WHAT’S NEXT?

It is just about the end of July, and deep into the 3rd quarter of the year.  If you are in the Sun Belt, you are preparing for the upcoming season.  If your club is in the north, you have up to 3 months of season remaining, with hopefully several end of the year outings and events.  In either case, I ask what’s next?  How are you planning to improve your business: next week, next month, and next quarter?

  The title of this post was the favorite line of the fictional president of the TV show, the West Wing.  President Josiah Bartlet would always want to know what the next problem was, immediately after solving the world’s last big issue.  He never relaxed and took time to enjoy the success.  He jumped right back into the fray, looking for the inevitable next catastrophe to hit his desk.

  As we sit here in the middle of summer, are you looking for ways to improve your club, rounds, membership, sales, tournaments, etc?  With the economy still struggling, and many in the middle class still working to climb back even several years after the recession was said to have ended, you should be very proactive and aggressive in building your relationships, finding new strategies, and combining cost reduction with added sales.  Here are 5 thoughts on what can be next for improving your club:

1. Go out and play the competition.  Schedule competitive golf days with your staff at local clubs to test your product against the marketplace, and to see first-hand, what others are doing to improve their business, and how they compare
2. Improve the presentation.  Doing several things to enhance the look and feel of the club will bring smiles, more traffic, and sales to the club.  Start with the parking lot, bag drop, landscaping on the first tee area, the last green, and the rest rooms and restaurant.  New paint, flowers, new lines in the lot will create a great new facelift, without breaking the bank.  Image is not everything…….presentation is
3. Survey the staff.  Meet personally with every team member, talking with them about their role, their goals, and what they want to do at the club.  Your people matter, and doing this will show it.  Important: ask them for one way to improve the club & their role in it
4. Create and propose fun events to your members.  Things like 3-club tournament, skills challenge, parent-kids tournaments, and ice cream dates, will create fun, sales, and interest
5. Tackle the harder stuff.  What cap-ex projects are on the horizon?  After 7 months of business, what projects can go forward, what will be postponed.  Although presentation is almost everything, you need to keep the roof on too.

  There are 5 ideas to think about as you move deeper into summer.  There are dozens more, but start here.  At the end of the day, you should create new ideas, products, and services for your golfers, while you work to keep the staff engaged.  Both are difficult but necessary tasks.  So, what’s next Mr/Ms Manager?

Jack Dillon is the author of the highfives series.  Jack is a speaker, a pro shop expert, and someone who understands player development.  You can reach Jack at highfives81@yahoo.com or at 407-973-6136.  Jack is available to give unique insights at your next meeting.  Thank you.