To own The TrainerTainment Company Party Play Book!

I am so excited to show you our brand new product that we are releasing next week. If you haven’t signed up for our next webinar, I hope you’ll Sign Up Today. One lucky attendee will win the first copy of this great new comprehensive tool. I’ll show you all the great party planning ideas and sales tools that are included in this comprehensive guide. We plan to have a very interactive dialogue about how to make sure you book as many company parties as you possibly can this fall!

NOW back to my “Be First” title. This year has included a lot of firsts for me personally. Being first is all about winning or at least stepping out front to try something new. Repelling, zip lining, going to Costa Rica, paying the last child’s college bill, winning Biggest Loser at my gym, and working with many of you for the first time have all been exciting firsts for me this year.

I encourage you to look at some of your first time experiences of the year. As you gear up for the last 4 months of 2010, the end of a decade (seems like we were just talking about y2k yesterday), I encourage you to seek first time opportunities that you may not have considered in past years. Look at the people you would like to do business with and call them. Invite them into your center, and express your desire to do business with them. All they can tell you is, "No," and heck – that’s where you are today.

Read on for more Firsts.

I want to use the newsletter this week to make a couple of exciting announcements. At TrainerTainment^®, we are committed to delivering training that helps the companies we serve get more money to the bottom line. One of the ways we do that is through free webinars. We produce those webinars live, and you can participate and view them during that time. After that free webcast, we store those training sessions in our webinar library that can be viewed and shared with your team members 24/7 when you sign up for Xpress Training^TM.

This week’s newsletter includes our webinar schedule for the rest of the year. We invite you to put these dates on your calendar and join us for this great series.

September Webinar, Tuesday, 9/14/2010 (11:30 a.m. CDT) – Want to Know More?

Attend this webinar and win a brand new FREE TrainerTainment^® product. We are very excited to release the new COMPANY PARTY PLAYBOOK! You can be the first to see this great new tool. Join us live when we use the webinar venue as the format to roll out this new product. One lucky webinar attendee will win the 1^st copy of this complete guide to building great company products and selling them all the time to everyone!

October Webinar, Thursday, 10/14/2010 (11:30 a.m. CDT) – Make the Most of Your Holiday Season

From parties to stocking stuffers, the holidays give you a way to bring new business into your center all season long. Attend this webinar if you want to learn the top 10 ways to get people to spend more money at your family entertainment center this year!

November/December–End of Year Strategic Planning Webinar Series

The new year is a time to wipe the slate clean. Will you be in position to sell more than ever before? Participate in this 4–part series and know that you will begin 2011 planning to have the best year of sales that you’ve ever had! This series is a step–by–step process that is more than simple resolutions or goal setting. Join other FEC sales managers, GMs, owners, and front line team members. Together, we’ll create a strategic plan that is sure to blow the doors off of any sales goal you may have had in the past!

Continue Reading to Find the Complete End of Year Lineup!!

Meet Lexi. You might guess by looking at her picture that she’s bright and probably does a great job answering the phone. I met Lexi first by phone and email. She works for one of the centers that we serve, and about 10 months ago, she was required to implement our birthday sales qualification process. The way our program works is that we provide remote coaching and a script to anyone who answers the phone. The goal is, with a “sales process” in place, we can take the incoming birthday inquiry and turn it into a sale 9 times out of 10. We have shoppers that call to book birthday parties and then send immediate feedback to the center that rates the quality of the call.

In the beginning, when Lexi was shopped, she made sure to follow back up with us when and if she didn’t score 112% (there are bonus points). I spent time encouraging and coaching Lexi. She was doing a good job and getting good scores, but I felt like she might be missing the point. I admired the fact that she wanted to get a perfect score every time, but the real goal was to use the system in order to book more parties.

Last week I got to visit with Lexi in person, and I was so motivated I had to share her comments with you, and how she has helped her facility to increase birthday revenue by 49% this year.

Read on and see how they did it!

Communication, connection, and conversation. That’s the big buzz, and if we can’t get good at it, then in many ways, we are going to be disconnected from our customers because we have chosen not to communicate with them.

I am in no way, shape, or form a social media whiz or a marketing guru, but I can share with you the "must haves" that I think have helped my business succeed, as well as the things that I think a family entertainment center must embrace in order to have a credible presence in the marketplace today.

