CenterEdge Software Blog

The costs of ignoring feedback are high. Find your approach today. 

This week a group of excited and dedicated operators and managers met at Andretti’s Indoor Karting and Games in Buford, Georgia, to take a deep dive into building a strong guest, team member, and leadership experience. It was an outstanding “meeting of the minds” with many insights and best practices shared among the group.

One discussion centered around feedback. Maximizing the potential of guest feedback is critical to an outstanding guest experience. Today, we’re discussing five approaches to guest feedback so that you can decide the one(s) that make the most sense for your business.

Create custom event emails to deliver key information clearly and consistently.

Party and event coordinators often spend too much time repeatedly answering the same questions from parents and group contacts. 

And worse, sometimes guests don't ask questions and therefore make assumptions about their upcoming event. Those assumptions can lead to confusion and frustration for guests and your team.

The value of consistent and effective communication can't be underestimated. To help you develop the right communication flow, we're sharing five tips to help you leverage the power of automatic event communications.  

Reduce costs, boost morale, and earn more business - all while making a positive environmental impact. 

Sustainability efforts are a high priority for many businesses, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. Of course, concerns about environmental impact top the list, but did you know that sustainability can also help your business’s bottom line?

Today, we’re sharing five ways going green can benefit your business and make your competitors green with envy. 

Avoid the most common mistakes businesses make when implementing loyalty programs and memberships and start seeing an increase in engagement and adoption right away. 

Hit guest experience out of the park with these tips.

Last Sunday, many of our CenterEdge team members and their families came together for the first company-wide outing in over two years.

One of our most cherished regular events prior to COVID was attending a Durham Bulls minor league baseball game for some food, fun, and togetherness.

Our event was packed and, as it was Father's Day, our goal was to make our CenterEdge dads - and all of our team members and families, feel special. 

The staff and teams at the Durham Bulls game hit a home run for us. Today, we're sharing five guest experience moments that we think are a real catch. (We'll stop with the puns soon, promise.)

User-generated content can create brand awareness, build trust, and help you engage with your audience - with less of the heavy lifting.  

Family entertainment businesses have no shortage of opportunities for social media gold. But many marketers often feel at a loss for what to post and when.

Some of the beauty of this type of marketing is that it's more accessible than ever before. While some content should be polished and professional, other posts can and should be organic and edgy.

Photo and video content often increases your reach and generates more engagement than other types. But before you groan that you'll have to coerce one of your team members to be the "talking head" in your next video series, don't forget about the untapped potential of user-generated content (UGC). Today, we're sharing seven tips to help you encourage your guests to create and share pictures and videos. 

Stories provide context, model desired behaviors, connect staff to your values, and so much more.   

I had the extreme pleasure of chatting with Eddie Hamann, Managing Partner of Andretti Karting and Games in Orlando during the most recent Experience Academy event earlier this year.

During one lunch, Eddie shared with our group some of the work that the Andretti's team has been doing locally and abroad. They believe in giving back at least 10% of what they earn and do this in various ways. They build churches, give donations, help team members in need, and,  through their #CheckIt4Andretti Foundation, they work to provide awareness of the importance of early screening for colorectal cancers. The foundation also helps fund screening for low-income individuals who are uninsured or underinsured, and who might not otherwise get this critical screening. At the time of the conversation, Eddie shared that they had already saved nine people's lives by detecting cancer early. 

Avoid the high costs of allowing problematic behavior with these tips.   

Quick story: Last week, my husband and I went to one of our favorite little cafes for a quick lunch. There was someone new behind the counter and my husband asked if she was the owner, and she was. 

When I asked after the team member who typically worked the counter, I learned they were no longer with the company. I asked, "is it because they were kind of salty? I mean they were nice if you didn't interrupt or want to change the kind of bread your sandwich was on. But if you did, their face told you exactly how they felt about it."

Of course, the owner was professional and wouldn't share details, but I did learn that I hadn't been the first person to ask a similar question since the owner had taken over the management of her operation. Besides that, while we were enjoying lunch, my husband noticed that the cafe appeared even cleaner, and the staff seemed a little sunnier than they had in the past.  

Bottom line: having a team member that isn't in line with your values could be impacting your business in ways you may not even realize. Read on for tips to help you recognize when you have an issue with a team member and what to do about it.  

Helping others is the rising tide that lifts all boats.

At the recent IAAPA FEC Summit event, operators from all over North America shared challenges that the leisure-based entertainment community faces and how we can what we can do about it. 

One of my favorite ideas shared was the idea that facilities could do a much better job communicating the important work they're doing in their community. Read on for the details and how you can take this idea and run with it. 

Seamless scheduling, accurate accounting, and flawless food and beverage management are just a few of the advantages of an integrated events management system.

Managing every detail of your facility's event business can feel like a circus where you're struggling to keep everything moving.

This stress is compounded if you're spending valuable time trying to manage scheduling, ticketing, payment, and food service in many different systems, or worse - on paper.

An events management system that's fully integrated with the rest of your overall facility management solution can save you headaches and precious time. But what does integrated really mean? Read on for seven ways you can streamline your events program with an integrated system.