June 2012 Blog Posts (11)

In business since 1977 the Mission Statement of Buena Lanes is “provide the community with a recreational facility while at the same time make a profit,” states General Manager Dan Mueller.  “The only way to remain in business and thrive is with very little to no customer turnover.  And for this to happen you have to know what drives your market, you must be consumer driven and consumer focused.”  This attention to marketing is what led Dan to Partywirks and online booking.

Buena…

Every now and then I get caught up in the technology

of the times or sometimes the technology of the times catches me up





For several hours, last night and early this AM, the technology caught up

with me, slapped me around and said, "here on top of the other gazillion

things you have to do, deal with the fact that when you type the letters in

the words, they seem to move to a new line."



I hadn't been under the influence of any known social stimulants…

We human beings do not like change.  We like things to be settled, organized and have systems in place that operate smoothly and without disturbance.  So, when we hear over and over again that we need to upgrade our websites, create a Face Book page, and market online some of us dig in our heels and refuse to acknowledge the facts.  We especially feel this way if we are not comfortable with computers, software, the internet or social media.

It is similar to learning a foreign language…

When I was young, my Russian-Polish- Yiddish speaking Grandmother who

escaped from the ovens during WWII used to talk about the war and what

happened to her. She would scare the heck out of me with her

stories, sometimes resulting in nightmares.



She would always finish her stories with one saying: "Remember always,

Fred, she would whisper, as you go through life, your greatest strength is

your greatest weakness."   It was her way of saying to me that i…

A British psychologist, Pamela Briggs, a member of the British

Psychological Society has indicated that:

"Stress is often made worse by the anticipation of an unpleasant event and

actually dissipated once you tackle the problem directly."



Which leads me to league bowling and the stress we have faced for over 34

years in watching ABC, WIBC and now USBC numbers continue to go down.



Where once (1977)  there were almost 10 million sanctioned league…

Since we were able to understand what words meant, we have been told by

parents, teachers, relatives and friends that "we can  do better," that "we

can always do more."



All the way from grade school thru high school we heard the mantra: "always

do your best."



We were taught that "more is better."



If we did better, we would "get more of IT".



And then Paul Simon wrote a song about "Kodachrome" and in it he said,

"When I think back on all the…

Our Kids Bowl Free Team was on Fox and Friends news this morning as well as

"on line" after the show.



One of our people, Darin Spindler fielded questions from Gretchen, Steve

and Brian and then engaged them in a little tournament.  It was fun for all

of us and we hope it was especially fun for the 4 million + households

across the country that viewed it...and will put bowling on the top of

their list when they want to have some fun with family and/or…

Free Live Webinar: "Creating Raving Fans and Building Lifetime Customers"

Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (Pacific time)

To register go to: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/297924910

Description: Customer satisfaction is not good enough!

“Customer Satisfaction” is no…

Some reactions to my "Everyman" post below I thought you would be

interested in reading.  Thank you for your comments. Always appreciated.



Fred,

I have wondered for years why we don't have a national advertising program

(generic) to promote our industry product. I have an annual advertising

budget of about $20,000. for TV/radio and use it all up.



It would also be helpful if BPAA, USBC would do some advertising to also

promote the sport/recreation to the…

“Everyman” can bowl, but

"Everyman" no longer does.



Fortunately, some men and women still bowl. Approximately 1% of the 200

million adults are in sanctioned leagues and another 70+ million people

open play bowl about 2.5 times a year…at least that’s what the surveys

say.





But, if you speak to proprietors around the country, as I do, you’ll find

that there has been a significant fall off in open play in the last 90

days.





How…

Every day, I get to speak to quite a few small business men (women) in

various industries.  All these interactions in various industries help me

to hone my perceptions so I can help people in other industries. The

challenges are almost always transportable from one industry to another.



The interesting thing is that when a business has already decided to be the

low price leader, they have gone to the point of last refuge.



And usually at that point I cant help…