High Fives

  We realize that golf is perhaps the toughest sport to learn and to play well.  For women, golf can be a landmine of frustration.  Today, in this 3rd segment of my blog on growing the game for women, I will work through developing strategies to keep these new golfers around for perhaps a lifetime.  Think about building several programs that can create interest and enthusiasm for different segments of women: the young business professional, the wife and mother, and women 45+.  It can be invaluable to customize your programs while staying away from that one size fits all situation.  Moms wan

  For the past few months, we have been told by more than one of golf's leading organizations that we should attract more women to the game.  Now please know I am in total agreement with this idea.  In fact, I agree with it 110% because you see, I have been telling all who would listen, the same thing since 2004.  So, this post and the two following will be about growing the game with women.  This post is to show you why, the next to provide 5 ideas will be how, and the third will offer 5 thoughts on sustaining those new players.

  What if?  What if you knew that every golfer entering your shop each day was worth, say $12,000 in business to you?  Maybe even more than $12,000.  Would you have a different service experience, different staff, maybe a very different training and measuring program for your team?  Although this post is too short for me to show you the math, I come to you with a new way to view each and every customer.  Instead of your counter team being nice and viewing each golfer as an asset for that day, I urge you to now look at every golfer as a 10 year appreciating asset.

  Another holiday season has come and gone.  Santa is back at the pole working his next deal with Apple and friends.  Many of you are in golf hibernation, enjoying those weeks without the 7 day grind.  If you are a member of the sun belt golf community however, you know that golfers are on the way to your first tee.  This post is hitting three key parts of your golf operations: people, product, and presentation.  Enclosed are a few reminders and hints which may help make 2013 a very good season.

Over the years, I have had several different bosses, a few good ones, and more than a few of that other type.  One of the good ones had a football-like phrase he used over and over to get us young people focused.  The phrase was: "it's all about blocking and tackling."  Now, we were in the golf industry, and he was speaking about business.  What he was trying to get us to do was to improve our basics, the way we treated customers.  As a service economy, that "blocking and tackling thing" seems more important than ever.