"I have found that CourseTrends is simply capturing another audience of golfers that we were missing before and the financial rewards have been simply remarkable." - Rick Reid, Blackthorn Golf Club |
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MAKE THIRD PARTIES WORK FOR YOU...Golf is a numbers game and not just in yardage. Golf operators keep amazingly strict inventories for their agronomy supplies, food & beverage, and pro shop, but far too many get careless with their most valuable asset: their tee sheet. Motivated to sell more tee times, too many courses turn their tee sheet over to third parties who charge whatever they please for whatever times they choose. That is just bad business.
To help you plot the right course to take with third party partners, you need to answer three essential questions:
DO YOU EVEN NEED THIRD PARTY HELP? Southwest Airlines is unique in many ways, including their refusal to engage with third parties to sell tickets. Instead, they market directly to a large, responsive audience (ie. loyal customer base), and avoid sites like Expedia, Travelocity and other discounted fare sites. The same holds true for some hotel chains. If your course already has a sizable, responsive, loyal audience that you can work directly with, don’t worry about third parties—just focus on your business.
ARE THEY SELLING THE RIGHT INVENTORY? However, if you’re like most courses, you NEED third parties for the supplemental exposure and revenue, so use them, but do so wisely. Despite any horror stories you may have heard, they’re generally not out to get you or hurt you; they just need specific direction. Start out by deciding which tee times you want posted. Generally speaking, it should be the times you are having trouble selling. Some tee times like Saturday mornings are obviously easier to sell than others, so hang onto your core inventory. If you’re selling 60% or more of a particular time, keep it and continue selling it. Don’t give that to a third party. The times going to third-party partners should be your extraneous inventory (ie. the tee times you’re selling less than 30% of the time.)
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? When you hand those tee times over to your third party partners, give specific pricing guidance then WATCH THEM. While they may not be trying to take advantage of you, they are humans that make mistakes. Sign up for their email blasts, keep track of how they’re representing you, and gauge how your inventory is moving (along with times and prices.)
Let those third party groups know that your standards are very high and accountability matters to you. It’s entirely appropriate to tell them in advance, “If I catch a mistake, I’ll give one warning. The second mistake means you’re fired.” There are several reputable third party groups out there who will honor the times and prices that you established, so don’t feel bad about saying “I can and will find someone else.”
With your clear direction and high expectations, you can have a very profitable relationship with your third party partners and improved revenues across the board.
If you’d like some help evaluating third party options, contact us for a free evaluation. CourseTrends offers industry leading technology for database collection, email marketing, e-commerce and tee time distribution that can seriously improve your bottom line.
Visit www.coursetrends.com or email us at requests@coursetrends.com to learn how we can help you make the jump to online profitability. |
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