Have you ever been to a nightclub?
How is your Wednesday going? By now in the day you should be done with projects and the rest of your day should be all about selling. My day in particular is GREAT! FANTASTIC! Absolutely, positively, not a single complaint, couldn’t be happier today. There is such a flurry of excitement in the air today. Can you feel how big the weekend is going to be?
Okay, so who remembers my story from last Septembers Manager Meeting about my days when I used to be a nightclub manager for Confetti nightclubs? Remember when I was talking about Mark and Brian coming into the club back in the day when we wore white cotton peg pants and upturned polo collars? Bad visual I know, but anyway it was a great memory.
I was talking to Brian about those days this morning and I was remembering what it was like to come into our nightclub as a guest. Man we used to have a long line at the door with people begging to get in. They had to pay $10 too AND that was back in the 80’s. It was a two level, three bar nightclub. The bars used to have anywhere from 5-7 bartenders per bar with at least two bar backs. On any given night we might have at least 21 cocktail waitresses’ working. We would do some of the craziest things (you have to remember this was the 80’s when music was equated with God…AND SO WAS I)!
I had a big head of hair that I would cut into an insane flat top and dye it whit e to look like Billy Idol. ( Funny, I guess I haven’t changed too much since then as I was just as mean, I used to be called Sergeant Carter). I remember we would do lip synchs every night in the club and these were HUGE productions. It was a scheduled show and the productions actually rivaled the music videos of the day. I used to do the Joe Jackson song, "I'm the man” and I also did Huey Lewis ( Remember, I HAD hair then), “The heart of rock and roll”. Those were some great times.
We had the crazy things called dance floor attacks. We would get 300 people up out of their chairs and make them do Confetti pushups on top of each other and do these insane loooooong dances to 'Relax' by Frankie goes to Hollywood. I know a lot of you are hearing these names and are having a tough time relating but I am going to get to the point soon. The point is, IT WAS FUN. It was a blast. Believe me we worked our asses off. As a manager in the 80’s we DIDN’T have computers and you can imagine trying to balance 21 cocktail waitresses and 10 bartenders manually with paper and a calculator. We would have to be at the Club at 12:00 noon to set up bars, balloons, fill confetti cannons, rehearse, have a daily staff focus meeting, get the happy hour buffet ready, etc. It was a lot of work before opening at 5:00 PM every day. So, the Club wouldn’t close until 2:00 AM, and then that’s where I and the other managers had to balance and do the tedious work. We wouldn’t get out of there until 6:00 AM on some days. It was hard, it was rough but we made it Fun!!! WE MADE it FUN! We all had these great attitudes because we KNEW that people from the outside looking in wanted to be in our club. We MAD SURE that they were always having a GREAT TIME! Sometimes they couldn’t get in based on dress code etc. People on the outside wanted to be part of the club and always were trying to get hired there. I worked there from 1984 – 1987. It was a long three years but to be honest some of the greatest personal memories I have from my past life. We were livin’ in the 80’s and most of you weren’t even yet a speck in anyone’s eyes.
So, I know you are thinking to yourself, what is the point that Michael is trying to make today? Do you realize that YOU TOO are part of a club? You know you need to think about what I said the other day in one of my emails, that you are in an enviable position to the outside world, and the people looking in can at times be envious. Why? Well as I also said, not only are we selling a brand, apparel, hard goods, soft goods…we are also selling the No Fear lifestyle that we live in. We are selling memberships to an insane and fun club. Don’t think I’m crazy, think about it….you have seen the people, standing outside your front door, drinking the energy drink that you just gave them, watching Deegan on the video screen take a dive over his bike. Interestingly enough, what do they normally do? They walk into the club. Your Club! Your store!
You’ve seen the people walking by taking a glance at the window and seeing the rad looking FMF hat on your mannequin, the NEW No Fear Tee, the belt buckle, the girl’s beater in the window…and then they take a second look. All of a sudden thy see UFC on the video screen…and their hooked, they walk in, look around, they hear great LOUD music…and then…you give them a free Energy Drink. “Holy crap, what store am I in”? They think to themselves. They are in fact getting ready to be persuaded to join a club, by you! WITH your enthusiasm, knowledge and understanding that you make the difference at that moment in that persons life. YOU , yes you, make a difference in their lives. You can MAKE or BREAK their day!
Don’t discount the though process that anyone walking by a store in a mall is similar to someone walking by a club. They are just deciding what club to join. You need to give them the clubs identity so they understand why they should join our club. (Remember you are selling a lifestyle, not just the brand). I assure you once you have made them a member, you will have a member for life. Hey you know what, not every one will join and not everyone that joins will want the membership, but…if you keep trudging along with the influence and smiles and dedication that you are showing, I assure you, you will have the most envied club on the street, or in our case, the mall.
Seriously, we are seeing a switch in the trends of our culture. We HAVE the club to join! WE HAVE SOME GREAT CLUB MANAGERS! Now…DON’T GET COCKY! Just because you belong to a great club doesn’t mean that you get all big headed and ahead of yourself. You must still get your guests in the club to understand that we are the best and FRIENDLIEST Club that exists. If they want to spend $1.00 or $100.00 we will give them BOTH the same great level of service.
Just wanted to share a story. Enjoy the rest of your day today, get your membership cards out and get your staff on the red carpet ready to welcome your new club members into your club! You may, or may not like the story, but in the thick of things, if you are not personally a member yet, you might want to think about also joining. Just a thought.
