It’s July and if you’re a golfer, you know that means. The Open Championship is going to be the focal point for major championship golf. In order to play their best, every competitor will work not only to prepare to play their best, they will bring a trusted caddie to “be with” them, support them and guide them around the links where The Open is held this year.
I know this is the time of year when golf professionals start to feel burned out, too. We already executed multiple events for clients and members that required 14-15 hour days, often back to back to back (or more). It’s at this time when you might be sliding into “survival mode.” I know that seems easy, and it is, but that mode can lead to poor decisions, poor interactions and destructive outcomes for our career, our staff and our relationships with our employer and our club leadership.
Before you start that slide, may I suggest you find some time for yourself to “hit the override switch?” (What switch? You’re likely thinking.) It’s time to find more effective and more impactful ways to “be with” your customers, clients and members, such as:
- Playing in pro-ams with customers/members who get to play with you after they “drafted” you in the spring is a great way to “be with” and engage them. I applaud all professionals and clubs who already make this happen as it is a core business function for golf facilities. (But there’s more to “be with” than just pro-ams…)
- Create a “play with” schedule for all golf professionals at your facility to play casual “accompanied golf” with your customers/members:
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- Post your team’s playing schedule based on business levels and allow anyone to sign up to play with anyone on your team; it’s okay if the days change for team members but try to schedule it and ensure it happens.
- Create a process where no one person can play with the same professional within 60 or 90 days. And don’t be afraid to explain the purpose behind managing this with them so they understand it.
- Encourage “under engaged” members to sign up with a professional or invite them to play.
- Work with your team to define a few key questions that are required to ask during the round and take notes on their responses so you can take positive action on them later. Don’t leave out observing how they play, or the state of their golf equipment, etc. and how you or someone on your team could help them. When we, as PGA professionals, get “with a golfer into their game and into their golf bag” we can make a huge difference in how they feel valued as a customer, as a member, etc. and that feeling will nearly always result in greater support and spend at the facility.
- Finally, keep track of who you and your team are “being with” and provide a summary report on the outcomes to the General Manager, the Board of Directors, etc.
- Create a “lunch with the leader(s)” opportunity for your club members or your customers. If you’re a facility or club manager, I would strongly suggest you play too. You may not have the game you once did, but those who will value playing with you will do so because of how you are much more than how you play. Just like the accompanied golf concept above, this accompanied lunch with just a few people can be integral in finding out why they’re so engaged or maybe unengaged at the facility (and what you or the team can do about it.) Managing the frequency that a customer/member can take part in this opportunity is required, and so is the need for a set of “key questions” to be asked casually during the experience. The invite, the follow up and the reporting noted above should be equally important to this tactic as they are to the accompanied golf concept.
Finally, as the season winds down in about 65-85 days (depending on your location), start to plan a way to “be with” your team away from your facility.
- Schedule a “golf team getaway” for yourself and three people you directly supervise at somewhere they (and maybe you) can get excited about playing; be sure to schedule some “table time” that allows for chances to debrief about the season, the wins and the struggles, and start to think about ways to win next season
- Schedule a home/home staff challenge with another facility where you, a couple of other pros and nine golf operations staff members play fun “challenge matches” based on handicap or playing experience. A social and simple “scoring party” could follow and it will be something that makes everyone feel like they matter and they’re appreciated.
- Schedule a team party but give someone you trust the budget and the chance to set it up. It doesn’t have to be golf, it could be bocce and barbecue at a fun local restaurant or at a members’ house who wants to say thanks to the staff. Giving someone you trust the opportunity to set it up has two possible wins. The work to set it up being done by someone else is the easy one, but the second is that the person given the work just may feel even more valued, more trusted, etc.
In each of the concepts above, I hope you see the goal is to “be with” either the customer, the member or with your team outside of the normal place(s) you interact with them. I also hope that you can see the true value in making these concepts happen for both yourself (as these experiences can be great ways to recharge yourself and others) and for your facility’s top line revenues. Each of these concepts will undoubtedly enhance engagement which leads to happier customers/members and flourish team members. If you have a success story that is based on one of these concepts or similar, I would love to learn about it directly from you. Please share it with me via email or by phone.
I am still “all in” to help you find ways to create “be with” solutions and opportunities for you at your facility, so please reach out when you have time. Hope to see you around the Section sometime soon.
Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional/Player Development | Career Consultant
PGA Career Services | PGA of America
Serving PGA professionals, employers in the Pacific NW & Rocky Mountain PGA Sections
Email: [email protected] Cell: 206/335-5260
Lea Hill, WA | My LinkedIn | My Professional Blog
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