Within the next three weeks, you have special revenue opportunities that will give you the opportunity to increase revenue, not by necessarily discounting prices, but by adding value and in some cases even raising price.
Here are several suggestions (depending on your holiday schedule)
1. Be sure you post your holiday schedule for thanksgiving weekends, Christmas Eve or Christmas day and Christmas week as well as New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve and make sure it’s up on your website
2. Looking at the Thanksgiving weekend you have several opportunities here
a. Thanksgiving Eve: attracts a 15 to 30 segment looking for a fun night of drinking, bowling and reuniting with friends. It’s probably the biggest drinking night of the year or one of the top three. Develop certain drink special or dollar drafts for 8 oz. drafts, special munchy appetizers and charge a per person price for either two hours of bowling or unlimited bowling. I price it as unlimited, just because I know that 95% of the lanes will last less than 2 hours, but the UNLIMITED word sounds like a big deal. Kind of like an “all you can eat” buffet where less than 5% of the people gorge themselves.
b. Thanksgiving Day: depending on your geographic area and when it is customary to eat thanksgiving dinner, find a time when people would be most likely to go out. Consider football games and local loyalty to the specific teams. Then develop a Thanksgiving program that attracts the thankfulness motivations that your customers have been reminded of for the last several weeks by every advertiser on the planet. Offer a price of $XX for bowling, shoe rentals, a beverage and then add $3 to $5 to it as a donation to BVL. Everyone is thankful for our Vets who have fought for our freedom. DO NOT discount your 2 hour price, but hold it and then add the extra dollars telling your customers what and why you are doing this…in the spirit of thanksgiving.
c. Black Friday: from 12 to 5pm, conduct a recover and relax party. Special cocktails (not discounted) just specially named; “the Turkey trot cocktail”, “the Black Friday chocolate martini, a few game of bowling and shoe rental for $XX per adult and $$YY for kids under 12. You might not beat the retailers, but you can offer a sanctuary for your customers to get some R & R after their shopping experience. Emphasize that benefit; not the price.
3. Christmas Day: we open at 4pm; some centers don’t open at all. I’m not trying to infringe on anyone’s religious beliefs, buy if you do want to open, I suggest that you run a family program and make it a fund raising activity. Hopefully for BVL, but certainly for a charity to include 2 hours of bowling and shoe rentals and a bounce back coupon valid for an instant party pack (1st game free for up to 5 people). You pick when it’s valid and or available, but make it a short expiration). This is a good tool to recruit folks for short season leagues if they come in January to redeem this coupon. Price this 2 hour family special at your regular price and add $3 to $5 for the charity.
• No doubt you have other ideas to promote these next six weeks, just make sure that you use social media, not just to promote the specials, but to connect with your customers about the holidays. Maybe tell the history of Thanksgiving or you tube videos of kids dressed up at a school play as pilgrims or candid interviews with your customers about what thanksgiving means to them that you can post on Facebook. Connect with your customers emotionally during the season and then present your offer at the end of the post
• Create an email schedule where you can get your emails to specific segments based on the programs you offer, then develop a three or four part content campaign that gets your base to know like and trust you in order to take action on your offer. If you’re a little lost about this phase, give me a buzz and I’ll walk you through it
• And finally don’t forget to thank your customers for their patronage during thanksgiving and send them all a Holiday card using any template from a host of greeting card sites for little or no money. Wish them your warmest greetings.
• Sincerity and authenticity mean more in 2017 than they ever did!
p.s. That’s why I send you this valuable, easy to implement FREE information…because I want you to be successful. I hope you will recognize my sincerity and authenticity and maybe one day ask for my assistance as so many other proprietors have done. Look forward to helping you take your business to a whole new level
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