I would be interested in hearing Ideas where Room Owners are recruiting new players and how they are doing it.
Is anyone having any success? Is anyone attempting to?
You have to go back to the basics. No need to reinvent the wheel. I will start by telling you a personal story I have told on here before.
I lost my beverage license once for 5 months. I didn't really do anything wrong but it happened that is all I will say. While I was without my beverage license I could still sell table time but I took a real bath without being able to sell beer. There were other places to go to play and even my regulars drifted away and were gone.
Now the day comes and I have my license back but I have hardly any business. My wife and i went on a campaign to get customers back in the place. I started by getting a sign made. I had signs on the building but people drive by and for the most part don't see them. I got an idea from a local barbecue place. They were back in a shopping center and had a big mobile sign at the road. I was already on a main road I just needed to get people attention and it also had to be legal.
At the time I had some classic cars and one of the vehicles I had was a 1949 ford puck up truck. I had signs made that I put on a stake body mounted on the bed. It was like 4' x 6' and was painted so it also had an arrows pointing at the place. From the moment I parked it in front of the place people began coming in every day looking around.
I forgot to add this. I also got magnetic signs made for my cars. I drove a bright green and gold Firebird Formula 400 all jacked up and you could her coming from a block away. The car itself was an attention getter and I would be asked about the pool room all the time. They got me a number of customers as well.
I learned something I did know. I just assumed people knew I was there, I was wrong. After the sigh on the fancy antique truck that attracted attention itself, people would come in and ask, "When did this place open, I drive by here every day and never new you were here". The sign may have been the biggest immediate help.
We then began doing it like a political campaign. I really didn't know how many people worked within a square mile of my place probably a few thousand. I got thousands of business cards and flyers printed. In my area were auto repair shops, painting shops, all kinds of stores and on foot we went on a hand shacking and introduction campaign just like if we were trying to get elected to something.
I would introduce myself to everybody in the place and invite to come in. I give out business cards good for a half hour of pool or a free beer. Surprisingly no one throw me out, people like to meet an owner and know them on a first name basis. Remember, these people are within almost walking distance of my place and have a real potential of coming in.
I believe there is a limit to how far someone will travel, I was looking for new possible everyday customers that were close and I found them. They were always there I just didn't know it. I was content with my business as it was and thought I was doing good before the license disaster. Was I in for a surprise. Within a few months my business was double, thats right double, what it had in the past.
That is only half though, once you get them through the door you have to have something to offer. I added food that I never really had before and created a lunch crowd. A lot of my new people were not in the least pool players, they came in for a beer after work or lunch, but it was not long we began seeing them later that night playing pool.
Thats my story and maybe there some useful information I hope. The thing is, not everybody is really interested in pool. You have to use something else to get them in the door be it food or beer what ever. Once you get them through the door it is up to you to have them come back