Come and Try Day Tips!
Clubs have found the most successful Come & Try Days were ones which provided visitors with enticing incentives (i.e a free sausage sizzle) and a relaxing atmosphere.
What to do on the day –
When organising your club’s Come & Try Day, remember that many of the people attending have never played bowls or have only ever played barefoot bowls, so it is a good idea not to be too formal when it comes to the game itself. You want to create a relaxed and fun atmosphere as this will bring people back to the club in the future.
Most people who attend will not be interested in becoming a full member straight away. The club’s Come & Try Day should focus on getting people through the door and making them want to revisit the club, at which point you can convert them to social members and eventually full club members at a later date. If people express an interest to sign-up on the spot then great!
Most people, however, will not want to commit to anything on the day, so organisers should not be trying to actively recruit members, as people may be scared off by people trying to sign them up on the spot.
As club organisers become disheartened when people say no to signing up and visitors feel pressured into committing to a membership, we suggest having a sign-up sheet available for people to provide their details if they are interested.
This means that no one feels obligated to do something they do not want to do and they can just enjoy their time at your club.
We suggest having music playing at the venue, this helps create a better atmosphere which in turn can potentially result in better takings at the bar (which could possibly cover the cost of the day!). If the club does not have speakers, you could borrow some from a club member or even hire some for the day. It’s important to make sure you play music which suits your visitors’ demographic. Make sure you look into any licensing requirements before playing music.
Keep any coaching informal, as you don’t want to be instructing them constantly. Just show them the basic techniques to make sure participants are not dumping the bowls on the green, then just let them enjoy the game and be on hand to offer tips and advice if needed.
To keep things interesting once they have got a grip of the basics, you could invite them to play in a small social competition with a small entry fee (between $1 to $5). The money could then be used as prize money in a condensed competitive game over five ends.
You may want to have a different format, but short games would work best for non-bowlers as they may not want to play a three-hour long game. A short and sweet game would give visitors a taste of competitive bowls and help make the day even more memorable.
Do you want to host a Come & Try Day at your club?
You can arrange for a personalised promotional pack for your club with flyers, posters and box drop leaflets or find out more information by contacting Bowls Queensland at (07) 3354 0777 or emailing us at admin@bowlsqld.org