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"My Way"
Kim J. Brown, PGA Master Professional
The goal of this article is to offer the reader some suggestions about how to market your golf facility effectively using low or no cost technology tools that are available today. The days of "sitting back" and waiting for the golfers to show up are for the most part, gone.
The reader of this article should keep the writer's perspective in mind. The writer, for the purpose of this article to be referred to as "I", has been a traditional PGA Golf Professional since 1976. I became a PGA Master Professional in 1988 and am a past President of the Northern Texas PGA, a "Professional of the Year", and have been the Head Golf Professional at Keeton Park in Dallas, Texas since 1981. I was the co owner and operator of Dean Digital, a very small golf management software company for over two years and am currently still involved in golf technology "moonlighting" as the Texas Representative for e2e Golf Solutions and the Director of Golf Operations for Link 18, a Texas specific web portal.
I mention these qualifications only to communicate the fact that my viewpoint is from the golf course operator perspective that has now been influenced by my own experiences in the golf technology field. Those of us that have been "around for a while" tend to revert to what we know, what we have proven to work and we also avoid most things that are technology oriented because we are skeptical about their ease of use and the REAL benefit.
I decided to try to stay out in front in regard to implementing technologies that either enhanced my golf operation or I perceived might give my course a competitive edge. Although Keeton Park is in Dallas, we are located in a very secluded spot in Pleasant Grove which is a bit of a mis-leading name in this day and age. The location is NOT all that pleasant, ok? I am always looking for ways to promote my facility and to drive more rounds of golf to the course. I never want to spend any real money to do that and definitely am NOT spending money on "iffy" type promotions, print advertising, etc. as all of these expenditures come out of my own personal pocket. Repeated flooding over the years has moved me to quite a conservative approach to expenditures so I don't do many risks anymore.
If you, too, want to market without spending an inordinate amount of money on newspaper ads, magazine ads, etc. then I suggest you follow through on some of the ideas that follow:
Client Database - Data Mining
There is no more valuable tool than getting to know the current customers that you already have. As a good professional or manager, I know that you know your customers fairly well. However, do you know exactly how many times Mrs. Lloyd has played in the past six months without having to do a lot of homework? Do you know how many reservations she has had and how many times she played in a twosome, threesome or foursome? Do you know how many times she has been a "no show"? Do you know how many times she did not get to play for weather related reasons? Do you know exactly what she bought? Is there a pattern to when she buys and/or why she buys? Is she buying for herself or for family members? When is her birthday? Would her husband appreciate a call from you suggesting a gift idea for her?
In addition to specific information like the example above, the ability to "DATA MINE" or to be able to generate letters, mailing labels, targeted emails, group faxes, etc. that are oriented towards a specific cross section of your clients is VERY valuable. As an example, I recently sent a targeted e mail to all of my clients that have played Keeton Park before, but that have not played here since March of 2000! All that I did was make it a personalized e mail (which you can do by 'blind copying") inviting them back out to play and telling them about the relatively new real time online tee time reservation service that is now available at the Keeton Park website (www.keetonpark.com). You would be surprised at how effective this was! Out of 102 emails, I got responses from 67 of them and over 30 of those players have booked a tee time online during late August and early September. My ONLY investment was the time it took to build a web site and utilization of a point of sale/database system that I already had for the purpose of ringing up transactions. I pay about $1,000 - $1,800 a year for this system plus a few computers that need replacing every three years or so. My total cost specific to this promotion? About 10 minutes of my time!
Client Database - Customer Profiling
Next I decided that it would be great if I could expand the ability to generate these targeted e mails to MORE than just the customers I have been able to put in my own database. Through an Austin based company called Link 18, I invested $450 for them to provide me the following:
·
Gave them my database of customers
· They generated a map showing pin points
exactly where my clients live on an area map.
· They generated a map showing me where
the clusters of populations were that are comprised of clients exactly
like the customers I said are the profile of a customer that I am desirous
of.
· They generated a report and a software
file that allowed me to expand my own database of clients to a potential
client database of over 25,000 households and even included their email
addresses!
I am just starting the process of further refining the data they generated so that I can do audience specific targeted e mails with promotions that relate to programs we conduct here at Keeton Park. My expectations are high!
