Want to grow your group sales? Don’t even know where to begin? Sales can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. This week, we put together our top tips for growing group sales.
Have a Sales Champion
There is nothing more important to growing group sales than a dedicated sales champion. A sales champion inspires the whole center to be the best to keep guests returning time after time for events. Imagine calling your food purveyor to inquire about a new product. How would you feel getting someone on the phone who doesn’t know what they are selling and couldn’t answer your questions? Even worse, what if no one ever answered the phone? When booking events, parents say they look for these things:
- Someone has to answer the phone. In today’s busy world, parents don’t have much time; if they call now, answer now, or if not, they move on to the next venue on their list.
- The person who answers the phone needs to be friendly, know the product, and be knowledgeable, or they lose trust.
The sales champion may be one of the most important roles in the center. How do you make sure they are staying on track and increasing sales? They have to be involved with the goals and that leads us to tip number 2.
Get a Scorecard with KPIs in Place
KPIs are Key Performance Indicators. It is your goal broken down into mini-weekly goals. KPIs are what keep us on track toward achieving our objectives. A scorecard is a place where we put those goals and track them each week. Make sure they know what their goals are, and have them tracked. It’s easy to see when you are off track and get ahead before it’s too late.
Outbound Efforts
Don’t wait for business to come to you. There will always be clients who call the center to book events because they are already guests and know how great you are. Reach out to new businesses and expand your network! Plan each day with a power hour to kick-start your day. Nothing is more important than to plant the seeds and watch the harvest come in. If we allow sales to come merely through inbound efforts, it will be too late to recover when the phones go silent.
Call Everyone!
What do arcade games, laser tag, or bowling have to do with a dentist’s office or mechanic’s business? EVERYTHING! It doesn’t matter what industry people work in; everyone has holiday parties. Even more have team building events, summer picnics, team appreciation, and more. If they don’t, why not put the thought in their head? Avoid the temptation of thinking a certain business would never use your facility for their small, medium, or large events because you may just be surprised.
Get Out in The Center and Talk to Guests
Our sales teams shouldn’t stay in an office all day. A great way to get a break and be productive is to get out of the office, into the center, and talk to guests who are already there.
Summer is a great time to be out in the center. Look for parents on laptops, for example. They may be working from home, and you could talk with them about what kind of events their company has and even get contact information for the person who plans the events. The point is you will get loads of feedback about why they love your center, what keeps them coming back, and maybe even a recommendation to a friend or business.
