Why Create a Feedback Loop?

Customer service is the heart of our family entertainment industry. The guest experience means everything to the overall success of your park or FEC. This experience is constantly evolving. There will never be an end to this topic because times change, emotions shift, and technology advances to provide us with new opportunities to strive for customer service excellence.

One way to make sure that you are providing your guests with the most stellar and complete guest experience possible is by making sure that you have a solid feedback loop in your business model.

What is a Feedback Loop?

A feedback loop is a strategy that strives to improve the guest service experience. It's not always pretty, but it is effective! It is an honest assessment of how you are doing as a family entertainment business. It comes directly from your guests. This mutual interaction between the company and its guests, allows the company to receive important insights into what is working and what is not. It is probably one of the most beneficial ways to understand what your guests need and want from your facility.

We can see the different ways that companies create feedback loops everywhere!?

• Traveling? Chances are, you’ll see a large print sticker on the back of a semi-truck that says “How's my driving?" With a toll-free phone number to call to give a review.
• Have you gone to a restaurant lately?? You might find that your receipt offers you a way to provide a review on the service and food. More often than not, you will also be given an incentive like a free meal or soft drink for you to provide the review.?

Companies all over the place are offering ways for their customers to give honest reviews about their products and services. Most will encourage feedback by? promoting free items upon review or "chances to win” something if they take the time to give their valuable opinion.

We just ended another holiday season. Wouldn't it be easy to buy presents for the people on your list if they came right out and told you what it is they wanted or needed instead of having to guess what would make them happy? If they did, you would be able to provide the ultimate gift without wondering whether or not they would like it. The feedback loop provides you with that essential information. It takes the guesswork out of your business and marketing strategy.

Hiring The Right People For The Job

Let's face it, it is hard to keep your guests excited while they are trying to enjoy your offerings if your staff members don't even want to be there. I don't care what business or what industry you frequent, if you go into that store or place of business and the employees are sitting around looking like they are bored or that they would rather be someplace else and they do not give you good customer service, the chances are you're not coming back to that establishment.

That is especially true in the family entertainment business! People are coming to your facility to have a great time. They start out excited and it's our job to keep them that way. A happy customer spends more money. They take the time to enjoy themselves as much as they can. If the employees look miserable, it's going to be very hard for you to sell a good time to your guests.?

So, in short, it is important to hire friendly people who love their job and love the environment in which they work. That is a basic fabric for any business that wants positive feedback. You need to hire engaged team members that are going to represent your business in the best way possible.?

Going Above & Beyond

A family entertainment business cannot survive on random strangers entering their facility for the first time. A successful business needs a loyal customer base. In order to do that, you need to know what it is that your guests want and need from you. This will prevent them from going to your competitor to get the experience that they're looking for.

Your leadership team should be evaluating each and every possible way that guests interact with your brand and your staff. If you are falling short of the vision and desires of your guests, you are going to find it hard to keep them loyal.?

The next thing to do is try to find ways to enhance the quality of the experience. From the moment a guest enters your establishment to the moment they leave your parking lot, you are responsible for making sure that all of their needs were met.?

Here are a few things to consider:

• Confusing or complex content on your website: When you try to get guests to purchase online, you want to make sure that it is an easy-to-use system. Convenience means a lot to the guests that don't have a whole lot of time to read between the lines or do research to figure out what it is that you are offering. Be clear, be direct!?
• Slow response times for inquiries: If a guest is trying to make an inquiry about booking a party, attending an event, or even bringing a group to your park or FEC, they will most likely go someplace else if it takes too long to get the answers that they need. Fast, efficient service is a good quality to have. Your guests will come to depend on you if that is what they experience.
• Staff members that don't have answers to questions: It is important to teach your staff members that if a guest comes up to them with a question that they don't know the answer to, they tell them, “That’s a good question, let me go check on that for you.” As long as they know that the staff members are trying to get the answers to the questions that they have, they're going to feel satisfied that their needs are being taken care of. It is highly frustrating for a guest to have questions and consistently be told by staff, “I don't know."?

The Connection Between Emotional Branding & Damage Control

People are highly emotional. When they are happy they want to stay in the moment. When they are angry they lash out and provide bad reviews. You may not be able to satisfy all guests but you can increase positive interactions and limit negative interactions.?

