What Difference Does a Game Coach Make?
Answer: All the Difference
One of the great things about GameTruck is that when people see the Game Trailer, they instantly get the concept. I frequently hear things like, “How fun!” and “That looks amazing,” or the timeless favorite, “Wow.”
I know the truck is extremely cool, but, that is not what people buy from us. As sweet as that game theater is, at the end of the day, people want an effect not a thing. Remember the story about Laser Tag? Before we offered it, people would call, ask for it, and when we said, “We don’t offer that.” They would book us anyway.
Who does that? Who calls a store looking for one thing and then buys something completely different?
Game Coaches Turn a Party Into a Celebration
As far as the equipment goes they are completely different. A set of laser tag gear looks exactly nothing like a Video Game Trailer. This caused me to ask the question, “What exactly are they buying?”
It’s not what the equipment is, it is what the equipment represents. The equipment is a physical representation of an outcome. They can see equipment. They can visualize it. But what they really want is a party. And not just any party, they want a GameTruck Party.
Parents buy GameTruck parties to celebrate
And let’s be clear, a GameTruck party is a special kind of party. If you only focus on the equipment, you might miss it. People buy GameTruck parties to celebrate. The outcome they want is a great celebration. A celebration is a time honored way of marking a special occasion by engaging in enjoyable social activities. This is what parents are trying to buy. This is what Game Coaches actually deliver, enjoyable social activities. The game trailer may look like fun, but it is the Game Coach who makes sure fun and social. There is an art to negotiating with kids. You have to be willing to let your inner kid shine through. This is something GameTruck coaches do quite naturally.
From my experience, a celebration is also a form of recognition. You are acknowledging someone and elevating them into a position of respect. They feel validated, seen, heard, and most of all valued. A successful celebration is a confirmation of the value we place on the people in our lives, especially our children.
This is supported by one of the oddities of the GameTruck business. Most parties are not ordered by the person playing in the game theater. They are ordered by someone who cares deeply about the people who will play in the trailer.
A GameTruck Party is a gift of recognition, respect, and socialization. It is a transference of emotion, and things don’t transfer emotions, people do.
At the end of the day, the magic of a GameTruck Party is delivered by and from the Game Coach.
When people say, “It is about the experience.” This is the experience they are talking about. The experience their child has when they are the center of attention of their family, their friends, and an adult who cares as much about gaming as they do. They sit at the front, choosing the game they want to play and who they want to play with.
The real magic of a GameTruck party is delivered by the amazing men and women who go to great lengths to:
- Make sure the trailer is clean and organized before the party starts
- Make sure the host is comfortable with the selection of available games (we respect the right of parental choice for what is appropriate for their guests to play)
- Help the players decide who is going to play what games, where, and when
Most importantly, the Game Coach makes sure the VIP — the focal point of the celebration — is feeling seen, heard, and valued.
It’s easy to focus on equipment. We see people do it all the time. They get sucked into comparing this thing vs that thing, this feature vs that feature and they lose sight of the service and the impact they want to achieve. They want to let their child know how much their child means to them. They want to buy a celebration.
A great Game Coach makes that all seem effortless, automatic, invisible even. Yet we know it’s real and it matters because we see the tips that flow through our system on a regular basis. We also get the calls from distraught parents who, for the sake of $25 went with another company that cancelled on them at the last minute because their driver “got sick”, or “flaked”, or “didn’t show up” or (I’m not making this up), “the driver is in jail.”
We never call our team members drivers. They are coaches. A coach is focused on helping you play your best. A coach brings specialized knowledge that will make it easier for you to play the way you want to play.
Drivers are focused on things.
Coaches focus on players.
When people ask, “What does a Game Coach do?”
I answer, “The most important work of all. They turn a party into a celebration.”
And that is what every parent is really trying to buy from GameTruck. That is what everyone in our system works so hard to deliver.