Did You Know?

1- Did you know that with all the hoopla about the new digital world we live in, people are still spending more time watching Television than they
spend on the internet and most of the time they spend on the internet is...watching television?!?!?

2- Did you know that it is more important to ask an employee "what did you learn" than to find out if he was successful.  Focusing on winning, accountability and all that good stuff is certainly important, but it is even more important that you find out what the employee learned while doing her assignment so you can document and share that with other employees.

The Six Essential Questions Every Marketer Needs To Ask

It’s been more than three months since I last posted any content on “Fredquarters' Marketing” blog.  

After having dealt with some physical issues, my only regret now is that I won’t be able to attend Bowl Expo next week in Las Vegas. This will be only the second one I will have missed in a very long time. I will miss my friends, colleagues and business partners. And you, if you are going.

In any case, I wanted to send you off to BOWL EXPO with some thoughts about Marketing; after all that’s what this blog is about!!

No doubt your business is facing marketing challenges on all fronts; new competition; new kinds of customers with different tastes; different family structures; different payment options; customer service changes and higher expectations; the newer ways of communicating and learning something new every day; what’s a hardworking proprietor to do?

Here Are Six Questions You Have To Answer When Facing Your Marketing Challenge?

1.       WHO are you trying to reach?  If you say everybody, you better start over and laser focus in on who is going to buy the specific product you want to offer?

2.      HOW will this specific group become aware of your product?  Nope a flier on the counter or even a few emails and Facebook posts won’t cut it either. You need a battle tested rock solid campaign, ( and we have lots of campaign options we can share with you; just give us a buzz)

3.      WHAT story are you telling, spreading or living or are you still selling 99 cent bowling?

4.     DOES your story resonate with the world view people have about your center, your bowling products, your food and beverage products or arcade products? What do they want? What do they believe?

5.      WHAT is preventing them from taking action?  Fear? Not knowing about it? Product doesn’t turn them on enough to take action?

6.     WHEN do you expect them to take action?  If the answer is now, then why are they saying “later” or “never?”  Why?  What are they telling their friends?

Have a great BOWL EXPO and please look for two of our newer consultants; Dave Patz and Steve Sempeck.

They will be in the exhibit areas, so please stop by either the KIDS BOWL FREE 

BOOTH and ask my partner, Bruce Davis where you can find one of these two Kaploe Consultants 

Or stop by the MOBILYTIX BOOTH and speak with Kris Brus, (our newest relationship partner bringing mobile apps to life just for you), about Dave or Steve’s location. 

Or contact Dave via cell @ 216 409 4416 or Steve via cell @ 402 253 4371 

S.A.Y. What is in your heart

Some of you have poked me in the last month asking why I am not blogging as frequently. Well, truth be told I have again been suffering with a back issue, which makes it oh so painful to sit, stand, walk or even lie down.

So besides being a touch grouchy, my working and sitting have concurrently waned, making me less likely to write. 

For this I apologize and have taken action to get my pesky and incredibly painful disk fixed tomorrow Vis a Vis back surgery.

However, I must write this blog to you today because it is the only time of the year that I ask you for money.

I want to tell you about a group of kids in an organization called S.A.Y. (Stuttering Association For The Young) who are among 70 million people who stutter on a daily basis, including 5% OF ALL CHILDREN ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Young people who stutter often face unimaginable fear, pain and cruelty from a world that doesn't seem to understand them.

Over time they recoil from the world, silencing themselves to hide their stutter, embarrassment and shame. Young people who stutter may also feel incredibly isolated and alone and many face daily teasing, ridicule and bullying.

Since 2001, SAY has offered comprehensive innovative programs that address the physical, social and emotional impacts of stuttering.

Our Mission is to empower young people who stutter and inspire the world to treat them with respect and compassion so they can achieve their dreams.Our Vision is to live in a world where every voice matters.

The Need.  This year alone SAY will award over $400,000 in financial aid to families in need. To date, NO child has been turned away due to a family’s inability to pay.

Your support helps SAY continue this important legacy. Won’t you be a part of the solution and make sure that every child, everywhere, has a voice.

On April 27^th, 2015, we will be hosting our 13^th annual benefit gala at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in NYC, NY. 

For more information about this event please visit www.SAY.org/gala or email gala@say.org

If you cannot make the event, please visit http://www.say.org/support-say and click the button that says “DONATE.”

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support

Best regards                                                                                                  Fred Kaplowitz,                                                                           A Stutterer

...Because every customer counts, that's why!

Gregg, one of my loyal subscribers, sent this letter to me a while back and I filed it under “future blog ideas”, which I promptly merged with another file, and until recently, had no idea where it was. 

Here is his original letter, the company’s response to him and a little narrative on what it all means, at least to me, by yours truly.

“Hi Fred,

Recently I wanted (actually along with two friends) to purchase a Montblanc Pen for a friend of mine (ours) that was turning 70.

Hard to believe that you can't purchase a Montblanc pen in the greater St. Louis area.

Anyway below is the response I received after I went to their web site and filled out their request for service.

After years of being in sales it is refreshing to receive a response like this one.

Makes you want to buy an expensive pen doesn't it?

Regards,

Gregg

Here is their response.

          Dear Gregg,

Thank you for your interest in purchasing a Montblanc.

We recommend that you call our Customer Service Department at
800-995-4810, from here one of our highly trained customer service
representatives would be honored to assisting you in locating the perfect
Montblanc piece to suit your needs. We can help you select an item, place
your order, provide confirmation and have your order ship directly to you.
they are all very pleasant to work with and will assist you as much as
They can. From here you can learn more about engraving and gift wrapping
services as well.
We also have over 30 boutiques throughout the United States and Canada
where you can visit and they will be happy to ship it directly to you.

Please visit our boutique locator at www.montblanc.com for the location
nearest you. The boutiques offer engraving and gift wrapping services as
well.

     I hope this information is of assistance to you.

Sincerely,Miriam Messer                                                                   MONTBLANC North America                                                                           Customer Service

     Phone: 800 - 995 4810

     Email: Service@Montblanc.Com

     Internet: www.Montblanc.Com                   

Now I don’t know about you, but when a high end retailer goes the extra mile, I almost don’t feel violated for paying substantially more for his product.

However; as a marketer and a producer of content, note their “word- smithing” (which I underlined in the letter) consisting of such phrases as:

·        “highly trained customer service”,

·        “will be honored to work with you”,

·        “assisting”,

·        “providing information”

·        “happy to ship”

Nowhere in their tight little letter does it say: “C’mon in, pick one out and we’ll be happy to sell it to you. Oh yes, free shipping too.”

Now I guess if you were selling a less prestigious brand of wrist watches, you might have that approach and a completely different image.

But when you’re fighting for market share in a smaller, yet more affluent market, you need to take your shots carefully, adroitly and with great precision because every customer counts

So how are you treating your brand?

"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