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KING GEORGE FIELD IBC SHARES MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT |
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"Like most indoor bowls clubs, King George Field IBC was struggling
financially after Covid and the huge rise in energy costs that came
shortly after the pandemic," recalls marketing director Nigel White. "Membership numbers were down and the financial outlook was bleak. A new management team was set up and plans were made for a recovery. Key to this was the need to boost the number of members." A small but mighty group of volunteers worked hard to put a marketing in place and the committee approved this, alongside a maximum budget. Nigel said: "The main messages that we wanted to communicate were: 'Try Bowls for free' and 'Bowls is a game for people of all ages'. "Our website was reviewed and made more appealing for first time visitors, whilst still delivering all the information members required (luckily we have an excellent web designer in the club). Advertising was placed in 10 local magazines and newspapers throughout the year, with up to four insertions planned in each." Everyone agreed that the adverts needed to be eye-catching and carrying a simple message. "It was an invitation for people of any age to come along to the club either on a Tuesday evening or Sunday morning to try the game for FREE," Nigel explained. "Experienced coaches would be at the club every week through the year rather than on just one particular 'Open Day'. This was a huge commitment by the coaches to make time to deliver the claim. "Up to four sessions were free and thereafter they could make a choice either to join the club or carry on with further coaching for a few more weeks and pay a green fee before committing. The dress code only required flat soled shoes and we provided the bowls." At the same time, it was pledged that press releases would be issued throughout the year about what the club was doing and editorial copy was achieved in most of the magazines about the health benefits of bowls and challenging the belief that bowls is only for old people. Cartoon captions were sometimes used to add a bit of fun to the text and the club utilised members with skills in design and illustration. The next part of the plan was to get groups of people to come to the club as a social outing.  "In part this was to try and capture new members from all age groups, but also to raise awareness of the club and the facilities available for parties, meetings or functions," Nigel said. "The bar would be open for these events and along with a reasonable green fee, this provided a new source of income from outside the club. Group sessions of two to three hours were created whereby club members gave basic tuition and then supervised team games for the guests. The dress code again was relaxed." The tactic worked: the club has seen various groups of people coming through its doors, from the local Rotary Club and choirs, scout groups, local pubs and a group of Tamil walkers. Nigel said: "All found the game of bowls challenging but enjoyable. In addition, we successfully launched our 'Wicked Wednesdays' last year and are looking forward to another busy summer. The idea behind this was to give children something different to do during the summer holidays; so every Wednesday afternoon we opened our doors for parents to bring their children along and for them all to try out our great sport. It has been very well received and all those who have come along have thoroughly enjoyed it with every possibility of recreating our junior section. This has continued this year." Whenever possible, the club has taken stalls at local community events where they encourage people to buy a tombola ticket and have the opportunity to explain the game. Nigel said: "The Surbiton Festival sees 10,000 people visit the town on a Saturday in September whilst the ever popular Chessington Family Fun Day in June has given us the opportunity to promote our 'Wicked Wednesdays' for parents and children. We take the opportunities to talk about both the game and the club's facilities." In terms of social media, members who are active on those platforms have been asked to promote any activities the club is involved with their respective groups. The cub is aware that it needs to be more relevant to younger age groups, but know that requires a change in attitude regarding dress code. Nigel said: "We are making progress. Our efforts have no doubt brought new people to the club and raised our profile in the community and our plans for the forthcoming 2024/25 season are to refine and repeat what we have done last year. It doesn't come without cost but we know it is worth the expense. "To succeed the whole club has got to be orientated to help in any way possible - with coaching and helping with the visiting groups, manning the stalls at events, providing tombola items collectively, in welcoming new members to the club. A recent survey amongst members confirmed the friendliness of King George Field IBC and the positive way in which new members were welcomed. It is very much a team effort." Sian Honnor. We' d love to know what bowls means to you, get in touch at info@eiba.co.uk Previous Article - Interview with new EIBA Board Member, Robyn Lockhart |
September 2024
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