The "Must Haves":

1. You must have a web site that doesn’t look like your brother–in–law created it in his spare time. Here is a partial list of the things that drive me crazy as a consumer and as a training company. When we go to a web site to check out a client, here are the common things that I see that scream, “They don’t know what they are doing!”

   Read the rest of the article for the facts

I participated in the Bowling Centers Association of Michigan’s show last week. It was absolutely amazing. They had record attendance. I was invited to present our class that focuses on providing GREAT promotions year round. This seminar is a lot of fun, and the group as a whole shared amazing promotional ideas. I was so impressed with the Michigan board that put the show on and the bowling center owners that seem so committed to growing their businesses in the great state of Michigan despite the economy. You couldn’t miss the energy that surrounded the event. BPAA Executive Director, Steve Johnson, even commented on how well done and exciting the event was.

I think they are passionate about what they are doing in the state of Michigan. I’ve always thought a lot of Roger Philipi, and it was neat on the night of the banquet and awards to watch every single recipient honestly give recognition to others as they received the attention they deserved. It was obvious to me that they are passionate about their association and that they “get it” that they are truly in service one to another!

We had good trade show time, and I was able to meet proprietors that I had not met before as well as other vendors. I love the opportunity to talk with other business owners. As a business owner myself, I feel like we all experience many of the same joys and challenges of ownership. I am particularly motivated when I meet someone who loves what they do. My friend, CEO of Bowling Music Network, Jim Juniper, is an extraordinary business owner from whom I’ve learned a lot. He introduced me to Abid Skeikh, who is the owner of a sock company. Expert Hosiery, LLC.

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I hope you enjoyed last week’s article about Jimmy, a true Customer Service Superstar. This week, in Part 2, I’m so excited to tell you about one of my favorite companies on the planet. If you’ve ever seen one of my seminars, particularly on the subject of customer service, you’ve no doubt heard me mention this company. I’m a true-blue fan of Starbucks.

How do I love thee, Starbucks? Let me count the ways:

1. The environment. I love the paint colors they use at Starbucks. I love the overstuffed chairs and coffee tables, along with desks and chairs so that students and businesspeople can hang out and get their work done. I’ve moved my mobile office (a/k/a laptop) to Starbucks on many occasions just to get a change of scenery and foster creativity. I love the music they play and that they give you access to free music downloads and free wi-fi. They’re just cool that way.
2. The commitment. I love that Starbucks is committed to their communities and the environment. Did you know that when you buy their Ethos water, you’re helping to provide clean water to people around the globe who wouldn’t otherwise have it? Kind of makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it?
3. The consistency. I know that every time I order my iced grande soy no-whip mocha that it will be made the same way. The barista is going to take a grande-sized clear plastic cup, put in 4 pumps of chocolate, 2 shots of espresso, and fill it to the bottom line with soy milk. Then the barista will stir it up before adding ice and a lid. They’ll serve it to me with a straw, a smile, and a greeting that will brighten my day. And if, for some reason, they are out of the shorter green straws, they will take the longer, brown straw and cut it off for me so that it’s the length of the green straw. Yes, I’ve asked them to do that several times, and they don’t mind at all. I don’t know what it is about the longer straw, but it just doesn’t work for me!
4. The people. All of this wouldn’t matter if Starbucks didn’t hire the greatest people. And that leads me to a couple of stories about Customer Service Superstars.

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We just got back from Bowl Expo. What a great week. It was good to see so many of you and frustrating that the week wasn’t longer so that we could spend more time with you all.

This week is filled with follow up. If you stopped by the booth, we’ll be calling you to follow up with a 20–minute FREE consultation. I will work with you and/or your team personally to address any specific sales, party, training, guest service, or leadership needs. If you didn’t stop by, then you are not on our call list, but please know that throughout the summer, I’ll be offering this 20–minute free consultation session to anyone that asks. All you need to do is call 817.886.4840 to set up a time.

I’ll keep the newsletter short and to the point today. Our real training focus this week is on how to hire the best outside sales person. I invite you to attend a mock interview WEBINAR on Thursday at 11:30 AM CST. This webinar will include a handout with the best interview questions to review with a potential outside sales candidate. Click here to sign up now.

I have found that, many times, sales candidates are great at selling themselves and not so good at selling your Family Entertainment Center. I believe that the interview questions that we’ve put together help to identify the best candidate for the job. I hope you’ll join us on Thursday. All attendees will receive the interview questions, and we’ll add these questions to the resources that anyone can grab if you are a member of Xpress Training.

