helped them raise. What about churches and Kiwanis groups? How about softball teams, little league groups, hospitals, businesses who sponsor charities?

You get it, right?

Do that a couple of times starting ASAP and you could be looking at several thousand dollars in new revenue each month.

It’s not a grand slam. But it’s not chicken feed either.

Are You There Yet?

Creativity comes from the strangest places and from the strangest circumstances.

Or as the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

In lower Manhattan as residents found themselves in the dark, they all found that they were without their mandatory issued Android or Apple cell phones, iPods, iPads, and laptops, which of course need power.

Some hiked uptown with their electronic gear to find a friend with power, a Starbucks, a restaurant or even a bank to plug into. 

One guy, probably an engineer type (with a marketing mind), figured out how to hook up a bicycle to power a generator to drive a bunch of extension cords which people could use to power up their devices.

One woman, probably a strategic thinker (with a marketing mind) brought her grill down to the streets. Others followed suit and pretty soon a line of people were cooking food for the neighborhood they would have had to throw out.

It’s amazing what we can do when we have to.

Are you at that point yet?

Because if you are then you are one step closer to your best innovation and creative idea. Yes!

On one other note, please run a fundraiser for the folks living in Staten Island, Long island and the Jersey Shore. Contribute it to the American Red Cross.  Your customers will applaud you and enhance your brand.

Besides, giving back is what its about isn't it?