You may notice that while you’re doing a decent job of getting customers into your family entertainment center, they aren’t coming back. Business may be good, but acquiring new customers actually costs you more than retaining your current ones; about five times more, according to Forrester research.
Wondering why people aren’t returning after their first visit? It could be one (or more) of the following reasons:
1. Booking is overly complicated.
What does it take for a customer to sign up for certain activities at your park? Do they have to do it in person at your facility after waiting in line? Adding more steps to the process of getting into your park makes it far more complex and irritating for customers, and is not a great first impression.
Online booking allows customers to easily register and reserve activities before they even leave their home. It’s convenient and allows them to go straight to your attractions. With scheduling as simple as this, customers will remember how seamless their experience was with your business, will come back, and might even spread the word to others.
2. It takes too long to get to the fun.
Think about it, when a new customer arrives at your activity center, you have to spend quite a bit of time registering them, getting them to sign your waiver, and as mentioned above, booking their activities. Depending on how many people are in a group, when all is said and done it can take up to thirty minutes or more before they can start enjoying the attractions in your park. The more time spent filling out prerequisite forms means more frustration on the part of your customers, something they are unlikely to want to experience again.
3. Employees aren’t engaged.
It’s one thing to get customers to your FEC, but once they’re there you want to provide the best experience possible. This means a staff who is friendly, attentive and helpful to every guest’s needs and requests. Getting your staff to the level of professionalism your customers expect starts with a thorough and effective employee training platform. Through training, you can communicate expectations and get every member of your team up to speed on how to use the equipment at your park, the proper way to interact with all customers, safety procedures, and other important business information. When employees feel confident in their job, they are happier, perform better and provide an optimal experience for every guest.
4. They forget about you.
When a customer comes in for the first time, your work isn’t done－you’ve got to keep communication open to encourage them to come back. Regular emails with news and deals remind customers that you’re out there, show them that you appreciate their business, and keep your FEC top of mind as a place to go for fun. Maintain your social media profiles with regular posts, pictures, videos, and other content to stay in front of customers even when they aren’t at your location.
5. You’re not offering anything new.
When was the last time you made updates to your park? If you’ve remained the same for years and years, people looking for new thrills might start to look elsewhere. Adding new attractions, expanding existing ones, and even making small updates to the look of your activity center can mean all the difference in the eyes of your customer. It shows them that you are trying to innovate and continue offering them the most fun experience possible.
Not sure where to begin? It’s easy; just ask your customers what they want. Send out a survey via email after a person visits your park to get their feedback, and take that feedback to heart. You are in the business of making customers happy, and that happiness ultimately determines your success.
Consider these points and what you can do to improve your business and keep people coming back. Clubspeed software makes running your business easy by providing automated CRM and marketing capabilities, online booking, self-service for customers, and more. Contact us today to learn more.
