7 Steps to Trivia Success.

 

 

 

1. Trivia should be Fun!

 

I start with this one because it is the most obvious yet can be

easily forgotten! There is nothing worse than attending a trivia

night and seeing the patrons sitting around reading books

in-between questions, drinking water and maybe snacking on a

bowl of chips. (Yes this does happen)

 

The main intention of a Trivia Night is to entertain your guest,

keep their minds occupied and keep them in your establishment

for longer spending more moolah!

 

If your Trivia night is not engaging, motivating and fun you will attract the type of people who are the same. They are only there to flex their “big-fat brain muscles”. These people do not spend money! They will be the ones who know all the answers and are proud of it.

 

Stick to creating a fun night. Jokes, Games and Giveaways will help with this one and a well constructed trivia package provided by us! 

 

2. Questions should be both Hard and Easy.

 

 Your questions need to be spread out to appeal to a wide audience with a cross section of Sexes, Age’s hobbies and interest ranging in difficulty throughout.

By doing this it will keep your entire audience engaged and entertained the entire night and ensure no one is sitting there feeling useless and stupid! A great example of this is sporting rounds. NEVER have a full sporting round. While most of your room may be into their sports it is just as likely that an entire table of people have no idea about sport, they can’t stand it and have no interest. This is a sure fire way to not only loose those clients but knock them out of the running to win. If they feel they have no chance of winning then you have lost that table for the entire night and they will most likely never return. The same rings true with pop culture and history. The only exception to this rule can be geography about your own country.

 

You will also need to vary the difficulty level. By doing this you are engaging the super smart - letting them flex their brain muscles and also including the not so smart and average Joe’s who are there just to have a good time. Trivia Heads Packages are designed perfectly for this.

 

 

3. Timing.

 

Like almost everything – its all in the Timing. Start your game too late – people will leave. Start it too early – People won’t make it.

 

We have found that the most effective start time is from 7-7:30pm at night. (Your venue’s peak service hours) At this time there will still be enough of the early birds still eating their meals or having a beer that you have the opportunity to entice to join the game, there will also help you finish at an early time to ensure that it does not run too late and discourage your trivia regulars to come back week after week. 

 

Bonus Tip - When asking people to play trivia you need to be forth coming, Ask with the assumption that they will be playing, even tell them that they can leave at anytime and just put an answer sheet on the table. This will encourage them to join in for the sake of it and increase your chances of hooking them into future weeks with your giveaways and prizes. 

 

example - "Hi guys, Here is a trivia answer sheet, Please feel free to join in, you can leave at anytime and we have some great prizes on offer." 

By leading in this way you are not being forceful but you are leaving the bait on the table for them to play. People just can't resist once they know an answer but to write it down. This is why we lead in with a couple of good questions designed to bait more players and enhance your night! 

 

4. Prizes and Giveaways.

 

My general rule is to NEVER give away cash! To beat home the point - The goal of hosting your trivia night is to generate more profit for your business. Giving away cash will not do this. 

 

70% of guests when given the money will put it in their pockets and spend their cash prizes elsewhere. This is because they win this at the end of the night, when they are ready to go home. 

 

Our suggestion is to give them Bar Vouchers and Restaurant Vouchers. I personally recommended making restaurant and bar vouchers redeemable on trivia nights only (i.e. if trivia night is a Wednesday I will write on the trivia voucher given "Valid only on Wednesday evenings between 6pm and 9pm") 

 

The benefit of doing this is it forces customers to come back next week, develops their habits and guess what.. They don't come alone. Usually they will bring at least 2-3 friends with them to help spend the vouchers they have one. 

 

They only time I would suggest giving away cash prizes is by larger venues who can afford to keep the Jackpot prize building week to week. I.e. $100 jackpots weekly, I have seen trivia nights get up to $5,000. This can draw in large crowd, however when the big money is up for grabs you will begin to bring in the real smartie pants who leave the rest of the people for dead. This can ruin your night as your more average teams who have been there week after week no longer have a chance of winning.

 

Generally I would ensure that once the Jackpot gets to around $1,000 you make sure that your jackpot question is an easy one to let it go off!   

 

5. The Host.

 

This is an extremely important role in ensuring the success of your trivia night. This person has the power to make or break it, However by following the TriviaHead rules and guidelines given to each host any problems can be almost eliminated. 

 

The host needs to be engaging and fun! They should do their best to include the groups and make it a fun night for all. They need to try and remember names of the individuals not just team names. When reading answers they should laugh at the funny one's, encourage the winners and inspire the teams lagging to do better (sometimes with a cheeky hint to keep them in the game) 

 

They also need to be reliable. When picking your trivia host make sure they know their role and expectations in the beginning, either put them on wages or cash per night hosted. Let them know they need to be responsible for replacing themselves if they are sick or away with someone who will handle the pressure. This is a fun and easy job done right however if left to someone who does not care it can cause great damage. 

 

Enlisting your best staff member or an advertisement on a local website like gumtree or craigslist is the best way to find your next host! Remember not to over pay for someone as TriviaHead has done the work for you. They should be earning a similar wage to your bar and wait staff. 

 

 

6. The Up Sell.

 

Remember what this night is all about.. Creating a fun night for customers that makes you money!! In our Trivia master sheet you will be provided with the best times to have your host up selling your products.

 

Examples of this are to time your prizes to perfection. Have you ever been eating at restaurant and seen desserts going out to other tables and then ordered one yourself?? Have you ever been in a bar and seen a delicious cocktail going out and thought wow! I'm getting one of those..

 

This is your chance to shine, Built into our trivia packs are questions and tips for your host to time their prizes.

 

An example of this is at dessert time when our patrons have finished their meals we have a "FREE DESSERT" question. The host will walk around with a couple of desserts and show the entire room what they will win before if they get this question right. After this you just sit back and watch the dessert orders come in. The same works for Shots, Coffee's and any other up sells your venue provides. The one you give away will be paid for many times over by the people who did not win!

 

I have seen this simple little trick increase revenue for a single pub by $437 on their first night of using TriviaHead with only their existing clientele. 

 

7. Promo Time.

 

After all this talk about up selling to your customers and building your trivia night, none of this would be possible without bringing the customers in. However, keep in mind that the easiest customer to sell to is an existing customer. 

When starting your trivia night its time to call on your regulars, friends, family and acquaintances. TriviaHead can help you with your poster design and marketing. Either way this needs to be done right. Our big musts are as follows 

·         Posters inside your venue to attract existing patrons

·         Email and and text messages to your existing customer database

·         Facebook posts every week to promote your night

·         list your trivia night on affiliate websites in your area

·         Put your trivia night poster up on your website. 

 

After all this hard work it's up to you to remember to bring in the people that are already in your venue and keep them coming back for more by following our simple steps and using our professionally designed Trivia Packages. 

 

 

That's it... Doing it right is not hard. Doing it wrong can actually be more work and more expensive.