BMI Leisure has been providing software solutions for the leisure industry for over 20 years. After helping more than 300 entertainment venues around the globe to achieve their goals, the firm identified the need for a strengthened identity and presented a new brand and website in September 2022. With the merging of two former brands, the karting-focused SMS-Timing and the entertainment and leisure-focused BMI Leisure, the firm has made clear its core values as it prepares for another two decades at the forefront of the industry.
The company is well known for its leading all-in-one solution. This helps entertainment businesses optimise their operations across multiple touchpoints and locations. It also improves the guest experience and automates marketing processes. Its adaptable software automates rote tasks like online booking and waiver management and enables customers to capture relevant data that can benefit commercial campaigns and marketing automation.
In the wake of this rebrand and following the news that BMI Leisure has recently exceeded its growth targets with year-on-year revenue growth of over 35%, blooloop spoke to the company to find out more about its values and its guest-focused solution.
A complete solution
The company began 20 years ago under the name SMS-Timing with an innovative solution for the operation of karting centres. This soon led to the creation of a second arm of the business, BMI Leisure, to bring the successful product to more entertainment businesses, from FECs and bowling centres to trampoline parks and more.
Mark Lebouille, CEO of BMI Leisure, explains more:
“We originally started as specialists for the go-karting industry, providing them with an all-in-one software solution both for the ERP, to optimise their business processes, and for CRM and marketing automation, to optimise their revenues and commercial offerings. We then expanded that to the adjacent markets and over verticals in the industry.”
Describing the company, Marisa Garris, its US-based business development manager, says:
“BMI Leisure provides full-stack operational software for family entertainment centres; it’s a best-of-breed solution that encompasses all their operations. Often, many of these FECs have different software and different solutions for many aspects of their business. But with our complete solution, we can roll many of their solutions up under BMI Leisure. Not only with what we offer in our different verticals but also in what we offer in terms of integrations with our industry partners, like the cashless providers, for instance.”
The importance of putting the guest first
There are many SaaS solution providers out there. However, what makes BMI Leisure different, says Garris, is the way that it takes a guest-first approach:
“We look at the guest and collect the data on that guest. Whereas many other solutions, including cashless solutions, look at the card number first. We focus on the guest, and how we can take them through their journey.”
BMI Leisure’s solution brings together a venue’s operational processes with its CRM and marketing processes, and it is this approach which allows the guest-first ethos to shine.
“This starts with the online booking from the guest at home and then goes through to their arrival at the venue and then also post-visit as well. It handles the booking and scheduling of activities, as well as maintenance and stock management, and food and beverage. Our solution means that all operational elements within the venue are being automated, including delivering the results and gamification back towards the guests, and then the retargeting and remarketing.”
Actionable insights
What this means is, BMI Leisure captures all the relevant guest data on all customer interfaces and then enriches that with all the operational data.
“For instance, how much they are spending, what activities they are doing, what venues are they visiting,” says Lebouille. “If it is a group booking, we can collect data on the type of occasion. We can also record how good are they at the activities, so you can start using that for loyalty systems and gamification, as well as to offer customised offerings for specific guests.”
On top of that, the system allows users to set up automated marketing campaigns based on triggers that they can see in the operational data. For instance, if a guest has done three different activities, they get a voucher for a fourth one. These kinds of customised offers are common in retail or the hotel industry, but not so much in the FEC world.
“Now, by combining both the operational system and the marketing system in one system, FECs can do this as well,” adds Lebouille. “That is a big benefit of an all-in-one solution, compared to two separate solutions.”
More efficient operations across multiple venues
Clients can take advantage of this across multiple venues as well, meaning that whether they operate 10 or 100 venues, they will still be able to offer one guest profile that their customers can use at any of their locations, with one operational system and one reporting system.
“That helps our larger customers enormously in creating efficiency across the board,” explains Lebouille. “For instance, they can have one contact number for guests, instead of having one employee in every venue dedicated to answering the phone. That brings significant operational cost benefits. Also, from the guest’s point of view, the personalised offers make them feel like they are being appreciated for all the business that they do with this group of leisure centres.”
