Bowlers Journal International - February 2008 - (Page 78) ONEONONE WITH JIM DRESSEL CREATING A PORTAL TO DRIVE CENTER PROFITS When it comes to using the pro shop and bowling instruction to enhance revenue for a bowling center, Skills Center Director Kelly Bednar is a man who's been there and done that. ALL OF THAT INDUSTRY UNITY SOUNDS nice, but how will it all come together in a way that will help drive more revenues for the typical bowling center? The answer may be contained in the Skills Center program, a concept rolled out at last year's BPAA Summit in Cancun, Mexico. Many signed on to the program because of what it was designed to do, but as for the methodology, well, let's just say there was some confusion about how it would come about. Enter Kelly Bednar, an accredited Trainer for the United States Bowling Congress, and a Master Instructor for the International Bowling Pro Shop & Instructors Association. Bednar has done it all, from owning and managing pro shops, to helping create the revenue he's now talking about as the Skills Center Director. His experience landed him the job. He designed a program for Buffaloe Lanes in North Carolina that parallels the Skills Center concept, and made it a highly successful revenueproducer. BJI's Jim Dressel talked to him about the Skills Center concept. The Skills Center concept was launched at last year's Summit. What is its status now? The concept was created by Jim Sturm and Joe Schumacker, who hired me in April to put together something that I thought would work with their vision. We're ready to launch the actual program at this year's Summit. Have there been any changes to the program since last year? Other than investigating if we could get this going and getting the money in line, it's mostly been just clearing up the misconceptions. It was interpreted differently than was actually intended by its creators. What was the biggest misconception? That it’s something that is cost inten78 bowlers journal international sive. We have developed a program that will be internally marketing-based, helping drive customers already in the center through a development program to become more committed to the game and sport. I remember getting an email — from you, in fact — that you heard that pro shops might not do it because it would cost too much. That's what some told me, yes. And proprietors weren’t going to do it because they didn’t want to spend the money. Well, cost was never discussed; I never personally put numbers to paper until October. So I knew right then that there were misconceptions about the plan. My job was just to make it more streamlined and effective. The second misconception is that it will be an exclusive club. No, again. It isn't designed to make the high-end player better, although it does contain elements of that. It’s really more of a developmental program, taking bowlers in your bowling center and moving them forward to a higher level of involvement. Whether they come in once a year, are league bowlers, or even high-end players, how do we get them to come in more often? How much of a marketing penetration do you expect to have with this program? Actually, one of the first things I did was to see if anybody else had done something like this. Was it tried in golf? In tennis? And, if so, what were their experiences? I know we had a successful bowler development program at Buffaloe Lanes in North Carolina that drove participation and revenues up, as did Jim Sturm in his market. But what about other [activities]? So I did some homework. In bowling, we keep hearing how we want to be like golf, but really, I think we want to be more like tennis. In fact, both tennis and golf envy us if you talk to anybody in their youth programs. They are just in awe of the national participation and the coaching structures we have in our youth programs. Pam Long, our youth director at BPAA, FEBRUARY 2008
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