"I asked the Hard Questions last week, several of you Answered!"

    Last week I asked several hard questions that we all need to answer about our businesses.  The answers are not always pleasant, and you may not like what you discover, but you'll be better from it. 

    These questions require thought, a strategy and hard work to implement. Several of you answered and shared your ideas.  I thought these ideas were so good; I couldn't resist sharing them.

Click Here, if you'd like a copy of the last article, "Hard Questions, Yield More Profit".

 

What are you best at? What is your best one-of-a-kind feature? What are you known for? What would you like to be known for? What is your strategy to get known for something?

Answers:

    One course has a shortage of carts and has to run 15 minute intervals.  They turned that into a guaranteed 4-hour round, and if you're not pleased with your pace of play they'll refund your golf round.  They were able to turn a disadvantage into a Unique Selling Point, keep their rack rate in place while others are discounting and maintain a very loyal customer base. 

    Who else can benefit from this idea?  Maybe your volume has slowed because a competitor has cut their rate, and you believe your product is better and priced correctly.  Don't discount, promote your improved pace of play, keep your margin.  Not all, but a lot of golfers are willing pay to $10 or $15 more for a 4 hour round verse a 5 or 5.5 hour round.

Some other answers:

•         "Home of the Tuesday 8-some" - when your tee sheet is open, allow 5-somes, 6-somes, 8-somes; break the rules; it's kind of fun playing in bigger groups, and who cares as long as it's not interfering with other's play.

•         "Golf Year Around" - not a unique selling point, unless your competitors are closed 5 months out of the year.  Lease two golf simulators and allow golfers to play, practice, and have leagues all year long.

•         "Home Course of XYZ" - you can't always host a PGA event, but can host a regional celebrity or retired athlete's tournament.

 

How electronic are you? Where is your value-packed weekly eNewsletter? Where is your plan to get one going?

Answers: Obviously we have some incredible Internet marketing strategies and success stories, it's our business; however, I'm a big believer in KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).  You can generate some incredible results from some very simple techniques. 

•         Birthday Club - offer a free weekday round of golf during someone's birth month.  They're not going to play by themselves, they're going to bring friends and have drinks.  Additionally, it's an awesome customer appreciation gift.  Lastly, you gain more information about their demographics, buying, and playing preferences for future marketing if done correctly.  Juice it up, send a pre-birthday email loaded with great gift ideas that they can personally forward to family and friends.

•         Auto Responders - you have someone on your website, get them to generate a membership or event sales lead, and get your email marketing system working for you.  Configure your email marketing system to automatically send a professionally written sales letter with a call to action to every sales lead to help shorten the sales cycle.

•         Lead Generation - how do you attract new customers?  Three Great Services:

    
1. Direct Mail - ideal for stay-and-play packages.

2. Email Leasing - best suited for daily fee golf and increased rounds.

3. Tournament Sales Leads - pay for performance, only pay for the actual lead.

How often do you network with customers?  How often do you touch your top 100 customers? How often should you? What is your strategy to touch them more often than your competitors are calling on them?

Answers: Two great ideas. 

•         One, gather a list of every tournament or event ever held at your facility and call the tournament or event coordinator quarterly.  Invite them for lunch or a tour of your facility. 

•         Second, assign each staff member to 2 local hotels that they are personally responsible for making introductions and building relationships with the manager or concierge.  Give the hotel golf certificates that they can pass out to hotel guests and make sure the certificates are traceable so you can give them credit for the referral.  If you have 5 employees, you now have coverage at 10 hotels!  

 

Pretty great answers, to pretty tough questions, huh? Call 877.231.0060 or email us with your success stories. 

Until Next Time.