Regular Old Mail
Not ALL of my potential customers have email, yet. This is hard to believe in this day and age but it is true. My software solution allows me to generate letters and mailing labels so I can send promotions the old fashion way when it is appropriate. I hate to admit it, but I am primarily NOT doing much of this, because the e mail thing is SO much more cost effective. For those of you that don't mind postage costs, it is there for you if you have the right solution.
Web Exposure and Services
No, having a web site is not the "end all" solution. However, if you develop the right kind of site and have the wherewithal to maintain the content of the site yourself, it is an unbelievable tool for communications and marketing. More and more golfers are going to the web for not only information about courses, but as a way to receive valuable services like booking tee times and making merchandise purchases. If you have been "waiting to see" which of the tee time companies are going to survive OR if you have not quite gotten around to building your web site, you have already missed it. It is no longer a matter of doing online tee times eventually, because the consumer is rapidly adjusting their buying habits in golf, just like they already have in the airline industry and in the hotel industry. Five years ago, approximately 5% of airline reservations were made online. Now, that figure is a shocking 66%! Golf may never get to that level, but you can rest assured that the percentage of folks booking tee times online is growing rapidly.
The following are suggested web content components:
·
Online, real time, tee time reservation system
· Current, and I mean current, program
information. Updated weekly.
· Ability to "sign up" for tournaments
and clinics online.
· Ability for database population for
customers who sign up for tee times and programs. Why type all that
information in when the public golfers that use your site will fill
it out for you?
· Contact Us buttons on your site that
allow the customer to communicate with you or the appropriate person
on your staff.
· Instructional Content or "Ask the Pro"
section that your or another golf professional on your staff can service.
Great promotional item for promoting your instructional programs.
The technology company I represent is about to unveil it's new online tournament administration application. Not only can you do all the traditional things like make pairings, print scorecards and cart labels, calculate results, etc. but you can also allow second level administrative access to the outside tournament organizer to type in his own players' names and handicaps! Tournament day, you just print them out. After the event, allow all the player to access this site so they can see the results of the event!
This type of web content is VERY affordable. What may take an investment on your part is to do the promotional work that needs to be done to get people to "hit" on your site. A course could spend thousands of dollars paying a web site promotional company but frankly, there are a lot of free and inexpensive ways to promote your own website. Some ideas of how to do that follow here:
·
Awards Program - like a frequent flyer program. With the right kind
of software, you can award "points" for purchases and in particular,
reward those that use the web site as an interactive tool for booking
tee times, signing up for events, etc. One of the incentives I have
seen include giving a logo golf ball to anyone who signs up for the
awards program or that books a time online (which populates the database
for you with their e mail address, etc.).
· Register your website with every search
engine you can find. There are services "online" that will register
your website with hundreds of websites for a very nominal fee like $29.95!
There are other sites that you can do your own registration absolutely
free.
· Add a second logo to all of your caps
and shirts that you sell from your shop. In an unobtrusive spot, simply
place www.keetonpark.com to your products that you are already selling.
· Add the website URL to your course/clubs'
letterhead and your business cards.
· If you DO do any newspaper or magazine
ads, be sure to include the web address in every publication that you
are included in.
· Place the URL in every tournament promotional
poster and instructional program promotion that you are already doing.
· Course Newsletter? Although we intend
that you eventually will not have to spend this money on a hard copy
newsletter, we understand that you will be continuing to send one out
for a while longer! Include the URL.
Yes, all of these ideas require an investment. The good news is that most of the investment is of your time or of your employee's time, not a bunch of upfront cash. Do they totally replace the need for a traditional marketing program? Of course not. Do they provide brand new tools and ways to enhance your existing marketing program? Of course they do.
Keeton Park is just a regular municipal golf course. We are not yet SO busy that we are beating customers off with a 2 iron. However, I have noticed a REAL benefit to my technology and data mining efforts so when I was asked to share some insights to my peers in the golf industry, I was excited to do so.
In the meantime, don't forget to "log on - tee off"!
Kim
J. Brown
PGA Master Professional, Director of Sales
972.342.3253
Keeton Park G.C., Dallas, Texas
Need help with your golf course marketing? Visit Online Golf Solutions
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