I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July. It’s such a wonderful holiday – albeit very HOT here in Texas. I find that this holiday is the best opportunity to specifically take the time to reflect on why it is good to be an American. I thought of you all and because our readership is large I believe that there are many of you who have served our country or who have sons, daughters, spouses, or other family members that serve us all today. Thank you all so much for your sacrifice and commitment to our freedom. It means everything to me that your willingness to serve and put your family at risk makes it possible for my family and me to work and live free in the greatest country in the world.

We always appreciate your input and would enjoy discussing any problems or questions you might have on Outside Sales.

Please come to Booth 841
Bowl Expo 2010

If you are attending Bowl Expo you’ll want to be sure and stop by our booth – Booth 841. Plan your show floor time so that you can stop by the TrainerTainment booth at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Wednesday & Thursday to WIN BIG and save lots of money!
We are going to have 4-15 minute training demonstrations; and invite you to be part of the audience. You’ll learn something new that WILL make you more money, you’ll receive a coupon to use at the show (Up to $50.00 every session!) and you might win a cash or product price valued at $500!

Here’s the line–up and the list of prizes and savings.

I leave for Bowl Expo this week and have the honor of teaching at the Military Education event, as well as the BPAA Management School, and I have an interactive hiring and training seminar on Tuesday, June 29th, from 3:00 – 4:15 PM.

Please accept my sincere invitation to attend any of our training events before or during the show. Most of the TrainerTainment team is attending Bowl Expo this year and we want to make sure you stop by so that we can put a face with the name! We are very excited to participate in Bowl Expo. It is always one of our best shows of the year. If you’ve never attended this event, whether you have bowling in your facility or not, Bowl Expo is by far one of the BEST Family Entertainment shows of the year.

Beth contributes an article monthly for Replay Magazine – it is titled The Party Professor. If you would like to have access to the archive of “The Party Professor” articles (and much more), sign up for Xpress Training^TM TODAY!

There are some things that are very scary! Selling might fall into that category for some. Cold calls, networking at events where you don‘t know anyone, or even just being a new team member and not understanding all the products can create a lot of anxiety.

I bring up this scariness factor because I want to talk about fear in this week‘s newsletter. Last week I became an expert in dealing with fear. First let me say that my family and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation in Puerto Vallarta. During this wonderful week, my grown children thought that we should experience the Vallarta adventure. https://www.vallarta-adventures.com/tours

The short version of this excursion is that we rode an inflatable motor boat (fast) across the ocean, a bumpy open air army looking truck, up what might have been a road, then strapped ourselves into very unflattering zip line gear – that included a helmet (thank goodness), rode a mule even higher into the jungle – (I don‘t know how I didn‘t fall to my death as he lumbered up the cliffs – I‘m glad the mule knew what to do), and then finally hiked to the tops of the trees.

From this point on the story is all about getting down and down and down. Twice I tried to negotiate my way out of zip lining or repelling in a couple of spots. I knew there just had to be a way to walk – I can walk with a minimum amount of fear. No such luck. Our guides were far better sales people than I. “Lean back senorita – put your foot on the rock and go!”

Ok – I‘ll admit, zip lining is a kick. I‘d do it again. There‘s something pretty spectacular about flying through the jungle suspended on a clothes line rope (maybe it was better than that). There were moments I yelled out “I‘m queen of the jungle”. Truly that was a way to mask my fear. After reviewing all the pictures I just look scared out of my mind. After the first platform and not falling into the trees I felt like I could handle the zip line portion of the trip.

The very scary part came after about 4 successful swings across the trees. Just as I was gaining confidence they begin to tell us how we would repel. At this point I remembered there was an entire class in college to teach repelling. That‘s a full semester. I received a 2 minute description of how I was to repel 100 feet straight down the flat face rock of a waterfall. OK I got 4 minutes of instruction because I was too scared to really lean back and go. I tried everything I knew to close the deal so that I could get down another way. I nodded my head yes as I said, “there must be a chicken way to manage this part of the excursion.” No. Then I said, “I‘m pretty sure I can‘t do this.” I gotta tell you I was super scared. Finally, I begin to offer money for some alternate way down. No go. “Senorita, lean back and put your feet on the rock. Keep them flat.” It was the longest 100 feet of my life. I was grateful to God when I landed in the water (No I didn‘t fall). Then it dawned on me that my husband and my children had to get down as well. When Jerry, my husband, finished this part of the excursion, we just sat on a rock together. I was never more in love with him than I was in that moment, even after 30 years.

