Back To School For Us Too

For millions of American school children, September signals a return to the classrooms, a clean slate, a new beginning and the promise of a brighter year.

For many business people, September also signals the sounds of the holidays to come. They know, as do you, that before you turn around, the season will be here.

If you’re a bowling proprietor or the owner /operator of an FEC, you recognize the importance of capitalizing on Halloween Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa holiday weeks, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  Maybe your market celebrates all of these holidays. 

Maybe yes. Maybe no.

Point is you have to get your marketing plans together NOW to be able to implement effective income generating programs.

Here’s just a quick game plan of the steps you need to take

1.     What did you do the last several years, during these holidays?  

2.     Were they successful?

3.     Can you quantify lineage, revenue, average price per game, revenue per game during these promotional periods. What’s that, you don’t have that kind of information? Then base it on open play revenue

4.     Ask your open play bowlers which (ideas you have) programs they might prefer. List your 3 or 4 ideas in a flier format (doesn’t have to be all that pretty) and show them to open play bowler families, kids, Moms, 15 to 34 year olds, HS kids and any college people in your market.

5.     Quantify the data and select the program.

6.     Here is the hard part.

a.     How do you communicate for maximum effectiveness?

b.     How do you reach potential customers and existing non-league customers (No, one or two emails will not bring your embryonic idea to life, Sorry. It takes a campaign).

c.     How much will you spend? (“As little as possible” is not a viable answer. Every other marketer is doing all they can to maximize the season so tell me again how your flier sitting on the desk, or your two Facebook posts will have them waiting at the doors is going to compete with them again?).

7.     How will you train your people for handling and servicing more people?  (What about the part time kid you hired from the local high school? Think he really cares? How will you get him or her motivated to satisfy YOUR customers)?

8.     What will you during the campaign to add some excitement, instant gratification, and just plain fun to the experience?

9.     How will you make sure to try and gather as much new data base names as possible? (Oh Fred, we try, but get so busy. We just don’t have the time!) 

a.     Maybe hire a part time hostess for the weekends, Larry and make sure she is a happy, bubbly type that can get people to complete a data base.

10.  Did you lay down a set of goals up front and are now measuring the results against goal, against expenditure to achieve goal and against last year.

More importantly, please recognize that the myriad ways to communicate has changes. In the past we pushed messages onto consumers. 

Today, consumers have a choice to voluntarily accept it or turn it off.  How will you make sure that your message gets turned on??

If you have any questions on these steps, we will be happy to assist. Just give us a call at           516 359 4874 or email us at fredkaplowitz@gmail.com

And have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kwanzaa