Lessons in changing an industry

Why Insights Empower us to do more than just sell product

Autonomy…Mastery…Purpose — these are the building blocks of new way of doing things — Dan Pink

Profit. We love it. We need it. And yet…

it’s not enough anymore. Businesses aren’t just facing profit problems these days. We’re facing things like shifts in employee engagement, changes to benefit structures, new ways & places to work…and the question of HOW to meet these ever-changing needs only becomes deeper and more complex.

Luckily the answer — like most things in life

- is counter-intuitively simple. And thankfully we have people like Dan Pink, Bernadette Jiwa, John Mackey, Raj Sisodia and the Conscious Capitalism Movement, Seth Godin, Brene Brown, and Timothy Wilson to help guide us in a new direction, founded in science, about the way we work.

The hard part is executing real solutions.

The past couple of years, Redemption Plus has embarked on a journey to mean more … to provide a higher value independent of our core product and services, and we’ve come to a few conclusions that not only impact us, but our industry — actually all industries!

Even though Redemption Plus is a market disruptor,

we have long been known as a “Toy Company,” and rightfully so. We aimed at being experts for your product-related business — what you should buy, when you should buy it, and how much. Over the years of improving our ability (with a lot of customer partnership), we discovered that the ways to improve our customer’s businesses — primarily Family Entertainment & Bowling Entertainment Centers — was deeper than just merchandise …

Through partnerships with amazing people like Chris Mohrhardt and The Incredible Birthday Party Project, we’ve seen lives change because of something as simple as a “Birthday Celebration.”

We’ve seen customers like Andy Bartholomy with Andy B’s change the game through innovative thinking and constant research & development.

And in our own business, we’ve witnessed amazing things happen to our employees and our closest of customers because we started thinking bigger than profits.

It’s been a rough couple of years (as change is not easy), we won’t lie.

But they have been incredibly worth it. We found something more important to our business than profit. We found Purpose. If you do not understand what Purpose brings to a business — Google “purpose driven companies!”

As of today, Redemption Plus is no longer JUST a merchandise company.

Make no mistake, we’re still in the business of getting you the best prizes for every player in your center, right when you need them (and don’t worry — our analytics system helps keep you from being overstocked). But what we do goes much deeper than toys, games or even data (yes, we do Data + Analytics for your business now too).

We’re here to change the way the game is played…

as a business and as an industry, so we can maximize our impact and return. Together we have the power to do so much good, and do so much good business. I’ve witnessed our customers reconnect families, build amazing teams, motivate organizations, create unending smiles, and deliver life-changing experiences for guests who walk through their doors. This is more important than just fun and games … as it is our connections in life that add to our health and vitality as human beings. This is so much more than tickets and toys.

We’re evolving the way we do business

and encouraging our customers, partners and competitors to do the same. This means data-driven services and products that help solve for the whole equation, not just the “toys” part.

It’s an eco-system and as pioneering naturalist John Muir observed, “when you tug at a single thing in nature, you find it attached to the rest of the world.” So you will find your crane and redemption merchandise is connected to everything else in your gameroom eco-system and ultimately to your Guest Experience.

Your guests need more than prizes and game play,

we need to be helping you discover and serve their unspoken needs. We’re committed to your success because when unspoken needs are discovered you win, we all do. You won’t just have the best prizes, most innovative merchandising, or game-changing designs… You’ll discover and put incredible insights to work that will empower your business to deliver unforgettable experiences for an unbelievable return.

It’s also why we created this blog, InsightsEmpower.com.

There is so much to learn from our own experiences, the experiences of our team at Redemption Plus, our customers, and our partners. We’ll be sharing everything, right here.

This information belongs to all of us. Alone, we can change a life. Together, we can change the world.

Happy 2017, and welcome to the journey that will make our industry stand for more!