We followed this part of the 4 ½ hour adventure with a free fall down another waterfall, more zip lining, and hiking. I will say that once we past the repelling it was all downhill from there. (pun intended) The confidence and joy of making it through the journey begin to take hold. I won‘t say that I quit being afraid each time I zoomed off of one of the zip line platforms, but I did gain confidence. After almost a week of reflection, I‘m certain that there are many things that used to cause me anxiety that are completely gone today! Everything is based on your point of reference. From last Monday till the end of my life, I always have the fact that whatever may seem scary CAN‘T be a scary as repelling down the flat face of a waterfall.

How do you handle your fear? Are you in a job that scares you a little? Does it make you nervous to make a cold call? Keep doing it – even if you are afraid. It gets easier. When you have success, I promise your confidence will grow.

If you enjoyed this lesson please share it with your staff.

Happy selling!

Good luck with training your staff during 2010 and beyond. If you have any questions, please feel free contact me at beth@trainertainment.net.

Beth contributes an article monthly for Replay Magazine – it is titled The Party Professor. If you would like to have access to the archive of “The Party Professor” articles (and much more), sign up for Xpress Training TODAY!

With all the attention given recently to guest service, and the fact that I will speaking on "Party Host Selection and Training" at Bowl Expo this year. I felt it appropriate to re-run and article written (March 2009) by one of the smartest most beautiful women I know. She is a Senior Vice President at Bank of America. She has a business management degree from Texas A & M. She’s the eldest daughter of one of the most wonderful families I know. Please meet Leslie Standlee.

OK – Leslie is my daughter, and I’m so happy that she took time to share her travel story with me that I just had to share it with you. Les is a tremendous leader and manager and has been one of TrainerTainment’s biggest fans. Her insight has always helped me understand training in a way that, generationally, I might suffer a “gap” if not for her. I know you’ll enjoy her story, and you can reach her at leslie.standlee@bankofamerica.com

First Impressions Happen Only Once!

Traveling for business is not as glamorous as one might think. You spend long hours in the office, followed by long hours of drinks and dinner with work associates. Those evenings become a continuation of the work you walked away from at the office. There is no break or balance, so when it’s time to go home, you are ready to go home!

Today, I was leaving from a short 2 ½ day trip that felt more like 10 days. I walked across the parking lot and spotted a driver of one of the local car services in town. I waved and asked, “Can you take me to the airport?” His answer was very enthusiastic, as he ran over and told me that he’d been waiting for me all day, and, of course he could take me to the airport! Instantly I knew I was in good hands! He quickly whisked my heavy bags into the car and then made sure he was around the corner to open the door for me.

When I asked him if he accepted a credit card, he said, “Ma’am whatever you need, I’m here for you!” I was delighted that he did not breathe the normal heavy, irritated, sigh I so often hear from cab drivers. When we rolled to a stop light, he pulled out the credit card machine and took care of the transaction then, so there would be no wait time once we arrived at the airport. I was running right on schedule, so every minute counted! His energetic attitude was fantastic, and he seemed genuinely enthusiastic to help take care of me in every way. It was easy to understand that this guy’s total mission was to do everything he could to understand and deliver what was best for his customer.

While we were riding together, he shared his business philosophy with me. He told me that his goal was to never say no to the customer. His passion for the role he plays in taking care of those he transports around town is undeniable. It made it easy for me to decide what I would do on my next trip when he told me about his returning passenger service. He explained that all I needed to do is tell him my flight number. There will be no need to stress about airline delays or follow up calls. It is his commitment to track the flight, be there when I land, and call me upon his arrival. WOW–One phone call and I avoid the 20 minute cab line, ride in a clean comfortable car, and have the assurance that I’m in good hands!

When we arrived at the airport, he pulled out his business card and told me to look at his title. Underneath his name he had added “Director of First Impressions”. He told me it was all about that first interaction. He believes that he gets one chance to make sure he provides that top care for his customers. When he gets the first impression right, then it gives the customer every reason to only use his services.

He got my bags, helped me out of the car, and was sure to shake my hand before we parted. As soon as I got through security, I pulled out his card and programmed his number into my phone.

When you think about all of your interactions and experiences with people, remember the first impression is what matters most. My first impression today with this driver is that there is no substitute for service and passion for the things you do. All leaders could serve their staff and customers at high level when they apply this passionate service lesson in their day to day routines. I know I’m going to follow my driver’s example.