Facility Design for Profitable Birthday Party's
By the Family Entertainment Center
Page 1, 2
Staff
Your guests could do a party
at home, but the mess, the time it takes to organize and execute including the clean-up is the major consideration for paying you to
entertain them. And that word "Entertain"
is a key factor in the success of your party strategy. Having the space
available for a party, providing some paper plates and napkins with a
good assortment of activities and fun for your guests is a good place
to start. But, for great "Free" advertising (through a growing
army of satisfied word-of-mouth customers) you need to go a lot further.
It goes without saying that your center
is clean and safe and you do your best to make it a comfortable
experience. But what about your staff,... or should we say, your
'Ambassadors of Play' or some such other descriptive title. Hire
and then empower your staff with a play attitude. This is a great
industry, we get to play and have fun everyday, make sure your staff
understands that, and is enthusiastic about doing it - consistently.
Here's an Idea |
One
facility we know of creates this kind of guest enthusiasm
around their indoor playground and a giant speed slide. The Ambassador of Play will
gather 6-8 children together and offer a colored (water-paint)
stripe on their cheek for every child who climbs up to the
top of the play structure and comes down the speed slide.
It is not an award for first or second place, only for
the accomplishment. The child with their colored stripe
runs off to show mom & dad her achievement. It is a
little example, but it helps with the play experience and
pushes that warm fuzzy feeling just a little bit further. |
Then, find ways to use that enthusiasm to create a reputation for
wildly fun and exciting party's. Encourage your staff to play with
and get involved in the activities with your guests. Get them to lead while challenging
your guests to try new activities and new ways of using old activities.
Have them offer rewards for trying something new.
We can assume that most of
your staff will be young adults, and may have younger siblings that will
have a closer ear to your customer than you. Use that resource. Hold
regular staff meetings and ask for their input, give your staff the
ability to be part of your center's success and reward them for their
ideas and enthusiasm. The best new idea wins the "Master-of-Play" title
for a week/month. Most importantly, get them involved with your center
and the groups by creating a work environment that they feel they can
add to and be respected for, and they will pleasantly surprise you.
Follow Up
Your guests leave with a smile on their face, great memories of fun times, and a sense of value received, now what? Follow up. Follow up is an easy way to stay top-of-mind with your guests once they leave satisfied, and more importantly, if they don't leave satisfied. Nothing destroys a reputation faster than an un-resolved bad experience. But, your guests have left happy, now you can use them as your extended sales force - but only if you follow up, and do so regularily.
If you have started right from day one, you have a system of gathering names and contact information that will become your best method of follow up and marketing. It is much easier and less expensive to keep a customer than have to constantly be searching for new customers. Having an integrated method of gathering and managing your customers is paramount.
Three to four days after your guests event, a thank you email or even better - snail mail note of some kind sets your facility so far beyond all the others, as to not even compare. Additionally, with this form of contact you can present new and other offers, including some sort of discount on their next party if they book now, or if they refer you to friends, the opportunities are endless.
Adding previous and new customers to an email newsletter that is sent every now and again is a standard in today's wired world. Having a web site that is informative and entertaining can also be used to keep customers tuned in to your family entertainment center. It is important if you choose to use these electronic methods of contact that you don't abuse the priviledge and border on the line of spamming people with innappropriate contact. Permission based marketing is appreciated and looked forward to.
If you are using some form of customer database, three months out from the guests birthday, they receive a 'time to party' notice from you and again, it can include an early booking offer or news of a new theme party that the guest may be interested in. By encouraging guests to book early you can set that date aside knowing you have booked the revenue.
Think back to the last time you received some kind of personal follow up from some place where you spent time and money. Chances are it is a distant memory. If you have an automated process (and you should) of some kind, this effort is minimal in both time and money when you consider the potential returns. Now let's party. |
