10 Ways To Improve Your Business Now

I have been working on the pro bono marketing audit work I promised 7 proprietors and, not unexpectedly, it has taken me longer than I expected; most things usually do, but what I have been finding out is kind of interesting.

I won’t name the centers, but here are some facts, at least based on those I completed. 

Nothing will surprise you, I am sure, but taken in aggregate and then extrapolated  for the industry, we are doing a mediocre job marketing ourselves.

1.        We have bought into the website, the email and the Facebook post as our only means of communicating. It has become a substitute for direct mail and since we think it is free, we keep using it…ad nauseum Unfortunately we have no plan, no campaign goals. We just throw up a flier or type up a special, post it and expect people to come in to the center.

2.      We all have specials pages where we have coupons for all of our open play programs. Do you know how many you get?   My guess is very few, but yet you still do it. Why?

3.      Have you recently analyzed your market from a demographic and competitive standpoint Most haven’t and it surprises me that centers offer the same product to everyone. There is no target marketing. it’s from – what – you – think – of – to- the – flier – to – the – website – to Facebook.

4.      Centers are still using the one bullet pricing tactic. Now I know that during slower times (weekdays after 9pm) you run price specials. I get it. I really do. But can you make some of those nights fun. After all the folks who patronize your center during that time are probably 15 to 30 years old.  “Besides a cheap price, do you have any fun for me?”

5.      You have way too many prices and specials; you charge by the person for some specials, by the hour per lane for others, and by the game for the remainder. One center had 22 specials.  How do you think their NEW customer service person sounded on the phone when a customer called and asked, “Hi what’s your special tonight?” “Uh, hold on”…is probably the closest he or she could come before tracking down the manager or owner.

6.      Your data base is more a mailing list than a data base. you are probably missing age and gender information and if you miss that, then when you do send out your emails, you are sending a cosmic bowling email to a 57 yr old man…and eventually he will opt out of wanting to get your emails simply because it isn’t relevant to him.

7.       Here is the most amazing discovery, which I kind of already knew from informal surveys I have taken at the many seminars where I have presented my programs.  You have a piece of business called league bowling. each of these participants are worth between $400 and $600 to you, including food and beverage. If you have 1,000 of these people, you generate revenue of about $400,000 to $600,000 and yet, NO ONE SPENDS MORE THAN A FEW THOUSAND BUCKS ON THEM  I guarantee we are the only industry that spends no money to generate our biggest piece of revenue.  How is that possible?  Would APPLE or P&G or BUDWEISER or any other industry not advertise their product. Hell, even golf courses, water parks, theme parks and other similar venues advertise and they don’t have a $500 product to sell!!! Maybe that is one (of many) reason why league bowling has been declining.  Nobody knows what we have to sell. Nobody.

8.      You can read all the statistics you want about Internet usage, yet consumers still spend the most time watching TV than any other medium and that’s a fact, Jack.  Now I’m not telling you to go lay down a bunch of money on TV, but I am saying you need to invest far more in your product than just fliers, PA announcements and emails to get people to join a league. You need to put together an integrated plan for each promotion with a strong offer, guarantees, deadlines, communication schedules, inside and outside sales, signage, direct mail, website, emails, Facebook posts and you tube videos instead of just a one or two shot email.

9.       Your birthday parties are boring.  You offer either 2 games of bowling or an hour of bowling and pizza and soft drinks, paper plates and yippee.  Has anybody offered a piñata for the kids to break? Or a scavenger hunt? Or a Baker system format where the kids get matching vests to let them know which team they are on?

10.   And finally, stop trying to be all things to all people. It never works. Stake out a position and stick to it. If you run short season leagues; tell people you are the “home of the short season bowling program.”  if you have the best cosmic show in town, tell people, “Happy Lanes, the best cosmic light n sound show in Happy Acres”. Let people know what you stand for, because right now, nobody knows you or what you sell or why they should buy from you.

And that is a damn shame.

Summer sunburn vs. Bowling

Sometimes we struggle to put art and copy together to create the best communication possible; to get our point across and, of course, to sell something.

We seek art that is captivating, makes a bold statement and uses as few words as possible.

It's either my Earnest Hemingway mentality of getting a sentence down to as few words as possible or my billboard mentality.

