Worst weekend ever

R

racefornine

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I own a small room in Newburgh NY. I am the third owner , my player support is excellent with leagues , tournaments and a all day monday special however the weekend warriors just arent coming . The room is remodeled and the equipment is the best around . Time to really work on promoting the fun side of a night out at a reasonable price . I am small 2500 square ft. with a small bar , anyone know how to get the best bang for their buck w/radio ads or any other promo ideas . Thank you


Dave Pinkston,
Gallery Billiards
 
Gwirls Play Free on Weekends.

Do you have a Collage, or Jr. Collage near your room? Advertise in the local Collage NEWSPAPER.

Radio & Newspaper advertising many time has little return on its investment.
 
racefornine said:
I own a small room in Newburgh NY. I am the third owner , my player support is excellent with leagues , tournaments and a all day monday special however the weekend warriors just arent coming . The room is remodeled and the equipment is the best around . Time to really work on promoting the fun side of a night out at a reasonable price . I am small 2500 square ft. with a small bar , anyone know how to get the best bang for their buck w/radio ads or any other promo ideas . Thank you


Dave Pinkston,
Gallery Billiards
Click to expand...


Dave, you are not alone for sure, all the rooms around here are struggling to stay in business. Even the ones that are byob.

I thought the colder weather now would make a change but not yet.
We can`t make people play if they are not wanting to.

This economy is so bad people are afraid to spend to much right now.
This is the worst year since I have been in business. Since 1993.

I see no big change soon.

Good luck to us all.

highrun55
Mickey
 
racefornine said:
I own a small room in Newburgh NY. I am the third owner , my player support is excellent with leagues , tournaments and a all day monday special however the weekend warriors just arent coming . The room is remodeled and the equipment is the best around . Time to really work on promoting the fun side of a night out at a reasonable price . I am small 2500 square ft. with a small bar , anyone know how to get the best bang for their buck w/radio ads or any other promo ideas . Thank you


Dave Pinkston,
Gallery Billiards
Click to expand...

Dave, I think with advertising being so expensive these days that it is just throwing good money after bad, I can suggest a method that a local room is doing here because they have a bar, and a very succesfully method at that. The place is called Casey's, she had play money printed up in dollar bills and calls them "Casey Bucks", whenever someone plays for an hour or more she hands them a Casey Buck , she also gives out Casey Bucks during tournaments and events. The Casey Bucks are redeemable as cash tender for table time and just a few limited menu items such as fries and chips and salsa, but NOT redeemable on alcohol, soft drinks, burgers, pizza, candy, peanuts etc... only on things that cost almost nothing, along with table time. Further more the Casey Bucks are only redeemable on predetermined days, I can't remember what days she has as redeemable but whatever her slow days are I am sure, in your case it would be the weekends. She found someplace online with a google search that prints this fake money (promo money?) and puts your name on the bucks. They sometimes are short on loot or looking for something to do and they stroll in with their collected Casey Bucks, but having the warm bodies in there generates income in the end as they wind up drinking beers and such, you can't get a table in there when its a Casey Buck night, works great for her.

Best of luck to everyone in these tough times.

Kev
 
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Word of mount can sometime be the best, and cheapest form of advertising.

Sadly many Room/Bar Owner in the PHOENIX METRO AREA do not have a clue how to keep customers coming back to THEIR Rooms.

They never greet new customers,introduce themselves as the owner or manager, they never saw hi to old customers to make them feel welcome, never say thank for coming, and hope to see you again soon.

A few words make people feel at home, and appreciated, those same people will spread the word about XYZ Bar, and room, and other will come on their recommendation.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Word of mount can sometime be the best, and cheapest form of advertising.

Sadly many Room/Bar Owner in the PHOENIX METRO AREA do not have a clue how to keep customers coming back to THEIR Rooms.

They never greet new customers,introduce themselves as the owner or manager, they never saw hi to old customers to make them feel welcome, never say thank for coming, and hope to see you again soon.

A few words make people feel at home, and appreciated, those same people will spread the word about XYZ Bar, and room, and other will come on their recommendation.
Click to expand...
Dave is a good guy,runs a great room and helps players,I have not forgot anything he has showed me when I would come to the room.When I first was told about the room from my mentor Joe Sabia,he said it was a good room with players in it and the equipment was perfect,they had good food and were great people,if Joe said it was so it was so because he was very critical of everything.I dont know a solution to the problem but know that Dave has great equipment there,you feel at home in the room,no problems in the room,people are respectful,tournaments have good money in them,good caliber of players in there.I dont know the solution to the problem but the only thing I see holding that room back is location,other then that the room is great.I will put my thinking cap on and if I can think of something I will give you a ring Dave but sadly I believe the economy has people not going out much along with fuel cost. :cool:
 
Do you suppose streaming some tournaments might be an idea. Maybe get the word out to the rest of the pool community that they might be able to get into something other than just another tournament. maybe some of the players might be able to get into some streaming matches. Just a thought.
 
