If there are, as Paul Simon once sang, 50 ways to leave your lover, then there must be at least that many ways to bring customers to your facility.
Well, there are, or at least 48 according to Cary Cavitt, award-winning head golf professional, author of eight books, and founder of Service Starts with a Smile seminars.
During his “48 great ideas to bring customers to your facility” seminar at the PGA Show in January, one common thread was obvious. There’s nothing revolutionary — unless you consider common sense radical — about getting customers through your door.
High priced consultants and wordy manuals? Forget it.
It starts with — get ready for this — service with a smile.
Wow! What a concept! A cheap-as-they-come service solution that’s seemingly been around as long as the smile itself, but borders on extinction these days.
How many times have you walked into a retail store and been confronted with a cold gust of indifference. Or, when leaving, thanked a salesperson and got the offhand and brutally perfunctory “no problem,” as if your patronage luckily didn’t disrupt the clerk’s day or add to the already dozens of monumental problems he or she was dealing with that day.
(Suggestion for anyone managing staff: Eradicate the “no problem” response to a customer thank you and replace it with something like “my pleasure.”)
“Be genuinely happy to see your customers,” Cavitt says. “It’s the little things that they remember.
“Caring creates loyalty. And the function of every business is to get and keep customers.”
The first time someone walks through the door may well be your only chance to build future loyalty.
Being ready for that moment is to ensure that you have employees who truly care about customers and serve from the heart.
“It starts with who you hire,” Cavitt says. “But qualifications are only half the picture. The other half must be finding out if they are qualified in the art of serving.”
Cavitt says six qualifications mark a customer service superstar: friendliness, enthusiasm, caring about others, an encouraging attitude, respectfulness and thankfulness.
“Anyone can provide great service if they capture a vision of the importance of it. The goal in any customer service training must be to have each participant ask how they would like to be treated as a customer.
“When employees see the importance of serving others, they will begin to want to be more conscious in the way they treat their customers.”
Okay, so you’ve got those customers through the door. How do you keep them?
Well, make sure your team eats, sleeps and breathes the six attitudes. And make sure everyone understands what the customer wants.
Question is: what do they want?
Here are some of the great ideas Cavitt says a club should consider to make its facility attractive to customers.
Be creative . . .
- Membership drives, incentives (e.g. bring in a new member and we’ll waive your assessment) and options
- Weekly programs (e.g. ladies night etc.) and off-the-wall events
- All you can play on Monday for a flat rate
- Partner with local businesses (e.g. free rental clubs for someone staying in a local hotel)
Teach by example . . .
- Teaching pro should have a website, a golf school name, logo, beautiful golf school sign and a great teaching area
- Consider group lessons over singles and offer group lesson discounts
- Lesson book should be available to all staff since they should handle the bookings
- Have free tip days and put tips on YouTube
Home on the range . . .
- Offer a welcoming range — get decent balls!
- Offer range prizes for hitting a target
- Have 25 cent range water bottles — stop ripping people off!
A good business starts with goodwill . . .
- Loyalty programs after, say, eight rounds — eight stamps and get a free round
- Promote company golf leagues — maybe a three-hole league after work
- 17thgroup of day comes in and their round and cart is free
- Rain checks are a must, even on the 17thhole if cart breaks – should be no argument
- Do at least two demo days a year
Lead by example . . .
- Be a great pro/manager
- Have staff uniforms, dress code and name tags
- If you’re a good leader, people under you shouldn’t have to come to you to make a decision
Lots of kidding around . . .
- Take care of the juniors — make a junior the pro for a day
- Offer an annual junior scholarship
- Have an annual writing contest— winner gets lunch and golf with the pro
- Make course family friendly— parent/child after 4 p.m. get 2 for 1 golf
And don’t forget….
Keep on smiling.
