Quantify your quality: how to reach greater heights

There are changes afoot in the business of golf. I am feeling a push towards higher quality by both men and women golfers. Prices were already moving higher, now golfers want the quality to more than match the higher tickets. Is it time to review where the quality gaps exist at the club? Moving quality higher will create positive results, with a long tail that can increase several numbers throughout the property. The move toward higher quality is all around us, as golfers new and not so new are making a statement with every purchase. How will you catch the wave as we move past the mask, social distancing and other restrictions? Full-blown freedom is around the corner. Higher quality is moving up the want list of those looking to enjoy life full throttle. Offering higher options throughout will excite your golfers, while enlarging the daily receipts.

This highfives post points to rethinking the quality of your offerings. It is about ramping up all you do in order to showcase a different standard, offer a new level of choice, add traffic counts to each day, while driving revenue up in every product and service segment. Who doesn’t love higher quality? With the price of just about everything going north, it may be time to see how quality can play a larger role in your success, this season and beyond. Here are my 5 thoughts on quality:

1) Start with the team—a quality staff is the foundation for driving more frequent visits, more sales, more dollars per average visit. Decide what quality should feel like and look like for your golfers, then reset the standards. Quality service is about the team.
2) Develop a better golf shop—golfers love “golf stuff.” Look at the merchandise categories in your shop, decide where upgrades need to take place and experiment a bit. Many golfers want to spend up. If you and your team only provide value products, you are leaving money on the table, while not scratching an itch many golfers have. Look at footwear, menswear, women’s apparel, as well as accessories and test better goods.
3) A better F&B Presentation—what can you do to create a better presentation in your restaurant? A few non-traditional menu items. Add a few better wine choices to the menu and promote the story. After Covid, “a memorable experience” will have a very new meaning. Test, ask, experiment, and get lots of feedback.
4) A better presentation—people are visual. From the uniforms worn by staff to the landscaping around the golf course, people notice. They may never comment directly to you, but they notice. Dress up, green up, and present as if every golfer were your top investor.
5) Spend the most time here—recreating a level of service that approaches 5 stars will drive more smiles, more visits, and better looking receipts! Everyone wants to be treated well, respected, and taken care of in a timely way. When you do these things and reset the thermostat to excellence, you will develop a reputation that other clubs in your area may not be able or want to reach.

Begin to develop a new vision, a new feel around the entire property. When you set the roadmap, provide the expectation: show all what higher quality looks and feels like. Use your department managers as your “raving fans” prompting all to reach high. Quality has never been out of style, but it was MIA. Today there is a new push to make every experience feel different, feel better, feel rich. It is time to think about resetting the standards. As you now begin to accelerate a move to the new normal post-Covid, why not retool the many areas of the club to show all a new level of quality? People are coming back. Do the things to assure they keep finding your first tee. Sell the quality story, and then sell more of everything else.

Jack Dillon writes the highfives series. Jack is a speaker, writer, merchant, communications & golf ops expert. Now a part of Career Dividends, Jack can help you improve the golf shop, improve communications, and drive sales all while reducing inventory costs. When it is time for change, contact Jack. Reach Jack at: jackd@careerdividends.com or at: 407-973-6136. Jack lives in Orlando and on Zoom. In the business of golf since 1973.