Many golf courses attempt to gain a competitive advantage by continuously dropping their price.This marketing strategy willinevitably fail over time becauseyou create a perception of being adiscount golf facility. You willbegin to attract the “Bottom-Feeder Golfers” who rarelyspend any cash in your pro shopor bar and usually carry cold-cut sandwiches in their golf bag.

Instead, why not justbecome more appealing to people who like to spendmoney for quality services? Abetter pricing strategy willalways be to overwhelm yourcustomers with added value.Your focus should be on finding creative ways to differentiate your golf courseand your customer serviceand increase demand so substantially that you nolonger have to compete withthe price cutters.

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MARKETING COLIN GOEHRING

Memorable Moments

Memorable Moments

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MAKE IT

LIKE DISNEYLAND

Think about how much fun it isto go to Disneyland, “The HappiestPlace on Earth.” The park is alwaysimmaculate and the staff is highlytrained to make people smile.

Disney is in the entertainment business - and really, so are you.

Everything at Disney is designed forfun and to create memories. It’s morethan just a theme park with rides, and inthe same way, your golf course should bemore than just golf – it should be aboutthe experience you help them to have.

Think about how you can raise the level of customer service andimprove the “WOW” factor at your golf facility. How can you make thewhole experience at your course moreenjoyable and entertaining?

For instance, make sure your washrooms are impeccable. Womenrank this as the #1 most important valuein a quality golf course and as we allknow, women are the ‘next big thing’ in

golf, so doing anything to impress them will pay

big dividends. Try communi-cating to the staff who are in charge of

these essential environments just howintegral their roles are to the overallexperience – it can mean the differencebetween a loyal customer for life and aone-time only visitor.

It really pays to ‘sweat the smallstuff ’, as this is what ends up beingimpressive to the end customer…forexample:

Why not serve up scented towels atthe turn? Make them hot in a microwaveon cold days and icy cold on hot days.Very refreshing.

Have a friendly staff member greeteach and every guest as soon as theyarrive and take bags to the range or start-ing tee. You could go so far as to dresshim or her in white coveralls like at theMasters.

Give your marshals ‘Instant Replay’vouchers for disgruntled clients, or havethem give balls away to people huntingfor their lost balls. This really helpsimprove slow play and quite simplymakes people feel better and forget theirbad shots. Now the marshal is seen as afriend rather than a police officer.

MARKETING

THROW IN THE TOWEL Price cutting is ultimately a losinggame. A better approach is to addvalue so you can increase rather thandecrease prices.

For one, all your advertising should create value propositions that provideenticing offers and premiums for agreat golfing experience. You can “throwin” a golf towel, hat, complimentarylunch (hot dog & beverage), range pass,yardage book, poster or a screensaver.

By adding these types of premiums,you can easily raise your price to morethan cover the cost of the premium andcreate a higher perceived value at yourclub. However, you may want to limitthese promotions to your tee spots thatare already in high demand (such asweekend mornings) so you can raiseyour fees considerably without it affect-ing your traffic flow. Consider how theairlines do this by offering their ‘SpaceAvailable in First Class’ decoy.

The exception to the rule of discounting is to use price reductions asa reward for your most loyal customers.Give financial incentives to people whobuy in volume and pay upfront. Havediscount programs for the players whowant to buy a 20-round pass or a seriesof 10 lessons.

Never underestimate what bars andrestaurants already know - staff yourbeverage carts with young, fun andattractive staff who have been givengreat training and know how to makepeople smile.

Why not take a digital photo ofevery golfer at your signature hole andsend it to them by email? (How’s thatfor collecting email addresses? Disneynow does this by taking the digitalshots with some of their rides - andeven charges you if you want the printedphoto.)

What about having a few more“Fun Tournaments” with crazy prizesand great social events afterwards? If you can manage to build a sense ofcommunity, you have won loyalty andcreated the coveted atmosphere thatkeeps your golfers coming back.

Essentially, you should make it yourgoal to have your golf course become“The Happiest Golf Course on Earth!”

DO IT LIKE CHEERS

Remember the television show Cheers?Why did people keep going to Cheers?Well for one, everyone wants to go“where everybody knows your name”…it’s all about making it personal.

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Build loyalty through incrediblepersonalization and create a culturewhere staff are not only encouraged, butboth trained and rewarded for being thebest “name rememberer”.

Create all kinds of special socialevents at your club where it’s very easy forpeople to get to know each other in afun, informal way. Make sure there’ssome ‘intentional interaction’ so it makesit easy for people to connect, even ifthey’re new to a group.

And of course, most courses arefinally recognizing that rewarding yourbest customers is simply the best businesspractice around. Creating a preferredgolfer loyalty program where you rewardyour best customers will make them feelthey belong to your golf ‘community’and feel also that you recognize both thetime and the money they already spendat your facility.

BECOME HEROES IN YOURCOMMUNITY

Once you have prioritized making the‘little things’ really count within youroperation, the next step is to ask how youcan make a positive impression on yourcommunity and earn the right to getsome ink from your local media. It canonly happen if you think creatively andmake your course about more than ‘justgolf ’, even if the golf at your course is great!

A strong example is to build activitiesand awareness around the other itemsyour course offers, such as a restaurant,gardens, natural surroundings and even‘family togetherness’. Why not host pro-grams for kids to build birdhousesthrough the school woodshop for yourgolf course, as one option? This programcan be especially effective with specialneeds kids - allow them install the bird-houses on the course and make a mean-ingful contribution to their community.

Have your staff,who are already yourexperts within yourcourse operations,become experts in

the eyes of your customers. Letyour chef host cooking classes; have yoursuperintendent host workshops on flowergardens, pruning, thatch control, lawn fer-tilization and maintenance, and as always,have your golf pros teach, but perhaps focuson etiquette classes to the juniors - com-plete with a nice graduation ceremony.

CREATE AN INDELIBLE IMPRESSION

You only have one chance to make a goodfirst impression, and in golf, that normallymeans a photographic impression.

Great golf course photography is critical to improving your image andbranding. Make sure you have at least oneoutstanding photograph of your signaturehole so that people will be enticed to playyour course. The decision to play or not toplay is often based on this one first impres-sion – so make it outstanding, as greatphotography is the easiest lure you can useto ensnare golfers and bring them to yourcourse.

So…if you want to exist inside some-one’s ‘photographic memory’, discoverwhat it will take to make their momentsmemorable, and generate both greatimpressions and even better bottom lines!

Colin is an advertising copy specialistwith Johnson Design Golf Marketing,a firm dedicated to the pursuit ofmarketing excellence in the golfindustry. Colin is an avid golfer working hard to beat his cousin DaleGoehring, the 1996 Canadian AmateurChampion. You can reach Colin byemail at colin@golfmarketing.biz orcall (866) 991-GOLF.

COLINGOEHRING

MARKETING

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Photos: Pages 48-49 Belleview Golf Club,Woodslee, OntarioPages 50-51 (large background photo)Seven Lakes Golf Course, LaSalle, Ontario