Building Your Business On The Golf Course-2

Building Your Business On The Golf Course-2

The first article looked at using golf as a tool to spend quality time with your prospect or customer. Now that we have a commitment from our guest to join us for an afternoon round of golf how can we make sure the day is enjoyable for them?

Pick a course your guest would want to play. It is best to find the nicest place possible. This aspect alone is a great study in how humans are wired. Some people will have absolutely no problem with whatever course you choose. Others will judge you (critically) based on where you take them.

Ego can become a big issue here when course selection is not up to par. You need to know if your guest is already a member somewhere in town. Knowing where they are a member will tell you more than just the club name. All cities have a pecking order of best to worst golf courses and that works with country clubs as well. If they are used to playing at resorts and high end private country clubs you must find a place that will be on that level or above.

I always try and get them onto a course they have never played or have played sparingly. There are many wonderful daily fee public courses but I am sorry to say the private club will normally provide a better overall atmosphere. There are reasons it cost a lot of money to join a nice country club. I will say it again, this is not always the case and if you cannot get onto a private club then find the best public facility you can.

Why am I so sold on private facilities? I am glad you asked! First has to do with crowd size. My intentions are to have quality time with as few distractions as possible. I want a place where there are few people on the range and few on the course. I want my guest to feel like the day is his and the course is his. If you pull up to the driving range and it is packed with golfers your guest will feel like he's part of a big herd. Keep this in mind as well, if you had your client bring a friend then his neck is on the line as well as far as "looking good" for the day. Here is some simple math, six on the range is better than sixty. Find a time with very little play and you will start the day off on the right foot. How packed the range is will determine how fast or slow your round of golf will be. Your round should be at the pace you decide, not at a pace the group behind you decides. If I want to sit on a tee box for five extra minutes and hear about when your guest was in college then you should be able to do so, without someone yelling at you to hurry up. You want your pace of play to be at a pace that is enjoyable for your "guest". This is about them and what they want/like.

Playing behind eight guys with beer coolers strapped to their three-wheelers may not create the best environment to build your relationship on the course. If you tee off after a group of guys who are not wearing shirts, you might as well be back at the office because you are wasting your companies money.

In the next article we will look at how you can make the round more enjoyable for everyone involved. Remember, the key to a successful business day on the golf course is for your prospect or client to have a great time. It will always be, all about them.