June 2018

Business Lessons from a Scooter

by Tech Support | Jun 26, 2018 | Leadership

Weird title, I know, but I’m compelled to share the interesting business “in my face” practical lessons I’m learning. I’ve injured my left foot, and the doctor insists that the only way for healing to take place is to not bare weight at all on the injured foot for the four-six weeks. Yikes!

To keep my spirits high during this time of recovery, I’ve decided to keep a close eye out for the lessons I’m supposed to be learning. The easiest thing to do is to be still and stay off my foot. If you know me, being still is not something that comes naturally. Anyway, in the forced stillness, I have plenty of time to think about the life/business correlations that come with navigating this dang scooter. Listed below are the top of mind lessons for today.

Overuse can cause injury.

In business it is easy to overwork, get overwhelmed, and overdo it. Know that overusing anything…your foot, your brain, your people, your time, etc. can cause injury.

Learning new things is possible even when it’s scary and hard.

I’ve heard people say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” There is a lot of truth in that statement. When I see people use this knee scooter thing it looks like it would be easy to learn how to use it. Not so much! It seems like keeping one foot off the ground is a simple concept. It’s not. I’m working my way around the scary and hard stuff day by day.

A scooter is WAY better than crutches. A crutch can hurt a LOT.

So if you are 50+ years old and 50+ pounds overweight, the scooter is a better tool than crutches. I guess the real business lesson is that it is essential to use the right tool for the right job at the right time!

Balance is VERY important.

When you lose it (balance), you are going to fall! At Bowl Expo, I leaned too far over trying to help set up the booth. The second lesson here is you must let other people do what you cannot do – even if you think you can.

Balance on one leg requires a lot of strength and creativity.

I constantly have to think things through. How can I get the best leverage? What can I use to support the one leg as I move from here to there? Strength and creativity must be used in every situation.

Not turning soon enough can be a problem.

I have literally run into many walls. You can bet that happens in business. On the scooter, a quick turn can result in disaster. Not turning soon enough means you’ll have to back up and try again!

Be sure you are ready to sit down before you actually sit down.

Getting up requires a lot more effort.

Putting your foot down is far more natural then I once thought.

In concept, keeping one foot off the ground doesn’t seem like that big of a thing. In reality, it is MUCH more difficult than putting your foot down. Staying grounded on two feet provides far more stability. I can hardly wait to put my foot down.

Often times there is more than one way to do things.

I keep thinking things through a little better than normal. I tend to simply dive in and go straight to whatever I’m doing. With this scooter and the one-foot plan, I keep backing myself into a corner (literally). Everything and I mean everything, requires more thought…deep thought. Fortunately, as of this writing, I have successfully managed to get myself out of each sticky situation….so far.

You have to plan. It’s more important than ever.

Forgetting something means you have to go back and get what you forgot. Going backward on the scooter can be difficult.

The unexpected is around every corner.

I can’t even think of some of the complications before I face them. Each time something comes up, I file it away, and it becomes a lesson for next time.

Sometimes you have to back up even when going forward is easier.

Seems crazy but it is a very good business lesson for me. I never like to redo anything and starting over is difficult. However, a “back up” or a “restart” is the very best course of action.

Taking the long way around might be the best way.

I need a flat, smooth surface. Avoiding bumps, curves, and stairs are necessary and safer. If that means taking the long way around, then I welcome the smooth and flat way instead of hilly and bumpy.

What worked yesterday may not work at all today.

This lesson is extremely frustrating. It’s as if I forget how to maneuver from one day to the next. Fortunately, the big learning is that even when a new day demands a new way, I can usually figure it out.

It’s easier to take a step up than a step-down.

This one is a biggie! I have not figured out how to safely go down even a single step. And although going up a step is something I’ve managed, a steep step has caused a crash. (Yup, I fell flat out at the airport. I was unable to jump the curb). Ah, another lesson, look for the handicap ramp. All I needed to do was to walk several steps from where I was.

Everything requires a lot more time and energy than you imagined.

I knew this one about business, but the scooter has reminded me that preparation and planning take time. Plan well. Don’t hurry!

It’s important to have something steady to hang on to.

So I’ll give my husband kudos for this one. This is a lesson that has served me well in my lifetime!

Having wheels is kinda fun.

A friend of mine encouraged me to get a bicycle horn. It was definitely the thing to do. Everyone laughs every time as I stroll along and “honk, honk!” I also have a disco light ball attached to the handlebars. Fun is an important ingredient in business and in life (at least it is for me). I don’t want to do it if it’s not fun.

Dread is dumb.

Dreading what “might be” takes too much energy and you don’t know what you’ll face until you have to face it.

You can figure it out.

Figuring it out moment by moment has certainly been the task at hand. It’s interesting. I find myself imagining how to get here or there and then doing just that.

Taking a risk might work out just fine.

