Business Basics
Well it’s that time of the year again. Most golf courses are in mid-season and their staff is struggling to keep up. But yet most golf courses will still see another decline in rounds and revenue this year. The Pro is up and in the pro-shop early pulling carts and preparing the course for today’s golfers; SOS for another day, month and off-season with no measurable increase in revenue for the golf course. No matter how hard he/she and their staff work the course is still hemorrhaging golfers. Will this be my last year… is a question going through everyone’s mind from the owner to the groundskeeper.
Something has to change and it better change fast. At this rate of decline the course is destined for disaster. Loss of jobs, loss of face, shattered dreams, families torn apart and in some cases generations of hard work and sacrifice fall to past-due property taxes, unpaid leases, unpaid insurances and unpaid employees. What started off as a dream is now a living nightmare.
The sad thing is…it never had to be this way. All someone had to do was follow basic business principles and all would be far better, if not fantastic. There are simple truths in business and if followed anyone can be successful.
• Sales – Golf courses need revenue like people need air and without it courses will die. Someone can keep you on life-support by pumping you full of oxygen but once the supply (or resources to pay for the supply) is gone…so are you. The same holds true for your golf course and/or job. Soon the powers-that-be are going to get tired of pumping in more money out of their pockets to keep the business alive because no matter whom you are or how many resources you have available, keeping a dying patient alive will take its toll.
• Service – Get to know all of your golfers on a first (or last) name basis. Good customer service will only bring you fair dividends. Excellent customer service will bring you what you really need and that is word-of-mouth marketing. The kind of golf marketing you can’t buy nor can you thrive without. Superior customer service will enhance your sales and whether you have a job to come back to or not next season all depends on your ability to increase revenue i.e. sales.
It really doesn’t matter how far and straight you can hit a golf ball; what really matters is can you excel in the basics of business.
If you want guaranteed success in increasing rounds and revenue call the experts…call MMC® today! Don’t let another off-season slip away.