It amazes me how little time, effort, and is spent on training staff members who are responsible for handling the first point of contact with customers. Granted, this is true in most businesses today, however, it is extremely prevalent in the Golf Industry. Typically, this is the process when on-boarding a new staff member: they are given a static rate sheet and are told to get started answering the phone. They get some training on the technical side and have all the club policies driven into their skull. That’s it. They are then set loose to be the club’s first impression. Talk about a recipe for disaster! Even worse, many clubs outsource their incoming calls to a remote call center , surrendering their number one sales source to someone who may not even know where the property is located, much less why anyone should play there. In my opinion, these scenarios represent a long-term epidemic that has played a significant role in the severe decline of revenues at most golf properties today. GOOD NEWS: The standard is so low, if done correctly you can increase your closing percentage on incoming calls, maximize rate by selling experience rather than price, and most importantly create an initial WOW factor with your customers. So the question is: how can you transform your golf shop staff or reservationist into a polished, high energy, effective sales and service specialist? Answer: Make it a priority by implementing the Paradigm Golf Group Inbound/Outbound Call Programs. These programs are proven, highly profitable and are integrated with the collaboration of you and your team. Beginning with the 5 G’s of Successfully Selling More Golf, your team will use positive voice inflection, customer-focused questions and customized experience & value statements to gain more commitments from callers as well as generating more smiles and happier golfers along the way. This is not a pushy sales script, but a personalized program that follows the Connect Golf Group’s core principle, “It is not as much about what you say or how you say it, but how did you make people feel.”
