PART TWO: CLEAN & FRESH

Here we are at part two on thoughts to improve golf operations.  In the first post, I wrote about staff, your team.  Working to hire and keep winners is a great way to assure long term business success.  Here, in post #2, I am writing about presentation.  What does the facility and golf course look like through the eyes of your members and guests?  What does it look like to the many pairs of fresh eyes visiting daily?  My belief is that presentation is a very large piece of what you deliver to your customers.  It provides a true look into the standards and disciplines of the management and team, as well as the degree to which your team respects the property and the golfers.  Create a great physical story.  It will pay off.

The following thoughts are ideas you may want to discuss with your team, as you prepare for your golfers:

1. Start with the parking lot.  This is the first and last impression for every person visiting the club.  Is it very clean, and from the start of the day?  Are the parking lot blocks all in place, and in order?  Are all of the lights working?  Are the space lines bold and very visible?  Is the grass mowed, and the weeds removed?  Are there EASY TO READ directional signs, providing directions to the bag drop, the golf shop, the clubhouse?  Look at the lot as if you are a first-timer.  Visit the lot both very early in the day, and at the end of the night.  Understand what all of your members and guests get to see.  What improvements can you make, should you make? 
2. In the property clean?  From the parking lot to the cart barn, to the 18th green, is the property in ready shape for the season?  Can it rate 5 stars in clean?  If not, why not begin a location by location visit with the managers, laying out a program of improvement.  Once these standards are established, inform all that excellence is the minimum daily expectation when it comes to clean.
3. Is the landscaping colorful, abundant, and fresh, especially around the clubhouse, first tee, and putting green areas.  Great landscaping strategically placed, like fresh paint, will make a business look and feel new……and there is not much better than new.
4. How does every room in the clubhouse smell?  Work to install fresh and flavorful, not musty and stale.  When I read about great presentations, I rarely read about the aromas of the business, but know that buyers are making decisions daily, and the aromas in your clubhouse are big factors on who signs new members, how many covers there will be for lunch, and how many weddings will take place in your ballroom.  Do not take this area lightly.  Get the kitchen team to create a new standard for the great aromas soon to be found in your clubhouse
5. What is the club’s dress code?  Do the team members wear name tags?  Whatever your rules for personal presentation, be certain to set and maintain strong standards in this area.  Make certain shoes are clean & bright, faces are clean shaven, and the dress is clean and ironed.

  Presentation says a great deal about the business, the rules, the standards, the overall discipline.  Although it is vital to have a team that is loose, sharp, and working to bring fun to every day, it is important to have a set of stardards which are communicated, carried out, and measured in order to create a great customer experience.  Operating a great business is not easy, but when you create a high standard in clean, know the payoff is high and consistent.

Jack Dillon is the author of the highfives series.  Jack is a golf shop expert, a long-time successful merchant, speaker and now writer.  Jack is also Senior Director for Volvik USA.  Jack is available to speak with you or answer your questions via e-mail.  You can reach Jack at highfives81@yahoo.com, or by calling Jack at 407-973-6136.  Jack lives in Orlando, and is available to speak at your next meeting.  People make the difference, and Jack can make a difference with your people.  Thank you.