Golf’s Secret Sauce….It’s in the bag!

Serious golfers are serious about so many things golf.  They love their courses, their favorite tour players, their money games with friends, and they love equipment.  Having spent a lifetime buying, selling, and learning about every model of club, I am also an equipment fan.  Serious golfers love new and they love old equipment.  As golf brands continue to build the next long driver, soft-landing irons, and belly putter, serious golfers dream of lower scores

A sort of secret that I have learned over many years is this: golfers not only want to know what is played on tour each week, they also want to know what is in every golf bag they see.  Golfers are only one club away from their best score ever.  They are one weapon away from the club championship.  They believe that although their favorite brand might be rolling their next great weapon of choice down the assembly line today, it may already exist in the next bag they run into at the club.  Watch them closely as they prod and poke into every bag, peering under the covers, searching for Mr./Ms. Magic

So, how will this obsession about clubs old and new help you?  Explore it for your advantages.  Here are five thoughts on golf clubs as golf’s secret sauce and your opportunity:

1) Golf brands spend millions of dollars trying to influence your golfers.  Post the weekly win ads at the club and on your web site.  Be sure to include the specs.  Make this a huge deal

2) Showcase the tour bags from the big brands as well as the marketing information around the shop and club.  Reinforce the brand names and all current staff information.  Have your golfers understand that you are the equipment expert 

3) Post the brands and specs that you and your team use.  Make sure this information is visible at the club and your site.  Serious golfers want to know.  Begin to develop a master list of clubs your regulars play

4) Have events that go beyond the typical demo day.  Have education nights with major vendor partners.  Have reps and factory people in to provide their “secret sauce” detail about their equipment.  Be the equipment expert.  Create the same story for both men and women.  Great equipment must be more than about price

5) Develop a trade-in program.  Know that serious golfers love used equipment.  There is gold when you develop a trade-in area at the club

Golf equipment is the secret sauce that makes golf different.  We have 14 ways to create new sales daily.  It is also great fun.  Make those 14 clubs work for more than a good shot.  Have them make a difference in everything you do.  You may just create more golfers