TrainerTainment customer in the spotlight.
Meet Rob Szabo, owner of Palasad North and South in London Ontario. What’s a “Palasad,” you ask? It’s an eclectic name for a very swanky bowling based FEC business in London Ontario, Canada.
In 1994, Rob’s entrepreneurial family took advantage of an opportunity to purchase a 24 lane Brunswick 5 pin house. This bowling business leased space in a building the Szabos owned which also housed a fitness center they continue to own and operate today. They removed all the lanes and put in 43 upscale billiard tables with a heavy emphasis in Food & Beverage.
After the billiards craze cooled in the early 2000s, they put ten lanes in and included above ground ball returns. Billiards still play a big role in the north. A cozy bar overlooks the billiard and bowling area. The location also has a ping pong room that doubles as terrific event space for groups. The favorite group space is an area rich with wood tones and has comfortable seating and a fireplace. They’ve also got a great game room space filled with redemption prizes that are selected from a cool toy bus!
An interesting bowling relevant fact abou
t this particular space they lovingly refer to as Palasad North, is that the Bowling Music Network is also in the same complex. It’s a big building!
Palasad South was purchased from AMF in 2000. Rob removed 12 lanes in this 32 lane center in order to create space for an expansive gaming, food, and beverage offering. He added a game room and laser tag in 2013.
The group spaces in the south location are very creative. There’s a beautiful area just behind the restaurant that holds 40 folks comfortably and places guests close to any attraction in the center. There are several billiard tables and a ping pong room which can be transformed into the coolest birthday space you can imagine.
Another favorite space is a room carved out behind lanes 6-10 which includes Karaoke. There are several other great group areas that create a relaxed atmosphere, private boutique spaces, and more. This location is an event planner’s dream.
I ask Rob why he chose to focus so heavily on food and beverage as well as creating all these group spaces and this was his answer.
“When I got into the business 20 years ago it was clear even back then that the bowling league business was a “race to the bottom” because competition for league members was intense. I made the decision then to run no leagues and make food and beverage a focal point of the Palasad business. It is 60-70% of the total revenue. The difficulty with F&B is that it is totally unpredictable. So, over the years we tried to grow and stabilize the unpredictability with group events. In 2013, I heard Beth Standlee speak at a laser tag industry presentation and I jumped on the opportunity to meet her. We immediately enlisted her professional group sales coaching company to work with us. My previous career in the fitness club business had exposed me to the great value of using industry specific sales coaching. I had been searching for a bowling FEC focused group events coach to work with for years. I found the right coaching program with TrainerTainment. She has helped us become a sales focused and goal driven company while giving great support to our people.”
Palasad has a group sales manager at each location who is primarily responsible for group sales. Trish and Jen target companies, youth groups, churches, and host a few fundraising activities during down times. They really focus on Past Party Outreach (PPO). There are weekly KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure the success of each week’s activity.
In addition to PPO, they have outreach goals in each target market to generate new business. They are committed to a sales process that focuses on connecting with the guest, qualifying their needs, presenting a great group event solution, and closing the sale. This sales process takes a transaction based order taker and turns them into a full-fledged sales pro who is able to establish a KPI that pushes for $38 per person for the holiday season and meets that goal.
Each sales person understands their role in the overall success of the company. They have a birthday superstar managing birthdays for both locations. It is an understatement to say this gal is anything other than a superstar. Tiffany is convinced people are at home waiting for her to call and invite them to have their child’s birthday party at Palasad. And guess what? With that kind of attitude you can bet she books a WHOLE lot of birthday parties!
It would be a misstep to suggest that this is simply a sales success story. The operations team at both locations does an outstanding job delivering what the sales pros sell. This company has worked hard to develop a sales culture that permeates from the front to the back of the house.
Palasad has a culture that suggests they “THRILL” their guests. To that end they have a goal every quarter that each department is challenged to reach as well as a THRILL goal. You might have guessed that reaching the thrill goal is pretty thrilling to those on the receiving end of the bonus.
As an outsider looking in, it’s been a real joy to be a part of the transformation of this business as they continue to push the sales culture throughout the center. The primary driving force comes from the consistency provided by the strong leadership of Rob, his district manager Garth, and the general managers. They know what they want and they take the time to train, support, and follow up on all the things it takes to run a sales focused business.
Simply stated, when you create a business with systems to book group and party events on a day to day basis, you can successfully predict profitability. You know what the business is going to be. It’s no wonder the bowling business loved league bowling. It was a consistent group who came in every week and paid whether they showed up or not.
Palasad reports amazing growth group numbers. Rob shared these increases with the following comments.
| Total Group Sales Increase | ||||
| Notes | North | South | Combined | |
| 2013 | south was closed for 4 month renovation | |||
| 2012 – 2014 | 2 year increase | 11.2% | 86% | 47% |
| 2014 – 2015 | 1 year increase | 17.0% | 41% | 32% |
| 2015 to date | 6 month increase | -5.5% | 26% | 15% |
I think my favorite comment from Rob is that the group and party business allows his business to be future focused. He explains that the transaction based model of opening the doors and hoping people will come is a risky way to stay in business. In contrast, the growth in group sales and the consistent focus on goals and KPIs have become a recipe for success.
In closing, Rob shared the following, “Our group revenue has grown tremendously, my sales staff is constantly being challenged, and they have gained confidence working with Beth. I’m sure this totally sounds like a late night infomercial for Beth and Trainertainment but it is what it is. There is no disputing our results.”
It is the people who grow the business and the people at Palasad are amazing. Their commitment to the business, each other, and their guests make it a thrilling place to be!
*This article has also been published in Bowling Industry Magazine. Register online to view their February issue, complete with pictures of both Palasad locations.
