5 Essential Tips for Creating Exceptional Holiday Party Packages

For all FEC owners and operators, now is the prime time to reassess your party packages for this holiday season, tweak your pricing, and kickstart your holiday season planning.

Yes, October is already here! The busy season is looming and it’s crucial to plan ahead to entice more customers, enhance your packages, and make this holiday season the most lucrative yet. Here's a detailed guide to creating unforgettable, value-driven party packages for this holiday season.

5 Essential Tips for Creating Exceptional Holiday Party Packages

Customers will soon be on the hunt for party packages for this holiday season that offer supreme value.

So, it’s essential to strategize now on refining your packages.

1. Make Data-Driven Decisions

At Party Center Software, our aim is to furnish customers with valuable insights for annual planning.

Our 2021 Online Booking Study illustrates how enriched party packages with additional perks can differentiate your facility and boost revenue.

So, delve into your data and explore newfound opportunities for your business with insightful reports, especially if you're using Party Center Software.

2. Focus on providing a great guest experience

Are your packages merely about discounted admission? It's vital to move beyond discounts to curate packages that encapsulate superior guest experiences, ensuring long-term revenue and reduced stress on high-volume parties.

Comparative Scenario:

• Basic Party Package: $105/package, catering to 60 people might seem profitable but leads to increased staffing and potential chaos.
• Ultimate Party Package: $250/package offers a refined experience for 30 people, allowing streamlined management and higher profits per party.

A focused approach on exemplary experiences over mere attendance will secure positive reviews and repeat business.

3. Build valuable party packages

The autumn and winter seasons brim with potential. The Good-Better-Best model is pivotal, allowing tiered options ranging from Silver to Platinum packages, each resonating value and appeal, with Platinum offering royal incentives, ensuring every customer finds a package that aligns with their budget and preference, making the party packages for this holiday season more lucrative.

When using the Good-Better-Best approach, it's important to name your products well. Which set of party package names sound more appealing?

If you're looking to increase your revenue, especially during the holiday season, I hope your choice was "Set B".

Platinum is the best. Gold is more valuable than Silver. And Silver still sounds pretty nice.

• Platinum Party Packages offer the highest incentives and make guests feel like royalty. 
  
  
• Creating a Gold Party Package is key for your business. Your guests will feel better about not spending too much, but will still feel excited about the additional value they'll receive compared to the cheapest option.
  
  More often than not, your Gold Party Packages are going to be the most popular option at your facility. Explain this option's added value without sounding overly “sales-y,” and watch people who would have purchased the Silver upgrade to Gold!
  
  
• A Silver Party Package is still a solid choice—don't skimp out on the value with this one. Having an affordable party package option that still includes exclusive add-ons and a great experience shows customers that your facility welcomes everyone and anyone, no matter their budget.

Brainstorm what party package labels suit your family entertainment center or event facility best, but please, a word of advice when it comes to naming them: "Bronze" is better left on doorknobs!

Make the most out of your party packages

Renaming and adding items to your party packages will allow you to charge more for them. If you've created your packages effectively, you'll still see business flow—or even better, increase—because your guests will be more excited about their purchasing decision.

All customers want to feel like they received the most value for their dollar. So, during the holiday season when it's easy to get caught up in overspending, your guests are going to take advantage of the best deals you're offering.

Can you spot the difference below?

• Soda: I know what you're thinking."Unlimited soda?! You're taking away a huge "silent" money maker!"
  
  Realistically, unless your parties are full of kids with superhuman stomachs, there's only so much soda a child can drink. You may wind up giving out another 2 pitchers total, which is far from a hit to your overall total.
  
  

  Your goal is to book more parties around the $250 range, so that's quite a bit of a markup. Make your guests feel like there are no limits to the fun they can experience.

• Ice Cream: Before we go any further on this subject, let's be honest: your employees are eating your ice cream sandwiches when no one is looking. 
  
  One gallon of Neapolitan "Party Pails" at Kroger will cost about $9.00 after tax. From there, you are only some syrup and sprinkles away from offering more fun, more personalized, and more Instagrammable experience. And, it's at a more affordable cost to you.
  
  Remember: you're selling the experience, not the
  ice cream. 
  
  
• Admission + Skate Rental: Think Fast: when you order a combo at McDonald's, what is the exact discount on your drink?
  
  

  The point is that no one wants to do the math to determine if they're getting a good deal. If two options are going to cost the same, but you can change the words to make it simpler for the guest...do it.

4. Create an effective party package promotion plan

Effective promotion across varied channels like social media, email newsletters, direct mailers, and local events is crucial for elevating the visibility of your holiday events and party packages for this holiday season.

Are you setting up booths at local markets, trade shows, and fairs to spread the word?

Are you promoting upcoming events at your facility via signage and promo items, or are you sending out direct mailers to encourage customers to return to your facility?

Make it a point to advertise your holiday events and party offerings consistently across multiple communication channels for the best chance of well-attended events.

5. Make purchasing your party packages easy and convenient for your customers

Some customers will navigate to your website from their computer weeks or months in advance of when they plan to book a party.

They might be signed up for your email newsletter or they follow you on Instagram, so they might be consistently reminded that you have certain offerings or specials going on. 

However, the majority of people turn to their mobile phones during their busy work day to start researching potential party options a mere week before their desired event date.

Here comes the big question: how easy do you make it for customers to book parties with you?

Do you have a reservation or "contact us" form on your website? Do you not have a form at all and simply direct potential guests to give you a call at the facility?

Make it easier for your customers and your facility during this hectic time of year by offering what everyone wants and expects in this day and age— an online party booking option. 

Online booking software allows your guests to pick their preferred party date and time at your facility, without having to coordinate with you via form or phone call. As a facility owner, you're then able to immediately collect their deposit and know exactly what's happening, when, and for how many people without having to play phone tag.

In the time it takes to get in touch with a potential customer who submitted a form or left a voicemail when you were closed, they may have already found somewhere else to go and spend their money.

Of course, you'll still want to call and confirm online bookings with your guests, but now the conversation will be different. The purchasing decision has already been made, so your focus can
now be about what will give your customer a successful guest experience, and not locking down a "sale."

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Hosting a Holiday Party: 4 Elements to Book & Host Great Parties at Your FEC

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