If you cant say it in  seven words or less, don't bother.

Pint ads are that way too.

Here's a design I found that I thought was brilliant.

Although I might have used a human being with a painful sunburn.

It makes a point in a way that is really different and attention getting.

And its memorable.

It would be great copy on your outside sign or on a banner inside of the center

Or a tag for every summer flier you develop.

And as a stand alone, it rocks.

Are You Asking "WHY" enough?

We often do things because we never ask why we do them. Instead we frequently find ourselves realizing that:

We do them because everybody else does it the same way.

We do them because we have always done them that way.

We do them because we don’t have the time to think of something better.

We do them because it feels like we should.

We do them because we’re supposed to do it that way.

We do them because people expect us to do it that way.

We do them because people would think we were “strange” if we didn’t do it that way.

We do them because it’s the only way we know.

We do them because it’s a “rule” we have always followed and we’re afraid to break it.

Maybe it’s time to ask “why” you do the things you do and if there is a better way to achieve the results you want.  

So go ahead and ask "why"...and break soem rules along the way

Whats Your Point of View?

I recently read a blog post from a very well know blogger who stated that THE most important job a marketing professional has is to get others (clients, bosses, her staff, customers and prospects) to accept her point of view.

No doubt that is important, but I think the number one job a professional marketing person needs to successfully and logically complete is to passionately develop that point of view in the first place.

How To Take A Different Shot This Summer

It’s the end of the fall/winter league season. Many centers’ winter leagues have already ended and spring/summer leagues are starting. 

Other centers’ leagues will go another 3 to 4 weeks, or even more, due to snow cancellations and the like which could result in a shortened summer league schedule. 

No doubt you are doing your lane to lane solicitation, call back programs, emailing and social media strategies to sign up as many summer league bowlers as possible, right?

If you’re doing these tasks and treading water, maybe it’s time to take a shot at something different; like a monthly open play bowling pass.

Years ago, probably in the mid to late nineties, when I headed up the marketing effort for a 62 center chain (Bowling Corporation of America), we experimented with monthly summer open play passes in our upstate NY centers and Michigan centers; two areas that we had a notoriously difficult time in flooring summer bowlers. 

(In these environments, anything over 50 degrees was summer and everyone was outside)! Getting them back inside was a “toughy”.

So we countered that with a  price package of unlimited open play bowling for you and 1 friend for $29.95. For 2 months it was $49.95 and for 3 months it was $59.95. After two people, everyone else paid the prevailing rate. Back then we used punch cards to track usage and plan future marketing plans. 

Shoe rentals were uniformly set at $2. Remember these price points were “mid Nineties” prices in low summer league based centers. Very low :(

It was a successful program in that it met our fairly ambitious sales goals.  We planned to roll out the following summer with all the marketing support we could muster. 

But, by then, BCA was sold to another chain…and we never did get our shot to repeat it.

Maybe you can take your shot this summer…after your leagues floor, of course.

How to Write an Email for Summer League Bowling

No doubt you have read some of my rants about not using social media properly. In this blog, I have tried to use a little humor and add my selling point as well.

The motivators of FEAR and GAIN can usually get people to take action; the fear that they will "miss out" on something (I.e. "This deal will expire soon, so you better do something NOW) and the opportunity "to gain" something (I.e. "You've just scored one great deal and a great car that your friends will go wild about.").

Using these kinds of motivators, hot buttons are pushed, eyes glaze over and prospects now become customers.  Now, it doesn't happen all at once. You have to say it over and over; usually a campaign of four emails over 20 to 25 daysto to the relevant target audience. In the old media world, it took 12 to 14 impressions to make a dent.  

Do you know how many emails we see every day? A bazillion, right? so set up a series of three or even four on the same theme. Then space them out over a period of 5  to 6 days in between each email to the same targeted "cell" (described below).

If this is your 1st email, then the second and third ones should talk about variuous preventative methods to stop mosquito bites (Google that). 

Here's an example of one email I would send to women and men 25 to 44. 

If you are able to segment my data base into women and men, then you might have a subject line like, "Ladies, don't let mosquitoes spoil your BBQ. New miracle formula . Or "Guys, a sure fire way to make your BBQ great." Or How to Get Mosquitos To Never Bite You Again.

