Getting past the gatekeeper

Axe Pros

I make axe throwing lanes that go in bars, entertainment venues, and so forth but I am having a hard time getting past the gatekeeper at the facilities that appear to be a good match.  I'm seeing a lot of these cheap plywood and chainlink fencing lanes going in right now and people are paying to use the ghetto systems when they could pay less and get my system which is enclosed with solid wood and powder coated welded wire and the targets actually last. 

Axe bars are becoming very popular but how can I get past the gatekeeper to talk to the actual decision makers?  I had a gatekeeper tell me that they wanted to keep their pool tables since they made alright money at $67.50 a night on every table assuming they were completely booked and I didn't get past the gatekeeper to talk to the owner.  I'm sure the owner would have liked to at least have a conversation about a professional 2 lane system installed in the place of the pool tables that would easily pay for itself in 2 months tops(going off the low end of what axe bars are making right now on only axes) and would make significantly more money and bring in tons of new people taht would then buy drinks, etc.  I'm frustrated with trying to get past the gatekeeper.  I don't even care if the owner can buy the system right now, I'll do a joint venture with the right bar to get them going until they can buy their system from me from the profits.  I know the gatekeeper is important to keep the riff raff out but some of these places paid significantly more than my system for their non-contractor employees to install a plywood and chainlink fencing and are drooling over what I have when I drop in to see how business is going for them, I could have saved them money and gave them something better.  

How do you do it?  How do you get past the gatekeeper? The gatekeeper is hurting me and owners both because the bar could have gotten a better system that actually looks good for less money than Joe and Jenny taking 45 trips to the local hardware store to try and learn as they go.

Please help me figure this out, most of our business right now is call-ins by people who found us online so I need to get past the gatekeepers to see more decision makers.

Here's my Hail Mary Pass:
If anyone knows or is an owner of a bar or nightclub, I will be exhibiting at the Nightclub and Bar show in Las Vegas at the end of March and I'm happy to give half off entrance tickets to any bar or nightclub owners who want to attend, all I ask is that you swing by booth 1062 and throw an axe.  Shoot me an email [email protected] and I'll get you your code.

ideasunlimited1

Las Vegas is definitely the place to go for this, and at some point, you may want to look at San Fran, LA or St. Louis. Those seem like the locales to really pick up clients. Minneapolis too, especially since they have a growing alternative and risk taking community. I am so glad you posted about this though, I never even knew this was a possible business venture!

Axe Pros

We were at the Las Vegas Nightclub and Bar show and threw axes with over 1,000 bar and nightclub owners in our booth and we are working on a few deals from that, but spending around $20,000 to have just a handful of buyers isn't a good business model.  I need to get through the firewall.  The gatekeeper is shutting me down and the owner never even gets to consider what axe throwing can do for them.  We've got a podunk town axe venue that nets $60,ooo monthly in nowheresville usa so it is doable anywhere.  With the new video of the girl ALMOST getting hit with an axe going viral people are getting shy about it.  Axe venues have been in operation for 7 years in the USA and this ALMOST AN ACCIDENT is national news, she didn't even get hurt.  I personally think that an industry that has one documented near miss in one axe venue after 7 years of throwing millions of axes including with drunk and buzzed people is pretty damn safe. How can I help get this message to the actual owners?