Selling Bowling | Methods, Strategies, And Techniques To Book More Business
A few years back an operator of a chain of well-run, up-to-date, and busy centers called me with a dynamite suggestion for an interview for my marketing club members. He said there was a lady in his center having great success building new leagues from scratch for him. She was not an employee but was one of his dedicated league bowlers. He was excited to report to me that she had recently formed numerous adult leagues of 4-to-a-team filling 24 teams once, 32 teams the next time and that she already had 28 teams ready to go for her next league, plus she had 6 full teams on her waiting list! I was anxious to find out how this super salesperson was able to do this and report back to my members, who might use the information to fill some holes they had in their schedules.
Takeaway #1: It doesn't take a marketing or sales type person to get results, you can get good results simply by using someone who wants to introduce the fun of league bowling to others!
I gave her a call and when she answered she came across as very mild-mannered and quiet, in no way did I take her to be a "sales type"of person. I asked her what sales techniques she was using to convince all these people who were mostly new to league play, to sign up for her Pizza, Beverage, & Bowling 16-week leagues. She politely told me that was not a salesperson type at all, she just liked bowling and offering others the fun of league bowling. She found it was very easy to get people to join her leagues by simply explaining all the fun that was involved. When I told her she was an amazing 'social seller,' she responded that she prefers the name Social Butterfly.
Where Did She Find The People?
The prospects were easy to find, they were already at the center open bowling during the center's busy times. All the Social Butterfly did was walk through the open play traffic and talk with customers about how fun it is being a part of one of her leagues. It's important to note that her leagues were priced at $18 per week per bowler which was more than center management thought she should ask for. She presented her league to people about 6 to 8 hours a week and most often filled a league in a week or two. Of course, she found people who brought friends and family to the league because she asked interested people to get friends and family members together and join.
Takeaway #2: This technique is relatively easy, the cost is low, and you're only spending a concentrated effort on people who have already shown an interset in bowling and/or liking your establishment. When soliciting customers in- house you may have to ask a lot to get a few, but overall, a well worth it endeavor!
Your Social Butterfly
I encourage you to find your own Social Butterfly to talk with customers about joining a special hole-filling league you are offering. Find someone who enjoys league bowling (maybe a current league customer) and ask them to "work" a couple of hours a night during your busy open playtimes. Give him or her some flyers and a clipboard and let them be social. This approach is low risk with a possible high reward. The marketing targets are already in your center, so the difficult and expensive marketing work is done. Be sure to make good use of your monitors, broadcast over the PA, display cards and flyers including around the center and bar, and consider making a QR code for more information.