For FEC venues and other operators within the entertainment industry, a solution that captures guest data on this scale helps them drill down to who their ideal customer is and who they should be marketing to. Because without this, they have no way of identifying who their ideal customer is.
The guest experience is key
For BMI Leisure, optimising the operational processes starts with the guest experience.
“That means we try to capture all relevant guest data, but it also means that we try to avoid the guest needing to provide their name twice or having to fill in lots of forms. We also make sure there is no chance of double booking, where someone is booking online and someone else is standing at the desk booking at the same time. All these kinds of frustrations will not happen in our system because it’s immediately synchronised, there are no false bookings.”
The system also allows for things like rewards and gift cards to be used in any of the clients’ venues. “For instance, our client TeamSport Go Karting in the UK has 35 venues, and their guests can use their gift cards across all those venues. While that is normal in retail, it’s not usually the case in the FEC industry.”
BMI Leisure’s 20 years of experience
With over two decades of experience at the forefront of the leisure industry, BMI Leisure knows what operators need. Much of this expertise, Lebouille says, can be traced back to its origins in the go-karting sector.
“Karting is one of the most complex activities to handle. For example, there are different users, from pro drivers to recreational drivers and children. You need to make sure that you have proper waiver management, which is not common in every industry, but very important for certain verticals, like karting or trampoline parks.”
“You need to be able to assign a session or a practice to an individual since you also need to be able to influence the settings. And on top of that, it also needs to be real-time; once the go-kart race starts, you need to have the results there, and you need to be able to process that data immediately and present it to the end user. All this illustrates our capacity to handle complex activities.
“If you change your ERP systems and CRM systems, it can be a hassle. It’s like performing open-heart surgery within your business operations. Particularly in the leisure industry, where most businesses are open every day of the year. So, if you need to change your systems, it’s best to work with a supplier that knows how to run those systems, but also understands how to onboard customers and make sure that it’s a flawless experience.
“We are a software provider. So, we’re not in the hardware business or the payment business. That means there is freedom of choice for our customers. We don’t require new hardware or new suppliers. We integrate with those to make sure that they still have the flexibility of choice in all the other business operations that they need.”
Safety and peace of mind with BMI Leisure
By capturing all relevant data, the business can become more relevant to the guest. The system also gives both the operator and the visitor peace of mind, in a complex sector, as Steve Dekerf, US branch manager for BMI Leisure, explains:
“There are way more safety precautions that we must embed into our optimisation, compared to retail. There are multiple flags in our systems that, depending on the activity selected, the customer must go through to be approved to do these activities. It adds a layer of complexity for us.
“That’s part of the problem that we solve for our customers. So, when a guest enters a venue and says, ‘I purchased this ticket for this activity’, the staff can be sure that all the appropriate waivers are being signed, without the need to check each time. There’s peace of mind there for operators.”
Lebouille adds that this all comes back around to the benefits of its guest-first approach:
“Each guest is an entity in our system, with all the credit they might have added, with all the approvals for certain activities. That means that if they lose their card, we can simply transfer that data to the new card without them having a broken experience. There’s a feature that cannot be done by most cashless providers, usually, if you lose the card, you lose the data. We can apply this to any kind of media, whether it’s magstripe cards, RFID cards or wristbands.”
Building the foundation of the brand
BMI Leisure’s recent rebrand puts a renewed emphasis on its company values; its commitment to building long-lasting relationships and sustainable partnerships; its position as a trusted partner; and its ability to be flexible in order to meet the industry’s needs with its tailored solutions.
Speaking about the motivation for starting the rebranding process, Lebouille shares that it was also triggered by feedback from both existing and prospective clients:
“They said, to be frank, you have the best product, but you have the worst marketing! We saw this as a good challenge and a good opportunity for us.”
The other reason was that the company wanted to move away from being seen as just a go-kart specialist and to make it clear that it is part of the leisure business as a whole.
“The leisure business is fun, whereas software is not the most exciting! For us, it was important to, on the one hand, be a serious partner with a serious software solution, but also to be part of the fun experience that comes with this industry. We wanted to move away from a product focus, and present our vision, considering the real pains and gains and needs of the customers and providing real solutions. We aim to present the solutions, not the products.”
Flexibility is key
Going into more detail about BMI Leisure’s brand values, Lebouille said the company knew it was important to be clear on its own identity.
