USIndoor's Official Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to owners, managers, program administrators and other professionals, startups and providers involved with indoor recreational sports facilities.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/147622
ERSHIP EX SIBILITY the role of a sports facility GM can be much more complicated...and more rewarding. As a team, our GMs have the ability to leverage one another as resources and have access to data and trends that a single facility operator does not. Therefore, we asked two of our facility GMs to comment on the things they are most focused on these days. Here is what they had to say. Joan LeMahieu GM of SFA City Beach, CA virtually everything, and I could see that that was not going to be productive. I learned early in my career that I need to understand and have eyes on the entire business, but that I cannot be personally involved in every detail and also out in the community developing our regional presence. My advice: Develop your people and focus on attracting smart, committed staff. If you don't have the right people, take the time needed to find and retain true talent. Then get out and connect with the community, build alliances and have fun with it! Jack Adams GM of SFA The Legends Sports Complex, TX W hen I first joined SFA and took over the management of City Beach, I needed a few months to inventory our operations, staff, programs and facilities. I was then prepared to focus on growing our revenue and solidifying our regional brand presences as "the place to be." Our strategy for this is to reach more people through an enhanced marketing effort and to deepen our community connections through community involvement. Great ideas, to be sure, but the day-to-day of facilities like ours can quickly turn good ideas into impossible action plans. I knew I had to move out of ideas and into execution, so my priority was to develop a great management team and to allow them to manage their areas creatively. The alternative was for me to have my hand in I n the Marines I learned about personal discipline and organization. At the House of Blues I learned about entertainment, creating powerful experiences and making customers happy. These were great lessons, and I have used all of them and more as an SFA GM at The Legends Sports Complex. The Legends is multi-faceted and includes memberships, sports, camps, clinics, events and more. It's also located in the Woodlands, Texas, which is a highly competitive market. My focus in the past year has been on creating a culture of accountability and on the development of reliable processes. I have also been focused on cleanliness and the visual appeal of the facility. The result: We have attracted more sponsorship revenue, done a great job of growing our camps and other programs, and we are now set up for sustainable success and growth. My advice is to remember that every visitor is having an experience. If you can understand what that experience feels like–and then make the experience better over time–your guests will become regulars and your regulars will become raving fans. As we prepare to lead a session a year from now at the Conference in Louisville, we have already identified other helpful topics. Stay tuned and sign up early! SUMMER201 3 9