I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the house to go to a hair appointment. The garage door opener is lost, and I can’t quite navigate the stairs at our front door. So, I decided that I could move faster on the scooter than on foot. Since I have a history of hitting the garage door button and running underneath the door, out to the driveway, without being smashed, I figured it would be “easier/faster” on the scooter… Good news, I made it. I did roll down the driveway more quickly than I imagined. I’m not planning to do that again, but it makes me laugh every time I think about it. UPDATE: I have figured out how to give myself more runway by using the end of a broom to hit the button. We need to get a new garage door opener!

Smiling even when things are difficult makes it better.

Thank goodness we have a core value in our company that says we believe in having, promoting, and being fun. We go on to say what that looks like: We honor this fun value during the good times and the bad. Honestly, I’m a bit grumpy about this scooter thing. But grumpy doesn’t help. So I focus on how to make things better. A smile is a good start!

Laughing makes everything doable.

See the horn and the disco ball.

Asking for help looks different than it did before and you will need help with almost everything.

This might be the best lesson of all. I think we all get trapped into taking on more than we can handle. However, when you get in a situation like I’m in today with this injury, even the easy things, like getting in and out of the car, seem very difficult. For me, the business lesson is to start letting people help with the “easy” stuff. Even when you can figure things out whether easy or difficult; why should you? I’m learning that there are plenty of people who love to help. This is a big aha for me. I hope it helps you, too.

Looking Good and Smelling Good

by Tech Support | Jun 19, 2018 | Sales

We’ve all had seasons of our lives where we just wanted to “look good and smell good” to show others we’re doing great….even to the extent of a “fake it till you make it” kinda thing.

I wonder, is this the season our industry (location-based entertainment, fun centers) is currently going through due to a very healthy economic climate? It could be. We all love the outcomes of a healthy climate. We all love “looking good and smelling good.”

What this tends to lead to, however, is that because we look good and smell good, we sweep organizational issues under the rug for now…stuff ‘em in the trunk, out-of-sight-out-of-mind. We can do this because revenues are, in certain organizations, are at an all-time high. It could be that most of your guests are happy because there are so many more guests than usual coming through your door.

It makes me wonder if, when the bubble bursts, we will slip down a slope to the mire of an economic downturn or panic on Wall Street? Will the issues we swept away…things like the underperforming team members, undertrained sales staff, or no sales staff resulting in low or no outbound sales, high turnover on the front line due to lack of proper training and leadership training….rear their ugly heads?

The challenge is that these issues start to erode the wonderful windfall of increased revenue experienced before the burst. Even some of your rainy day revenue gets called upon when you can’t seem to keep the right people, or even find them, and suddenly guest service is at an all-time low because you haven’t invested in your most valuable asset, your people.

Here are some of the issues that came up the last time we had an economic downturn:

Not having the right people in the right seat doing the right thing
Deteriorated great guest service
Overall leadership issues
Zero or stale sales process in place to support sustained growth
Zero or stale training process in place to support sustained growth

Let’s work smart in the next two to five years to keep a lot more of your hard earned money with you by eradicating the issues related to hiring, training, and empowering of your people. Call me today to get started! 817.886.4840.

FEC Marketing Made Easy Vol 5

by Tech Support | Jun 11, 2018 | Marketing

Happy June!

It’s officially summer. If you missed last month’s volume of the monthly marketing blog, we talked about doing a social media checkup. You can view the article here.

This month, I wanted to talk about planning your promotions. Each month we give you loads of ideas for promotions. Planning and implementing that promotion is super important to ensure success. The fall tends to be a very busy time for promotions, and you should be planning now. I want to give you an easy 90-60-30 day layout for planning promotions.

Why do we do promotions?

How many times have you had a promotion, and the responses were: worked great, failed miserably, was stupid, was smart, it was the wrong time or a million other responses.

First, we need to think about why we even bother planning promotions. Promotions sometimes help us meet our goals. For instance, we know that birthday parties tend to be a little slower in the summer since people are on vacation. So, planning a special birthday promotion in the summer may help us reach our goals.

Promotions can also provide fun in our center. I know we are already in the business of fun, but hosting promotions like breakfast with Santa or a Halloween themed event can be added entertainment to draw business in our center.

Have a systematic approach

When it comes to planning promotions, we need to approach the planning systematically like we would operations. In operations, we know who’s in charge of the game room, kitchen, front desk, etc. We train each of them for their position, empower them to do their jobs, and give them a plan to measure their success. We need to do the same when planning promotions.

It’s always good as a team to have regular brainstorming sessions about new promotions you can have in your center. Once you have decided on your promotions and before you start planning, decide who is going to implement the promotion, and make sure they have a plan for success.

Planning is key

To have a successful promotion, planning is key. We’ll look at planning in 90-day, 60-day, and 30-day phases. Here are the checklists for each month’s plan.

90-Day Planning

Determine the promotion/event name/theme.
Date(s) – If it’s a promotion, determine if it’s a one-day thing or will run for a set number of days.
Times – If it’s a one-time event, determine the time. Maybe you only want to do evenings or a set time during the day to increase sales.
Pricing – For events, decide what will be included and determine the price accordingly.
Budget – Set the budget ahead of time. Don’t go by the seat of your pants or you’ll overspend!
Determine your audience – Is it, moms? Families? Birthday families? Your target audience plays a big part in how and where you will advertise.
Block off your dates – Be sure the dates are blocked off for facility use, and everyone on your team has the dates on their calendar.

