Service Should Not Be Tall, Grande, or Venti

When we hit our favorite coffee shop each morning for that cup of “joe”, we expect a wonderful, tasty pick-me-up every time.  Among the many options we might decide, is the size of the drink.  I guess we base that on how alert we are feeling, or not!  One thing we don’t expect to pick, is the level of service.  That should be warm, personable, and consistent every time, right?

When your golfers pull up to your club, what expectations do you think they have for service?  What do they, should they expect?  Should service move up and down based on the day, week, or month of the year?  Should service be based on the fullness of your tee sheet or even the rate that day?  To be considered a real option as a course in your area I believe service should always be Venti!  That doesn’t mean you must hire more people or build on your payroll until you break.  It should mean that you operate each day on purpose with a plan.  Here are five thoughts on improving service;

• Great service can happen by having a system each staff member knows and executes
• Hiring people who truly love serving people is paramount.  Some people just should not be in front of guests.
• Measuring service at your club through secret shoppers, providing short surveys for your golfers, and by asking people will help you know about your property before being surprised by service problems.  Use these simple questions; “how are we doing? what do you think?”
• Great service is about a daily discipline
• Recognize and reward service execution as well as near-execution.  Recognize your people and their efforts.  To get more great service, recognize each win, timely!

Service; it is the soft side of the business.  No matter how many people you have or do not have on staff today, your golfers have expectations.  Paperless report cards are issued daily.  The quality of your people, the preparation, and the measurement program will tell you if your service is small, medium, or Venti.