Soft Play Centres: Getting Back to Basics

The current financial climate means that now is a good time to focus on the fundamentals of your business, this will help protect your Indoor Play Centre and prepare for better times ahead.

In the coming weeks I’ll look at several areas that I regularly tried to focus on, (not always successfully I hasten to add), when operating an Indoor Play Centre and try to provide examples of good practice that I have seen from other Soft Play Area operators.

Principle No 1: Look After Your Customers

1. Offer high standards of customer service. I tried to install in my staff the importance of a friendly smile, attention to detail and making the customer feel special on every visit. This doesn’t cost you any extra, but helps to make your customer feel appreciated. A great example of this can be seen at Parents Paradise Soft Play Centre in Watford, where the owners themselves takes a hands on approach to the business and show the staff how to provide great customer service. This has without doubt had a positive impact on the success of their business. Click on the following link to see an example of this in action.
(http://www.shareandcompareplay.com/dotnetnuke/Share/PlayTV/tabid/77/Default.aspx)

2. Provide excellent value for money. This doesn’t necessarily mean offering the cheapest service, but a service that makes the customer feel as though they have got great value from their visit. Offering special promotions during quieter periods can be a very effective way to achieve this and help to increase your revenues at the same time. An Indoor Play operator in Birmingham, ran a free entry weekday admission membership scheme for the summer holidays, and saw his overall takings increase by 30% compared to the same period the year before.

3. Acknowledge and reward your loyal customers. It is far easier to generate repeat business, rather then attract new business, and your regular customers are critical to the success of your Soft Play Area. We operated a CRM system that held a database of over 1000 customers, and used it to reward the most loyal 10% of customers, through regular text messages and emails. The results showed that this generated additional repeat visits for us, and helped to reduce the number of quiet periods each week in our Soft Play Area. There are a variety of cost effective systems available that will help you look after your loyal customers, so be sure to do your research and find the most suitable for your business.

Next week I’ll consider the costs involved in running an Indoor Play Centre, and look at some simple principles to ensure they remain at a manageable level to help your Soft Play Area achieve success.