CenterEdge Software Blog

The benefits of offering classes at your facility and how to make the leap from the marketing to the technical.

I just finished a yoga teacher certification this summer, so imagine my surprise when I picked up the July issue of Funworld and saw the cover article was none other than Namaste! How Museums Are Attracting New Audiences with Creative Ways to Enhance Guests’ Well-Being. Talk about worlds colliding! I love their idea of using healthy-living classes to introduce new patrons to the art museum. 

The article inspired me. How can entertainment and amusement facilities also capitalize on this idea and create a meaningful—and lucrative—set of complementary and alternative activities during off-peak times?

Don’t let a budding relationship fail by missing out on these essential touchpoints.

The birthday party or event is booked and you’re well on your way to making memories with a whole new group of prospective guests. Take this opportunity to further lay the groundwork for a world-class experience. Your event sales staff might be busy, but that doesn’t mean you need to skimp on communication. Let your software help you set and manage guests’ expectations from beginning to end, so you can focus on delivering wow-worthy events and turning one-time party guests into return customers.

The bigger your FEC gets, the harder it is to keep an eye on every location or department, much less every team member.

Consistency is a key element of a great guest experience. How can an owner, operator or general manager ensure everyone hits the mark every single time? Training and employee education are essential, but when it comes down to the day-to-day, it's not always easy to remember what was said in that workshop three months ago. Or what the key take-aways were from that long team training day.

Spend your management time on the right things by having all your inventory management in one easy-to-use place.

As a busy manager or operator there never seems to be enough time for you to get to all the small tasks that you need to do to make your business run smoother. There are always going to be guests to handle, fires to put out, and training to conduct. Your inventory management processes should make your life easier instead of giving you more headaches.

When it comes to expanding your client base, it’s all about who you know – and how you leverage those relationships.

Editor’s Note: Referrals continue to be a huge driver of FEC growth, so we’ve updated this popular classic for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Read on!

Boost your inbound bookings immediately with a few easy-to-implement tips.

Your party hosts and guest service staff have become true ambassadors of your facility and people love the idea of hosting an important birthday party (or event) with you. Your email marketing, social media and in-store marketing campaigns are working, and people are calling your business trying to book. The business is yours if you want it—but wait—are you losing the sale at the last moment by falling prey to these sneaky sales blunders? Read on for 7 common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Let’s hit the ground running in 2018!

And just like that, it’s a new year! I don’t know about you, but I feel so excited about this year I can hardly contain myself. I think it’s because I am so focused on all the opportunity the new year can bring for us to achieve together.

It’s a time for planning, for changing the game, and for making commitments to ourselves and each other. Last week, we shared our CenterEdge partnership commitments, so thanks everyone for all the warm comments. Just like I’m sure you are, we’ve hit the ground running with some New Year’s Resolutions of our own. Here are just a few that we know will stick all through 2018.

Onboard like a pro in your next season training meeting. 

The end of the calendar year is when many amusement facilities focus on reviewing successes and planning for the next year. And for seasonal attractions that re-open in the spring, it’s nearly crunch time to finish outlining offerings and onboarding programs.

Hosting a season or new year kick-off meeting is a great way for your facility to celebrate past successes and discuss challenges, and to set expectations of what’s to come. But during this busy time of year, meeting details can easily slip through the cracks, making for a lackluster kick-off event. Be sure you're ready for your next season by including these seven critical elements to your next training meeting.

Don’t make the mistake of running event sales in multiple locations like alien entities. Build the strength of your operation and your brand with these tips.

Building a growth-minded sales organization can be difficult and all too often, growth occurs much faster than the developed systems and organizational best practices can handle. This can especially happen when an operator acquires an existing facility. Many get so busy that they fall into the trap of “if it isn’t broken, don’t try to fix it.” However, just because a process isn’t broken, doesn’t mean it’s working as efficiently as it can. 

If the thought of a “call center” approach has scared you, fear not! A carefully implemented centralized party booking strategy can be a great way to maintain superior office coverage for your peak call times while comparing labor costs against call flow and sales. Read on for six steps to effectively implement a centralized booking center that will maximize your marketingefforts and sales strategies for your entire operation.

Don’t let an oversimplified revenue tracking process put your park at a disadvantage.

The key to effective amusement operations is having a moment-by-moment analysis of your facility’s sales, throughput and labor.  An oversimplified revenue-tracking process can cloud your data resulting in inaccurate business assumptions that could lead to ineffective staffing and improper pricing.

Utilizing principles of deferred revenue can help you keep a clean, accurate view of your business and keep you laser-focused on the right things so you can manage costs and increase your bottom line.  Here are three areas where deferred revenue can be leveraged to help you manage your business more effectively.