I am no longer a room owner but, I have a promotion that worked well for us... it is for the players who liked to play a long time. Play 2 hours and your third hour is free. Consecutively. We used to charge $8.00 an hour for 2 or more people so for $16.00 they were able to play for 3 hours. It's a good deal and the customers who really like to play for a long time will play 2 hours to get their 3rd hour. Advertise it and they will come...
 
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a theory that I really love that I WILL implement into my pool hall if i ever get the guts to open one is to do room memberships.

If my local hall offered me a monthly membership fee (or even annual membership fee) there is no question what pool hall I would be in. Your patrons are forced to come back and (hopefully) spend money in the form of alcohol/food.

I would gladly pay a $50 (this is an arbitrary #, you gotta crunch the #s to see what is feasible) membership fee a month for unlimited play. If I bring a friend who is not a member he can pay a one-time fee to play with a member only. If non-members want to come in and play, they play at a normal hourly rate or your day rate. If a non-member comes in with a member and they play often, odds are they will also take you up on your membership plan. Eventually the entire pool culture in your city is gonna catch on and you should have a full house every night.


I haven't spoken with alot of room owners, but rooms with a good bar and good food I'd have to imagine make their real money from food/drinks. Am I wrong on this?

It seems to me that if you could get $50/month out of every member plus their food/drinks you are gonna be making real good money.
 
a few ideas:

1. webcam the room via a website
2. play specials (noon to five xx$)
3. weekly tournaments
4. leagues
5. free sites such as Craigslist.org, etc. postings to promote
6. writeups through media about the room and upcoming events

that is all that comes to mind right now. btw, if it is anything like Connecticut in the way of play during seasons, i am sure you will see a pickup when the weather gets nasty again.
 
One of the SMARTEST'S Pool Bar Owner in Phoenix IMHO does it all right.

He caters his business to the lessor players, or as he calls em the non "World Beaters"

His Tables are 4 Bar Boxes cover by the Best Guy in the Valley, and $.25/Game.

When his wife, or he is there in the Bar they are constantly mingling with the customers, making them feel at home. Greeting new customers, and giving people a reson to return to his BAR!

He does a weekly 8 Ball Tournaments on Sunday, $5.00 ENTRY, 200% Payout, and always has 22-24 players at a MINIMUM.

He does Texas Hold-em for FREE, with Prizes

He has Dart Boards, and if recall 5 of them.

He has the NFL Package, and on Sundays the BAR serves, FREE Hot Dogs & Chips, or Chili.

He has a good selection of power drinks, and NON Alcoholic Drinks, plus a FULL BAR.

He does (2) monthly Scotch Double Tournaments that are well attend.
 
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Start a Members Club:

Example:

They pay 30 $ in Members fee for the rest of the year. For this they get

* 15 % discount on either soda or beer
* 25 % discount on table time
* 50 % discount on table time in weekends
* they get invitations for "special nights" only for them

You get their contactinfo (emails).

We did something similar on the hall I ran. It was popular, and ffter a short time we made money on the entryfee, and we got tons of emails so we could advertise tournaments etc.

Emails like:

"25 % discount on this Sat 9-ball tournament for Members"

"One free soda for Members this Thursday"

The offer to them doesn't need to be special or something big. They have already got a good deal with becoming Members. The secret is to remind them once or twice a month that YOU exist, and make them come to your place to play pool.

Another thing we did was to sell cheap cues made in China, with fanzy layouts. The cues sucks, but they are so cheap that people buy them. And they bring them home, and most likely put them next to the door, so they see the cue every day when walking in and out. It reminds them of YOU, and they will play.

Another thing we discussed to do, but never did, was to sell chalks with an advertise for your room on. When customer comes to play, tell them that they can borrow a cue for free, but to play in your hall they will have to bring their own chalk or buy one of you for 0,5 $. (They do this in for example badminton or squash, you rent both the racket, the balls, etc. People won't complain, special not if this is a new room). All your customers will buy the chalk, and since they bought it they will put it in their jacket, and they will often be reminded of your poolhall...

Also you can make posters to put up on the restroom, so your customers can read when nature calls. Not a fancy poster, but a short message about what's up this weekend. Important to change it often.
 
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Specials!

I tried the memberships with the discounts. $100 a year and they pay 1/2 price on table time (Fri & Sat nights excluded). I ended up going with an $8 from 12-6 afternoon special...every day of the week...and a $10 per person special from 6- close (I did limit the tables). Most people will not play longer than 2 hours. If you have 2 couples, you win, and they win. They are actually very happy. They must choose the special up front and don't back down if they go over the time!
 
Thank you for your input . Thank god we are small enough my nut isnt too high, I have good customers , just need some of there freinds . I will try some of the promo ideas, thanks again. Dave P
 
another idea to consider is to hold tournaments for charity, specifically with big charities like the Red Cross.

These big name foundations will draw people who may not even have thought about playing pool competitively and will surely draw all the players around. Advertise it well and go to other businesses around town to see if they will donate prizes for mini-games and the main tournament. You may be surprised with a little work how big the tournament could become.
 
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