"They Say You Want a Revolution. Well, You Know, We All Want to Change the World"...John lennon

7% of all emails are opened within 7 days. 99% of text messages are opened within 2 minutes.  Are you still relying on emails as your only bullet in communicating to your customers? 

Oh yes, you also send out Facebook posts, right?

So how is all that emailing working for you?  

Just OK, you say?  

Well there are a lot of younger folks out there who no longer have emails and only text.  

A couple of weeks ago, Marie and I were driving my neighbor’s teenage daughter and her friend to the mall to meet my neighbor and his wife for dinner and a movie while the girls cruised the mall.  

It was eerily quiet in the back seat and all I could hear was the click of phones.  When I asked what they were doing. They said “texting”.  When I asked who they were texting? They instantly said in unison, "Each Other.” No talking. No emailing.  Just texting!

What???

Yup, that’s how they communicate.  

Which got me to thinking about what could be done to make this growing phenomenon of text marketing work for many of my bowling proprietor friends.

So I hooked up with one of my tech savvy friends (who knows bowling, is a league bowler and has as strong a passion as I do to see the industry grow) we discussed WHAT could be done.

We we will soon unveil a solution that will rock the way you communicate to your customer and deliver content, offers and build a long lasting relationship with your customers and future customers.

I’m not going to spill the beans today, but I just wanted to tell you that something big is coming and it will be to bowling marketing what the automatic scorer was to bowling back in the late seventies.

We have more work to do, but it will be worth it, be affordably priced and best of all, you will have very little work to do...if any.

It will be all on us.

Let me know if you would like to be one of the first centers to see this exciting new way to communicate to your customers.

I’m so excited. It’s gonna be great!

Management Tips from the Beatles

Andrew Sobel, a management consultant and author of Strategy and Business says the Beatles are a textbook example of how to forge cooperation and creativity inside an organization.

Sobel says there are at least four lessons to be learned from the Beatles success

1.    Their early years performing in small clubs forged a true sense of spirit de corps that is rare today when virtual teams are common.  Invest in and build time, especially face time, among key members.

2.    The Beatles music evolved over time, so must your center’s products and programs. Keep testing, introducing and refining your products. If it is going to generate new ideas, it can’t be a one hit wonder.

3.    While John and Paul wrote most of the songs, from time to time, Ringo and George were given a chance to shine. “It’s great to feel part of a team”, says Sobel, “but in the end every one needs a sense of personal importance as well.”   The lesson to be learned: give team members a project of their own that will make them look good in their own right?”

4.    And finally, the make up of the group is important. Each member must be able to contribute different skills and be of different temperaments to encourage creativity and problem solving

Of course, nothing lasts forever, (except for “Strawberry Fields”) and the Beatles broke up in April 1970

Email Marketing is Alive and Well

Contrary to what a lot of people think email marketing does better than other social media.  In fact this tool is more powerful than you can imagine. 

According to many digital marketing experts there is a consensus that of all the social media platforms, email will deliver better results for small businesses IF these businesses have a well-structured, timely and relevant email campaign targeted at an audience that has given you permission to contact them.  

It is not unusual to see two or three times the engagement with email that we do with other social media platforms.

But there is a knack for getting the kind of results you want. Here are some tried and true tips

1.    Build your list. Get out and meet people on your concourse. At your local pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations and any place you do business. Carry a sign up form with you OR capture emails on your website. I am constantly amazed at how many sites DO NOT have a place for me to sign up. If it’s there, it is usually hidden.  Put it on your first page; make it pop up on other pages. Offer people a value for signing and then have an auto responder thanking them for filling it out and telling them their $$$ bowling value is coming.

2.   The next challenge is to get people to actually open your emails. With open rates hovering in the 10% to 15% range, getting your email opened can be a little tricky…even if people opt in. People tend to sort email into 3 categories: “Now.” “Later” or “Never”. Your objective is to get them to open it NOW!

3.   Keep your subject lines short. Many email services will automatically shorten your subject line so lead with the most attention grabbing content. (I.E: “Want a FREE new bowling ball?”

4.   Set a schedule to send out your email as opposed to random settings (which I unfortunately do). Having a set schedule will improve your open rate. (Don’t I know it!!!)

5.   Check your spelling and punctuation before you send it, then send it to a friend to read it as well.

6.   Know your audience.  If your list isn't segmented, then work on that. NO point in sending Grandma Sadie, in your senior league, information about your ‘tween part.  She might be a teenager, but she is 113, not the segment you want. Besides, you will eventually send Grandma so many irrelevant emails that she will opt out and a name and data is lost.

7.   Time it right. Know when emails are opened the most? If you said Saturday mornings you are correct, followed by Tuesday.  But it may be different in your market. Start testing your emails. Send out the same email on different days and times and then compare the open rates. It might provide you with some valuable information.

