Soccer Schools How To Increase Revenue And Combat Competition
Article Kindly Submitted By James Collingwood of Soccer News DirectHow Soccer Schools Can Combat The Challenge Of Competition And Succeed In A Saturated Market
Tips To Increase Revenues, Increase Repeat Custom, Uplift Your Profile And Sky Rocket Your Profits….
Tips To Increase Revenues, Increase Repeat Custom, Uplift Your Profile And Sky Rocket Your Profits….How The BIG Soccer Schools Survive, Thrive And Outgun The Rest….
Special Report By James Collingwood
It seems every man and his dog has started a soccer school. From the next door neighbour to ex football players and almost everyone in between.
The soccer schools market, once a lucrative and booming sector, is becoming increasingly saturated.
It’s a natural progression however, when you have such a high profile game and nowhere for the kids to play. The solution
for footy mad parents and footy mad kids is to get some structured and professional tuition from soccer schools - like
yours.
Some parents see soccer schools as a quick fix that may boost their child’s success into an Academy and ‘live the dream’,
get their child ’spotted’ or recommended by one of the coaches.
Unfortunately some soccer schools play to this whim and exaggerate it to increase their own perception that they are the
key to the child’s soccer success.
It’s a dangerous and unsatisfying tactic that has left a bad taste in the mouth of many parents and coaches alike.
The promises are far from realised and the backlash has lead to court cases in some extremes. The challenges facing
soccer schools and soccer camps is wider than simple good business sense.
The falling birth rates are catching up, meaning less children and therefore less clients and soccer schools competing for
the same customers.
Is there a better way?
Is there a more dignified and honest route to providing a great learning experience for your clients, without having to tout
for business with improbable ‘we’ll make you the best’ promises or ‘we’ll get your child into so and so’s academy’?
Yes there is and it’s been working like gangbusters for the soccer schools and academies that use this approach. It’s no
reason why some of those soccer schools have been around for 30 years, established a worldwide presence and grown
a thriving and sustained business year on year.
These savvy organisations know that to increase revenues the easy way, is to catch the imagination and excitement of
their present customers and provide an exceptional learning experience.
Next year when their customers are organising their holiday camps and soccer sessions, who will they choose?
Of course, they’ll choose the organisation that provided the innovative, fun, exciting and memorable soccer sessions. Repeat custom is your most effective marketing spend per pound and your highest return on your investment.
Think about it this way - chasing new customers is expensive because of the marketing and resources required to
persuade a new client to join your organisation.
Harnessing the repeat spend of loyal customers is cheaper, more cost effective and increases your profit margin. That’s a
no brainer in any industry.
So How Can You Harness The Power Of Repeat Custom?
The key lies in capturing the imagination of your audience. One proven way to do that - and this is the way the ‘BIG’
soccer schools do it - is to utilise new innovative training tools that bring a versatile and exciting edge to your activities.
As I’m sure you know, any child that becomes bored or disinterested in your sessions is lost future revenue.
Any training tool invested in should have the capacity to be utilised for different age groups, different abilities and skills
levels to ensure you get the best ROI (return on your investment).
Training tools should be innovative and fun to use and not alienate any player. Inclusion should also be a main part of your strategy using something like the Every Child Matters framework.
Coaching staff should be able to hit the ground running with any new equipment without any extensive training. Ideally,
plans, learning outcomes and coaching ideas or examples should also accompany the equipment.
This will immediately allow coaching staff to implement their own creativity at a glance.
Not only will this help with shorter start up times, increasing the fun factor, but will also help get best usage from any
equipment therefore providing the exceptional and exciting learning experience your are looking to achieve for your clients.
Innovative training tools are just one way to increase repeat custom because they provide a memorable and positive
experience for your customers.
Plus, parents get a glimpse of what you use and an idea of what their child can expect, especially if the training tools have
a visual impact.
Another way is to offer the training tools you have used in your training to your customers.
This increases the spend of your clients but more importantly increases the value of their learning experience with your organisation.
If the tools you can offer also provide genuine learning experiences at home for your customers then loyalty and value
perception will also increase in your brand.
Not only will this lead to repeat custom but also opens up opportunities for referrals and recommendations. These kind of
opportunities cannot be underestimated and provide your best ROI because your marketing spend is greatly reduced per
customer meaning your profits will increase.
Getting More From Your Suppliers
Perhaps an important question you may want to ask any suppliers of innovative equipment is if they run an partnership program or are prepared to offer you commission based sales.
This gives you the option to either buy in stock for instant fulfilment to your clients, which could be a good option because you strike whilst the iron is hot.
Or ask if your supplier can offer a drop shipping service where your customers order via you and you simply get your
supplier to fulfil the order.
The ability to deal direct with the manufacturer is an advantage and cuts out the middle man allowing you to again increase
your profit margin.
Where Can You Find Innovative Training Tools And More Information?
Unfortunately this is becoming more difficult year on year. The larger corporate manufacturers concentrate on fashion and
style and little on innovation and substance.
Increasingly, innovation for the soccer industry is coming from a handful of small companies who have the ability to design and develop exciting training tools aimed at enhancing the performance of their end users.
One such company is family owned and has dedicated 12 years into developing training tools for children and youth
players.
The company is called The Targetizer Ltd and is based in the Northwest of England. This small company has quietly developed a ‘dynamic target training system’ that increases accuracy and helps develop many core shooting skills.
“The concept is similar to the target nets” as Imtiaz Jamil, founder and CEO explains…
“The Targetizer was developed from the basis that players desperately needed target practice. I decided to
enhance the target training concept and add some dynamic features to increase enjoyment, add more of a
challenge and still keep the target trainer versatile enough for all abilities and skill levels”
There are other companies and finding them was a task in itself. Perhaps innovation needs to enhance its profile and not
be so hard to find.
Profile And Positioning
Increasing your profile and positioning yourself as fresh, forward thinkers in the soccer schools market is key to your
success and longevity.
By providing creative, fun and inclusive learning experiences for your clients you are guaranteeing a strong foothold in this
increasingly competitive market place.
Concentrating on the needs of your customers now will provide a powerful platform to build upon year on year, giving you
and your business the opportunity to leave a legacy much longer than 30 years.
Repeat custom will help you survive and thrive in this saturated market place because you have provided what your
customers are looking for - an exciting, fun learning adventure that leaves lasting positive memories and a huge smile on
their faces.
That’s the kind of business sense that will survive the rocky times and put you head and shoulders above the competition.
These are proven tactics and strategies secretly guarded by the ‘BIG’ soccer schools - until now.Don’t wait for the competition to take advantage. Make the first move and be known as the leader in your field and not the
follower.
Don’t wait for the competition to take advantage. Make the first move and be known as the leader in your field and not thefollower.As we both know, leaders rightly get the lions share.
By James Collingwood of Soccer News Direct