The most essential aspect is how you respond to a problem. Here are a few things to consider when finding ways to respond to problems that arise.?

• Negative emotions grow the longer they are unattended to or not redirected to a positive outcome. Therefore, finding solutions to help bridge the gap during an unpleasant experience is highly important.
• Be sure to create emotional branding. Your guests identify with the important emotional ties for example their favorite places become a significant part of their life. It’s where their loyalty lives. Their school, their old high school football team, their favorite diner, and the best place to hang out with family and friends. It’s where their memories reside. Your company needs to strive to get that status, BE that FAVORITE PLACE. Then, you will create fans out of your guests.
• Make sure that you are living up to the emotional connection that you are trying to create. Your staff should strive to create the best experience possible such as birthday parties. If your guests have a great time at the birthday party in your park and the guests that they have invited are overwhelmed with joyful emotion, they are likely going to book parties with you in the future for every event.

The point I'm trying to make is that when you take random guests that decide to give your company a try and you make them loyal, you also turn them into an advocate for your business. Word of mouth spread faster than wildfire.? Strong emotional branding will keep you connected to all of the guests whom you create the best experience for.?

Building Lasting Relationships

People value relationships because they are emotional creatures. They want the attachment. Relationships signify a bond that is very hard to break.?

There are a few ways that you can enhance the relationship that your guests have with not only your brand and your facility, but with lasting relationships that they make while enjoying your entertainment.

Everyone is on social media. They join groups to find people with similar interests. When people in similar groups are talking about positive experiences that they have had with your park or FEC, fun memories that they've enjoyed with your brand, and experiences with people that they met or competed against when you have hosted tournaments and competitions, these all signify a huge relationship bond between you and your guests.?

The guest experience, as I said before, is always evolving. There is never an end goal with this topic. Why? Because there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to the emotional needs of your guests. These are all essential tips when trying to create a fan base and all of it is possible when you create a feedback loop that captures vital information that will present clear insight into the experience that you are providing.?

Have you read an article I’ve published here on LinkedIn and want to talk about the topic a little more? If you’d like to book a call with me regarding the Family Entertainment Industry or Private Equity, please feel free. I enjoy connecting & collaborating with others in the same professional space.

Tim Murphy is CEO of APX Operating Company, dba Boomers Parks, under the ownership of Cerberus private equity ($60B assets). Boomers Parks owns six family entertainment centers and two water parks with locations in California, Florida, and New Jersey.

As CEO of Boomers Parks since 2020, Tim took these eight parks from bankruptcy to profitability in just a year – in the middle of a global pandemic. When Boomers acquired these parks, they were operating at a $10 million loss. Tim transformed the customer experience and added new revenue streams to generate a 180% increase in revenue in 2021 and on a similar trajectory in 2022.

Tim launched his 35+ year career at Walt Disney World and has since served more than 150 entertainment, restaurant, and food & beverage brands across more than 10,000 locations in C-suite and senior positions.

Additionally, Tim is a Board Director with Coney Park & Happy City - Family Entertainment & Amusement Parks, part of The Carlyle Group ($276B assets), a private equity firm that operates 150+ family entertainment centers and amusement parks in Latin America.?

Tim has worked with top-tier entertainment and restaurant brands including Disney, Rebounderz Trampoline Parks, Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, etc.), Red Lobster, Jimmy John’s, Applebee’s, Sonny’s Bar-B-Q, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Hardee’s, Golden Corral, and Firehouse Subs.

Tim has overseen more than 35 purchase transactions involving over 1,200 restaurants, stores, and park locations.? With extensive experience in buying and selling businesses, handling negotiations with buyers and sellers, and creating strategic partnerships to build strong brands, Tim has facilitated deals ranging from $11 million to $350 million+.

Tim is a member of International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA), California Attractions and Parks Association (CAPA), Florida Attractions Association (FAA), American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), National Restaurant Association (NRA), California Restaurant Association (CRA), World Waterpark Association (WWA) and International Franchising Association (IFA). He is a licensed commercial real estate broker in the State of Florida. Tim earned a BS/BA in Accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA in Finance from Orlando College.