Winning Customer Loyalty

A changed landscape

• 2.2 million nomadic golfers • Move to pay and play golf

Why do we need to worry?

• Changing business model

• No longer rely on membership subscriptions • Visitor/society income vital:

– Replace dwindling membership revenue

– Replace dwindling membership revenue

– Visitors are potential members of the future

Remember the new ‘rules’

• Decline of effectiveness of traditional sales and marketing

• Combination of factors

– Market (supply and demand) – Market (supply and demand) – Power shift to customer

How can you increase revenue?

• Three ways

– New customers (members and visitors) – Existing customers

– Increasing value

• New business difficult and costly

How can marketing help?

• It’s about knowing your customers • Putting yourself in their shoes

• Making an offer they can’t refuse • Being easy to do business with • Being easy to do business with • Having your ‘share of voice’ • Keeping in touch

Winning customer loyalty

• Know your customer life cycle

• Measure your marketing against it

• Customer loyalty is repeating and sustaining the life cycle

cycle

7 Steps to success

Marketing –

Create awareness

Convert the enquiry –

A call to action

Ease of transaction –

Booking process Repeat business –

Maintain loyalty, promote with a call to action

Great Customer Experience –

Warm welcome, feedback & good operations

Create anticipation –

Pre-visit contact, call, email, internet

Post Visit –

‘Visitor’ life cycle

• Awareness

– create awareness of your golf club - advertising; PR

• Aware but no action

– Convert awareness into interest with a call to action

-promotions promotions

• Winning the business

– Be easy to do business with; booking and purchase

‘Visitor’ life cycle

• Anticipation

– maximise experience with pre visit contact - internet

• Enhance the customer experience

– warm welcome; encourage feedback - face to face

• Post visit • Post visit

– thank you; maintain ongoing dialogue - internet

• Return visit

– encourage repeat visits and referrals - promotions,

‘Member’ life cycle

• Awareness

– Create awareness of the benefits of being a member

– Consistent communication- newsletters, emails, website

• Aware but no action

– Convert awareness into interest with a call to action-– Convert awareness into interest with a call to action-– Reasons to play; visit club- find out why not?

• Winning their loyalty

‘Member’ life cycle

• Anticipation

– Looking forward to seeing you at…/this weekend

• Enhance the experience

– welcoming atmosphere

– encourage feedback- face to face – encourage feedback- face to face

• Post ‘contact’

– thank you; maintain ongoing dialogue

• Repeat ‘contact’

– Encourage repeat visits and referrals- find out their

Why is data the key?

• You can’t win loyalty from people you don’t know or communicate with

• Marketing to existing customers is more profitable and cost effective than finding new ones

• Quality data incrementally reduces your marketing • Quality data incrementally reduces your marketing

costs

What can we do with data?

Monitor course usage and who is on the course Send Membership Promotions

Send Retail & Lesson Promotions Send Christmas Function Promotions

Send Golf Society Promotions

Call for customer service purposes – i.e. Courtesy Call, Survey, etc Call for customer service purposes – i.e. Courtesy Call, Survey, etc

Send follow up letters

Use information to call and prospect for business Control Pilfering

Data Collection Methods

Celebrate your birthday! - Celebrate with a free round of golf Bring three friends (they pay!) and have a pint on us

10% off food and beverage Ask them to refer a friend Local PR – Run a competition etc.

Buy data

Website/Email/Join our e-club/Viral Website/Email/Join our e-club/Viral

Register your name and birthday on our website/or contact card Sign up on the website for VIP newsletter

Data Collection Methods

• Physical

Collection:-Guest Green Fee Visitor Green Fee Visitor Green Fee

Registration Techniques

• Visitors Book – Write in details • Registration Slips

• Registration Tags • Registration Tags

Overcoming staff objections

• Staff collecting data may be reluctant to do so or resistant to change

• Overcoming objections from personnel for collecting the

data:-Due diligence for knowing who is on the course Due diligence for knowing who is on the course

Health and Safety Reasons

Insurance Requirement for due diligence

To support the Club with revenue and Membership promotions Can be used to promote retail sales

Data Collection – Registration Card Example

Data Collection – Card Example Front

Overcoming customer objections

• Overcome objections from the Guest/Visitor when

collecting the data

Sign to say that you will abide to the Club rules

We have to register who is on the course and clubhouse for fire regulations

In case a family Member wants to contact you in an emergency

Storing the data

• What format is best for the data?

Access database – Microsoft Application

Act database – Sales Software

Excel database – Microsoft Application

What data do we need?

Name – Title, Forename, Surname Address – 1st _{line and postcode}

Telephone Number Email Address

Source, 2-4-1, County Card etc Date played

Courtesy Call

How many times they have played Email Address

Visitor or Guest

If Guest Members Name Member of another club

So now what happens?

• Understood the importance of customer life cycle • Understood benefits to your business

• Committed to data collection

• Set up the process: database, website, data • Set up the process: database, website, data

gathering