Arcade games are a great money maker for any location, but it’s important to remember that they are machines with computers, fans, wires, and other components that can affect the performance of a game or break down. A key recommendation from the Betson Technical Team is to hire an arcade technician as part of your staff. This article will review the key reasons for having a technician on-site at your location.
Keep Profits Coming In
The game room can be the most profitable portion of your business for many locations. On average, a single game can earn about $250 a week in today’s Family Entertainment Centers, but some games can make over $1,000, so it’s essential that they stay up and running. The weekend accounts for 80-90% of revenue for most locations. So, having a game go down on a Friday afternoon and waiting until Monday (or longer) for a repair or receiving parts will hurt your business. Even simple problems, such as header lights being out, can make players think the game is out of order and ruin their visit. You don’t want a bad weekend to create bad reviews that live on after. A technician on-site with the right expertise and parts can pay for itself over a busy weekend.
Various things can come up daily, but you don’t want to hire someone who is just reactionary. A question might arise: ‘What will the technician do when the games are working properly?’ This is another crucial reason to have someone on staff: preventative maintenance. Your technician should perform several tasks daily, weekly, and monthly to maintain your games in optimal condition and prevent any major issues in the future.
Here are some top tips for your arcade technician:
Daily Maintenance
- Wipe down the games. Cleaning the games is essential for keeping them running smoothly and creating a better customer atmosphere.
- Balance the balls in Basketball Arcade Games, Skee-Ball, etc. If you have eight balls on one side and four on the other, the game isn’t going to work properly.
- Check that ticket machines are running properly.
Weekly Maintenance
- Check gameplay. It may seem like having too much fun at work, but ensuring the games play through is an important aspect of your maintenance plan.
- Create a punch list of any issues so that you can revisit them later and address them. Trying to do multiple fixes at once is not only overwhelming, but the job might not be done carefully if it’s rushed through and not given sufficient attention, which could cause even more issues.
Monthly Maintenance
- Check power cords. Are they frayed? Is there a game sitting on them?
- Open the back doors and ensure everything looks okay; blow out dust or vacuum if necessary.
- Clean filters or drain compressors where necessary.
- Clean dust traps, fans, and other equipment.
- Maintain a cleaning schedule and stick to it.
Depending on the environment, your specific cleaning schedule will vary. For example, a desert location may have more dust, and machines will need to be vacuumed more frequently. One thing to keep in mind is customer satisfaction, especially in light of recent events; seeing cleaning procedures gives customers added peace of mind.
Parts Packages
Another important aspect for your technician is managing your parts and consumables. When a game is down, you want it up and running quickly. Overnight freight charges can soon add up. And if a game goes down on the weekend, parts may not ship until Monday morning. That means games can be down for several days, which is lost revenue for your business and unhappy customers.
To keep your game room up and running, Betson offers customized packages tailored to the specific games at each location. We offer free freight and a 6-month return policy. Since your technician will be on-site every day, they’ll have a great understanding of the game room’s operations and what consumables or parts you might need frequently. They can work with their parts rep to manage everything.
Game Room Wellness
Betson provides periodic reviews of your game room to analyze key information and optimize profits and customer experience in your location. The Betson Wellness program can help identify games with setting problems that technicians may be unaware of. Additionally, ensure your game mix aligns with your customer base.
Technical Training
If you’ve just hired an arcade technician or need some refresher work, Betson offers Betson Technical University. Our skilled, experienced in-house technicians conduct the training, sharing their knowledge, experience, and best practices. Topics discussed include game system overview, digital multimeter, basic soldering and splicing techniques, game maintenance, card reader 101, troubleshooting, electric circuit theory, advanced troubleshooting, wiring schematics, computer repair, and basic LCD repair. Register for the next BTU class.