| Kevin Bachler 2005-01-17, 12:45 am |
| "Vince Hart" <VinnyJH@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1105912958.669944.38390@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
quote:
> Charging people for something they have previously gotten for free is
> never a crowd-pleaser. It certainly goes down easier if they are
> getting something more from the ICA than they did before.
>
> Vince Hart
It doesn't have to be a crowd-pleaser to be successful though.
In 1994 most K-8 tournaments in Illinois had entry fees in the $8 range.
State may have been, oh $15.
That was the first year that I coached my son's team. We won state, decided
at the last minute to go to Nationals in Little Rock and finished 5th.
We did that in part through a good program and making certain that we were
brining in good instructors. To offset costs, we decided to run a K-8
tournament, as many of the other schools do. In addition to making money on
the sales of food, we did more to bring in a book store. But a key change
was that we charged $15. People told us it would fail, and that people
would think the cost was outrageous.
All we did was try to do a better job of having the event start on time (our
biggest failures were still an improvement) and explained to people that
with what the school charged for the site, we couldn't afford to charge
less. The attendance was great.
Soon, ALL of the metro area tournaments were charging $15. They realized
that they had been leaving money on the table. And everyone's school chess
program was able to improve as a result.
The improvements may not always be direct. Just have a good plan, and an
explanation. Don't waiver from it. If they don't want it, just politely
say "I understand" and move on.
Parents are used to paying INCREMENTALLY for their kids. It fits their
budget that way. That's why I am more in favor of significant rating fee
increases and charging for other services rather than increasing kids dues.
I'm not against raising revenue, I just want to spread it.
Same here. Have a reason for the increase, and do a good job. It will work
out fine. If the coaches don't want it, then ICA can run the tournament and
make the profit.
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