Money doesn't grown on trees, but there are ways to
produce it.
By Darren A.
Gaitan
I would like to talk about revenue and the pro-shop
during this segment. Your pro-shop should be earning you
a great deal of money every month. If it’s possible, you
should set your financial goals so that the pro-shop
earnings equal 50% or above the total amount of your
payroll every month. I don’t think it will ever be 100%
but you should try to get it as close as possible. This
can be done with a little creativity and some
adjustments to your program. The best areas to focus on
are your two best customer groups; new students and
recently upgraded students. These two groups are your
best chance for equipment and package sales. I’ve quoted
it once and I’ll quote it again, “People buy on emotion
and justify with logic.”
A great way to boost sales immediately is to start
requiring equipment for different skill levels.
Beginners must have boxing glove, intermediates must
have sparring gear, and advanced must have weapons, just
as an example. If you do not have these requirements in
place then my best advice would be to grandfather them
in over a couple of months. I must also advise you that
if you are going to have equipment requirements then
make sure that you are constantly using them in class.
There is nothing a parent will resent more than spending
$100.00 on a weapon that their child uses once a month.
If you’re going to have requirements then you should be
using the equipment at least two times a week in class.
Another good way to adjust your current sales is to
offer upgrades on your equipment packages. There should
always be an A, B, and C package. They should vary in
price and appearance. Be sure to pick items that look
more expensive than the previous. Always add more items
to the most expensive package. Make sure that every item
in the package follows the same theme. All of your
packages should be listed on a price sheet that you can
give to parents. Finally, probably the most important,
is to always list the savings a parent will receive on
the price sheet and on the items. Parents don’t look at
an item to see how much it will cost, but they will look
at it to see how they will save. With gas prices where
they are today and interest rates rising, parents are
looking for any way to save money and this does affect
their buying habits. My advice; TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!
The next section I would like to cover is incentives for
parents to buy. Parents need to be enticed to spend
money at your pro-shop. One of the best ways I know how
to do this is karate bucks. It is karate play money that
can be spent at your pro-shop. I suggest giving them
away when students refer friends to the school. I always
suggest to parents that can’t afford sparring gear to
refer a certain number of friends and they can pay for
the gear in karate bucks. I also like karate bucks
because in a parents eyes it is a certificate of savings
so they invent reasons to spend money at your shop. A
good way to boost quick sales at the pro-shop is to send
out a $5.00 karate buck coupon via email in MAS. Make
sure that you explain that it can only be used once, on
purchases of $10.00 or more, and the original email must
be brought in. This will help reduce the chances that
people will abuse this. Believe me when I say that it
has happened.
I would also suggest that you should be keeping track of
the buying trends of your students by using the MAS
Store. This information will help you in stocking your
store and it will help you structure your incentive
plan. This information can be used to give parents a
special gift certificate of about $15.00 when their
purchases reach $500.00. Structure this based on
predetermined amounts and make sure that you make it a
surprise. This will be really easy to accomplish since
the new upgrade feature was implemented into the store.
I would also suggest that you explore all the new
possibilities inside of the new version of MAS.
Since you are a MAS client I want to talk about your
custom website. Don’t be guilty of the cardinal sin in
websites, “If you build it they will come.” A school
website does not guarantee a great online result. If you
are not constantly changing it then visitors will not
return. Imagine getting a magazine every month that
never changes it content, would you renew your
subscription? I think not. A great way to keep your
website fresh is to update the pro-shop section of your
site. Putting new items up, changing the specials, and
adjusting packages will keep the customers coming back.
You can also send them emails that inform them that you
have recently updated your site. You can also include
links to packages inside of your emails.
One last thing I want to include in this segment is
seasonal merchandise. With the weather changing and
summer on its way, let’s talk about t-shirts. T-shirts
are a huge money maker for any school. The profit margin
is great and the return on the investment is more than
you could ever imagine. Just think if you were able to
make $15.00 per student in a single month. At 100
students that’s $1500.00. Make sure to adjust your
uniform code so that students can wear t-shirts to every
class during May, June, July, and August. Remember how I
was talking about making sure that the merchandise you
sell will be used in class, well here’s a perfect
example. You can design a couple of different shirts so
that you sell them in sets or have a different theme for
each month. I’m also playing with another idea to adjust
uniform codes during the summer and it should be a big
one. I’ll get back to you when I find a way to make it
cost effective for the pro-shop.
If you are not using the MAS Store to manage your
pro-shop then I recommend changing. The final obstacle
has been eliminated with the implementation of the
export to QuickBooks option. Now running your pro-shop
couldn’t be simpler. Use the MAS Store to increase your
pro-shop sales and boost your bottom line. Think about
your financial goals and find ways to realize them. It’s
true that money doesn’t grow on trees, but there are
plenty of ways to produce it. I am always available to assist you
whenever you need it. Help is only an email away darren@championsway.com
Darren A. Gaiten
Associate Consultant
ChampionsWay Inc.
877.774.5425
darren@championsway.com |
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