Looking for creative ideas

[averyhaden]

I’m a student of Business management. I have been given a task by a local business to Improve there marketing to increase their sales, after a drop in interest in a certain service.

The Business is a Local Health and leisure centre and is currently suffering from a drop in sales and interest in the adult swimming service. The Business have suffered from a drop in sales by nearly 50% in the past two years. They have asked me to create a business plan and an idea to how they can improve their marketing and increase their sales in adult swimming sessions.

I am posting on here, to seek advice on any ideas that you may have about how a small leisure centre can increase sales in the adult swimming market. Any ideas would be welcome as I am currently struggling to come up with an idea that is very effective and cheap to carry out, so any ideas would be welcome.

Hope I have given you enough basic info, don't hesitate to ask if you need more information. Again any ideas would be very welcome and I would appreciate your help. I will be looking forward to hearing some of your ideas. Looking for a quick reply as i have not got long to complete the task and organise my presentation to local businesses.

Thanks for your time and interest.

[ltrahan]

What about themed swims? Maybe a 'singles swim' - something that might attract the attention of some adults who don't even know about the center.

You could even try promoting adult swimming lessons, promoting the health effects?

These are two quick ideas that come to mind.

[TheAnonymousMan]

Hello averyhaden

Have you got access to a database of previous customers at all? If so, can you mail them some information of the upcoming swimming lessons and provide them with an early bird discount if they book within a certain period of time? Or if they purchase two types of swimming classes they get the third free or at 50% off? I'm assuming the centre offers different types of swimming classes such as aqua aerobics etc? If not, you could include this in your business plan, to offer more types of swimming classes to attract a wider range of demographic profiles.

You will also need to find out how you are going to promote your lessons to your target market. Whether it be using a database (as above), creating a referral system where people can actually be rewarded for signing up their friends for swimming lessons or even advertising in the local newspaper.

[Kevin Lee]

What about themed swims? Maybe a 'singles swim' - something that might attract the attention of some adults who don't even know about the center.

You could even try promoting adult swimming lessons, promoting the health effects?

These are two quick ideas that come to mind.

Hi averyhaden,

I like ltrahan's ideas. For example, MeetMarketAdventures.com is promoting New York's "Singles Hike & Swim Wawayanda State Park" event
http://www.meetmarketadventures.com/eve ... vt_id=2020
so maybe you could also list "singles", "women only", "seniors" or "new moms who want to get back into shape" swimming events for your Local Health and leisure centre on http://www.meetup.com/ . I'm not sure, but I think Meetup.com only charges about $27 USD/month to list your meetup group and they even have a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied after the initial trial period.

You can even market the idea of how swimming is a low impact, high performance exercise! "According to Lynn Millar, Ph.D., a professor of physical therapy at Andrews University in Michigan, low-impact workouts are great calorie-burners and muscle-builders — sans the tough-on-your-knees grind of high-impact activities, such as running or jumping rope."

"Swimming is a total-body activity and a great cardiovascular workout to boot, says Millar. It's especially good for people with arthritis, because it doesn't put pressure on joints. This sport is all about endurance, not intensity, says Scott. 'As you improve, you will become a more efficient [swimmer] and won't expend as many calories,' she says. 'Concentrate on swimming longer, not harder.' If you reach a plateau, wear special water weights to increase your resistance. Calories burned per half hour: 254"

http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/heal ... mpact.html

[OmnivoreInk]

The Business have suffered from a drop in sales by nearly 50% in the past two years.

The first question to ask is not what marketing can be done to renew sales, but, why are sales dropping in the first place?

Have they raised their rates?
Has the quality of the pool gone down?
Are kids allowed to swim at the same time as adults?
Is the neighborhood changing?

Perhaps there are some problems at the business that have to be fixed, then solicit old customers by saying, "Under new management!"

[dennis]

Perhaps you can briefly explain what an "Adult swim session" is ... and how the company profits from offering this type of service.

[OmnivoreInk]

Perhaps you can briefly explain what an "Adult swim session" is ... and how the company profits from offering this type of service.

I'm sure it's an hour set aside every day where only adults are allowed to swim - usually in laps, without kids around to distract.

[mphcoach]

Who is going to the adult swim sessions right now and if you ask them some focused 'open' questions (gets them really talking), about their experiences at the center.

I'm also interested about what you see and hear when the sessions are on - is there a positive buzz or not? Are the conditions and/or environment good. Are the people good?

What is happening to the external market?

Then, what is the place's USP. How can you make word of mouth the business driver?

Just a few top of the head Q's to get you going )

Regards

Martin

Martin Haworth
Checkout the free minicourses at...
"How To Land Your Dream Job" and
"How To Win At Assessment Centers"

[TheAnonymousMan]

Also, is it feasible to survey the people who have quit within the last 6 months to find out why they quit exactly? You may find that 45% of people are quitting because the opening hours of the centre are not flexible enough and you would not of ever of known this without the survey.

If averyhaden can update us on his achievements so far, that would be great!

[joe_smith]

I work for The largest fitness company in Australia so I can give you some tips.
Some of the promotions they do are:
*Sponsor kids school and give the parents a discount rate.
*Refer a friend and get cheaper lessons
*Raffle draws, These create leads which you can contact. ( you can team up with some local businesses and have people go in the draw to win a swimming lesson etc.)
*give discounts to local businesses and their families
*start something new and exciting, people may be bored with the lessons, I'm not sure what they are though
*change instructors
*advertise in the local paper about bring a friend deals

These are my ideas, hopefully they were helpful.