How Soccer Schools Are Combating The Challenge Of Competition And Succeeding In A Saturated Market

It seems every man and his dog has started a soccer school. From the next door neighbor to ex football players and almost everyone in between.

The soccer schools market, once a lucrative and booming sector, is becoming increasingly saturated.

It's a natural progression however, when you have such a high profile game and nowhere for the kids to play.

The solution for footy mad parents and footy mad kids is to get some structured and professional tuition from soccer schools - like yours.

Some parents see soccer schools as a quick fix that may boost their child's success into an Academy and 'live the dream', get their child 'spotted' or recommended by one of the coaches.

Unfortunately some soccer schools play to this whim and exaggerate it to increase their own perception that they are the key to the child's soccer success.

It's a dangerous and unsatisfying tactic that has left a bad taste in the mouth of many parents and coaches alike. The promises are far from realised and the backlash has lead to court cases in some extremes.

The challenges facing soccer schools and soccer camps is wider than simple good business sense.

The falling birth rates are going to catch up very soon, meaning less children and therefore less clients and soccer schools competing for the same customers.

Is there a better way?

Is there a more dignified and honest route to providing a great learning experience for your clients, without having to tout for business with improbable 'we'll make you the best' promises or 'we'll get your child into so and so's academy'?

Yes there is and it's been working like gangbusters for the soccer schools and academies that use this approach. It's no secret why some of those soccer schools have been around for 30 years, established a worldwide presence and grown a thriving and sustained business year on year.

These savvy organisations know that to increase revenues the easy way, is to catch the imagination and excitement of their present customers and provide an exceptional learning experience.

Next year when your customers are organising their holiday camps and soccer sessions, who will they choose?

Of course, they'll choose the organisation that provided the innovative, fun, exciting and memorable soccer sessions.

Repeat custom is your most effective marketing spend per pound and your highest return on your investment.

Think about it this way - chasing new customers is expensive because of the marketing and resources required to persuade a new client to join your organisation.

Harnessing the repeat spend of loyal customers is cheaper, more cost effective and increases your profit margin. That's a no brainer in any industry.

So How Can You Harness The Power Of Repeat Custom?

The key lies in capturing the imagination of your audience. One proven way to do that - and this is the way the 'BIG' soccer schools use - is to utilise new innovative training tools that bring a versatile and exciting edge to your activities.

Any child that becomes bored or disinterested in your sessions is lost future revenue. Any training tool invested in should have the capacity to be utilised for different age groups, different abilities and skills levels to ensure you get the best ROI (return on your investment).

Training tools should be innovative and fun to use and not alienate any player. Inclusion should also be a main part of your strategy using something like the Every Child Matters framework.

Coaching staff should be able to hit the ground running with any new equipment without any need for extensive training.

Ideally, session plans,learning outcomes and coaching ideas or examples should also accompany the equipment. This will immediately allow coaching staff to implement their own creativity at a glance.

Not only will this help with shorter start up times, increasing the fun factor, but will also help get best usage from any equipment therefore providing the exceptional and exciting learning experience your are looking to achieve for your clients.

Innovative training tools are just one way to increase repeat custom because they provide a memorable and positive experience for your customers.

Another way is to offer the training tools you have used in your training to your customers. This increases the spend of your clients but more importantly increases the value of their learning experience with your organisation.

If the tools you can offer also provide genuine learning experiences at home for your customers then loyalty and value perception will also increase in your brand.

Not only will this lead to repeat custom but also opens up opportunities for referrals and recommendations. These kind of opportunities cannot be underestimated and provide your best ROI because your marketing spend is greatly reduced per customer meaning your profits will increase.

Getting More From Your Suppliers

Perhaps an important question you may want to ask any suppliers of innovative equipment is if they run an affiliate program or are prepared to offer you commission based sales.

This gives you the option to either buy in stock for instant fulfilment to your clients, which in my humble opinion could be the best option because you strike whilst the iron is hot.

Or you can offer a drop shipping service where your customers order via you and you get your supplier to fulfil the order.

The ability to deal direct with the manufacturer is a must and cuts out the middle man allowing you to again increase your profit margin.

Where Can You Find Innovative Training Tools And More Information?

Unfortunately this is becoming more difficult year on year. The larger corporate manufacturers concentrate on fashion and style and little on innovation and substance.

Increasingly, innovation for the soccer industry is coming from a handful of small companies who have the ability to design and develop exciting training tools aimed at enhancing the performance for their end users.

Profile And Positioning

Increasing your profile and positioning yourself as fresh, forward thinkers in the soccer schools market is key to your success and longevity. By providing creative, fun and inclusive learning experiences for your clients you are guaranteeing a strong foothold in this increasingly competitive market place.

Concentrating on the needs of your customers now will provide a powerful platform to build upon year on year, giving you and your business the opportunity to leave a legacy much longer than 30 years.

Repeat custom will help you survive and thrive in this saturated market place because you have provided what your customers are looking for - an exciting, fun learning adventure that leaves lasting positive memories and a huge smile on their faces.

That's the kind of business sense that will survive the rocky times and put you head and shoulders above the competition.

These are proven tactics and strategies secretly guarded by the 'BIG' soccer schools - until now.

Don't wait for the competition to take advantage. Make the first move and be known as the leader in your field and not the follower. As we both know, leaders rightly get the lions share.