60-Day Planning

Determine marketing strategies – Think about where you will market and how. Will you be promoting posts on social media? Do you need to reach out to your community? Will you talk with bloggers about what’s happening in your area?
Work with a graphic artist or use canva.com to design your marketing materials.
Develop a bounce back offer. If hosting an event, make sure every guest receives a bounce back offer like a discounted family four pack or BOGO gameplay.
Write copy for email campaigns and social media posts and schedule their release ahead of time.

30-Day Planning

Execute your marketing plan. Be sure you are advertising at least 30 days before your promotion or event.
Educate your team on the details of the event or promotion so they can talk with each guest about it.
Follow up with vendors on items ordered and make sure your display screens in the center are running promotion information.

Execute!

Take care of any last-minute details in the few days leading up to your event or promotion.
Be sure you are properly staffed, and the staff knows all event details.

Follow up

Follow up with your team about how the promotion/event went.
Collect feedback from guests so you can implement it in your next promotion or if you plan on doing the same event next year.
If you had vendors involved with your promotion/event, follow up with them. Lots of times they see things we don’t.

Promotion and event planning doesn’t have to be hard, especially if you prep a plan. Remember, Zig Ziglar tells us to plan your work and work your plan. If you can be sure you are checking off everything you need, your promotion or event should be a success.

Upcoming Marketing & Promotion Ideas

Stand Up To Cancer is celebrating ten years of raising money for cancer research. You can get involved by hosting a fundraising event.
Halloween is a fun time to host a Trunk-or-Treat where you can have local businesses set up cars in the parking lot, set up games, have candy it creates a fun an safe trick or treating. Also, have fun costume contests, get creative with a fun haunted house, or have a family night with pumpkin carving.
Show how thankful you are for your fans by hosting a 12 Days of Giving. Each day gives special coupons or offers they have to collect that day. It’s a great way to increase your fans on social media or collect emails addresses for your list.
Cyber Monday – host an online sale with special packages or BOGO game offers.

I hope these lists help you plan your events with ease! I’d love to hear your feedback or answer any questions. Just shoot an email to rosie@trainertainment.net

Do you have marketing questions? Do you want to learn more about Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? Email us your questions!

Do You Need a Sales Coach?

by Tech Support | Jun 4, 2018 | Sales

Maybe I should have titled this article “Why Use a Sales Coach.” Then I could have given you all the reasons why you should. However, I thought it better to ask you if you needed the help simply. My experience is that people are lousy at asking for help. For me, asking for help is an admission that I’m not all that and a bag of chips! I think ego and pride could easily be the enemy of greatness.

So I thought about how someone might answer the question above. Here’s what I came up with. Truthfully I’m more interested in the way you would complete the following sentence.

You might need a sales coach if:

You don’t have all the sales you want or need to meet the company goals/quotas.
You aren’t meeting your own financial goals.
You don’t have a real sales leader in your life.
You feel like you need more training.
You feel like you need someone to hold you more accountable.
You would like someone to encourage you, help you run new plays, and celebrate the fact that you win more than you have before with someone cheering you on to victory from the sidelines.

From a coach’s perspective, I’d like to address reason number 2 about why you might need a sales coach. It’s obvious that when you are in a sales position, you must meet the company goals or quotas to stay in that position. However, I think most salespeople who become superstars are focused not only on the company goals but are highly motivated by their own goals. Financial freedom creates personal freedom, and at the end of the day, I think most of us are interested in having a future that we feel like we can control. A successful sales career affords you this type of opportunity.

With personal and financial freedom in mind, I’d love to know how you ended up in your sales role; and wonder what you think selling is all about. In my mind, this profession is a great way to help others get what they want or need. Great salespeople understand that selling is about helping others. Jeffery Gitomer says no one likes to be sold, but everyone likes to buy.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could be on the selling side of the relationship and do it in such a way that inspires, excites, and makes others happy to exchange their hard earned dollars for your great product or service? You would then be in a position to help others get what they want and in return you would have what you need too! This is a beautiful concept that I learned from the great sales mentor Zig Ziglar a long time ago and it stills serves me well today.

I have never felt like I had to talk anyone into anything. That’s not what sales are about. It’s also not JUST about taking orders or doing a good job with the orders that come in the door. Selling is about creating something for someone where nothing was before. Helping others have what they want or need matters. It matters to the buyer, and it should matter just as much to you as the seller.

Listen, I don’t know if you need a sales coach or not. I do know that often I need a kick in the butt to help me realize all that is possible for me and for those I serve. TrainerTainment is in the coaching business. Our sales teams perform at a high level. We can’t and don’t coach everyone. Everyone doesn’t need or want to be coached. However, if you are the kind of salesperson who sees that your superstardom is just within reach, but you aren’t quite there yet, then I hope you’ll call. Whether you are new to the sales role or have tons of sales experience, asking for a little help shows that you are looking for that financial freedom that is enjoyed by elite sales professionals.

Don’t wait. Scheule a growth call today.