I would also add actual facts about mosquito bites from a person knowledgable out this subject. You could also try a "split test" where you would make another offer to the same segments. In effect, you would have two (2) male segment cells and two (2) female segment cells. You can then judge responses by click throughs to a landing page or emails back to you or good old fashioend phone calls.

Nothing Spoils a Back Yard BBQ Faster Than a Swarm of Mosquitoes, Not to Mention the Endless Scratching That Results!!

“Gotta love summer. Great views. Great people”

How about one night a week where you don’t have to cook, where you can get away from mosquitoes and relax in air conditioned comfort while you enjoy some fun with friends and family?

Its Summer Bowling Where You can Knock Down 10 Pins, Just Kick back and Enjoy The Fun.

We have 8 to 12 week bowling sessions for competitive bowlers, social bowlers, kids and adults, baby boomers, programs for rookies and programs where you get to go to a (baseball team name) game or get a new bowling ball.  Just click here (landing page link of our summer program  schedule) to see our schedule and then call us to reserve your spot or to ask us any questions. (phone number).

It’s Your One Night A Week Chance To Escape The Mosquitoes  and Enjoy The Fun, Fun, Fun

Center Name, LOGO, Address, City, State, Zip, Phone, Website, Email Go Here

Who Is Talking About It Now?

Every now and then I get a stretch (like 3 days) in the office where I can catch up, get some sitting and staring time and just wonder about “what if” scenarios.

My main thrust is always “What If” I did X for my clients, would it work? Would they have success?  Would it meet the “realistic” goals we set? How could it be most easily implemented? How much training would it take? What would the timing be?  How could we measure it or would it be looked upon as something “they” just didn’t like? 

And if they didn’t like it, how could I communicate the benefits of the program better (again) to them?

The hardest part isn’t coming up with the idea. The hardest part is getting someone to change their mind about some set ideas they may have; ideas that have been shown to be true maybe once or twice, in the customers’ minds are instantly cast in stone as being 100% everlasting. 

Just one bad customer experience at your center is probably enough to convince that family that your center is “always that way” or has “gone downhill.” Changing that mind set becomes a very difficult task, very difficult indeed.

And as a marketer, you have to get people to trust your product as both an economic and emotional value. Maybe, you have to get certain segments of your market to trust your product that it will provide them with new benefits they haven’t even thought of yet so they will use your product even more. 

More importantly, you have to get the people who already believe and trust in your product to tell their friends and family about good your product works or makes them feel.

Some marketers try to change the customer’s mind set by offering the cheapest price for what they believe, and in some cases have convinced themselves of, is a commodity product. Other brands try to offer the highest price, zeroing in on the product’s prestige and luxury attributes.  Others try to offer better service, guarantees, rebates, loyalty rewards, and a host of other tactics to get customers to trust their product’s benefits in order to stimulate a purchase.

Through all of this, it all comes down to trust.

Do you trust the spokesman of the product enough to believe the products attributes? Or even the product’s attributes? (All fully demonstrated and documented of course!) Is there enough inherent proof in the product itself to add to its credibility so the customer will believe it will make her life better, more convenient, less painful or give her more happiness?

Here is something I thought about; kind of a Facebook post, but also a 30 second blurb on your website:

“Hi I’m Fred, owner of Happy Lanes and I would like you to come to Happy Lanes. Sure it’s a bowling alley, but it’s also a place where you and your family can get away from the TV, the X Box, the WIFI, the I-Tunes, the text messages  and cell phone and do something you may not have done as a family in a while…just talk.  So bring the family to Happy Lanes, bowl for two hours, have some fun and just talk with each other; just $25 for up to 5 people for two hours of bowling fun… and those cool shoes.”  C’mon in and be a family again cause the family that plays together stays together.”

Now if you really felt this way; were passionate about it and got behind it, you could be a spokesman to get families to start talking with one another; to talk about what’s happening at school, work, relationships and all kinds of things. Maybe if your local schools or PTA Moms got behind this, it would go viral. And your center, Happy Lanes, would be the star of the show, the first to take a stand about family communications.

What do you think? 

Want to talk about it?