8.   Clean up the list. Get rid of the bounced emails, bad addresses and the spam complaints. Your email may even be blocked by certain ISPs, preventing you from reaching even interested buyers.

9.   Establish an email campaign consisting of three steps. In the first email you tell them that Presidents' Day is coming and you hope, if they are off work, they will come to your center for your great family special, then throw in a $10 coupon valid for $20 or more of bowling. The second email, tell them it’s almost here: and with that your great fun loving, family happy, money saving bowling special of $10 off of $20 of bowling is now available, but this is limited to only 100 customers. On the third email, tell them it’s almost sold out, but if they want some family fun, they still have some time and then set a deadline (like 9am on Presidents Day).

10. And the most important tip. Don’t make every email a “selly sell” one. Use your email to provide information, to make your customers life better as well as offering information about your center. If you always try to sell me, I will eventually opt out.

Follow these 10 simple tips and watch your email open rate and your business improve…and if you have any questions you can always contact me at fredkaplowitz@gmail.com  

     Sometimes I get blown away by statistics that I was either unaware of, or had a glimmer of knowledge about the subject…or like the first one; already knew.

Here are 10 thought starters:

1.    The Kids Bowl Free Marketing Movement registered 2,150,000 kids last year from 900,000 families.  Our goal this year is 2,300,000 million kids registered. Go to www.kidsbowlfree.com and get your center going in the right direction.

2.    21.5 million Kids between the ages of 6 and 17 play team sports.  The number #1 sport is basketball Bigger than the population of Texas!  The number #1 reason kids quit team sports, by a long shot; 4 out of 10 said,  “it just wasn't fun.” (source ESPN sports participation study).

3.    Kids start in team sports by age 6 years and 4 months. Better get them then if you want them to bowl.

4.    If Facebook were a country it would be #2, between #1, China and number #3, India

5.    More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube visit YouTube each month and over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that's almost an hour for every person on Earth.

6.    One out of three households in this country have no male father figure.

7.    If you are “one in a million” in the USA, there would be 25,000 of you in China.

8.    The Super Bowl is expected to register about 115 million Nielsen households, but with out of home viewing in bars, restaurants and at home held Super Bowl parties accounting for (estimates range)  another 25 to 45 million, Super Bowl viewing could reach 160 million or ONE out of TWO people in the USA…

9.    And the 2015 cost for a 30 second Super Bowl commercial is $4.44 million or $27.50 per thousand viewers or 2.7 cents each (based on 160 million viewers)

10. Now if every proprietor in the USA spent $1,100 each we would have about $4.4 million for a super bowl spot. Just dreaming

Marketing Double Check

You’re busy creating new fliers and letters and Facebook posts for your winter league and open play programs and perhaps, even toying with ideas for summer leagues (Yikes, summer leagues are only 3 months away).

So here is a checklist on your communication tools?

·        What is the tool for?

o   When it works, will we be able to tell?  What is it supposed to do?

·        Who is it for?

o   What segment are you talking to?

o   What do you want them to hear?

·        What’s the call to action?

o   What are you asking the target segment to do

o   Is it crystal clear

o   Are you asking them to do too many things; i.e.click here, go to website, click again, fill out card, sign up, send in. (get the point?)

o   When do you want them to do it by

§  You must have a deadline

§  And you can extend it?

·        When you complete the flier or brochure or letter, show it to ten strangers.

o   But don’t say anything.

o   What questions do they ask you?

·        Now ask them what the material is asking them to do?

o   What SPECIFIC action can they enunciate?

o   When does the material tell you to do it by?

Your job is not to answer every question. 

Nor is it to close the sale.  

The purpose of the material you produce is to generate greater interest by spreading the idea to the segment that it applies to OR, as we have said many times before: 

TO BUILD TRUST!

You may not get this right the first time out, nor will you gain instant trust, but you will start the journey to earning the right to speak with your audience.

And that's worth its weight in gold

Thank You Lew

Dear Fred

Great food for thought! I always love reading your blogs. Just wanted to comment on your last blog. I agree completely!!

 

Knowing a rain dance that worked would be a great thing. Cold weather sure isn't a bad thing but if these are the only things we have going for us, our industry is in trouble.

I know that most of the centers close to ours close on certain days or cut back their hours in the summer. A few even close for 3 months. The reasoning I hear most is that “Nobody wants to be inside in the summer”. 

I think we often use excuses, valid or not to explain why we aren't busy. At a staff meeting a few years ago I pointed out to my employees, managers and even my business partner the danger of looking for an easy way out when it comes to having slow periods of income.

1)       Summer – Nobody wants to bowl or even be inside during the summer

2)      August/September – People are getting and paying for their kids back to school.

3)      August/October/November/December/January and the first week of February – 

         Football

4)      When they aren't watching football its basketball, then baseball or even NASCAR. 

         Don’t let me get started about soccer.

5)      October – All those Halloween parties that weren't there 15 years ago are taking over.

