Part 2 - Dealing with the Group Leader

The group leader is THE person that you have to sell your field to.  HE is the person that knows everyone in his group.  HE is the person that will collect deposits.  HE is the person that will educate his group about your field. HE is the person that will pick the game day. The problem is the most field owners neglect the group leader, and then have the nerve to hold the group leader responsible for only bringing out a partial group, or no group at all!   It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that the group leader has everything he needs to have a successful outing.

Create a minimum group size for private games
My minimum private group size was fifteen players.   Ten is OK, but you should shoot for 15 or higher.   Groups smaller than fifteen should be combined with other groups that are smaller than fifteen.   You should reserve the right to reschedule small groups so that they can be mixed with other small groups.  This can be tough, but if you stick to your guns there will be fewer days where you are paying reffs and standing at the paintball field all day while only 8 people are playing.  That should NEVER HAPPEN.  Get that into your head and be diligent about it.   Having a mimum group size HEAVILY MOTIVATES the group leader to get 15 signups minimum.   

Offer Group Leader Incentives
Here are some ideas:

• Give free entry and paint to group leaders that get 15 players paid.

• Give away a free pair of goggles to group leaders that get 30 players paid.

• Give a free pump gun package to group leaders that bring 50 paid players.

• Give an annual field membership card to the group leader who brings a group of 80 or more.

Make Deposits Required and Non-Refundable
This MUST be in place or your cancellation rate will be through the roof.   Imagine what happens when a group leader goes around their office getting signups for their  outing.  At first, 20 people will say "yeah, I'll go".  But without cash deposits, no one will go.   I learned this one the hard way.  Also, the more they pay up front, the more money they will have come game day.   If you can get participants to pay for their whole package up front, then they will still come to the field with $50 in their pocket and they will buy food and more paint.     If they pay a crappy little $5 or $10 deposit, then their "pocket cash" gets used up on the gun package and field fee, and they do not buy food or extra paint.   I have seen this proven time after time.  The best way to avoid this is to offer an extra 100 balls to anyone that pre-pays for their whole package.   The MINIMUM that you should request for a deposit is 50%. 

Eliminate Field Fees and CO2 Fees
When you are pricing your rental packages, I recommend that you include the insurance and field fee in with the rental package.  Basically there are two reasons for this.  One is that by getting all of your money up front, you can avoid people not bringing enough cash to the field, and the second reason is because it appears that you are "nickle and diming" your customers to death when you separate the field and insurance fees from the rental packages.  The same is true with CO2.  CO2 sales are for walk-ons, not for newbies.   CO2 should be free for all newbie players.   If you have a newbie player that brings his own gun, then he can get a $10 discount off of yoru packages, and the difference will go to his paint and air.   The lesson here is that field fees are for walk-on players, not newbie groups.  At the risk of repeating myself here, let me say again that by getting the money up front, players will bring more pocket money when they arrive.  No field owner ever made a profit on field fees alone.

Package Pricing
I recommend that you stick with two packages.  A $30-$40 package and a $50-$60 package.   The only difference in the packages should be the amount of paint that is included.   You can always offer additional upgrades such as overalls, smoke grenades, and extra paint. I would stay away from gun upgrades, however.   Newbies ARE resentful of players that upgrade their equipment to tournament guns, and it really puts a damper on the day.   Make sure that everyone in the group has the EXACT SAME TYPE OF RENTAL GUN.

Rain Dates
The first question you get when you make deposits non-refundable is "what happens when it rains?".   My answer was this:  "If it is a downpour or there is lightning, we will reschedule your group.   If it is raining lightly, we will play."   One thing I used to say a lot that made group leaders laugh was "they don't cancel wars for rain".     They loved that.  Remember, they are coming out to "play war", and they will have a great time in the rain.  Explain to them that it can really make the game more realistic and fun with a little bit of rain, and that they should pack extra clothes and bring a plastic garbage bag for their dirty clothes.

Follow-Up
Make sure that you send prospective group leaders a "group leader kit" the day that they first call. Paper and postage are cheap, so make sure that you include copies of wavers, a checklist of things that they will need to bring, maps, etc.  Make sure you include a "frequently asked questions" sheet with answers to questions like "does it hurt?".   

People are a lot more likely to take your group leader seriously when he has materials to hand out about your field.  Make sure to include photos of people actually playing, so they get an idea what it is all about.  Pictures will speak volumes.

Cancellations and Lost Bookings
Make sure you spell-out your cancellation policy up front.  What worked best for me was that I told group leaders that they will lose their bookings if we do not have a minimum deposit for their group ONE WEEK before their scheduled play date.   A minimum deposit should equal 50% of the cost of ten of your smallest rental packages.  Do not accept any less than that.  If a group leader comes up with the cash a few days before their outing, you should only let them play as a mixed group.   If you are not firm with your policies and enforce them, they will be late with their deposit the next time too.

I hope you found this article useful.  
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