THE TAKEAWAYS

THE TAKEAWAYS 

Beginning in March I put together several blogs designed to provide ideas to promote better club operations.  This being the final post in the series, I want to offer up the takeaways that I believe to be the most valuable.  I hope you enjoyed the series, and maybe even tried an idea or two.  In any event, here are the ideas I believe to be most important:

1. Always be recruiting.  You should always be on the lookout for strong people.  People who like to serve, who smile a great deal, and who know the business well is rare.  Keep a file of candidates for every department.  Never wait until you need to hire.  Be looking every day.
2. Become a great listener.  Improving overall communications can make your facility a great place to play, eat, and entertain.  Create a standard of listening for each and every staff member.  Teach all that listening is the important part of communicating.  Beginning with yourself, create the attitude that what people have to say is important.  Listening is a great skill for every business.
3. Recognize me: whether it is the staff or the golfer/guest, develop a standard that paying attention to every person is the critical part of the day.  Beginning with acknowledging each person, to listening, to recognizing both the staffer and the customer, develop the strategy of taking the time to recognize, respect, and honor.  In addition to recognition, create a reward system that will show both your team, and your customer they are valuable.  Small rewards, including thank you cards will go a long way to building a solid business foundation that can become unbreakable.
4. Presentation: presenting a clean, fresh facility shows pride in where you work, and also shows a great respect for your customer.  Having a club that from the parking lot in, looks and feels good, is an important part of how to do business.  People want to feel good about where they work and play, and with you creating the example, all will get that great show is an everyday necessity.
5. Attitude is the magic word.  Hire people with a great attitude for life.  When you start with a great attitude, the rest is so much easier.
6. Play better, play more: create some lesson and clinic programs that provide meaningful instruction at a great rate, even FREE for some of the year.  When we play better, we want to play more, and the opposite is also true.  Become recognized as the place that can improve their game, with great value……and watch the rounds grow.  Create incentives for your professionals that make it a win-win.  Creating a system for improvement will provide you more rounds, and more business throughout the club.
7. Create the experience: Make it FUN!  It is up to you.  Be proactive, and stay proactive.  Never allow hospitality and FUN to just happen.  You must have a team and a program that has the customer experience in mind all day long.  Stay on the cutting edge.  Try things, ask lots of questions, and never stop learning.  Think about families, seniors, women, and kids golf.  Work the experience.  Make FUN the absolute of your operation.

  Well, although the series is called highfives, I grabbed a few extra for inclusion here.  There is lots to do at the club every day.  Just remember what things are the most important.  Treating people extraordinarily well works.  Thank you.

Jack Dillon is the author of the highfives series.  Jack is a golf shop expert, a speaker, and Senior Director for Volvik USA.  You can reach Jack at highfives81@yahoo.com or at 407-973-6136.