6)      November – First we lose the Friday after Thanksgiving and now Thanksgiving due to

         early shopping.

7)      December – Everyone is shopping and nobody has extra money

8)      January – Everyone is paying off those Christmas bills they made

9)      February – Everyone is still broke from Christmas and now they are spending on 

         Valentines’ Day.

10)   March – The weather is getting nice. I sure do hope it rains this weekend

11)   April /May – Kids are all outside. We can’t get any business until dark, if then.

We all know that there is even more excuses than this but listing them all here would take too long and do nobody any good. As you can see there is always an excuse that can be used. 

Should we just except that sales will continue to dwindle and there is nothing to do about it except hope for rain? I think not, many of these things can be used as marketing opportunities if done right.

Pretty strange that even with all these challenges the movie industry has went from barely existing in the 1970’s to thriving, the restaurant industry has seen people go from eating at home 90% of the time to eating out 90% of the time and they now sell more game system than ever.

If you think everyone wants to be outside when the weather is nice just drive past a movie theater in the summer. Even on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays they busy while most bowling centers close on those days.

We must set goals and come up with ideas on how to obtain them. Spend more time creating business than complaining about business. Take a positive approach with our customers, employees and ourselves rather than looking at just the bad.

We must set very high standards when it comes to customer service. When your staff does a good job let them know about, when they do an excellent job let everyone know about it and If they fall short address the issue and show them how to correct it.

Train and involve your staff in coming up with new ideas (Example: How can we be busy this Halloween season?) and big dividends will follow. Have employee meetings on a regular basis and make sure that you talk with and not at them. Make things fun for them and they will make things fun for your customers.

Market your business every month of the year, not just August and maybe springtime. Why not invite people to your center during the “busy” months too? 

Afraid of a waiting list? If you market your way to being too busy during the hours everyone wants to be there come up with off hour specials and events to drive them from prime-time weekend hours to late night, early morning or weekday business when you have lanes available.

The bowling business can be like a snowball rolling downhill. If we have more business than normal in the winter we will have more business than usual in the spring, more business in the spring than usual and you can have a better summer and of course a better summer equals a better fall. REPEAT-REPEAT-REPEAT.

The opposite can be true too. The worst thing we can do is cut marketing, hours, staffing, days of the week we are open. 

Would you drive to a restaurant if you didn't for sure if they would be open?  Why do we think our customers would drive to a bowling alley under the same circumstances?

Lewis Sims, Director of Fun and Co-Owner Operator

Dynasty Lanes 3105 St. Rt. 103 Willard Ohio 44890

A December to Remember

Just spent three days in San Antonio TX at the BPAA Bowling Summit.  It was probably one of the best ones I have gone to in many a year, mainly because lots of proprietors seemed happy. Many of them said they had great December business and almost all of them attributed it to cold weather and maybe even lower gas prices.

I know that weather is one of our best marketing tools, but unless we are Native Americans and perhaps mastered the centuries' old rain dance, we are out of luck.

So the question is how can we make very month a good month

Here are 7 "to dos" to help make your business grow in the other months!

1. Start a new league  8 to 12 weeks every month; concentrate on adult child program, learn to bowl/have a ball programs as well as new company leagues that could be every other week as well (remember when we used to do that?

2. OK, so you had  a bunch of holiday parties; why not continue the run and promote holiday parties every month with different themes like "cabin fever" parties, "spring fling" parties, "indoor summer picnics" and "fall back parties?"

3. Nice time of the year to do fund raisers on Sunday afternoons, Sunday nights and even mid week 2nd shift parties.  Fund raising doesn't stop; it goes on and on and what better venue than your bowling center.  Getting involved in the BVL fund and Wounded Warrior projects will make your center a hero in the community and people will stand up and thank you for helping America's heroes.

4. Reevaluate your second shift open play programs. You don't need five different promotions; who the hell remembers them anyway? certainly not your customers.  Become the home of the ONE or TWO specials that are really special!!

5. Put the pedal to the metal and accelerate your drive to get emails every day and especially on weekends.  Make sure to get age and gender data (so you can target your emails) as well as what they might be interested in such as: short season leagues, birthday parties, company parties. fund raisers, learn to bowl better programs or have a ball programs.

6. Structure your social media strategy so you have at least three emails and continuing Facebook posts about your center, its relationship to the community AND THEN talk about your offer and coupon

7. Offer an incentive to your cosmic bowlers by sending an email out to them and a Facebook post inviting them to come in THIS SATURDAY night only with 4 or more people and if they do they will get a FREE pizza. Stop complaining "about giving it away. If you charge $12.95 per person and you get 4 people for two hours, that's a bout $52 bucks and your cost at a real high end is $5, so you just got a 90% margin. don't do this every week, but do it as a surprise or offer other incentives for other cosmic nights. Remember the offer is only good for THAT Friday or Saturday night; its a one time deal.

I got a bunch more, but for now....enjoy :-)