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It’s pretty simple, really. Know your customer.
This age-old business axiom applies to any consideration range owners give to adding bumper boats and go-carts to their facilities. And, experts say, taking the time to determine potential customer interest in these activities is crucial to the success or failure of enhancing the range’s scope of operations.
“Range owners need to find out who they will appeal to with a go-cart [track] or bumper boat pond, because it is a totally different market than the driving range customer,” says Randy White, CEO of White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, a research organization and consultancy in Kansas City, Mo. “We have done some pretty intensive studies on existing facilities and found that a driving range and a family entertainment center are two unique trips. Sometimes, when you try and be all things to all people, you wind up being special to no one. But if a facility has the land and has the right market, it certainly is an option to add amenities.”
Ed Dumont, general manager of Kimball Farm, a sprawling 200-acre golf range and family entertainment center in Westford, Mass., says installing a bumper boat pond just made sense.
“The owners, Mike and Peter Kimball, had the vision to put miniature golf here to broaden our customer base,” he says. “We had adults on the driving range and the pitch and putt, and it was a nice place for groups to get together. We then looked at our operation and [asked], how can we better entertain the kids?”
Since their addition in 2002, the bumper boats have attracted a new clientele and brought more families to the facility.
“When we had the driving range and pitch and putt, it was mostly a male clientele,” Dumont says. “Now, we see more families coming. A car will pull in and the kids will go to the miniature golf and bumper boats, the father will go to the driving range and the mom or grandmother will go to our country store.”
When the market’s right, White says, there can be synergy between the driving range and family entertainment activities. “The existing driving range customer will become aware of the bumper boats and go-carts, and if they have a family they will come back with them. It’s the same for those bringing their children to use the go-carts and bumper boats,” he notes.
For ranges with a miniature golf course or batting cages, adding a go-cart track or bumper boat pool is a fairly logical extension of their operations. For the most part, the same customer who plays miniature golf or bats a few balls will be attracted to the racing adrenaline of the carts or the water play of bumper boats.
“What bumper boats do is increase the customer base,” says Christopher Foster, director of sales and marketing for Cost of Wisconsin, based in Jackson, Wis. “With amenities such as bumper boats, a range owner is not relying solely on the driving range as a revenue producer. It also increases the length of stay at your facility for families.”
Perfect Swing Family Fun Center in Norman, Okla., opened 20 years ago with a golf range, batting cages and bumper boats. “We added the go-carts to broaden our family entertainment value,” says Ken Carson, a manager at the facility. “We pride ourselves as being an alternative to a Six Flags-type of operation. Someplace were people can come, not wait in line for an hour and a half and spend 15 dollars for a great time. The go-carts have appealed to teen-agers and adults as well.”
Before diving head first into either amenity, range owners must first determine if they’re located in a family-friendly market, and what activities those families are most likely to participate in.
To determine interest among existing customers, range owners can send a broadcast e-mail asking customers’ preferences in family entertainment, or conduct on-premises surveys of family-age adults to determine what activity they would like to see added to a facility. Visiting a successful family entertainment center to gain firsthand knowledge of how such an operation functions and who frequents the facility is another low-impact research tool.
“I really don’t believe you need someone to tell you what your neighborhood is like,” says Carson. “I think all you need to do is look at the parking lots and see were people are going. Sometimes, businesses can have paralysis by analysis. But that doesn’t mean you don’t invest time and energy listening to your customers and finding out what their preferences are for family entertainment.”
Other range operators, such as Kimball Farm’s Dumont, take a more pragmatic approach.
“Really, adding bumper boats was a natural way to utilize a 6,000-square-foot pond we had on the property to provide water for our waterfalls at the miniature golf course,” he says. “We didn’t do any marketing research at all. We had the capability and it worked out.”
Dumont and co-owner Michael Kimball, however, did travel to Florida to research various types of bumper boats before choosing a gas-powered model. “The gas boats made for a more exciting ride,” Dumont says.
Like Kimball Farm, Windy Hill Golf and Sports Complex, a 125-acre operation in Midlothian, Va., had the space to add another amenity. Its choice: go-carts. “You have to diversify in this market, and that was why we added the go-carts,” says manager Cindy Harris. “The response has been awesome. Sometimes whole families will race against one another.”
Having enough available land to accommodate the amenity, though, is only half of the equation. The other, more difficult half is positioning it so that it attracts customers but doesn’t distract and annoy driving range patrons.
“You have to study the site you have and make sure you can design the track or pond so that it does not interfere with the range,” says Burdette Bremer, sales manager for Castle Golf Inc. in Mesa, Ariz. “You can offend not only your existing range customers but also neighboring property owners. The permitting process for a go-cart track is fairly intense, so you need to know that going in.”
Go-carts will increase noise at a facility, and there are liability and insurance issues to consider as well as maintenance of the vehicles. While bumper boats operate fairly quietly, customers’ squeals as they get sprayed with water or bump into another boat may distract golfers on the practice range if the activities are located too close together.
“It was important for us to have the driving range and pitch and putt in one location and the bumper boats somewhat away from those operations,” says Dumont. “With 200 acres of land, it was not a problem distancing each one.”
Whether the track or pond is highly visible or located behind a stand of trees, an active marketing program will promote its presence.
“A lot of ranges are passive in terms of their marketing,” says Dutch Magrath, president of Amusement Products LLC in Chattanooga, Tenn. “The attitude is ‘Everybody knows what I’ve got here even though I may be located behind some trees.’ If you are going to expand into the family entertainment area, you need to let people know what you have.”
This can be accomplished by sending e-mails or fliers to existing customers, and reaching new clients through traditional media channels such as TV and radio. Conducting special events is another low-cost way to get the word out.
“We do a ‘Cruise Night’ every Thursday that has been very successful getting people here who might not otherwise come,” says Dumont of Kimball Farm. “We have bands perform every so often, and it’s a way to get a wider range of customer here.”
Ideas for spurring interest in bumper boats or a go-cart track include distributing marked-down or multiple purchase coupons that allow customers to use the activities for reduced rates, giving free passes to golfers to encourage them to bring their children back and hosting corporate outings and group events to introduce customers to the activities and inspire repeat visits.
“It’s a good idea to do some cross-marketing between the various activities at the facility,” says Foster of Cost of Wisconsin. “Letting the people who use the range know that you are now a family entertainment center and telling people who use the go-carts and bumper boats about the range can increase sales at each.”
Perfect Swing, for example, sells a wristband that allows customers unlimited use of the amusements, and Windy Hill works extensively with local schools to encourage traffic.
“We partner with them on fund-raising activities,” says Harris. “We’ll pick a night and give a percentage of our revenue from that night to the schools. We receive great support from the families who can come out and have fun knowing that some of their money is going back to the schools.”
When it comes down to adding go-carts and bumper boats, range owners need to weigh the costs versus the income potential in their market, says Foster. “If you are located in or near a retirement community, adding bumper boats or go-carts doesn’t make sense. But if you are near a concentration of young families, you can dramatically increase your traffic and revenue by adding these amenities.”
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