“A brand is what the brand does, so it would not make sense to have brand values on the outside that didn’t reflect the values of the company. And it’s not just about the brand values that are important to us. From day one of the rebranding process, we held in-depth interviews with our clients, and prospective clients, as well as our internal teams. What we ended up with is a mix between what our customers told us they need and the essence of our internal company culture, the things that we value.”
The first of these values is flexibility:
“We don’t believe in just offering a solution where customers install it, and then the computer will tell them what they can and can’t do. We don’t believe in ‘The computer says no’. For us, it’s about adapting our software to the needs and processes of our customers. We ask our clients how they wish to operate, and then we let the software support them. Whenever we have a new client, we spend a lot of time on the installation process and the proper configuration and training for our customers. so that they can immediately use the software in the processes that they already know.
“There’s also flexibility concerning other solution providers. We believe that the choice of software provider should not limit you in the choice of the other elements that you need.”
BMI Leisure: a committed and trusted brand
The second brand value is that BMI Leisure is committed.
“Once we say we will do something, we will do it,” says Lebouille. “For instance, we had a prospective customer ask us if we could provide integration with Jump Ringz from Shock Trampolines. Nobody had done that before, but we said we would create it, and we did. We have prospects providing us with a list of things that they need. Usually, we can answer 95% of those questions, and we‘ll be honest about the other 5%. If we can do it, we will develop it.
“From day one, we have that real transparency, in terms of what you will get, and what we can build. Our sales team will never sell anything that hasn’t been agreed upon from within the internal organisation.”
Then the third value is trust.
“People trust us because of our 20 years in the industry. We know that they need a system they can trust. So, we make sure that the full process is being managed, from the installation and the training to the ongoing support.”
With clients in over 70 countries, the firm has a tried and tested way of working. It also understands how to adapt to specific markets.
“We know what’s required for different countries,” says Lebouille. “There are different regulations, fiscal policies, languages, currencies and all those kinds of things. Being international, we also recognise the importance of providing real 24/7 support. The software supports over 26 languages, and our current team consists of 17 different nationalities.”
Lastly, the company also values fun:
“We believe that a company should be pleasant to work with. We provide serious solutions in the business of fun.”
Rebrand process includes all stakeholders
For the BMI Leisure management team, it was vital to include all its key stakeholders in the rebranding process, both internal and external.
“We started with customer interviews, looking at what they expect and what they need from a software provider in the industry,” says Lebouille. “For example, one important thing that came up was relatability. If a customer has a trampoline park, they only want information that’s relevant to trampoline parks. That’s why there’s a dedicated section on the website now for each type of industry. From trampoline parks to bowling centres and everything in between.”
The firm also held workshops with internal employees. These explored the values as well as the potential look and feel of the brand.
“Then we started on proof of concepts and working prototypes of websites, before getting the user panels again and getting feedback at that stage. Even now, after launching the website and the new brand, there’s a continuous feedback loop both from clients and internal employees.”
Looking ahead
Looking ahead at the company’s future plans, Lebouille concludes:
“Last year we grew 35%, and we have an ambition to grow 50% to 100% year-on-year. There is a lot we can’t disclose yet. But we are working with some big amusement parks and with some bigger groups with multiple venues, both in the US and Europe. One of the bigger customers in the UK, for example, is Gravity, and in the US there’s a lot of new prospects too.”
Dekerf adds:
“We’re working with the Elev8 Group in Florida. We worked with them on the first location in Sanford, Orlando, and they’ll soon be opening their second location in Tampa and then also a third location in Jensen Beach. We are also part of the Falcon’s Resort by Meliá project. So we are working on the Katmandu Park that is launching in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. That’s the first theme park that we’ve done so we’re excited.”
Meet BMI Leisure at IAAPA Expo 2022
BMI Leisure will be exhibiting at IAAPA Expo 2022 in Orlando, Florida, from 15 – 18 November. Attendees can find the team at booth #4465. In addition to this, Lebouille will be speaking during an educational session at the event, on 16 November. During this, he will be looking at why linking marketing and sales to operations makes sense.
To book a meeting with the BMI Leisure team at IAAPA Expo 2022, please click here.
